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A consultation in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa has discussed creative ways of using the WCC statement in mission education and curriculum. The WCC statement, titled “Together towards life: Mission and evangelism in changing landscapes”, seeks a renewed understanding and practice of mission and evangelism.

The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed profound concern over the rejection of an appeal against the death sentence for a Pakistani Christian woman, Asia Bibi, convicted under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law. To promote tolerance, religious harmony and protection of the rights of religious minorities, Tveit said it is important that justice is ensured in cases like that of Asia Bibi.

At the 2nd General Assembly of the ACT Alliance held in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic, the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit congratulated the new leadership of the ACT Alliance, a partner organization of the WCC, which has elected representatives of its governing bodies at the event.

“When we talk about assets-based ‘diakonia’, we mean building and strengthening fellowship among churches and their ecumenical partners,” said the Rev. Dr Dongsung Kim, WCC programme executive for diakonia and ecumenical solidarity, in a workshop at the ACT Alliance Assembly.

“We are moving together. We are moving in faith. We are moving with a purpose and with shared values.” These were the words of the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, who in his address at the 2nd General Assembly of ACT Alliance stressed the significance of strengthening cooperation between the Council and the ACT Alliance.

In South Asia, where conflicts are often fueled by religion, a WCC conference stressed the role of Christians and Hindus as eminent stakeholders in their common search for justice and peace – beyond majority and minority politics.

On the occasion of Diwali, a Hindu festival known as the “festival of lights” celebrated in autumn every year, the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has extended greetings to Hindus, emphasizing the need for strengthening inter-religious dialogue and collaboration for the cause of justice and peace.

Uruguayan member churches of the WCC are collaborating with the national government there to relocate and settle refugees from the conflict in Syria.

In significant events last week, the Evangelical Church of the River Plate and the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil, two member churches of the WCC, held leadership elections while reflecting on issues of diversity, communion and challenges posed by the emerging contexts of urban life in the region.

To say no to all kinds of excuses that justify violence against women and girls, the WCC invites its member churches and partners to join the World YWCA campaign “NoXcuses for Violence against Women”.

A new online survey supported by the WCC aims to promote the study of issues such as the environment, climate change and food security as part of the training of future pastors, priests and other Christian leaders.

Members of the WCC's Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network met in the Netherlands to develop a new statement with the working title "Gift of Being: Called to be a Church of All and for All". The new document is founded on the premise that persons with disabilities experience marginalization both in societies and in the church communities themselves.

Rev. Dr Ester Pudjo Widiasih has recently been appointed as programme executive for spiritual life at the WCC. Widiasih, who comes from the Javanese Christian Churches in Indonesia, is experienced in the field of church music and worship.

WCC 제10차 총회 1주년을 맞아 WCC 부산 총회 백서 발간이 완료되었다. 백서는 한글판(512쪽), 영문판(310쪽), 화보(81쪽) 등 모두 세 종류로 구성되어 있다. 올해 2월 김삼환, 박종화, 이영훈, 손인웅, 장상 등 5명의 공동위원장과 김종훈 편찬위원장을 비롯한 40명의 편찬위원, 장상 집필위원장을 비롯한 38명의 집필위원 등 모두 83명으로 구성된 'WCC 제10차 총회 백서발간위원회'가 조직된 후 약 9개월 동안의 활동이 마무리 되었다.

Inspired by the theme “a pilgrimage of justice and peace” – a call issued by the WCC 10th Assembly in 2013 – a conference in Germany affirmed the commitment of working together with churches in South Korea and Japan towards a “common journey of spiritual renewal and prophetic calling” for a “just peace” in the region.

“HIV and AIDS is not just a public health issue. It is a multi-layered social issue – an issue churches in West Africa should not ignore,” says Rev. Godson Lawson, a pastor in the Methodist Church in Togo, a country where 110,000 people are living with HIV and 6,600 lives have been lost to the pandemic, according to recent UNAIDS estimates.

Erik Lysén, director of International Affairs at the Church of Sweden, a member church of the WCC, has called the recognition of Palestine an important step towards the peace process.

The Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit discussed the churches and peacemaking challenges in Moscow with Patriarch Kirill, primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, and with Metropolitan Hilarion, chair of the Russian Orthodox Church’s department of external church relations.

The Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, has congratulated the two children's rights activists who won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Evangelism in new contexts was the focus of a meeting last week in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, involving the WCC and the North American councils of churches. The meeting’s primary objective was to set the agenda for a larger consultation on evangelism in North America, slated before the end of 2015.