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As Norwegian Church Aid continued a digital visit with its global partners, leaders from the organization met with the World Council of Churches (WCC) to discuss creative responses to the world’s increasing needs, and the vital role of church leaders in those responses.

As the WCC central committee meeting opened on 23 June, Most Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, presiding bishop of the Church of Norway and former general secretary of the WCC, offered an opening prayer and sermon at what Tveit described as a “profound moment.”

During the ecumenical prayer for the staff of the Ecumenical Centre on 15 March, Bishop Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, presiding bishop of the Bishops’ Conference of the Church of Norway, expressed his appreciation for the work of the ecumenical movement during the past year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After more than 30 years as a pastor, ecumenist and church leader, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit firmly believes that the church can change the world. As general secretary of the WCC for the past ten years, he has witnessed what Jesus Christ means to people of faith around the globe. By the end of this month he heads home to lead the Church of Norway as presiding bishop of its bishop’s conference.

Hundreds gathered in the Trinity Church in Oslo, Norway on 9 December for an ecumenical prayer for peace, in connection with the annual Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

Dr. Agnes Abuom, moderator of the WCC Central Committee, offered a speech entitled “A Clarion Christian Call to Justice and Peace: Ending Global Inequality and Climate injustice” at the Justice Conference in Oslo, Norway on 9 November.

It’s 70 years since the World Council of Churches was founded in Amsterdam on 23 August. In addition to a commemoration service in Amsterdam on 23 August, the WCC, its member churches and partners are planning a variety of events to move forward on our ongoing Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, and at the same time honour and learn from these 70 years of ecumenical endeavour. Dr Abuom, from the Anglican Church of Kenya, is the moderator of the WCC Central Committee. She is the first woman and the first African in the position in WCC’s history. In an interview, she reflects on the evolution of the WCC in the past 70 years.

In a sermon at the Trinity Church in Oslo, Norway on 9 December, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit reflected on peacemakers: those who create trust and foster good relations, those who try to bring out the best in us, those who attempt to solve conflicts.

In a country where Christians are in clear minority, often suffering discrimination, and in a context that has seen repeated frictions and violence between people of different religious traditions, the Church of Norway and Church of Pakistan have broken new ecumenical ground during a recent week in Lahore, Pakistan.

A plenary discussion on support by religious communities for the rights of children, and a first draft of the statement of “principles for child-friendly churches,” captured the imagination of the Central Committee of the WCC on 27 June. The document will now undergo further revision and be resubmitted at the next WCC executive committee meeting.

The 2016 WCC Central Committee concluded its third day with an afternoon prayer service in one of Trondheim’s most beautiful churches. Built in 1715, the Bakke Church, with its remarkable architecture and artistry, is one the oldest buildings in the Bakklandet area of Trondheim.

Women are virtually invisible in news reporting on peace and security issues in nations experiencing conflict.

An “inter-generational dialogue on faith, culture, HIV and sexual reproductive health and rights” was initiated on 11 March in New York City by the World YWCA in partnership with the WCC and other international organizations. The dialogue was organized as a side event at the United Nations 58th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women.