As the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting commenced in Davos beginning 15 January, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay urged the gathering to renew its commitment to multilateral cooperation for the longer-term good of all people.
The forum is convening under the theme “Rebuilding Trust.”
The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) publication highlights the lessons learnt from the project Strategic Engagement of Civil Society Networks and Faith Actors in the HIV Response in India, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, and Jamaica.
On 1 December, World AIDS Day will mark more than 40 years since the first outbreak of the epidemic; however, in 2021, every two minutes, an adolescent girl or young woman (15-24 years old) acquired HIV.
A World Council of Churches (WCC) consultation in Jamaica sparked an open discussion between faith leaders delegated by the Jamaican Council of Churches, people living with HIV, UNAIDS, and local health ministers, all of whom agreed to strengthen their commitment to a fair an just response to HIV and AIDS.
A conference focusing on water for human rights and sustainable development will be held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and online on 3-4 November.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is beginning a project with local partners in four countries—India, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, and Jamaica—to bring back HIV and AIDS response to the national agendas, this time with a focus on sustainability.
On 8 June, at a meeting of the 2050Today initiative in Geneva, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca spoke about the WCC’s pioneering work on climate change as well as its current Green Village sustainable development project.
World Council of Churches (WCC) specialized ministries and roundtable partners are gathering on 3-4 May at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute for a “Working Together” meeting filled with a spirit of interconnected learning and preparation for the WCC 11th Assembly.
An ecumenical prayer service on World AIDS Day, to be observed 1 December, will focus on the theme “Overcoming Inequalities With Justice and Love,” a special emphasis in the context of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, which runs from 25 November until 10 December.
A group of intern ministers from the Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago (PCTT)—including Cynara Dube-Sookoo, Bjorn Warde, and Robert Dinnoo—worked with PCTT synod moderator Rt. Rev. Joy E. Abdul-Mohan to produce a video about how young people and churches can lead the way toward climate justice.
As the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee convened on 12 November—face-to-face for the first time in two years—the governing body began its deliberations with a sense of reimagining the future by tracing some positive trends and opportunities born out of the grief-filled COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting is taking place in a hybrid fashion at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute and on video conference.
COP26 is in full swing, and I manage to follow it from my desk at home, thanks to digital technology. This is one positive thing we learned from COVID-19: we don’t need to fly around the world anymore. That is…provided there is good internet connection, which is not always the case in all countries.
The 5th Ecumenical Pilgrimage for Climate Justice from Poland to Glasgow crossed the English Channel from IJmuiden in the Netherlands to Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England on 11 October. They were given a warm welcome on site.
Bishop Johan Tyrberg and a delegation from the Church of Sweden in Lund visited the World Council of Churches on 22-23 September, participating in a morning prayer for Christian unity, receiving a guided tour and discussing the theme of the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly, “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity.”
On 21 September, representatives of the Rassemblement des Eglises Chrétiennes de Genève (Ecumenical Assembly of Churches of Geneva) promoted a prayer service at the chapel of the Ecumenical Center to celebrate Season of Creation, a time to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment together.
It seems strange to put Switzerland in a line with other countries affected by climate change: not because we don’t suffer from climate change as well but because we, as Swiss people, should be very aware of how our problems stand in relation to our wealth.
As reports of casualties and loss grow in Haiti in the wake of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake on 14 August, a tropical depression was threatening the same area two days later.
As people across the world celebrated Earth Day, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Water Network joined in prayers for the earth, water and land, and God’s gift of creation.
God’s creation groans in the Amazon forest, a sacred space for 34 million people suffering from the growth of inequality, land invasion, extractivism, relaxation of environmental laws, criminalization and murder of its defenders, and arson orchestrated by agribusiness—all of it made worse by proselytizing.
A WCC support team is online and ready to help WCC member churches as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. The team—comprised of experts in different facets of faith-related pandemic response—is here for you, said WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca. “These are people who can serve as a tremendous support to the WCC fellowship,” said Sauca.