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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.

The theme “pilgrimage of justice and peace” has triggered robust discussions on furthering cooperation among Christian communication organizations in a seminar sponsored by the WCC. The seminar was held at the biannual assembly of the Latin American and Caribbean Agency of Communication in Argentina.

A delegation led by Thorhild Widvey, minister of culture in Norway, along with prominent Norwegian politicians and church leaders was welcomed on 30 September at the WCC headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

To respond to the Ebola crisis in West Africa, which has taken more than 3,000 lives, the WCC brought to the table representatives of Christian aid organizations and United Nations agencies to learn from each other and to escalate their efforts.

Prayerful biblical reflections marked the end of the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel in a service on 29 September at the Ecumenical Centre chapel in Geneva, Switzerland.

The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has welcomed publication of an open letter by a group of 126 Muslim scholars to Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, leader of the self-proclaimed “Islamic State” (IS) and his followers.

Eight more governments are ratifying the Arms Trade Treaty during this week’s high-level meetings at the United Nations. The latest actions mean that 53 governments, including several lobbied by the member churches of the WCC, have ratified the new treaty. The treaty will now come into effect by the end of 2014.

Indigenous peoples have a role to play in the struggle against climate change, indigenous faith leaders said during a panel at the Interfaith Summit on Climate Change held at the Church Center for the United Nations in New York City.