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World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit and a WCC delegation are visiting member churches in China from 7-16 January.

In a brief interview, Tveit describes the joy of uniting with the China Christian Council to begin celebration of the WCC’s 70th anniversary.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit and a WCC delegation will visit member churches in China 7-16 January. The historic visit will begin the celebration of the WCC’s 70th anniversary. The WCC delegation, in addition to Tveit, includes WCC Asia president Dr Sang Chang and Rev. Dr Peniel Rajkumar, WCC programme executive for Interreligious Dialogue.

Participants in a 7-11 December consultation on ecumenical diakonia held in Seoul, South Korea, didn’t just talk about the important concept of service. They also took time to visit local projects where Korean Christians are fleshing out their call to actively practice diakonia in the communities they serve.

At a consultation in Seoul on December 7-11, participants from churches throughout northeast Asia shared insights on diakonia and how vital it is to the nature and mission of the church.

"The world must listen to the people of Korea. They do not want war. They want peace.” Those are the words of Rev. Frank Chikane, moderator of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, as he reflected what was on the minds of several dozen people from all over the world who attended a videoconference on the Korea crisis on 5 October.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) on 14 September expressed its concern over the worsening situation of the Rohingya people in Myanmar.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, met with church leaders and politicians in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand last week. The meeting occurred almost one year after his latest visit to the region. On request of the church leaders a meeting took place with political leaders to discuss follow-up on the Paris Agreement, peace in the Middle East and on the Korean Peninsula, and the challenges the region is facing.

As the recent developments of nuclear weapons and increased tensions between United States and North Korea leaders can bring the world to the brink of war, churches around the world are calling for bilateral dialogue, expressing their commitment to peace and nonviolent resolution.

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) is the latest participating organization to announce it will join, on 13 August, a “Sunday of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula.”

Churches across the world are invited to show solidarity with Korean churches by joining the prayer, based on Romans 14:19: “Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

On 13 August, churches across the world are invited to show solidarity with Korean churches by joining a “Sunday of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula.”

In a moving worship service on 8 July in Bethanienkirche, Leipzig, Germany, a pastor from North Korea Rev. Kang Myong-chol, Chair of the Korean Christians Federation and a pastor from South Korea Rev. Kim Young-ju, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Korea presided over Holy Communion together, closing a meeting that underscored the need for urgent ecumenical responses to the dangerously escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula.

As a WCC-convened forum on peace on the Korean Peninsula came to a close, participants from around the world, representing many churches, vowed to work together in accompanying the Christians of North and South Korea in their efforts for peace, reconciliation, and development.

As a retired person in his late 60s, Frederick “Fred” Rainger often asks himself: ”what can I stop doing?” His days are filled with engagements in community activities and it hasn’t gotten any less busy since he became more involved in the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network (PIEN), a network of Australian Christians seeking lasting peace for the people of Palestine and Israel.

Friday evening when the leaders of the G20 states will be meeting in Hamburg and discussing global economic, social, environmental and political issues, the churches in Germany are inviting people in Germany and all over the world to a common peace prayer.

Around 60 participants from Christian churches all over the world gathered in Beit Sahour for peace consultations two weeks ago.

The World Council of Churches reiterates (WCC) the urgent appeal issued by its Executive Committee in June for “all states engaged in the perilously escalating military confrontation in the [Korean] region to refrain from further escalation and to pursue instead initiatives to reduce tensions and to create a window for new dialogue initiatives.”

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.

Two churches in North America have issued a joint Holy Week message lamenting that the Middle East remains marked by tragedy, while noting events in Egypt and Syria, but rejoicing in the hope that the resurrection of Jesus brings.

Responding to overnight missile attacks on a Syrian air force base by U.S. forces, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit on 7 April urged all parties in the conflict to cease hostilities and commit to peaceful negotiations toward a transitional governance within the framework of international law.

In the wake of news reports relaying an horrific chemical weapons attack in the Idlib Governance of Syria, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit called for a cultural shift in the region as he expressed deep sympathy to the families of the victims.