Search results

Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee, has been awarded an honorary doctorate from VID Specialized University, one of Norway’s largest private universities.

Dr. Agnes Abuom, moderator of the WCC Central Committee, offered a speech entitled “A Clarion Christian Call to Justice and Peace: Ending Global Inequality and Climate injustice” at the Justice Conference in Oslo, Norway on 9 November.

A delegation from the Evangelical Church in Germany is visiting the WCC on 26-27 October for an ecumenical learning experience that includes prayers with students from the Bossey Ecumenical Institute, an introduction and overview of the work of the WCC, a meeting with the Lutheran World Federation, and a guided tour of the Ecumenical Centre.

Last week, around 500 youth workers and leaders from churches all over Norway gathered outside Oslo for a youth and faith conference to learn and to share knowledge and visions on Christian youth work.

At a global conference on xenophobia in Rome, a panel of four religious leaders from, respectively, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Islamic traditions, spoke candidly about how xenophobia can sometimes be woven deeply into the fabric of these traditions.

Through an ecumenical Sunday service, Norwegian churches celebrated the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches on 26 August.

Matthew Ross, World Council of Churches programme executive for Diakonia and Capacity Building, spoke at the opening of the academic year at VID University in Oslo, Norway on 13 August.

"I think it is wonderful that ICAN won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, we really need this when we see what today’s superpowers are doing. We all want peace on earth!"

It’s 70 years since the World Council of Churches was founded in Amsterdam on 23 August. In addition to a commemoration service in Amsterdam on 23 August, the WCC, its member churches and partners are planning a variety of events to move forward on our ongoing Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, and at the same time honour and learn from these 70 years of ecumenical endeavour. Dr Abuom, from the Anglican Church of Kenya, is the moderator of the WCC Central Committee. She is the first woman and the first African in the position in WCC’s history. In an interview, she reflects on the evolution of the WCC in the past 70 years.

This year it is five hundred years since the Reformation. This has been commemorated throughout the year. A lot has happened in the world. The Reformation is ongoing in churches around the world. Discussions are constantly held about how a church should be today and how to reach out with the gospel. WCC News meets Bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien this year, one of the most experienced and prominent women among Lutheran bishops in the world.

When WCC’s long-time partner, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, another small but important step towards a safer world was taken. Not only was it a recognition of global efforts to abolish nuclear weapons, but also an affirmation of the role Christian churches have played at local and grassroots levels to raise awareness and mobilize people against nuclear proliferation.

Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee, has been awarded an honorary doctorate from VID Specialized University, one of Norway’s largest private universities.

At the Church Leaders Meeting from 4-8 December at the Ecumenical Centre and Bossey Ecumenical Institute, representatives of faith communities across the world had the opportunity to interact with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and with each other. In a series of interviews with WCC Communication, church leaders shared their biggest challenges and the rewards of their dialogue with each other.

Meeting the Hibakusha, survivors of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is humbling. Sharing their stories is a challenge. Travelling to Oslo in Norway on 9-10 December, more than 20 Hibakusha joined celebrations of ICAN receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. May we remember them well, with dignity and respect.

The WCC has for decades been calling for a world free from nuclear weapons. As the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a WCC partner, received the Nobel Peace Prize over the weekend, WCC leaders reflected on the next steps to build on momentum toward ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

In an official ceremony on 10 December that reflected a lifetime of work for many peacemakers, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) executive director Beatrice Fihn joined the world in celebration but also sent a clear message: there is still a lot of work to do.

More than 3,000 peacemakers from all over the world were gathered in Oslo on 10 December to commemorate the work of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapon’s (ICAN) work with banners with slogans such as: "The world must sign UN nuclear ban."

In an historic ceremony on 10 December at Oslo City Hall in Norway, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) accepted the Nobel Peace Prize and urged the world to continue its work toward an unequivocal norm against nuclear weapons.

In a sermon at the Trinity Church in Oslo, Norway on 9 December, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit reflected on peacemakers: those who create trust and foster good relations, those who try to bring out the best in us, those who attempt to solve conflicts.

Trinity Church in Oslo, Norway, will host a prayers for peace ecumenical service on 9 December, the same weekend the city will host the awards ceremony for the Nobel Prize.