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Many voices have joined the chorus demanding respect for indigenous peoples’ rights and eco-justice in connection with Standing Rock, a location at the heart of the struggle against the proposed path of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in North Dakota, USA.

The Episcopal Church in North Dakota, in an open letter dated 25 October 2016 and penned by Rev. John Floberg, called on communities of faith to converge at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, USA from 2-4 November to “stand witness to water protectors’ acts of compassion for God's creation, and to the transformative power of God's love to make a way out of no way.”

As wars and conflict continue to force thousands of families to flee their homes every day, the WCC appeals to all people of good will to support the UNHCR’s #WithRefugees campaign. By signing a petition to be handed over to the UN headquarters before the General Assembly meeting on 19 September, people around the globe are asked to raise their voices, to ensure that every refugee child gets an education, that every refugee family has somewhere safe to live, and that every refugee can work or learn new skills to make a positive contribution to their community.

Canadian Lutheran World Relief and the WCC are planning joint action on refugee rights now that the Canadian church agency has been approved for WCC membership. Plans are for CLWR to collaborate with WCC on advocacy initiatives through the Ecumenical United Nations Office in New York.

The WCC offered prayers for peace in the USA while condemning acts of violence in recent days that have shocked the nation and people around the world.

Encouragement, inspiration and storytelling animated the plenary discussion of the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace.

Knut Refsdal started his pilgrimage from the Norwegian capital Oslo to the historic pilgrim town of Trondheim on 24 May. He is scheduled to arrive on the eve of the opening of the meeting of the WCC Central Committee on 21 June.

Experiences of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people around the world will be front and centre at an upcoming international conference in Trondheim, Norway. The Sami Church Council of the Church of Norway and the WCC are the chief organizers behind the conference, “Reconciliation Processes and Indigenous Peoples: Truth, Healing and Transformation,” which will take place from 20-21 June. Coinciding with the National Aboriginal Day of Prayer in Canada, the conference will be held in connection with the WCC Central Committee meeting also taking place in Trondheim from 22-28 June.

You disgust me. - “We value you despite our differences.” I’m scared of you. - “Let’s spend some time together.” Your children cannot come to this school. - “All of our children can play together.” Gathered in prayer and determined to overcome stigma and discrimination, participants in a 7 June interfaith service replaced words of rejection with words of acceptance.

Women and children figure prominently as refugees in mass movements of people in recent months and their rights will be at the forefront of a summer school organized in Greece by the Conference of European Churches.

“We had heard that racism continues to be an issue in the United States,” said Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the WCC Central Committee. “But we did not expect to find it so deep, so wide and so pervasive.”

In the Washington DC region on 18 April, Jim Winkler, general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, welcomed a contingent from the WCC who, with others, will be spending 18-25 April on a WCC-sponsored racial justice listening and support visit to several US communities which have suffered violent incidents related to race.

Canadian church leaders issued a joint statement endorsing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) and promising to implement its principles. Doreen Spence, an aboriginal Canadian who was one of the architects of the declaration, welcomes the move.

“Racism remains an issue that divides society and even families,” said Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), in a Washington DC workshop on “the theological basis for lifting the voice of the marginalized.” She noted that these dramatically relevant words were not her own, but are drawn from a WCC study on race undertaken in the 1990s.

The Racial Justice Accompaniment Visit to the USA is a continuation of the WCC’s long history of racial justice work. As part of the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, the WCC wishes to listen to and express support for people and churches in the USA, and to encourage the efforts of member churches and ecumenical partners in the US, as well as other justice-seeking movements on these issues.

Two major crises have marked the months since the WCC called Katalina Tahaafe-Williams to work in Geneva on its migration, indigenous, and multicultural ministry programmes. When she took up the job in October, the European refugee crisis was in full flow. Then in November, terrorists attacked Paris.

Members of a small congregation in Toronto, Canada are celebrating. On Sunday the member of parliament for their riding came to the church to announce that the federal government has granted residency status to a Roma family that had lived under “sanctuary” protection in the church for 18 months.

In the midst of a mounting climate of fear of refugees and immigrants, the WCC is calling on Christians to be true to the Biblical imperative to “welcome the stranger”.

Nearly 60 participants gathered to reflect on the theme “Reclaim Evangelism!” at the North American 2015 Conference on Evangelism, held 29 October - 2 November in Nashville, Tennessee (U.S.). The conference was organized by the WCC and the NCCUSA, in consultation with the Canadian Council of Churches, and it was hosted by the Discipleship Ministries of the United Methodist Church.

The United Church of Christ and The United Church of Canada, both members of the WCC, formalized a full communion agreement in a worship service at St. Andrew's United Church, Niagara Falls, Ontario, on 17 October.