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This guide aims to raise awareness in churches and church communities of the catastrophic condition of obstetric fistula—a childbirth injury usually caused by prolonged, obstructed labour without timely medical intervention. Obstetric fistula can have devastating physical, emotional, and economic consequences for women and can even result in permanent disability.

It introduces readers to obstetric fistula and explains why churches need to be concerned. It discusses how churches can help prevent the condition from occurring in the women in their congregations and local communities. It also offers practical and emotional support and encouragement to those who are suffering with obstetric fistula. Finally, this guide outlines the advocacy work being done and suggests some actions churches can take.

Available for download in English, Portuguese, and Malagasy.

An online conference, “The Future of Interfaith Dialogue,” held  7-8 December 2021, discussed principles for common formation as a vital element for the future of interfaith dialogue. 

The purpose of this booklet is both to share some of the key insights and learnings from the conference and to prompt further interest in and discussion of common formation among a range of faith communities and interreligious organizations. Topics covered include; Transformational Formation: Five Fundamental Principles, Ten Practical Pointers for Initiatives of Common Formation, and a Directory of Groups and Organizations Offering Learning Opportunities in the Area of Common Formation.

The WCC, the Protestant Church in Germany and the United Evangelical Mission, initiated a two-year process of ecumenical study and reflection on the relationship between human dignity and human rights from biblical, theological, and victims’ perspectives, culminating in a Conference on Christian Perspectives on Human Dignity and Humans Rights held in Wuppertal (Germany) and online from 9–12 April 2022.

This publication consists of papers received from theologians, people with different academic backgrounds, experts in ethics and human rights, and human rights defenders—together with the joint message of the conference participants.

This second publication of biblical reflections on statelessness presents new perspectives, including indigenous voices and reflections on the meaning of land. These texts can be valuable tools for discussion and reflection during Bible studies in congregations and communities around the world.

Campaign guide for churches concerned about autonomous weapons systems, also known as “killer robots".

The guide is designed to introduce churches to the issue of killer robots, and help raise awareness of the need for Christians to act to ensure decision-makers agree on a pre-emptive ban on the future development of such weapons.

Published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the WCC’s Programme on Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation, this volume celebrates a common confidence that dialogue can be linked to liberation in ways that can be both faithful and fruitful.

From the Introduction: “The heartbeat of this book is its concern to reimagine interreligious dialogue as a “dialogue of and for life” by interlinking it with liberation. What drives it is a passion that seeks to hold together two distinct concerns that emerged within theological thinking during the latter half of the 20th century and have since freed theological imagination in manifold ways.”

The publication aims to provide WCC member churches with resources for recognizing 70 years of unresolved conflict on the Korean Peninsula during 2020. 

The second publication in the series, the content is drawn from a variety of contributors, each with their own experience of, or expertise in, the Korean journey.

Emphasizing the importance of the spiritual response, every chapter again starts with a spiritual reflection, followed by a text, and ends with a prayer.

The publication will serve as an educational, spiritual, and formation resource and encourage churches and individuals to pray for peace, reunification, and an end to the war and division on the Korean Peninsula. It could be used in Bible study or for Korea interest- and other groups.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) released a joint document, “Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity: A Christian Call to Reflection and Action During COVID-19.” Its purpose is to encourage churches and Christian organizations to reflect on the importance of interreligious solidarity in a world wounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. The document offers a Christian basis for interreligious solidarity that can inspire and confirm the impulse to serve a world wounded not only by COVID-19 but also by many other wounds.

This booklet is the first iteration of a multiphase publication project highlighting the ongoing participation of the ecumenical movement toward peace on the Korean Peninsula.

In addition to this introductory booklet, a more comprehensive book “The Light of Peace – The Churches and the Korean Peninsula” will be published by the WCC in September as well as a later multimedia publication.

A dozen theologians from across regions and confessions offer Bible studies for individuals, groups, and congregations to understand and address the vital personal, social, and religious concerns raised for and by stateless persons and their plight.

Encouraging churches and Christian organizations to reflect on the structural roots of what has led to the disruption of peace in the world, and on their own current practices and priorities in relation to education and peacemaking.

In face of unprecedented awareness of religious diversity, as well as the dangers of conflict, interreligious dialogue has become vital. Yet, these authors maintain, it is the commitment to think together about religious faith and our inherited traditions that genuinely moves mutual understanding to new levels.

Exploring hybridity, embracing hospitality— While we tend to think of religions as distinct, univocal, even competing traditions, the phenomenon of multiple religious belonging is widespread, both historically and today. Alive to a variety of traditions and regions, this volume explores the reality of religious hybridity—whether because of cultural inheritance, family circumstances, or explicit choice— its confounding of traditional categories in theology and the study of religion, and its meaning for Christian theology. Even as it complexifies the idea of religious identity, the authors show, it enriches our understanding of ultimate reality and the whole range of practices by which humans relate to it.

Perhaps more than ever, in our globalized context we meet persons of other faiths and religious traditions. When empathetic, such meetings can be revealing about their lives and commitments. Yet how do they change our own identity and illuminate our own faith?

In light of interreligious encounter, who do we say that we are?

This brief work, distilled from lengthy and broad theological consultation facilitated by the World Council of Churches, suggests ways in which our faith is deepened and exciting new vistas opened on traditional Christian faith commitments through interreligious dialogue and engagement.

Our sincere engagements with the other can lead to a growing grasp of our own faith identity and, indeed, more profound encounter with the mystery of God.

What does Christian identity mean in the face of religious pluralism? In some ways the frontier of global Christianity lies not in repairing its past divisions so much as bravely facing its future in a world of many other faiths and conflicting convictions. Douglas Pratt’s new work is a brief history, astute analysis, and trustworthy guide for Christian encounter in this pluralistic environment.