Search results

“The growing church in the People’s Republic of China today presents four characteristics: independent and autonomous, post-denominational, fast growing and faced with lots of challenges and emerging difficulties,” said the Rev. Gao Feng, president of the China Christian Council (CCC), in a speech in China on 14 June.

A high-level international delegation of Christian and Muslim leaders issued a joint statement at the end of their visit to Nigeria on 25 May, expressing hope for their “visit to demonstrate an international model of Muslims and Christians working together in inter-religious engagement aimed at fostering peace and harmony between people of different religions.”

In a recent statement, the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has condemned the violence occurring in Syria, expressed solidarity with the victims, and invoked prayers for peace in the country.

An inter-religious delegation of senior Muslim and Christian leaders has begun a fact-finding visit to Nigeria on 22 May, where in recent months an increase in violence has threatened relations between the two religious communities in Northern Nigeria.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) congratulates the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople for receiving the Freedom of Worship Award of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute which acknowledges his efforts in promoting religious freedom, dialogue and environmental concerns.

Inspired by participating in the Youth for Eco-Justice training, a joint project of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Durban, South Africa last year, Kristi Holmberg started a “Climate Justice Campaign” which concluded successfully on 22 April, Earth Day.

Following armed attacks Sunday on Christian churches in Kano and Maiduguri, Nigeria, and in Nairobi, Kenya, leaders of the World Council of Churches (WCC) have called for people of faith to support afflicted believers through prayer and solidarity.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has expressed great appreciation for recent comments by Mehmet Görmez, head of the Religious Affairs Directorate in Turkey, who sharply criticized the Fatwa (religious order) of Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti endorsing the destruction of churches, criticizing it as baseless and against Islamic principles.

The pre-assembly event of the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism saw churches' renewed commitment and different approaches to mission and evangelism in a context of rapid change in society, politics and church.

Recent violent acts of terror in south-western France have been condemned in the strongest terms by the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

“Christians are to acknowledge that changing one’s religion is a decisive step that must be accompanied by sufficient time for reflection and preparation, through a process ensuring full personal freedom.” This assertion is one of the guiding principles for Christian mission in India suggested in early March by a consultation convened under the leadership of the Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore University (BTESSC).

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has admired the Taizé community’s ecumenical approach to spirituality though “prayer, singing and silence”. “As we all work towards Christian unity, Taizé shows us how to be guests in prayer and overcome our divisions with humility,” said Tveit.

“Before God and our communities, we are responsible to Jews for the historical and ongoing realities of anti-Semitism, to Palestinians since the Nakba, to Muslim neighbours in the light of Islamophobia, to persons who are vulnerable, and to victims of colonial conquest, among others," said participants of a World Council of Churches (WCC) sponsored conference.

With the help of participants from several regions of the world a World Council of Churches (WCC) consultation recently looked at Christian self-understanding in the context of indigenous spiritual traditions.

The key role played by young people during the transformations in the Arab world throughout the past year was a recurrent theme for the recent World Council of Churches (WCC) Christian-Muslim consultation on “Christian Presence and Witness in the Arab World”.

How is Christian identity defined today? What is the relationship between Christian identity, spirituality, religious plurality and Christian-self understanding? Rev. Carlos Emilio Ham addressed these and other questions at the International Union of Superiors General’s (UISG) Assembly of the Constellation of Rome, on 12 January.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit reaffirmed churches’ commitment to justice and peace in the Middle East, while stressing the importance of a common vision for living together by Christians and Muslims in the Arab world.

Methodist Archbishop Michael Kehinde Stephen of Ibadan, Nigeria has appealed to Christian and Muslim leaders worldwide to act together in the face of extremist violence that threatens to divide Nigerians along religious lines.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed deep sadness over the current wave of violence in Nigeria, calling on the churches to pray for the victims, and asking the Nigerian president to support solidarity efforts for peace by both Christians and Muslims in the country.

The dignity of work and workers is a common value among the faith traditions. It is also the focus of a policy handbook titled Convergences: Decent Work and Social Justice in Religious Traditions , for which the World Council of Churches (WCC) has collaborated with the International Labour Organization (ILO) .