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The latest edition of the quarterly WCC journal features a discussion of the roots of religion and violence in the Middle East. Five presentations drawn from three WCC-sponsored conferences of recent years explore aspects of the religious concepts of “promised land,” the “theology of land” and how to go about “reading the Hebrew Bible in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

Researchers around the world have a new resource for studying the history of the ecumenical movement — the personal papers of Philip Potter, general secretary of the WCC from 1972 to 1984. “We hope that the WCC Archives will receive many researchers from around the world who will learn more about the ecumenical movement to which Philip significantly contributed throughout his life,” said Hans von Rütte, WCC archivist.

No time has been wasted since May last year when the 14th General Assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) mandated its newly elected executive committee to reorganize CCA’ s programme structure. In October, after five months as its new general secretary, Dr Mathews George Chunakara could present a new strategic plan focused on four programme areas with clear priorities outlined.

“The vision for mission and the many ministries of the Methodists in Brazil have deep value and impact for the people,” wrote Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), in a letter to the 20th General Council of the Methodist Church in Brazil on 8 July.

As they talk during a workshop in Ghana, women are collectively asking a question: “Is it not time for women and girls to raise their voices to say what they want as mothers, as widows, as single parents, and as God’s children?”

The Faith and Order Papers, comprising more than 300 documents and publications that embody more than 100 years of serious and sustained reflection on core issues of Christian faith, are planned to appear in electronic form for the first time.

In a public statement adopted on 28 June, the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) has designated “peace-building in the context of religion and violence” as the special thematic focus for 2017.

A plenary discussion on support by religious communities for the rights of children, and a first draft of the statement of “principles for child-friendly churches,” captured the imagination of the Central Committee of the WCC on 27 June. The document will now undergo further revision and be resubmitted at the next WCC executive committee meeting.

“Bishop Pagura was one of the pillars of Latin American and world ecumenism in the last fifty years, a faithful and courageous champion of human rights and the cause of peace in Latin America and around the globe”, wrote Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), after the passing of Bishop Emeritus Federico José Pagura, on 6 June, in Argentina.

Nearly 30 young ecumenical leaders from 14 Asian countries gathered at the Jakarta Theological Seminary in Indonesia for the third Youth in Asia Training Programme for Religious Amity (YATRA). Jointly organised by the World Council of Churches, Jakarta Theological Seminary and Communion of Christian Churches in Asia, the 2-week training will facilitate learning on the theme “Religion and Public Space” from an interreligious perspective.

Women and children figure prominently as refugees in mass movements of people in recent months and their rights will be at the forefront of a summer school organized in Greece by the Conference of European Churches.

In 1982, shortly after Dr Sasiprabha Stanley married, she traveled with her husband to Odisha, in eastern India, to a village called Champakenda. “That was the first time I stepped into another state where I did not know the language. I was a foreigner, simply sitting and watching the women.”

In a message to its Buddhist partners, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit offered greetings on the day of Vesakh, which celebrates the founder of the faith, Siddhartha Gautama.

On the 28th Quadrennial Assembly of the National Council of Churches in India, held in Jabalpur from 27-30 April, Rev. Dr Sang Chang, WCC president for Asia, urged Indian churches to commit themselves afresh to the task of building just and inclusive communities.

How can we begin building peace in an era of religious extremism and acts of terror? Start by reaching out in your own neighborhood, suggests Rev. Arshad Gill, general secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Pakistan.