Our series of interviews with Thursdays in Black ambassadors highlights those who are playing a vital role in increasing the impact of our collective call for a world without rape and violence. Rev. Sally Azar is a pastor at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and currently serves as a pastor in Jerusalem for both Arabic and English-speaking congregations.
As part of a new program specifically for girls within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America through its Ecumenical Department, a group of 13 young women participated in advocacy at the UN in conjunction with the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68).
When COVID-19 brought its dark cloud of sickness, fear, and anxiety to his corner of the UK, Rev. Harvey Richardson decided to embrace his friends with the light of prayer.
The Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches (WCC) to be held in Egypt will offer participants an opportunity to gain a sense of the deep Christian spirituality of the region, according to Bishop Anba Suriel of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
In an annual audience during the ongoing Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Bishop Bo-Göran Åstrand of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland gifted a pair of gloves to Pope Francis, described as “a modest gift, to warm the Pope’s hands in an otherwise cold world.”
Communication from the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 2023 involved prophetic storytelling and growing channels to highlight justice, reconciliation, and unity across the world.
The world needs a “reformation of hope and confidence,” according to the moderator of the central committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, giving the Otto Karrer lecture in Lucerne, Switzerland.
As the World Council of Churches celebrates its 75th anniversary, a series of feature stories from different regions of the world will portray ecumenism at the local level—within churches, communities, and individuals who embody the spirit of ecumenism in unique ways. The feature story below offers a glimpse of some facets of ecumenism present in Germany.
When Rev. Rita Famos became involved in the youth programmes of her local congregation in Bern, Switzerland, back in the early 1980s, a lifelong commitment to the Reformed Church and the ecumenical movement started to evolve.
“Hospitality is one of our main values,” said president of the Protestant Church in Switzerland Rev. Rita Famos as she welcomed members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee to a reception at the Ecumenical Centre on 23 June.
Exclusive interview: World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay shares details on a recent meeting with Patriarch Kirill, including topics discussed at the meeting, what the WCC contributed to the dialogue, and steps forward.
Pastor Joachim Leberecht, from Herzogenrath/Germany, has won the international Menno Simons Sermon Award from the Center for Peace Church Theology (University of Hamburg) together with the Mennonite congregation Hamburg-Altona.
There is an old Lutheran adage that to be Lutheran is to be ecumenical, so the theme of the upcoming Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) taking place in Poland, "One Body, One Spirit, One Hope,” is seen as totally appropriate for the times.
Dr Jørgen Skov Sørensen, general secretary of the Conference of European Churches, reflects on hopes for the upcoming assembly Tallinn in June, as well as on the role churches play amid the conflict in Ukraine.
In his first address after his election on 19 April 2005, Pope Benedict XVI pledged to work for the full and visible unity of all of Christ’s followers, Dr Stephen G. Brown, editor of the World Council of Churches journal The Ecumenical Review, has recalled in an address to a symposium in Dublin.
Can ecumenical peacebuilding guide the way towards shared interests in the Russia-Ukraine war, which exemplifies the clash of fundamentally different value systems, ethical frameworks, and historical narratives? Peter Prove, director of the WCC’s Commission of the Churches on International Affairs reflects on the issue in the inaugural edition of Geneva Policy Outlook, a new online publication.
A group of Ecumenical Accompaniers completed their service in Palestine and Israel, handing their ministry over to the next wave, and celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at the same time.
The Interfaith Alliance, based in the USA, has published a new report, ““Big Tech, Hate, and Religious Freedom Online,” that works to educate people about the uniquely damaging impact of bigotry and hate.
Christians in New York City opened the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on 18 January by participating in a worship service at the Interchurch Center, an office building that houses many church-related organizations and many others focused on intercultural and religious exchange. The service was infused with themes of justice and unity, both from a perspective of African-American history and the urging of Christians today to put their faith into action.
Rev. Dr Curtiss Paul DeYoung, co-chief executive officer of the Minnesota Council of Churches, helped convene the team of authors for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity materials. Below, he reflects on the challenges and hopes the team brought to the table as they composed the text.