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The 2014 Annual Review of the World Council of Churches, now published and posted online, reports on the 2014 activities and projects of the council.

Ahead of World Water Day on 22 March, a number of Christian organizations are reflecting on the significance of water – a scarce resource threatened and denied to millions around the world.

The committee that advises WCC governing bodies on promoting ecumenical learning has ended its February 2015 meeting with a series of recommendations to ensure a vibrant study environment.

An ecumenical workshop held recently in Matanzas, Cuba strongly promoted life-affirming epistemologies that can help to envision and construct alternatives to inequitable and destructive socio-economic systems that prevail in today’s world.

As the WCC promotes the vision of a “pilgrimage of justice and peace”, four students from the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland, share their understanding of justice and peace and how they embarked on a pilgrimage of their own.

What is our call to respond to the global water crisis? In what way is our response different from other actors? To respond to these questions within a theological framework of water justice, the Ecumenical Water Network convened theologians from around the world at the Ecumenical Institute.

The WCC Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland is inviting applications for the academic programmes in ecumenical studies, 2015-2016. The application deadline is 30 November 2014.

A consultation in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa has discussed creative ways of using the WCC statement in mission education and curriculum. The WCC statement, titled “Together towards life: Mission and evangelism in changing landscapes”, seeks a renewed understanding and practice of mission and evangelism.

A new online survey supported by the WCC aims to promote the study of issues such as the environment, climate change and food security as part of the training of future pastors, priests and other Christian leaders.

New forms of ecumenical formation, as well as ways of enhancing ecumenical contributions from young people in churches and societies, were discussed by fifteen young theologians in a meeting convened by the WCC.

Amid the reality of migration, theological education can lead to the transformation of the church, agreed participants in a seminar organized by the WCC.

Amidst the reality of tensions often fueled by religions, a group of Christian, Muslim and Jewish youth has formed a multi-faith community. As part of an interfaith summer course sponsored by the WCC, this community wants to work for the protection of creation – a concern they say is common to all faith traditions.

At the Central Committee meeting of the WCC, leadership of the Council’s consultative bodies was announced. These bodies will steer through the work of the WCC in accomplishing the call from its 10th Assembly to engage in a “pilgrimage of justice and peace”. The WCC assembly was held in the Republic of Korea in 2013.

The recent air strikes by Israel on the Gaza Strip have crippled the water distribution system. Dinesh Suna, coordinator of the Ecumenical Water Network of the WCC, shares that an already challenging water situation in Gaza has recently worsened because of the violence, threatening the fundamental human right to water and sanitation.

How should the growing phenomenon of migration affect training for ministry? An upcoming seminar organized by the WCC at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey will focus on evaluating experiences and devising new approaches to theological education that can help churches understand migration as an opportunity of “being the church together”.

Sponsored by the WCC, young theologians will engage in dialogue on the coming shape of ecumenical formation and how it can ensure a viable future for the ecumenical movement.

Rubem Alves of Brazil, one of the foundational thinkers behind Latin American “liberation theology”, died at the age of 80 on Saturday 19 July. This scholar, teacher, activist, psychotherapist and author is being commemorated by colleagues, former students, journalists and others, including heads of state.

Sincere condolences were expressed at the death of Bishop Vinton R. Anderson by the WCC general secretary. The first African American to serve as the WCC president for North America, from 1991-98, Bishop Anderson of the African Methodist Episcopal Church passed away on Wednesday.

In a session on 4 July in Geneva, Switzerland, the WCC Central Committee focused on one of the world’s most threatening challenges – climate change.

While churches around the world live in very different contexts and may be separated by different doctrinal teachings, they do have one concern in common: will planet earth still be a fit place for their children to live?