Rev. Prof. Dr Simone Sinn's international experience, gained through years of work at the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), has equipped her with a global perspective, preparing her to engage with different Christian traditions and other faiths in her new teaching post at the University of Muenster.
As the 78th session of the UN General Assembly and the first-ever Climate Action Summit were held in New York City in September, ACT Alliance general secretary Rudelmar Bueno de Faria reflected on the importance of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the ecumenical movement in creating a more sustainable and equitable world.
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.
From 31 May to 3 June, representatives from the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace Reference Group, Working Group on Climate Change, and the Young People in the Ecumenical Movement of the World Council of Churches formed a Pilgrim Team Visit to indigenous Sami communities in the south of Norway.
A recent webinar, “Debt Cancellation as Anti-Racism in times of Black Lives Matter protests,” explored how debt cancellation for African and other developing countries can be an instrument for overcoming racism.
Over 23-29 October, a Global Conference of Africa and Africans in the Diaspora (AAD) revisited the historical 1945 Manchester Pan-African Conference and critically reviewed progress made since then. Speakers and participants also worked to determine and develop effective global strategies to radically change the lot of Africans and people of African descent globally—and thereby defeat the scourge of racism in the world.
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.
Lorraine Netro, who was raised in the Gwich’in First Nation of Old Crow, Yukon (Canada), is part of an indigenous community—but she’s also a global citizen.
“Today’s Arctic peoples are important members of global society,” Netro said. “The survival of Arctic cultures and communities remains tied to the wildlife and landscape of the Arctic Refuge.”
A Theological Invitation to the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace.
Faith and Order Paper No. 224.
This document invites the churches to explore the ways that “pilgrimage” can help the churches deepen and express the commitment to oneness in their work.