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Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser has been on an ecumenical journey for most of his adult life, which spans 80 years. The former WCC general secretary relates some of this pilgrimage in his newest publication, “The Challenge of Transformation: An Ecumenical Journey.” On 5 February, shortly after Raiser’s birthday, ecumenical experts from different generations, confessions and continents met in Geneva to discuss the newest publication by the man who led the WCC from 1993 to 2003.

Dk. Agnes Abuom, kutoka katika kanisa la Angalikana nchini Kenya, ni msimamizi wa kamati kuu ya Baraza la Makanisa Duniani (WCC). Yeye pia ndiye aliyeandika utangulizi katika kitabu kitakachotumika katika Mkutano wa WCC kuhusu Umisheni na Uinjilisti Duniani (CWME). Maelezo hapa chini, yanamuonesha Dk. Abuom akiwa katika mahojiano yanayogusia mambo mbali mbali kuhusu umuhimu wa kihistoria na maudhui ya mkutano huu wa CWME, ambao utafanyika Arusha, Tanzania mwezi Machi, tarehe 8-13.

It’s 70 years since the World Council of Churches was founded in Amsterdam on 23 August. In addition to a commemoration service in Amsterdam on 23 August, the WCC, its member churches and partners are planning a variety of events to move forward on our ongoing Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, and at the same time honour and learn from these 70 years of ecumenical endeavour. Dr Abuom, from the Anglican Church of Kenya, is the moderator of the WCC Central Committee. She is the first woman and the first African in the position in WCC’s history. In an interview, she reflects on the evolution of the WCC in the past 70 years.

After an historic meeting in South Africa in June 2017, study groups within the WCC Faith and Order Commission are using theological reflection as a tool to build unity between churches. The questions Faith and Order considers are not abstract issues but, in many contexts across the world, matters of life and death.

As the World Council of Churches prepares to hold its next Conference on World Mission and Evangelism in Arusha, Tanzania in 2018, the latest issue of the International Review of Mission focuses on insights on mission from Africa, reflecting the diversity of African perspectives.

A delegation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) participated in a service marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation at the Ilboru parish of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCT) in Arusha, Tanzania.

Fifty church development practitioners and leaders as well as organisations for persons with disabilities in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda met in Nairobi, Kenya from 9-13 October to share their experiences on disability inclusion in church development programmes and to explore strategies to ensure inclusion of persons with disabilities in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The meeting was organised by WCC Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network Project on Disability Inclusion in Development.

During a solidarity visit in Kenya on 10-12 October, leaders from the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee met with Kenyan church representatives, expressed their support for Kenyan churches working toward peace and justice, and deepened their vision for future WCC events, including the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism set for March 2018.

At a pre-conference held 11-15 September in Kenya, representatives from the World Council of Churches and the All Africa Conference of Churches focused on the theme “Dignity and Transforming Discipleship: Implications for African World Mission”.

Participants at the Africa Pre-Conference of the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism, arrived in black clothing on 14 September to act in solidarity with the worldwide “Thursdays in Black" campaign.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is inviting proposals for workshops to be conducted at the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism (WMC), which will take place from 8-13 March 2018 in Arusha, Tanzania, under the theme “Moving in the Spirit: Called to Transforming Discipleship”.

The Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in South Africa is currently striving to revive and enhance its missional identity with its core aspect being a church for Africa, said DRC general secretary Dr Gustav Claassen.

“Before being identified as a person with disability, you are a woman with the same rights,” said Hellen Anurika Udoye Beyioku-Alase, a young woman with a disability. She was among some 70 women who gathered at the Swiss International Hotel in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, on 22-23 June around the theme “Women with Disabilities, Sexual Reproductive Health and HIV.”

For the World Council of Churches Comission on Faith and Order, meeting in South Africa this year holds special significance. In 1960 a WCC meeting with member churches in the country was followed by a parting of ways with one of those churches for more than half a century, over the question of apartheid.

The World Council of Churches Commission on Faith and Order will begin an 8-day meeting this week in Pretoria, South Africa, dedicating an opening ceremony to youth, reflecting on their struggles with past injustices and noting their key role in opening gateways to the future.

The first ever WCC Eco-School on Water, Food and Climate Justice will be held 24 July to 3 August, hosted by the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Blantyre Synod. Applications are now open with a deadline of 11 June (deadline extended).

“Macha's contribution to improving the lives of blind, partially sighted and other persons with disabilities both in Africa and around the world was remarkable,” said Dr Penny Hartin, CEO, World Blind Union, upon learning the death of Dr Elly Macha.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit joined others in congratulating Prof. Jürgen Moltmann for receiving an honorary doctorate of divinity degree on 5 April from the Theological Faculty of Pretoria University, South Africa.

Greta Nania-Montoya Ortega has an enthusiastic message for young people considering signing up for the 2018 Global Ecumenical Theological Institute (GETI): “Do not miss this unique opportunity. It will change your life!”

At the initiative of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network, the Church of Uganda is now including persons with disabilities in its “Empowering youth and women for sustainable livelihoods” project. This project, which is being implemented by the church’s Planning, Development and Rehabilitation Department in the Busoga Diocese, aims at impacting and improving household incomes through farming skills and management ethics for sustainability.