For the first time in history, women pastors in the Maluku Protestant Church outnumber their male counterparts. “We have 1,444 pastors in the Maluku Protestant Church, and about 55% are women,” said Maluku Protestant Church moderator Rev. Elifas Tomix Maspaitella.
As members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee and stewards visited the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, they came away newly inspired about the next generation of the ecumenical movement.
As the World Council of Churches (WCC) celebrated its 75 anniversary, the voices of young people rang out with hope, joy—and some pointed messages for their ecumenical family.
“There’s one thing I always say to young people when you start off in the stewards programme– be very careful, because the ecumenical bug gets you as this is a mind blowing exposure and you start to think about the church in a very different way – and this is not a bad thing", remarked World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay in his welcoming address to the young people from all over the world who were welcomed at the Ecumenical Centre on 16 June as stewards, in preparation for the upcoming central committee which is taking place 21-27 June in Geneva.
Lasting friendships and gleaning a wealth of knowledge are the abiding memory of students every year who graduate from the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey outside Geneva.
As Bread for the World marked 70 years of service to the church and ecumenism through its interchurch scholarships programme, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay gave thanks for some 3,500 alumni and beneficiaries since 1952.
Thirteen-year-old Ellyanne Chlystun-Githae Wanjiku, from Kenya, gave a clarion call during a 9 May webinar on climate responsible banking: “The children are not afraid to follow the money,” she said—and that means learning about responsible banking and influencing policy.
The fifth edition of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Eco-School on Water, Food, and Climate Justice, will be held 24-31 July in Crete, Greece. Convening in-person in the Orthodox Academy of Crete, Greece, the event is open to young people under 30 years of age from the Europe and North America region only.
Strengthening the link between Christian perspectives and practical action for human rights, a symposium on human dignity and rights took place in the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey on 25-26 April.
“It was with sadness that we received the news of the passing of Prof. Dr Julio Hector de Santa Ana, a reference of ecumenical theology in a liberating perspective,” said Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). De Santa Ana passed away in Geneva, Switzerland, on 17 April.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) offered insights and participated in dialogue at the Youth Pre-assembly for National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), held 17-19 April in Hyderabad.
Organized by the India Peace Centre, the Youth Pre-assembly was held under the theme “The Hour has Come: The hour of Youth Building a World of Peace and Sustainability.”
How do religions represent “others” in their ideas, symbols, and practices? How do religious representations of others influence social cohesion? And what role can young leaders play in engaging with the challenges and the potential found within religious traditions’ representations of “others” to cultivate social resilience?
Students at the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Institute at Bossey are enrolled in a Formation en Théologie Interculturelle course of 8 weekends that began in October 2022 and ends on 27 May 2023 The 14 students, all from French-speaking parts of Europe, reflected on the rewards of their studies.
Can we increase our knowledge of how algorithms work? Can faith-based groups help close the digital divide? A webinar on 9 March, offered a way forward in an area that sometimes seems ruled by untouchable artificial intelligence.
Brother Alois, prior of the Taizé Community, along with a group of 60 young people from the community, visited the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on 6 March for a time of prayer and sharing.
Rev. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba, World Council of Churches programme director for Unity and Mission, reflects below on mission, theology, and the making of a better world.
The latest issue of Current Dialogue, the journal of the World Council of Churches (WCC) on interreligious dialogue and cooperation, takes as its theme “Healing Wounded Memories through Interreligious Perspective and Engagement.”
Rev. Dr Odair Pedroso Mateus began to teach at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute in 2004 and joined the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 2007. Most recently he served as WCC interim deputy general secretary and Faith and Order director. Below, he reflects on his fondest memories, accomplishments, and hopes.
“It’s okay not to be okay.” That’s the catchy way Denis Pattinasarany, from the Protestant church in the Mollucas, Indonesia, describes one of the most important things he learned at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute.
