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The students also had lunch with WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay and staff from the ecumenical organizations.
Representatives of the Church of Sweden from Switzerland offered a presentation as well.
Seventeen-year-old Sophia Lindhé, who studies at a Swedish school in Athens, participated as part of a class trip to Geneva.
“One of our professors knew very well the Swedish involvement in the organization and we were supposed to include our culture in this trip,” she said. “This is the reason to why we chose Geneva.”
Lindhé said she was open for surprises on her visit. “When I heard about the churches this is not what I expected,” she said. “This visit turned out positive and better than I thought.”
She added that she likes the purpose of the WCC and what it does. “I really enjoyed the guided tour and the musical session in the chapel,” she said. “I have always known that churches are divided but it is very nice to have a place that unites the churches like this.”
During lunch, the group met with master students from the Bossey Ecumenical Institute.
Nils Scarpino, 13, came from Milan, Italy. “The purpose of this trip was to come to learn about peace and how people work for peace,” he said. “My expectations before the visit were to learn more about how the World Council of Churches works—and I have.”
He said that he also learned that the WCC is an international organization. “I really enjoyed the musical session in the chapel,” he added.
Sixteen-year-old Victor Stephano, from Sofia, Bulgaria, said he expected the World Council of Churches to be a museum. “I am impressed with how the programme came out,” he said. “It has been a fascinating visit for me.”
Like his colleagues, he enjoyed the music in the chapel. “I also enjoyed seeing the moving ceiling in the Visser't Hooft Hall,” he added.
