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Calling for Christian Unity requires “both a prophetic and pastoral approach”

Rev. Dr Curtiss Paul DeYoung, co-chief executive officer of the Minnesota Council of Churches, helped convene the team of authors for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity materials. Below, he reflects on the challenges and hopes the team brought to the table as they composed the text.

18 January 2023

WCC denounces attack on parish of the 8th Community of Pentecostal Churches of Congo

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay denounced a bomb attack that killed 17 members of the parish of the 8th Community of Pentecostal Churches of Congo on 15 January. Thirty-nine people were wounded.

17 January 2023

Rev. Joannes Owino Siang’a: deaf Kenyan Presbyterian cleric in WCC’s executive committee

When the next World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee meeting convenes, among the members will be a deaf Presbyterian clergy from Kenya.

28 September 2022

As conflicts continue in South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo, Christian groups pray, highlight concerns

In South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the peace and reconciliation work of pastors, priests and lay Christians remains critical for the people, as the global church and ecumenical groups amplify their concerns over the complex but separate conflicts in the two African countries.

26 July 2022

A woman carries the Bible into a Catholic Mass

Visit to Sudan highlights importance of strengthening solidarity with churches

The churches of Sudan – and especially the Sudan Council of Churches as their ecumenical forum – have suffered from a serious lack of attention and support by international ecumenical partners since the separation of South Sudan in 2011.

29 April 2022

Colombian human rights advocates engage in strategic talks in the US

In a recent visit to the United States, a group of four laureates of the “National Human Rights Award in Colombia” engaged in meetings in Washington and New York City with government officials, diplomats, and United Nations (UN) representatives. They spoke of the deterioration of the peace process in the country and the importance of international solidarity.

28 April 2022

Displaced people celebrate Mass in South Sudan

WCC expresses appreciation for peace-building efforts in South Sudan—but calls for better lives for the people

While the World Council of Churches (WCC) deeply appreciates peace-building efforts in South Sudan, the WCC is also calling attention to the dire circumstances in which the people of South Sudan are still forced to lead their daily lives.

23 February 2022

WCC expresses deep concern over worsening security situation in Nigeria

World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed deep concern about the worsening security situation in Nigeria, and the impact on the people and churches of the country.

18 February 2022

Religious leaders reiterate calls for closing prison at Guantanamo Bay, seeking justice for those held

The World Council of Churches (WCC) supports a renewed call issued by interreligious leaders from the United States for the prison at Guantanamo Bay to be closed, and for justice for those being held.

20 January 2022

African man wearing a black medical face mask stands in front of a poster at a museum.

Rev. Frank Chikane: “You can’t do unity at the expense of justice”

When Rev. Frank Chikane was leading the South African Council of Churches in calling out injustices of the apartheid system, their work did not stop even after the council’s office building was bombed to the ground in 1980s. Moderating the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches (WCC) since 2016, Rev. Chikane has been engaged in addressing injustices in many parts of the world. WCC Communication asked Rev. Chikane to look back at his term at the commission and the ongoing calling of churches to address injustices in the world today.

13 January 2022

World mourns loss of Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Today the world joins in mourning the passing of a towering figure in the struggle for freedom and for human dignity and rights.

30 December 2021

Rev. Lamont Anthony Wells: “The greatest gift is that I don’t have to do it alone”

When Rev. Lamont Anthony Wells, African Descent Lutheran Association national president, reflects on his experience as one of 18 participants from around the world to participate in the United Nations' Fellowship Programme for People of African Descent, he thinks of it as a unique opportunity to advocate for racial justice.

14 December 2021

People sit in line at a table in a conference room.

African church conference tackles misleading theologies in faith and healing

A symposium exploring the complex question of misleading theologies in Africa ended here on 24 November, amid concerns that the phenomenon was harming the efforts to combat coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and other diseases.

25 November 2021

View over Johannesburg, South Africa, with jacarandas blooming.

Engagement in international affairs has enabled churches to take a firm stand against injustices

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) has facilitated churches’ engagement in a wide range of critical issues of the world since the last WCC Assembly in Busan, concluded the 58th meeting of the WCC CCIA, gathering church representatives in Johannesburg and online in the 75th anniversary year of the Commission’s creation.

15 November 2021

Perkins names Dr Evelyn Parker as 2021 Distinguished Alumna

The Perkins School of Theology Alumni/ae Council selected Dr Evelyn L. Parker as the 2021 recipient of the Perkins Distinguished Alumnus/a Award. The award recognizes Perkins graduates who have demonstrated effectiveness and integrity in service to the church, continuing support for the goals of Perkins and Southern Methodist University, outstanding service to the community, and exemplary character.

11 November 2021

Panelists of the 58th meeting of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs in Johannesburg, South Africa.

WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs opens meeting in Johannesburg with focus on helping to heal the world’s deep wounds

With the welcoming sound of South African drums, the 58th meeting of the World Council of Churches Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) began this week in Johannesburg, reviewing the work of the commission between two WCC assemblies and discussing the churches’ engagement in critical issues of the world today.

04 November 2021

WCC expresses grave concern over political situation in Sudan

The World Council of Churches (WCC) expressed grave concern over the current state of emergency in Sudan. “Government officials, including ministers and civilian members of the Transitional Sovereign Council, have been arrested,” said WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca. “It has also been reported that at least seven people have been killed and some 140 others injured after soldiers opened fire on demonstrators.”

29 October 2021

WCC’s Commission of the Churches on International Affairs will meet to prepare for the 11th WCC Assembly

The WCC’s Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) will meet on 2-6 November in Johannesburg and online, reviewing its work between the two WCC assemblies and preparing for the upcoming WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany.

28 October 2021