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Interview with Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the World Council of Churches Central Committee at the Synod of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg, Germany.

Encouragement, inspiration and storytelling animated the plenary discussion of the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace.

“Creation is God’s work, every day, according to Luther. Creation ultimately belongs to God. We are accountable to God for what we do as partners in God’s creation, as deacons of God’s creation. Do we bring hope for human beings and the whole of creation? This is the question we in the Christian Church must ask one another,” said WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

At the Wider Outlook Works Festival, as people observed the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the WCC general secretary spoke about repentance and a change to a better direction.

“Today, thankfully, religion is no longer a ‘taboo’ in political science and development literature,” said Rev. Dr Olav FykseTveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) at an international conference on religion and sustainable development.

At the start of a new year of work at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, respected German theologian Jürgen Moltmann led a day-long series of presentations and discussions as a guest of the WCC on Wednesday, 13 January. He also responded to comments and questions on his new book, The Living God and the Fullness of Life (WCC Publications, 2016).

Climate-induced loss and damage is one of the key points being raised by faith groups during COP21. A discussion panel and a demonstration held at COP21 in early December brought to light many facets of this issue.

Today 35 bishops and church leaders from 20 countries gathered in Munich, Germany to discuss the refugee situation and the role of the churches in Europe.

World leaders will meet at the crucial United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) in Paris from 30 November to 11 December. Faith groups around the world are building awareness of the importance of reaching a binding and ambitious agreement at the talks. In October, WCC members have taken part in climate activities in Germany.

In a recent statement, religious leaders called for an ambitious climate agreement, reminding all governments to commit to emission cuts and climate risk reduction. They promised to continue working for climate justice, including divestment from fossil energy.

“It would be a scandal if the Climate Conference in Paris would not deliver what is needed,” said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, during a public event in Lengerich, Germany on 13 October.

In view of the current refugee crisis, European churches are being encouraged to deepen their efforts in receiving, supporting and protecting refugees who arrive in the region. This call was made in a letter issued jointly by the WCC, the Conference of European Churches and the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe.

In the wake of recent crisis with the refugees in Europe, it is “absolutely and critically necessary that all European states take their proper responsibility in terms of reception and support for people seeking refuge, safety and a better future for themselves and their families. This cannot be left only to the states where they enter first,” says the WCC general secretary.

Christians need a "spirituality of resistance" to face oppression, violence and experiences of defeat, the WCC general secretary said in an address at Germany’s biggest Protestant gathering.

Humanity cannot ignore its responsibility for creation, the WCC general secretary, the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, has stated in Stuttgart during the German Protestant Kirchentag.

Churches and religious leaders are at the forefront of efforts to mobilize action for a legally binding agreement on world’s climate at the United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris at the end of 2015. The motivation of the WCC for its role in this arena is summarized in the title of its environmental programme: Care for Creation and Climate Justice.

More than 400 representatives of German ecumenical groups attending an assembly in Mainz, Germany have affirmed their commitment to move forward in a “pilgrimage of justice and peace” – a call from the WCC 10th Assembly.

Nearly one hundred representatives of the German member churches of the WCC met from 16 to 18 January at the Evangelical Academy of Loccum in order to share their experiences from the WCC 10th Assembly and to discuss how they would continue their way together on their pilgrimage of justice and peace.

A statement issued at the WCC consultation calls on churches, governments and the United Nations to ensure universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene, while placing access to water prominently on their post-2015 agendas.

The WCC general secretary called diakonia an expression of faith that “embodies the signs of God’s reign and makes it visible in all experiences of hope amidst turmoil, in actions that heal and nurture people and relationships.”