As preparations continue for the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2022, pre-assemblies are taking shape as well. Planners are working to create an experience in which people can work together in transformational ways.
A “Go for Gender Justice” initiative was launched by the Protestant Church in Germany in Berlin on 1 February with calls for overcoming gender clichés and traditional role models. Germany’s "First Lady,” the judge Elke Büdenbender called on women and men to fight together for social change. Under the motto "Go for Gender Justice,” nine regional churches invited people to move together toward gender equality.
Gathered at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey on 27 January, a group of more than 30 Bossey students joined faculty members, partners and friends of Bossey in celebrating the experience of “a school of life,” as they earned their post-graduate Certificates in Ecumenical Studies.
A lively webinar ushered in the long-anticipated publication “A History of the Desire for Christian Unity: Vol 1: Dawn of Ecumenism,” the first of three volumes on the history of ecumenism.
As Norwegian Church Aid continued a digital visit with its global partners, leaders from the organization met with the World Council of Churches (WCC) to discuss creative responses to the world’s increasing needs, and the vital role of church leaders in those responses.
Registrations are open for a World Council of Churches webinar on 19 January that will launch the first volume of a major new history of ecumenism produced by a team of academics and scholars coordinated by the Italian-based Foundation for Religious Studies(FSCIRE).
A compilation of the most-read stories published by the World Council of Churches (WCC) reveals a global fellowship focused on a better future even amid the grave challenges the world faced during 2021.
Middle East Council of Churches secretary general Dr Michel Abs welcomed World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca on 14 December at the headquarters of the Middle East Council of Churches General Secretariat in Beirut. The president of the National Evangelical Union in Lebanon and president of the Council for the Evangelical Family, H.E. Rev. Dr Habib Badr, as well the General Secretariat team in Beirut, also received Sauca.
On 15 December, Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches paid a visit to His Beatitude John X, Patriarch of the Antioch and All the East at the patriarchal residence in Balamand, Lebanon.
Quilt panels have been on display at the Siuntio parish in Finland, with colorful drawings and thought provoking and inspiring words. "'No' does not mean 'convince me'", reads one panel. Another reads, simply, “Courage. Dignity. Hope. Trust.”
On 9 December, Pope Francis received in a private audience World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, accompanied by Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
When the World Council of Churches (WCC) launched the Programme to Combat Racism after years of in-depth theological reflections and prayer in 1971, South Africa's insidious racist apartheid policies were in full throw. The programme brought the WCC into the world's spotlight. Yet racism did not start 50 years ago. And it did not end with the casting out of apartheid at the end of the 20th century. During that era, figures such as Nobel Peace Prize laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela fought racism in society and the church.
An online conference, “The Future of Interfaith Dialogue,” held 7-8 December, discussed principles for common formation as a vital element for the future of interfaith dialogue. Via panel discussion, participants discussed how the future of interfaith dialogue is best accomplished by encouraging common formation in which people, especially young people, of different faiths learn together with a common goal, and in the course of the learning discover more about each other.
The feast of St Andrew, the first-called apostle, founder of the Church of Constantinople according to the tradition, is honored as the Thronal Feast of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. At this occasion, a solemn celebration took place at the Patriarchal Church of St George at Phanar, Istanbul, on 30 November.
World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca visited the Church of Norway on 23 November, expressing joy at being able to see the church offices for the first time and for the church’s support leading up to the WCC 11th Assembly.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee closed its meeting after convening from 12-17 November, leaving with a sense of hope, even while publicly expressing grave concern over many global injustices facing the world today.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is publishing the first of a series of Bible studies that lead up to the WCC 11th Assembly in 2022 in Karlsruhe, Germany.
At an event called “Ecumenical Continuing Formation: Youth, Transformative Masculinity
and Femininity,” young people from the Pacific gathered from 15-19 November, both online and in-person, to express their honest feelings about the issues most important to them.
