The Prophetic Witness for Life, Justice, and Peace Conference and Seminars concluded in Johannesburg on 16 June, marking a moment of reawakening and recommitment for church leaders and partners across southern Africa. Participants pledged to transform the insights and prophetic calling of their gathering into tangible action within their congregations, communities, and countries.
On 15 June, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Kairos Document and the 1976 Soweto Uprising, church leaders from across denominations and southern African countries embarked on a pilgrimage of reflection, lament, and discernment.
Participants in an ongoing “Prophetic Witness for Life, Justice, and Peace Conference” on 14 June in Johannesburg, South Africa, broke into seminars focusing on many facets of justice—climate, economic, racial, gender, and health.
Participants in the World Council of Churches Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) 60th meeting in Athens, Greece had a unique opportunity of encounter at the Ecumenical Refugee Programme “Synyparxis,” operating shelters for unaccompanied minors across Greece.
Churches in South Sudan have begun peace prayers for the country that will last for 70 days. Rev. Tut Kony Nyang Kon, general secretary of the South Sudan Council of Churches, announced the prayers on 9 June, as a complex crisis, underlined by armed conflicts, food insecurity, and displacement continued to unfold in the world’s youngest nation.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is extending condolences to the people of the Austrian city of Graz, after 10 people died in a school shooting, along with the alleged shooter.
Hundreds of people gathered in St Mary’s Anglican Church in Bridgetown, Barbados, for a trip down memory lane on 27 May during the annual “Hymnspeak,” during which people of all ages lifted their voices in harmony, singing timeless hymns that have shaped their faith and experiences.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) had input into the 49th Session of Universal Periodic Review, a process in which UN member states undergo a peer review of their human rights records.
How can churches maintain their prophetic and critical voice, at the same time speaking peace and hope to people? Why is unity among Christians still relevant today, and can we still trust international law and international organizations? Bishop Jonas Jonson speaks on the relevance of the 1925 Life and Work conference in Stockholm, which resulted in establishing both the World Council of Churches (WCC) and its Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), recently gathered for its 60th meeting in Athens, Greece.
Yvonne Apiyo Brändle-Amolo, in a keynote speech titled “The Global Persistence of Anti-Black Racism and Role of the Church,” on 19 May, analyzed the enduring issue of anti-Black racism rooted in historical legacies of slavery and colonialism.
An international conference, “Berlin 1884–1885 and Anti-Black Racism: In Search of a Shared Anti-Racist Ecumenical Vision,” acknowledged that the deep wounds of colonialism carved 140 years ago are by no means healed—but that churches can reframe relationships in a radical, de-colonial manner.
An Armenian Heritage Conference opened in Bern, Switzerland, on 27 May to address the consequences of the conflict in Artsakh/Nagorno Karabakh with regard to the protection of Armenian religious and cultural heritage, the human rights of its people, and the future security of the Armenian nation.
A message from the Life and Work conference held in Athens made strong connections to the gathering’s historic counterpart in Stockholm in 1925 and, even further back, to the first Ecumenical Council in Nicaea 1700 years ago.
With an ancient history, deep ties to the ecumenical movement, and extensive social programmes, the Church of Greece is a stalwart institution—as well as this week’s host for the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs meeting.
As the “Life and Work” centenary conference continued on 20 May in Athens, participants took a deep dip into church history, emerging with challenging questions and topics that will inform their ongoing discussions.
As a “Life and Work” centenary conference in Athens entered its second day, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs traveled back in time to consider the scene in Stockholm in 1925—then took a courageous look forward at the many serious global issues under consideration by churches today.
Reports from the moderator and the director of the World Council of Churches Commission of the Churches on International Affairs summarized the history of the Conference on Life and Work and looked forward at the commission’s upcoming discussions of emerging global trends.
A “Life and Work” centenary conference opened on 18 May in Athens, with participants seeking a fresh commitment to unity of the church and of all humanity.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) will provide both onsite and online services to accredited media in connection with two upcoming and simultaneously held ecumenical conferences in Berlin, Germany and Athens, Greece.
