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The World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Commission’s study group working on ecclesiology met at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena to continue an ongoing dialogue with representatives and experts on “new ways” of being the church.

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.

The 1968 Poor People’s Campaign, the nascent movement for economic justice that Martin Luther King Jr. began just before his death, has been revived and relaunched in the US at a time of heightened racial tensions and political upheaval.

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.

In a video message viewed by more than 1, 790 000 people, leaders in various USA-based churches are urging people to “reclaim Jesus” and reject narrow nationalistic and racist ideas.

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.

Rev. Dr Sharon Watkins was the coordinator of “A.C.T. (Awaken, Confront, Transform) Now,” a series of events on 3-5 April that included an ecumenical gathering; rally in Washington, D.C.; and “National Day of Advocacy and Action.” The three-day event marked the beginning of a Truth and Racial Justice Initiative by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. As A.C.T. Now came to a close on 5 April, Dr Watkins spoke about the work ahead to eradicate the entrenched racism that grips the United States and paralyzes our ability to see every human being as equal.

Defying gathering clouds, “Act Now to End Racism” rally attendees on Wednesday joined rousing choruses of Gospel standards and pledged to recommit to the cause of racial equality. Throughout this week’s three-day event in Washington, D.C., they grappled with a stubborn and pernicious reality amid a tense and uncertain political environment.

Hundreds of people gathered, then hundreds more, the crowd growing and marching in silence to the beat of a drum as dawn broke on 4 April, 50 years to the day since Rev. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., was murdered in Memphis, Tennessee.

An ecumenical gathering and an Orthodox Holy Week liturgy on Tuesday evening, 3 April, kicked off three days of US church engagement with the persistent realities of racism in American life.

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).

Daily Bible studies at the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism has been gathering participants from mainline Protestant, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Evangelical, Pentecostal, and African-instituted churches. The Bible studies prepared for the for the conference are available at the WCC website.

Thirty participants gathered on 9-10 March in a ‘warsha’ - or workshop - entitled “Building Capacity for Migration & Multicultural Ministries: From Chaos to Hope” in Arusha, Tanzania.
“Warsha,” a Kiswahili term, defines an arena for discussing new ideas that advance creative thinking, in this case on how the the church today can inform and inspire mission and ministry with the migrants.