An online meeting planned for 25 May, titled “Exploring the nexus between racism, xenophobia and the AfCTA, and AU free movement protocol,” will mark Africa Day.
The upcoming Barbados Gospelfest, set for 21-28 May, will express churches’ affirmation and celebration of persons with disabilities in musical and other creative ways.
A World Council of Churches webinar on 25 April explored obstacles, opportunities, and strategies to combat racism, xenophobia, and racial discrimination in the church and in the world. Speakers led an exploration of overcoming obstacles in order to continue the quest for racial justice.
The fifth edition of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Eco-School on Water, Food, and Climate Justice, will be held 24-31 July in Crete, Greece. Convening in-person in the Orthodox Academy of Crete, Greece, the event is open to young people under 30 years of age from the Europe and North America region only.
Pastor Joachim Leberecht, from Herzogenrath/Germany, has won the international Menno Simons Sermon Award from the Center for Peace Church Theology (University of Hamburg) together with the Mennonite congregation Hamburg-Altona.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) will host a hybrid event on 2 May in conjunction with the 32nd session of the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.
The National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) has published a “2023 Easter Prayer for Peace and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula”, an annual observance which carries special significance this year, 70 years after the Korean War ceasefire established by the 1953 Armistice Agreement.
A webinar on 25 April will explore obstacles, opportunities, and strategies to combat racism, xenophobia and racial discrimination in the church and in the world.
During a Global Peace Prayer on 22 March, Christians across the world drew together to pray for peace in a broken world, and to listen to voices from people suffering in Ukraine and other conflict-ridden areas.
During an Africa-Europe Ecumenical Forum on Migration, held 15-19 March In Hamburg, Germany, nearly 60 people gathered to discuss, among many other issues, the negative effects of “irregular” migration, caused in part by the growth of inequality within and between countries.
A Global Peace Prayer on 22 March will draw Christians together in hope for a better future. A communique from a prayer planning committee explained that Christians are called into prayer and advocacy for peace. “In a global context where war and violence abound, the practice of peace has become even more urgent,” reads the message.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is sharing materials for a “Week of Prayer for Overcoming Racism and Xenophobia” in the week that includes the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March and the UN International Day for the Remembrance of Victims of Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade on 25 March.
Below, Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, World Council of Churches (WCC) director of Public Witness and Diakonia, reflects on the relevance of ecumenical diakonia and public witness today.
An Ash Wednesday Peace Prayer remembered many of the 115 ongoing armed conflicts around the world. Held at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, the prayer also focused on God continuing to create new life from the ashes of injustice.
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA released a message on 1 February that mourns the “senseless killing” of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black male who died from injuries sustained after a brutal beating at the hands of police officers in Memphis, Tennessee.
During a prayer on 23 January, World Council of Churches (WCC) staff and partners gathered to observe the sixth day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and to pray with the peoples and churches of Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus.