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At an ecumenical conference on 10 December in Stuttgart, Germany, commemorating 50 years of combatting racism, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit offered reflections on mission and on combatting racism. He also met with Bishop Frank Otfried July from the Evangelische Landeskirche in Wuerttemberg.

Bishop Petra Bosse-Huber, from the Evangelical Church in Germany, is also a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee. WCC Communication spoke to her about preparations for the WCC 11th Assembly, to be held in 2021 in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Thirty years ago, on 9 November 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell, the Nicolaikirche in Leipzig had gained a reputation as a gathering point for events signalling the end of an era of communist rule in what was then East Germany.

As the Waldensian Methodist Synod met in Torre Pelisse in the north of Italy, the assembled delegates received a letter from Pope Francis, who expressed warm greetings.

“I pray for each of you that you may experience the Holy Spirit in these days of encounter, prayer and reflection,” wrote Pope Francis. “Please allow me to join in your prayer that the Lord would deepen the ecumenical spirit among Christians and lead our churches into a growing communion with each other.”

The 10th World Assembly of Religions for Peace is convening in Lindau, Germany, this week. The multi-religious gathering is being organized from 20-23 August in partnership with the Foundation Peace Dialogue of the World Religions and Civil Society.

As the Worship Assembly Planning Committee had its first meeting in Baden, Germany from 5-11 July, prayer was at the forefront for becoming the heartbeat of the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th assembly in Karlsruhe in September 2021.

The Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz hosted an international conference on “The Many Faces of Jesus Christ: Contextual Christology in a New World Come of Age.” Meeting from July 4-6 on the university campus, the conference brought together 20 scholars from Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America to listen to and debate new developments in Christology from around the world. Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal and Reformed theologians made presentations on Christology, as reflected in theological writings, poetry, art, music and murals, and lived experience.

Conversations at the World Council of Churches (WCC) exhibition booth at the Kirchentag showed there is a growing interest in ecumenical movement among German churches. The topics of a particularly high interest were the Thursdays in Black campaign and studies at the Ecumenical institute in Bossey.

Unity, justice and peace – three values held together in love – are the focus of the WCC Staff Planning Days on 9-12 April. Led by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the gathering maps the WCC’s critical contributions in a world full of challenges.

A group of churches from Germany’s west inspired by the quest for justice and peace presented an ecumenical exhibition showing how “Peace takes a different way” at the World Council of Churches in Geneva.

A conference in Berlin has recalled how in 1989 an ecumenical assembly mobilised dissent in the former East Germany in the run-up to a peaceful revolution that led to the collapse of communism and the end of the Berlin Wall.

Last week a delegation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) led by Metropolitan Prof. Dr Gennadios of Sassima, vice-moderator of the WCC Central Committee and moderator of the Assembly Planning Committee, and Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, visited Karlsruhe, Germany, where the WCC 11th Assembly will be held in September 2021.

As it concluded its meeting in Cyprus, held from 9-16 January, the WCC Assembly Planning Committee released a report to the WCC Executive Committee detailing building blocks for the 11th WCC Assembly, to be held in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2021.

A special locomotive bearing the motto of the 2019 Kirchentag, Germany’s biggest regular Protestant festival, will travel the length and breadth of the country as a “rolling ambassador” for the event that takes place this year in June in the western German city of Dortmund.

In a speech at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Assembly Planning Committee (APC) meeting in Cyprus this week, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit reflected on the theme of the upcoming WCC 11th Assembly, “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee has decided upon the theme for its 11th Assembly, to be held in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2021. “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity” will be the theme used in development of programmes and other preparations.

‘History’ and ‘Time’ were the thirteenth and fourteenth subjects covered in a workshop which took place in Erlangen, Germany, 12-14 December as part of a project “Key Concepts in Interreligious Discourses.”

Many ecumenical pioneers, including former WCC general secretary Philip Potter, were in a sense a product of the Sunday School movement. Ulrich Becker tells a story that seems to be in danger of being forgotten.

Pilgrims coming from Germany, Italy and Norway ended their journeys for climate justice on 7 December upon arrival at the St Stephen’s Church in Katowice, Poland, where the United Nations (UN) climate conference is underway. They were warmly welcomed by the delegations of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) that are attending the 24th Conference of Parties of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24).

The World Council of Churches (WCC), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), ACT Alliance and the German Protestant development service Bread for the World are appealing to world leaders to take swift and coordinated action to limit global warming to 1.5°C degrees as a humanitarian and ethical obligation.