News
At a Church Leaders Meeting from 4-8 December at the Ecumenical Centre and Bossey Ecumenical Institute, representatives of faith communities across the world had the opportunity to interact with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and with each other.
Representing more than a dozen different countries and faith traditions, church leaders shared their biggest challenges and rewards.
From prayers with Bossey students to hearing reflections on unity from WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the church leaders had the opportunity to define and deepen their call to unity in diversity and just peace.
They also had the opportunity to discuss church relations and communication, including a workshop on how social media can help inspire, motivate and inform local church communities.
After visiting the Reformation Museum and Cathedral in Geneva, they learned about plans to celebrate the WCC’s 70th anniversary, offering input at the midway point between the WCC’s 10th and 11th assemblies, and reflecting on the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace as a way to describe their common call as well as how they could contribute toward making the next WCC assembly a shared journey.
The Very Rev. Herborg Finnset (Church of Norway) said she was pleased and surprised to be invited to the Church Leaders Meeting. “It has been interesting,” she said. “We spent time talking about what the real challenges are where we serve. And that made me quite humble. There are great challenges that many here are working under, quite different conditions.”
Bishop Reinhart Guib (Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania) said when he visits the WCC, he sees the world as much bigger than he could imagine.
“We must see further than our own issues,” he said. “I’m very glad to learn about these other issues because we tend to think about our own country as our own world, our own social problems, our own Romanian problems. We don’t have a vision of life further way. But the WCC has opened that for me.”
Photos of Church leaders visiting WCC: Morning prayer at the Ecumenical chapel, Talk-show with WCC staff and the Marketplace of WCC programme work
