As African women church leaders gathered last week for an inaugural “Ecumenical Women’s Initiative for Leadership and Learning”, they lamented grave injustices, celebrated women pioneers, and nurtured a spirit of solidarity they hope will blaze a global trail for the future.
Eighteen Thursdays in Black ambassadors gathered on 12 May to discuss how to build on the momentum of many creative efforts across the world to move toward a world free from rape and violence.
World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed the revulsion of the global fellowship of churches at the murder of Deborah Yakubu, a second-year college student beaten to death and burnt by a group of her fellow students in Sokoto, northern Nigeria.
An inaugural “Ecumenical Women Church Leaders Initiative Consultation” will kick off from 17-19 May as a dozen African women gather in Geneva and online to exchange experiences and critical reflections.
Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, WCC deputy general secretary, was featured in an episode of African Catholic Voices podcast, a service of the Pan-African Theology and Pastoral Network. The episode, which aired 3 May, focuses on Phiri’s call on the churches in Africa to embrace life-affirming practices and reject all life-denying cultural, institutional, and denominational practices that harm God's people.
World Council of Churches (WCC) specialized ministries and roundtable partners are gathering on 3-4 May at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute for a “Working Together” meeting filled with a spirit of interconnected learning and preparation for the WCC 11th Assembly.
As the series of Bible studies leading up to the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly continues, the focus moves to Holy Week and Easter. Below, Dr Ani Ghazaryan Drissi, WCC programme executive for the Faith and Order Commission, reflects on how churches, together, can focus on Holy Week in the context of of preparing for the assembly.
After the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee, during its February meeting, approved a set of Gender Justice Principles, the WCC’s work of implementation is just beginning. The principles clearly define the WCC’s own approach to gender justice and apply to WCC staff, governing bodies, commissions, and reference groups. The WCC executive committee will review and evaluate implementation of the principles.
A “human chain” singing for peace and a new hymn by Swedish composer and pastor Per Harling are just two of many creative ways people are expressing their yearning for peace.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) has set a deadline of 1 June for receiving quilt patches that will become part of a "Waterfall of Solidarity and Resistance" tapestry for display at the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe.
Our series of interviews with Thursdays in Black ambassadors highlights those who are playing a vital role in increasing the impact of our collective call for a world without rape and violence. Marcelo D. Leites is general secretary of the World Student Christian Federation.
Held in conjunction with the 66th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, a World Council of Churches’ (WCC) webinar explored how women are navigating the water, food, and climate change nexus. Panellists and participants shared women-led and gender-just responses to the climate crisis as well as the role of churches and faith-based organisations.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) will share regional daily prayers on antiracism in the week leading up to the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March.
A roundtable hosted by the World Council of Churches and the World Association for Christian Communication released a message on 8 March that addresses the role of media in a world striving for gender equality.
A North American Women’s Pilgrim Team Visit on 28 February brought together poetry, prayer, very difficult questions, and, most of all, the impact—and pain—of telling the truth.
Students from the Bossey Ecumenical Institute deepened their understanding of the ecumenical movement as they helped lead prayers during the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee meeting, held via videoconference 9-15 February.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee built momentum toward the WCC’s 11th Assembly by creating assembly committees, planning thematic plenaries, and detailing ecumenical conversations.
In a gathering that opened the final day of a week-long meeting, the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee prayed that they would “allow Christ to enlighten our hearts, souls, minds with divine strength.”
As preparations continue for the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2022, pre-assemblies are taking shape as well. Planners are working to create an experience in which people can work together in transformational ways.