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Radu Constantin grew up in the small hamlet of Cioatele, in northeastern Romania, a village he describes as “religious people, very involved in the church life.”

In a World Council of Churches (WCC) video interview, moderator of the WCC Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing Rev. Dr Stavros Kofinas reflects on the direction of the commission, its vision for considering “the whole person,” and how it plans to involve young people. 

Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame was elected to chair the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She is also a commissioner for the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, as well as an active member of the Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network.

Below, Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, World Council of Churches (WCC) director of Public Witness and Diakonia, reflects on the relevance of ecumenical diakonia and public witness today.

At the St Andrew’s Presbyterian of Church East Africa in Nairobi, Judy Kihumba is the voice between the hearing and the deaf worlds in one of Kenya’s oldest churches.

When the next World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee meeting convenes, among the members will be a deaf Presbyterian clergy from Kenya.

Gracia Ross, World Council of Churches programme executive for Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy, sees herself as a bridge between communities living with HIV and churches.

“Affirming justice and human dignity”  was the theme of the fourth thematic plenary of the World Council of Churches(WCC) 11th assembly on 6 September. The presentation featured a wheelchair dance performance by Fadi El Halabi, a wheelchair user and Ms. Karen Abi Nader, an international artist. In the freestyle dance, Halabi effortlessly spinned around his wheelchair and,  with slow coordinated moves together with his dance partner, threw hands in the air symbolizing the joy that can only be felt when all exclusionary and disempowerment practices in church and society are addressed.

There’s a reason why Orthodox theologian and human rights lawyer Natallia Vasilevich prefers to speak of the role of Christians rather than the role of churches in Belarusian society.

The Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe - CCME released a statement that speaks about the response of Europe to refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. The statement addresses the concerns of discriminatory treatment of non-Ukrainians and minority ethnic people in this context and the more general question that the generosity shown in recent weeks often has not been extended to those fleeing from elsewhere.

Below, Dr Torsten Moritz, general secretary at the Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe, reflects on why church leaders requested such a statement, and what lies at the heart of some of their different inputs.

 Digital justice for Kenyan Samson Waweru is clear, as he believes there should be equal access to both cyber and print information for those who have disabilities and those who do not.

 When using a computer, he says in a video interview with World Council of Churches (WCC) programme executive Joy Eva Bohol that it applies to social media platforms and access to them.

 

Pastor Godson Lawson Kpavuvu, president of the Methodist Church of Togo, is also chair of the International Reference Group of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy programme (WCC-EHAIA). Involved with WCC-EHAIA from the beginning, he reflects below on what it’s like to be, as he describes, “one of the veterans of the struggle.”

Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton is ecumenical officer for the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and presiding bishop of the Fifth Episcopal District. Below, she shares her reflections on the vital role of churches in reducing vaccine hesitancy and increasing vaccine equity.

On World Immunization Week, the World Council of Churches is joining UNICEF and other organizations across the world in encouraging vaccinations for global health. Below, Dr Mwai Makoka, WCC programme executive for Health and Healing, answers often-asked questions about vaccines. He provides some history of vaccines, reflections on the role of faith-based groups, and why children and others are so vulnerable if they don’t receive vaccines.

Rev. Dr Antti Laine is senior advisor for Theology and Ecumenical Relations with Finn Church Aid. He reflects below on how, while the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated gender-based violence, faith-based and humanitarian groups, can provide hope—especially when they work together.

The Right Reverend Dr Christopher Cocksworth is Bishop of Coventry, the senior leader of the Church of England in Coventry and Warwickshire in the United Kingdom. On 14 November 2020, Bishop Cocksworth, along with the Archbishops of Canterbury and York as well as more than 30 other bishops, issued a statement welcoming the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and calling on the UK Government to join it. The statement coincided with the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Coventry and destruction of its cathedral.

Dr Manoj Kurian is coordinator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance. We we are now in the midst of observing Churches’ Week of Action on Food, he reflects on this year’s theme, “Grow, Nourish, Sustain Together.”