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At assembly and beyond, WCC publications inspire and move

During an interview recorded during the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly in Karlruhe, Germany, Rev. Margarithe Veen, ordained minister of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, described what moved her the most when she volunteered in the Networking Zone, helping people connect with WCC publications.

From the Ashes of War: The first WCC Assembly in Europe – Amsterdam 1948

As participants in the First Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) gathered at Amsterdam during August 1948, the Netherlands bore witness to the violence of the Second World War. The port of Rotterdam was rising from near destruction. Many other cities, towns and villages across Europe were struggling to recover. To the east, Germany and Austria were divided into zones of occupation administered by the Allied Powers. Two months earlier, tensions between the Soviet Union and the Western occupiers of the former German capital led to the start of the Berlin Airlift. Since 1945, publications had been increasing their use of the term “Cold War”.

Climate crisis fuels existing water injustice

2021 has shown how vulnerable and unprepared even wealthy, industrialized countries are in the face of the escalating climate crisis. Devastating flooding, unprecedented heat waves and out-of-control wildfires have hit parts of Europe and North America. Yet this is just a foretaste of catastrophes that have long since become a bitter reality in other parts of the world. They are almost always a matter of too much or too little water. Yet water problems are often the result of discrimination and political failure, especially in times of climate change.

Workshop in Bangladesh links climate, economic justice

From 29 January to 1 February, 30 representatives from various faith traditions gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh for a workshop on “Interfaith Reflections on Just Transitions: Linking Climate and Economic Justice”. The workshop was organised by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Council for World Mission and was hosted by the National Council of Churches in Bangladesh.

Rev. Dr Shanta Premawardhana: ‘Seeds of peace come from the ground’

“The seeds of peace come from the ground.” That is the vision that Rev. Dr Shanta Premawardhana, former director of Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation at the World Council of Churches and now president of OMNIA Institute for Contextual Leadership, tries to follow with his organization.

Pilgrims gather from far and wide to celebrate 70 years of WCC

Hundreds of people gathered from across the world for an ecumenical prayer service at the Nieuwe Kerk, a 15th-century church in Amsterdam, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) at the very spot in which the organization was founded.

“Love will find a way”

World Council of Churches leaders spoke on the theme “Hospitality: On a Pilgrim’s Way of Justice and Peace" at a symposium on 23 August at the Protestant Theological University Amsterdam.