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Feature story
Conversation in a sign lanuage

Churches in Africa agree on guidelines for disability inclusion

“I have cerebral palsy spastic quadriplegia, meaning all of my limbs are severely affected by my cerebral. However, I am not defined by my cerebral palsy. There's much more to me than my cerebral palsy,” Julius Van Der Wat, a member of the Dutch Reformed Church in Pretoria, South Africa, told a recent churches’ disability conference in South Africa.

19 December 2023
Blog post
Improving financial literacy among rural women in Uganda

Women’s wellness and mental health as part of the mission of the church – a wounded healer’s balm

I received a call from a friend of mine - we both work as medical doctors and had earlier realised that our husbands, who are ministers in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, had been friends for years —this is one of the reasons that drew us to each other.  She had been attending the February meeting of the Methodist Women’s Prayer and Service Union (Manyano), Connexional Extended Executive Meeting. My friend said that the general president, Gretta Makhwenkwe, had appointed us to the Wellness Committee.

30 March 2023
Interview
Prof. Jace Pillay

Prof. Jace Pillay reflects on importance of churches in upholding children’s rights

Prof. Jace Pillay, South African research chair for Education and Care in Childhood at the University of Johannesburg, reflected on the importance of churches in ensuring the rights of children.

Twin brother of World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, Jace Pillay noted that South Africa has very good policies with regard to children’s rights —but in many areas those policies exist only on paper, as they are not implemented.

14 March 2023
Blog post
Fiji

My experience in Fiji

My name is Tobias Nissen, I am an 18-year-old UK / Danish dual national who has lived in France my whole life. I attended school in Geneva, Switzerland and during my final years of education, I wrote an essay about the effects that climate change is having on low-lying Pacific countries. From this point on my interest in the Pacific region grew, and when I received the opportunity to work as an intern for the Pacific Conference of Churches, in Fiji for 2 months, I knew that it would be an experience that I couldn’t miss.

22 June 2022
Interview
African man wearing a black medical face mask stands in front of a poster at a museum.

Rev. Frank Chikane: “You can’t do unity at the expense of justice”

When Rev. Frank Chikane was leading the South African Council of Churches in calling out injustices of the apartheid system, their work did not stop even after the council’s office building was bombed to the ground in 1980s. Moderating the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches (WCC) since 2016, Rev. Chikane has been engaged in addressing injustices in many parts of the world. WCC Communication asked Rev. Chikane to look back at his term at the commission and the ongoing calling of churches to address injustices in the world today.

13 January 2022
Interview
Rev. James Bhagwan

Pacific islands in peril, local churches' leader stresses before COP26

The Pacific islands are in grave danger and at the frontline of global climate change, so that is why the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, known as COP26, in Glasgow is so important for islanders, says Rev. James Bhagwan. He is general secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches, a Methodist minister based in Fiji, and visited Geneva on his way to COP26, in Scotland's biggest city, Glasgow, from 31 October to 12 November.

26 October 2021
Feature story
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, 2006, Photo: Paulino Menezes/WCC

Desmond Tutu turns 90 with an outpouring of love from the world

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, one of South Africa's most famous persons, has turned 90 with a Eucharist service celebration at Cape Town's St George's Cathedral, receiving an outpouring of love from around the world. Tutu made a rare public appearance on 7 October at the iconic Cape Town cathedral, the site of prayers and protests during the apartheid era, where he attended a special thanksgiving service.

12 October 2021
Interview
President of the Council of Protestant Churches in Cameroon

Cameroon conference on peace empowers religious leaders

A two-day conference in Buea, Cameroon, has empowered religious leaders to offer vital input into a peace plan in the divided nation. Rev. Samuel Fonki Forba, president of the Council of Protestant Churches in Cameroon, said that the conference helped religious leaders build their capacity in the area of peace.

30 November 2020