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In Africa, trade, aid and investments from the European Union (EU), United States (US) and China have not fully addressed the roots of poverty, inequality and ecological degradation. Churches, therefore, need to engage in a “development dialogue” to support alternative economic agendas, which can help eradicate poverty, while safeguarding Africa’s natural riches.

[Joint release with the Conference of European Churches (CEC)]

The WCC has announced the opening of its consolidated library housed at the Ecumenical Institute, in Bossey, Switzerland, near its Geneva offices.

Arrests of Palestinian civilians and vandalism of their homes at the hands of Israeli military forces is not a new phenomenon in the West Bank. Natalie Maxson, a volunteer for the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel speaks from her experience of meeting a family in Azzun faced with a similar situation.

Orthodox churches have reaffirmed their commitment to "unity, justice and peace" saying that the "supreme act of God`s love is the economy of salvation". This and other theological reflections were shared in an inter-Orthodox consultation in Kos, Greece this week.

It might seem like a trivial task to help with the logistical arrangements of a major meeting. However, for the “stewards” of the WCC, this task means more than merely helping out.

“Faith and Order has a long and significant history in the life of the ecumenical movement. Its two convergence texts, 'Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry' and now 'The Church: Towards a Common Vision', provide our member churches with the necessary theological tools towards the full communion of our common fellowship,” said Metropolitan Prof. Dr Gennadios of Sassima. Metropolitan Gennadios serves as vice-moderator of the WCC Central Committee.

Joakim Book Jonnson, a salesman for a security company and a member of the Church of Sweden, transformed his urban commuter life when he decided to leave, at least temporarily, no ecological footprint.

Transformative spiritualities and mission is a significant point of discussion at the pre-assembly event of the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) which is currently under way in Manila. Transformative spiritualities are also one of the constituent themes of the CWME statement on mission and evangelism that will be presented to the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Korea in 2013. Dr Rico Palaca Ponce, academic director of the Institute of Spirituality in Asia based in Quezon City, the Philippines, gave an interview on the topic on 23 March.

With more than 200 participants from around the globe, an event of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) starts today in Manila, the Philippines. Its aim is to seek renewed thinking on mission and evangelism, developing a draft of the WCC statement on mission and evangelism that succeeds a statement of thirty years ago.

"Divisions between churches remain a scandal that we have to overcome," Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit general secretary of the World Council of Churches said today at an ecumenical preparatory event for the "Pilgrimage of the Holy Robe".

A groundbreaking agreement was announced Wednesday making all students attending the WCC’s Ecumenical Institute at Bossey eligible to receive an accredited certificate from the University of Geneva.

The general secretary of the WCC has offered his greetings, solidarity and a message of peace to the Muslim leaders of the world as they end the month of Ramadan.

“Among the many challenges that we face in the search for Christian unity is the need to overcome divisions and prejudices that exclude one another,” Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC said to the 22nd Pentecostal World Conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

In a congratulatory letter to the Rev. Geoffrey A. Black, who was installed as General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ on 17 April, the WCC general secretary underscored the significance of this member church.

The endowment of two new scholarship funds geared towards facilitating studies at the Ecumenical Institute of the WCC was celebrated at the graduation ceremony for the 61st session of the institute's Graduate School of Ecumenical Studies on 3 February.

The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia has congratulated Bishop Dr Margot Kässmann on her election as chairperson of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany. In a 28 October letter to Kässmann, Kobia highlighted her "exceptional participation" and "many years of commitment […] to ecumenism and to the WCC", and expressed the conviction that under her leadership the EKD will "continue to flourish and be a significant actor in German society in the years to come".

A conference on "Promised Land" that aired different theological approaches to this key issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has given church leaders and theologians new views to take home to their churches. Some participants said their outlook had been changed by the "constructive confrontation" at the World Council of Churches (WCC) event.

The German Protestant aid agency Brot für die Welt has handed a steering wheel, symbol of its water campaign, over to the WCC, thus symbolically handing responsibility for this concern and a newly formed Ecumenical Water Network.