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In an acceptance speech at VID Specialized University, where she was awarded an honorary doctorate, Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee, spoke on “Life in Fullness: Challenges and Prospects for Church/Mission.”

The WCC Executive Committee met in Uppsala, Sweden from 1-8 November to approve the 2019 programme plans and budget, follow up and decide on a variety of assembly matters, review the WCC strategic plan, discuss world affairs and issue seven statements in response to current situations. The Executive Committee also discerned the way forward for the WCC’s Communication Strategy.

In a sermon in the Uppsala Cathedral in Sweden on 4 November, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit remembered that, on 4 July 1968, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. should have entered the very same cathedral to preach at the opening service of the WCC Fourth Assembly.

A lifetime of devotion to the ecumenical movement shone when WCC moderator Dr Agnes Abuom shared her reflections and hopes Sunday morning in a keynote speech on the final day of the ecumenical weekend. Her address was followed by a sermon in the Uppsala Cathedral by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

Unity and solidarity in Christ against populist trends was at the core of the opening message for an Ecumenical Weekend in Uppsala, Sweden on 3-4 November. Under the theme ”Behold, I make everything new!”, 150 guests gathered to reflect on current challenges for ecumenism.

WCC moderator Dr Agnes Abuom was awarded the Plaque of Saint Eric by Church of Sweden primate Archbishop Antje Jackelén on 3 November.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee, meeting this week in Uppsala, Sweden, heard the report of WCC Central Committee moderator Dr Agnes Abuom and WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

In a closing sermon at the ACT Alliance Assembly in Uppsala, Sweden, Bishop Mary Ann Swenson, vice moderator of the World Council of Churches Central Committee, spoke on the theme of the ACT Assembly, “Hope In Action - Putting People First.”

On a Joint Day of Reflection on Ecumenical Diakonia and Sustainable Development held 1 November, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and ACT Alliance reflected together on how the organisations work together in service to the world and how that work contributes to the broader agenda for sustainable development.

In 1968, the ecumenical movement took an important step forward when its commitment to global justice and peace was manifested at the WCC general assembly in Uppsala, Sweden. Half a century later, the Ecumenical Weekend, which kicks off on Saturday in the very same Swedish city, will not only celebrate 50 years of global ecumenism, it also raises urgent issues and new challenges facing the ecumenical movement.

Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches, the board of the Anders-Frostenson Foundation led a sing-along concert at the Ecumenical Centre Chapel on 28 September, offering participants a unique experience full of emotion.

The archbishop Dr Nathan Söderblom, an ecumenical forerunner and messenger of peace in war-torn Europe, challenged a deeply divided Christianity 100 years ago. Against all odds, the Stockholm Conference on Life and Work in 1925 gathered church leaders at a scale the world had not seen since Nicaea 1600 years earlier. And it did not end there.

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.

In 2018 we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the WCC. In order to create a lively first-hand account of the ecumenical fellowship and of our shared journey, the WCC general secretary has invited all member churches to contribute stories, which we will bring to you throughout the coming year. The first story in our series was written by Gerard Willemsen, international director of the Uniting Church in Sweden.