News
As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt around the globe, a World Council of Churches (WCC) website Q&A now provides guidance and highlights good practices on key concerns from member churches and partners all over the world.
The WCC has made available a team of nine resource people to consult on how churches can discern their roles during the coronavirus pandemic, how they can adapt as faith communities, and how they can connect and share with each other.
Based on the experience, the support team is now addressing questions and pressing concerns from the fellowship, with more to be added continually as people and churches discern the way ahead.
“This support team has been made available not just as expertise, but also for Christian accompaniment,” says WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca.
“We see now, in view of the pressing concerns of people and churches around the world, that this is an opportunity both to offer guidance, and to highlight the many good practices and positive initiatives that we can see in face of the pandemic,” he adds.
”Thanks to such an exchange of good practices, I believe the ecumenical fellowship will in fact be coming out of this crisis strengthened, as the fellowship can grow together even more than it had already,” reflects Rev. Dr Benjamin Simon, WCC programme executive for Church Relations.
So how can churches fundraise to cope with unexpected expenses due to the pandemic?
How can we ensure hand hygiene during COVID-19, when half of the world’s population does not enjoy basic handwashing facilities?
With so much information about COVID-19 in so many places, from so many people, how do we decide what to believe and what not to believe?
And as more churches shift to virtual worship, what can be done to ensure that the ministry of Christian education to children and youth is not overlooked?
These are some of the questions addressed by the WCC support team, which remains available to answer questions from member churches and provide guidance, at: [email protected]
COVID-19, Questions and answers
Faces of help: WCC offers resource people to accompany during COVID-19 pandemic (WCC press release of 9 April 2020)
