World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay sent a pastoral letter to Haitian brothers and sisters whose lives are lived in a land with hatred, violence, and suffering. “Although we might be physically distant, we are close to you in heart, in the spiritual sense,” wrote Pillay. “We all are children of God. We belong to one family, as Jesus Christ himself said.”
On 11 January, some 430 young people from congregations from Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay of the Evangelical Church of the Río de la Plata (IERP) gathered to participate in the “IERPino” youth meeting. They actively observed the Thursdays in Black campaign for a world free from rape and violence.
In a visit to Cuba from 17-19 December, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay met with Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canelat the Palacio de las Convenciones in Havana. “I was deeply impressed with our heart-to-heart meeting with the president of Cuba,” expressed Pillay.
In a sermon entitled “Being church today in a world in crisis,” offered at the Presbyterian Reformed Church of Cuba on 17 December, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay shared thoughts of hope and transformation.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay offered a lecture at University of Havana in Cuba on 19 December entitled “Christians, cry out for peace! The perils and promise of peace today.”
The World Council of Churches (WCC) shared joyful greetings on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Argentine Commission for Refugees and Migrants (CAREF).
The upcoming Barbados Gospelfest, set for 21-28 May, will express churches’ affirmation and celebration of persons with disabilities in musical and other creative ways.
As Caribbean members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) gathered for a regional meeting, they explored how, together. they can discern the most effective and efficient ways for the Caribbean region to engage with the WCC.
The Jamaica Baptist Union, at its 173rd General Assembly, elected and appointed Rev. Merlyn Hyde-Riley as its new general secretary. Hyde-Riley is the first woman to be appointed to this post.
Hyde-Riley is currently one of two vice-moderators for the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) publication highlights the lessons learnt from the project Strategic Engagement of Civil Society Networks and Faith Actors in the HIV Response in India, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, and Jamaica.
World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca shared greetings with the Evangelical Church of the River Plate in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay; as well as the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil. Both churches had gatherings during which they elected leaders and prayed together.
World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca extended condolences in the wake of a supertanker explosion and fire in the Matanzas supertanker port in Cuba. Blackouts and toxic fumes were still affecting the area.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is mourning the death of Sarah Newland Martin, known for her lifetime of advocacy for persons with disabilities, for her leadership with the YMCA and Jamaica Baptist Union, and her ecumenical bridge-building.
As many communities worldwide battle to get food to the table, a World Council of Churches (WCC) webinar titled ‘Racism, Land and Food' highlighted the intersections of food, land, and racial injustices on food sovereignty over generations of dispossessed groups.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) extended congratulations to Rev. Merlyn Hyde Riley, who has been appointed acting general secretary of Jamaica Baptist Union.
Women in Argentina have reached across more than 15,000 kilometers with a message of solidarity for women in Afghanistan. Their video puts a creative flair on the World Council of Churches Thursdays in Black campaign for a world free from rape and violence.
Prof. Dr h.c. Humberto Martin Shikiya, vice president of the Regional Ecumenical Advisory and Service Center (CREAS) In Argentina, reflects on how “Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity: A Christian Call to Reflection and Action During COVID-19 and Beyond” is being received as a hopeful call to collaborate ecumenically and interreligiously. The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue jointly published “Serving a Wounded World” to encourage churches and Christian organizations to reflect on the importance of interreligious solidarity in a world wounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The World Council of Churches reached out to churches in Haiti in a letter to express solidarity and prayerful concern in the wake of the assassination of president Jovenel Moïse, and amid ongoing waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.