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This coming 21 September Christians from Congo to the US, and from Colombia to Switzerland to South Korea will join in prayers during the International Day of Prayer for Peace.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia and an ecumenical delegation visited member churches and Christian communities in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel from 21-26 June. Taking place immediately after the launch of the WCC-sponsored Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum in Amman, Jordan, the visit aimed to express worldwide church solidarity with the churches in the Holy Land. It also intended to convey concern for the future of both peoples affected by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Four photo stories about the visit have just been published on the WCC website's photo gallery section .

Issues facing the ecumenical movement today were described as examples of 'challenges posed by success' in a speech by the Rev. Dr Sarah Lancaster to the 19-23 July conference marking the 50th anniversary of the Faith and Order commission of the NCC USA. Lancaster is a member of the Standing Commission on Fath and Order of the World Council of Churches.

The "entire fellowship of the Word Council of Churches (WCC) rejoices" at a successfully culminated "process of healing and reconciliation" that involved two of the Council's founding members, stated WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia in a letter welcoming the "historic achievement" today.

A long-time member of the WCC's Faith and Order Commission and one of the most renowned women theologians in the world, Rev. Dr Letty Russell, 77, died Thursday, 12 July, at her home in Guilford, Conn., USA.

Rev. Sombepouire Lazare Kinda, president of the Association of Evangelical Reformed Churches of Burkina Faso (AEERB) and member of the World Council of Churches' central committee, died on 25 June 2007 after a long illness.

"How can we affirm our identity as Muslims, Jews and Christians not in separation or against each other but in relation to one another?" This is the question 21 young adults from 13 European, Middle Eastern, Asian, African and American countries are exploring during a 2-28 July summer seminar at the World Council of Churches' (WCC) Ecumenical Institute in Bossey. Activities include spiritual and academic exercises as well as sports, recreation and everyday tasks.

"Today, in order to fight poverty, Africa needs to mobilize similar efforts to those rallied against colonialism," World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia told Tanzanian church leaders.

Representatives of African, European and Middle Eastern churches, church-related organisations and ecumenical bodies working on migration issues and associated with the World Council of Churches (WCC) said they are "pleased to contribute to the Global Forum on Migration and Development" that will meet for the first time today and tomorrow in Brussels, Belgium.

The Faith and Order standing commission has called for a meeting of the plenary commission to take place in October 2009. The plenary commission - noted as the most diverse church-based theological forum in the world - will bring a wealth of confessional and regional perspectives to Faith and Order's work for the unity of the church. The call for a full commission meeting was voiced as the standing commission met at the Villa Notre Dame, Crans-Montana, Switzerland, from 12 - 18 June 2007 under the leadership of its moderator, Metropolitan Vassilios of Constantia.

"Each church is the Church catholic and not simply a part of it. Each church is the Church catholic, but not the whole of it. Each church fulfils its catholicity when it is in communion with the other churches."

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia has challenged his fellow men to join the efforts of women, especially grandmothers, in dealing with the immune deficiency pandemic. During a panel at the International Women's Summit convened by the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) in partnership with the International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS (ICW) and other international organisations in Nairobi on 4-7 July, he declared that Christian doctrines should be "applied to edify life and not to condemn and judge."

Young Christians aged 18 to 30 now have the chance to apply for being one of 25 youth from all over the wo rld in the next WCC stewards programme from 6 -22 February 2008 . They will participate in the 13-20 February WCC c entral committee meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, contributing their work in the areas of worship, conference room, documentation, press office, sound, and other administrative and support tasks.

Representatives of churches, church-related organisations and ecumenical bodies associated with the World Council of Churches (WCC) from Africa, Europe and the Middle East will be gathering in Brussels from 6-9 July 2007 for a meeting on migration in and between these regions. The participants from sending and receiving regions will focus on the issue of removals from Europe, coordinate advocacy work directed towards the European Union and the African Union and develop advocacy strategies to be implemented in the regions with a particular emphasis on "being church together".

In an interview with Juan Michel (*) a prominent Iraqi Christian shares his views on the situation in the violence-plagued country.

Local churches in Palestine/Israel are looking to the whole fellowship of the World Council of Churches (WCC) to play a stronger role in supporting local churches' struggles for a just peace there. This is the main finding of a delegation led by the Council's general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia that visited Palestine/Israel from 21 to 26 June. A new advocacy forum launched prior to the visit, and ecumenical accompaniment are high on the churches' list of actions in pursuit of this goal.

A free high resolution photo is available, see below

Free high resolution photo available, see below

By Fredrick Nzwili (*)

Doing justice to the Palestinian people would bring about security for Israel, while delaying the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories feeds extremism and terrorism, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah told participants at a church conference for peace in Middle East yesterday.