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The Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) organized a series of meetings between church leaders from North America and United Nations experts on racial justice issues in New York City on 29-31 October.

Maryland-based, Ghanaian-born Rev. Dr Casely Essamuah was in February selected as secretary of the Global Christian Forum. Originally ordained in the Methodist Church in Ghana, he began his work officially in July. This week he made a study visit to the WCC and the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva and the WCC was able to converse with him.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) welcomes the award of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize to Ms Nadia Murad and to Dr Denis Mukwege for their work against “sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict”.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, as head of a delegation visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), offered a sermon on 19 August encouraging peacemakers during an ecumenical service in the Protestant Cathedral in Kinshasa.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Christian Churches, one of Christianity’s oldest and has been in Africa since 330 AD, so there was joy and celebrations when on 27 July it declared an end to a 27-year-old schism that had torn it apart.

As election polls closed in Zimbabwe on 31 July, and people awaited announcements of results, reports on the ground were indicating that, although peace was holding, the situation is tense.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit spoke on “The Oneness of the Ecumenical Movement” at the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) 11th General Assembly, being held in Kigali, Rwanda from 1-7 July.

South Sudanese churches have welcomed the signing of a permanent ceasefire agreement by the main rivals, while cautioning that many other such pacts had also been dishonoured.

‘Walking, praying and working together’ was the theme of Pope Francis’ 21 June visit to Geneva to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). Among those listening to the Pope's words was Pentecostal pastor Rev. Frank Chikane, one of the leaders of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.

Citing a litany of horrors In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the central committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) has called out the “deepening political, human rights and humanitarian crisis” in the DRC, and the risks of further conflict, massive human rights violations and atrocity crimes there.

As a High Level Revitalization Forum met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, met to discuss peace in South Sudan, faith groups shared clear messages urging an end to war and suffering.

The third meeting of the Ecumenical Panel on a New International Financial and Economic Architecture (NIFEA) is underway in New York City from 21-23 April.

On 19 April, the World Council of Churches (WCC) welcomed recent initiatives to establish meaningful and constructive dialogue between the United States of America and North Korea.

A seminar following the WCC Conference on World Mission and Evangelism is being convened on 20 April in Helsinki, Finland. Participants and speakers include, among others, Rev. Dr Benjamin Simon, professor of Ecumenical Missiology at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, as well as delegates to the Arusha conference representing Lutheran and Orthodox churches.

Environmentally-conscious presiding bishop Dr Fredrick Shoo of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania says it was a special honour to host the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism in his country that is often called the “cradle of humanity”. “It has been a moment of reflection for the church as one body of disciples of Christ and on how we witness about Christ in the global context,” said Shoo, known for his tree-planting activities, in an interview.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit extended congratulations to the new general secretary-elect of the All Africa Conference of Churches, Rev. Dr Fidon Mwombeki.

When Kenneth Ben grew up in the sixties and seventies each day started and ended with a prayer. His father, who was a pastor, had a pulpit in the home and his parents built a lifestyle around Christian values. Ben also learned early on the value of an extended family, where grandparents and relatives are included.

The Conference on World Mission and Evangelism officially closed with a “sending service” during which participants reflected on their call to discipleship and the significance of such a call in transforming mission in a world of pain, dislocation and turmoil.

“We can embrace the cross when we hold that there is no spirituality without life and spirituality is impatient life against the disorder of humanity,” said Rev. Dr Vuyani Vellem, one of the speakers at a plenary on the theology of the cross at the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME).

A document published in Swahili language titled, ‘The Church: Towards a common vision’ was launched at the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism in Arusha, Tanzania on 12 March. The document is now translated into 15 languages.