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The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee will meet in Amman, Jordan from 17-23 November to approve the 2018 plans and budget, prepare for renewal of the WCC strategic plan, to discern the way forward for the WCC’s involvement in Palestine and Israel for justice and peace by learning more about the particular situation in Jordan and the Middle East, then discussing the challenges of the churches and the WCC response. The Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem, All Palestine and Jordan, Theophilos III, will welcome the group.

Together with the heads of the Coptic, Syrian, Armenian and Indian Orthodox Churches, the Evangelical Church in Germany celebrated on Saturday evening in Berlin an ecumenical prayer for Christians in the Middle East. The jointly prepared service was the highlight of a historic visit. For the first time, Pope Tawadros II, Patriarch Ignatius Afrem II, Catholicos Karekin II and Catholicos Baselios Morthoma Paulose II visited together in Germany to inform political and church representatives on the bad and sad situation in the region of origin of Christianity.

Schon seit über 20 Jahren bestehen Beziehungen zwischen dem Ökumenischen Rat der Kirchen (ÖRK) und dem Zentrum für interreligiösen Dialog in Teheran (Iran). Das neueste Ergebnis dieser Beziehung ist der daraus entstandene Kontakt zur Universität für Religionen und Konfessionen in der iranischen heiligen Stadt Ghom.

Relations between the WCC and the Centre for Interreligious Dialogue in Tehran go back more than 20 years. One recent fruit of this relationship has been the developing links between the WCC and the University of Religions and Denominations in the Iranian holy city of Qom.

From a photo “exhibition of hope,” to worship resources, to an opportunity for people and churches to share their personal expressions of hope, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is offering an invitation and accompanying resources to celebrate the World Week of Peace in Palestine and Israel on 17-24 September.

At a meeting at the Centre for Interreligious Dialogue in Tehran, Iran on 20-23 August, delegations from the World Council of Churches and the Iranian Shia community gathered, with a sense of warmth and a willingness for deep exchange, for a bilateral dialogue.

Die Kirche muss ein sicherer Ort sein, an dem sündige Menschen aufgenommen werden, um aus ihren Fehlern zu lernen und sich zu ändern, und an dem diejenigen, denen Wunden zugefügt wurden, ihren Schmerz teilen und eine Zuflucht finden können, sagt Maria Dous, Medizinstudentin aus Ägypten. Im Juli nahm sie an einem Seminar teil, das vom Ökumenischen Netzwerks zur Stärkung von Frauen afrikanischer Herkunft (PAWEEN) veranstaltet wurde.

Church must be a safe place where sinners are welcome to learn and change, and where the wounded can share their pains and find refuge, says Maria Dous, a medical student from Egypt. In July, she participated in a seminar organized by the Pan African Women’s Ecumenical Empowerment Network at the WCC's Ecumenical Institute Bossey.

Um der Sache des Friedens willen fordern die Kirchenleitenden in Jerusalem die Aufrechterhaltung des historischen Status quo und den Zugang zur Al-Aqsa-Moschee und ihrem Innenhof sowie zu anderen heiligen Stätten in der Stadt.

For the sake of peace, church leaders in Jerusalem are calling to maintain the historical status quo on the historical designation allowing access to al-Aqsa Mosque and its courtyard, as well as other Holy Sites in the city.

For Dr Vahid Sohrabifar from Iran’s city of Qom, attending the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Interreligious Studies at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey was inspiring due to the diversity he encountered on the course.

The World Council of Churches organised in June 2017 a pilgrimage in the Holy Land for eight young Christians from all over the world. Participants said it was a unique experience to discover biblical and spiritual places.

The Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) in Egypt is working on an advanced gender approach. In a country which is facing enormous challenges, more than ever a development agency has to be up to date on the needs of the people.

Nayla Tabbara is a Sunni Muslim scholar. Fadi Daou is a Maronite priest and theologian. Both are from Lebanon. Together they have discovered something startling about God.

100 Jahre nach der Balfour-Deklaration und 50 Jahre nach der israelischen Besetzung palästinensischer Gebiete, die im Sechstagekrieg 1967 erobert worden waren, hat der Exekutivausschuss des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen (ÖRK) das anhaltende Unvermögen der beteiligten Parteien beklagt, einen gerechten Frieden zu schließen, und darauf hingewiesen, dass diese Besetzung auch ein „unauslöschlicher Makel auf dem Gewissen der internationalen Gemeinschaft ist", die nicht in der Lage sei, dieses Problem zu lösen.

Writing 100 years after the Balfour Declaration and fifty years after Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories captured in the 1967 War, the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) executive committee lamented the ongoing failure of the parties to seek just peace and remarked on “an indelible stain on the conscience of members of the international community” for their failure to resolve the situation.

Reconciliation was once primarily seen as a message of the church but is now used by secular leaders trying to establish peace in communities torn by conflict and war, the WCC president for Africa, the Rev. Mary Anne Plaatjies van Huffel, has said at a major Protestant gathering in Germany.

Der ÖRK ruft Christinnen und Christen in der ganzen Welt auf, im Rahmen eines Pfingstgottesdienstes für einen gerechten Frieden im Heiligen Land zu beten.e.

The WCC is calling on Christians worldwide to join in prayer for just peace in the Holy Land by taking part in a Pentecost prayer service.

As Berit Hagen Agöy visited St Peter and St Paul’s Church in Cairo, Egypt last week, her sadness was mixed with hope.