Early struggles in developing a response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic were remembered by African women church leaders who gathered in Nairobi, Kenya to celebrate more than 30 years of their Christian ministry in the churches of their region.
African theologians and ordained women know that in addition to all they have accomplished in the past 50 years, HIV and AIDS remains a persistent challenge.
A group of participants from a conference in Kenya celebrating more than 30 years of women's ministry in African churches were welcomed in worship on Sunday 22 June by the African Israel Nineveh Church, a WCC member church.
Women from churches across Africa have gathered in Kenya to focus on the achievements, challenges and opportunities of women's ministry in African churches over the past 30 years, as well as their responses to the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
An urgent call for protection of human rights, peace and security in the Middle East and South Sudan was recently issued by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA at its first Christian Unity Gathering from 18 to 20 May in Washington, D.C.
A court sentence in Sudan ordering flogging and the death penalty for Mariam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag has prompted an expression of “profound concern” from Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, who has urged President Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir to “prevent the implementation of this unjust and unconscionable sentence.”
After bombings on 21 May in the northern Nigerian city of Jos, in which more than one-hundred people have been killed, “heart-felt sorrow and condolences” have been expressed in a joint statement by the WCC general secretary and Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan.
Church leaders, who were part of the negotiations between South Sudan's president Salva Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar, now urge that the peace agreement come into immediate effect, ending a five-month conflict in the world’s newest country.
Church leaders from South Sudan are arriving in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, all set to take part in the start of negotiations between South Sudan's president Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar. The negotiations aim to find solutions for the world’s newest nation, reeling from violence since last year that has left thousands dead and millions homeless.
The abduction of more than 250 young women by the Boko Haram fighters in Nigeria has prompted “profound concern” from the WCC, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. In his letter to Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, Tveit encouraged “swift and peaceful” action to restore these students back to their homes.
“The senseless war in South Sudan must end now,” said the WCC general secretary, following the pastoral visit of a high-level ecumenical delegation to local churches in Juba, South Sudan on 2 May.
National elections, gender-based violence, environmental issues and human rights in the Democratic Republic in Congo (DRC) were in focus during a two-day forum organized by the member churches of the WCC in the DRC.
African churches must confidently step into the lives of minority groups suffering from HIV and AIDS supporting them irrespective of their circumstances, said, author of A Walk at Midnight: Journeying with Abused Women and Girls towards inner Dignity and Wholeness, Catherine Mumbi Wanjohi, known for her work with sex workers facing the threat of HIV and AIDS in Kenya.
A high-level ecumenical delegation representing church organizations will arrive in Juba, South Sudan on Friday, 2 May, amidst continuing conflict in the country with an imminent threat of widespread hunger and malnutrition among its people. The delegation will meet with church leaders and government officials, urging immediate actions for peace and reconciliation.
In an ecumenical service organized by the Congolese churches and hosted by the Disciples of Christ parish in Lemba, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, shared reflections on the resurrection of Christ which, he said, holds particular significance for the DRC, known by some as a “forgotten country with forgotten problems”.
In his Easter reflections, the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit called this year an “opportunity for shared testimony to the Resurrection” since churches from both eastern and western traditions of Christianity will celebrate Easter on the same day, Sunday 20 April.
Dawn Karungari Gikandi, a 31-year-old Kenyan, has been ordained as a minister by the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, a member church of the WCC. Gikandi is among only a few people who are both women theologians and persons with physical disability who serve the church as an ordained pastor.
A communiqué adopted at a WCC consultation describes human trafficking as a “serious human rights violation” and its consequences are “most horrific results of the economic and social disparities that increase the vulnerability of millions of people”.
