I received a call from a friend of mine - we both work as medical doctors and had earlier realised that our husbands, who are ministers in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, had been friends for years —this is one of the reasons that drew us to each other. She had been attending the February meeting of the Methodist Women’s Prayer and Service Union (Manyano), Connexional Extended Executive Meeting. My friend said that the general president, Gretta Makhwenkwe, had appointed us to the Wellness Committee.
Amid a rising death toll, hundreds missing, and concerns over slow rescue services in Malawi’s cyclone disaster, the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), United Methodist Church, and many other churches are appealing for support to aid populations affected by the weather phenomenon.
We mark 4 March as World Obesity Day. Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a health risk. Obesity has more than tripled since 1975, and more than 1 billion people are obese in the world today.
In the search for true repentance and liberation, Africa needs to acknowledge its complicity in slave trade, says Rev. Fidon Mwombeki, general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches.
Shamsa Abubakar Fadhil, a recipient of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, is a household name in peace building and community mobilisation in the Kenyan coastal region.
As South Sudan readied to welcome visiting world Christian leaders, church officials in the country articulated a range of expectations, including a strong call for peace and reconciliation.
As Christians in Africa joined the celebrations to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, a Roman Catholic priest who is involved in ecumenism, stressed the unity of the churches as central to building a concrete response to poor people’s need for justice in the continent.
Every Monday, staff and students at the Joshua and Timothy School of Theology, St Paul’s University, in Limuru Kenya hold their weekly fellowship during which they hold prayers, Bible study, and theological debates, and sometimes celebrate holy communion together.
Church leaders in the Philippines gathered in an ecumenical memorial service in Manila on 21 September, the 50th anniversary of the imposition of martial law, to solemnly recall people of faith who were tortured and killed during the brutal regime of president Ferdinand Marcos.
As Loyce Maturu shared her story of growing up in Zimbabwe at an interfaith breakfast in New York City on 22 September, she held herself up as an example that faith communities really can make a difference for children who have HIV.
A consultation for theological institutions in Uganda, held 12-15 September, harnessed the contribution of theological institutions in promoting gender equity in the context of HIV and sexual and gender-based violence.
Ushered into the venue of the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany, one finds a sanctuary, a safe space under the canopy of yellow leaves. Under the shade of trees with leaves slowly going through the withering process is the springing of hope for a better world engaged in conversations and dialogues that promote life at its fullness.
At the World Council of Churches 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe Germany, Jackcilia Salathiel Ebere will be carrying the voices of women from South Sudan who are crying for peace and justice.
At ecumenical prayers in the capital city, Juba, South Sudanese church leaders called for unity, peace, and reconciliation, as their nation continued to struggle with instability and conflict, a decade after independence.
The general secretary-elect of the World Council of Churches (WCC) believes that growing up during a period of conflict and suffering in South Africa will stand him in good stead when he takes up his position as the head of the ecumenical body in January as a leader who believes in dialogue.
Elisama Wani Daniel, from the Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, spoke about the prophetic role of the church in helping the people of South Sudan, which he describes as “a country that has gone through many struggles in its history.”
On World Food Safety Day, clerics and farmers in Kenya reflected about aflatoxin—a group of poisons found in maize and peanuts—that continue to cause deaths and related diseases in the East African country.
In drought-stricken regions in eastern Africa, churches and church congregations continue to pray for rain, as the weather conditions leave millions of people without food, water and pasture for their animals.
As the war in Ukraine triggers an unexpected rise in food and commodity prices in African markets, church leaders are reaching out to communities struggling with food insecurity and shortages.