Displaying 1 - 20 of 83

As floods strike East Africa, church officials fear nature is hitting back

As climate change induced floods terrorize communities in East Africa, clerics and officials here fear that nature was hitting back.

Floods have struck Kenya and Tanzania, leaving behind a trail of death, destruction, and displacement. Floods are most intense in some of the same areas previously struck by a lengthy drought described by the UN as the worst in four decades.

Faith leaders in Tanzania vouch for disability health rights and services

As the world marks the 16 Days of Activism on Gender Based Violence, religious leaders, human rights activists, and development partners in Tanzania joined on 5 December to discuss the human rights of girls and women, including those with disabilities, in a forum titled “Wealth of Knowledge and a Wealth of Care.”

General consul of Bolivia visits WCC to strengthen collaborative work

On 29 April, general consul of Bolivia in Switzerland Efraín Chambi Copa visited the World Council of Churches (WCC), meeting with WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca and Rev. Dr Odair Pedroso Mateus, interim deputy general secretary and director of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order.

Amazon’s grave risks exacerbated by agri-plundering, proselytizing

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.

Church, relief agency officials highlight COVID-19 impacts on humanitarian response

Some church leaders and faith-based relief agencies are concerned that the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic may adversely affect humanitarian aid response, as the disease spreads in some of the vulnerable regions worldwide.
Although disruptions have not been felt yet, according to officials, there is a great potential the negative impacts will emerge, as the cases rise even in conflict countries, where the faith-based humanitarian agencies are the only movers of aid.

Moravian Church in Tanzania launches Thursdays in Black

Moravian women pastors and evangelists have said: “Enough is enough: no more rape and violence against women." Women leaders of the church marched in the streets of Mbeya town in Tanzania wearing black on Thursday to officially launch the Thursdays in Black global campaign to stand against rape and violence.

WCC general secretary meets with Indigenous representative from Latin America

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit met last week with Rev. Miguel Salanic, from Guatemala, in Geneva, Switzerland. They discussed the role of indigenous people as part of the living WCC fellowship and the preparations leading up to the WCC 11th Assembly to be held in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2021.

Mission and people with disabilities

How much is the mission of the church related to people with disabilities? These days we talk a lot about inclusive societies and churches. But, have we arrived there? Are our societies and churches taking seriously the problems and challenges that people with disabilities face on a daily basis? People with disabilities find themselves quite often at the margins of the societies and even of the churches.

Wind of change blows at Africa’s leading ecumenical body

A wave of change is blowing at the All Africa Conference of Churches, as the African ecumenical body implements a new five-year strategic plan. In an ambitious six pillar road map, the grouping of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, and indigenous churches has unveiled completely new areas of work, as it moves to inject new energy into older programmes. At the core of the strategy is effectiveness, efficiency and reliability for the ecumenical body, which is keen to deliver on its prophetic mission.

How will the Arusha Call change the world?

The Arusha Call to Discipleship is at once exhilarating, transformative and challenging to the point of discomfort for some, reflected leaders of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) during a 20 May press conference and book launch in Helsinki, Finland.