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From warm greetings, to music and dancing, to practical tips, a World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical International Youth Day on 12 August drew young people from across the world for a virtual gathering that explored the theme of mental health, and how churches can support young people in this area of their lives.

More than 30 alumni of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Young Adults Training for Religious Amity programme gathered online over the last two weeks for a unique “Train the Trainers” event to equip former participants with the skills to organise interreligious dialogue and training in their own communities. The training, which brought together former participants from 2014-2019, included four webinars focussed on deepening interreligious awareness as well as developing leadership competencies in facilitation.

During a graduation webcast, students from the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Institute Bossey described what it was like to live for ten months or more in an environment like no other. As they receive their post-graduate degrees in ecumenical studies, they look back fondly on their sense of community, professors—and even the food.

When asked on the day of her graduation how she would describe Bossey, former student Quantisha Mason replied, ’Bossey is like a love letter to God.’ Now, the Ecumenical Institute invites prospective students to apply for the study year of 2021-2022.

A new Bible study, “Facing the Red Sea: Facing the Red Sea: Overcoming Fear by Using Your Gifts,” by Joy Eva Bohol asks Christians to counter their apprehension with activity in service of others.

On 12 August, the World Council of Churches (WCC) will celebrate Ecumenical International Youth Day with the theme “Young People and Mental Health.” A worship celebration with expert speakers, music, prayer and Bible studies is being planned, and a “toolkit” is being released before the event to help WCC member churches provide a safe space for youth to strengthen their mental health.

The new issue of International Review of Mission includes a variety of articles, ranging from post-colonialism to public theology, and from mission models to Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation. Two of the articles are specifically concerned with healing, which is a pertinent theme at this current period of the coronavirus. These two articles clearly indicate that the biblical concept of health consists as it does of the welfare, health, and prosperity of the individual person as well as of communities as a whole. Individuals are always part of the communities they belong to.

Technology is transforming the world, and the latest issue of The Ecumenical Review, the quarterly journal of the World Council of Churches (WCC), offers theological and ethical perspectives on the digital age.

Dr Stephen Brown is the editor of The Ecumenical Review. The most recent edition, “The Spirit of Truth in a Digital Age,” reflects on how our perceptions of reality are becoming dependent on the way communication and information ecosystems are organized and regulated as technology has developed.

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca sent joyful greetings via a video message to Focolare youth who are about to celebrate Unity Week 2020.

A WCC support team is online and ready to help WCC member churches as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. The team—comprised of experts in different facets of faith-related pandemic response—is here for you, said WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca. “These are people who can serve as a tremendous support to the WCC fellowship,” said Sauca.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has newly released an online publication, "Health and Hope: The Church in Mission and Unity," a collection of previously published articles that resonate with the worldwide struggle amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In conjunction with this resource, WCC communication is sharing personal perspectives from faith-based health experts across the world. Dr Beate Jakob is a consultant for health and healing with the German Institute for Medical Mission.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Youth Engagement in the ecumenical movement plans to publish a book with young people’s voices for the first time in 25 years. We are inviting young people ages 18-30 from our member churches, ecumenical partners, and people of goodwill all over the world to submit articles on the current situation of young people today: their challenges, the transformational potentials they see, and their vision of the movement, moving forward.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has newly released an online publication, “Health and Hope: The Church in Mission and Unity,” a collection of previously published articles that resonate with the worldwide struggle amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taking into consideration the growing global concerns and implications of the current spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus), the World Council of Churches (WCC) will postpone its annual Ecumenical Continuing Formation on Youth seminar in the Pacific to the end of the year 2020, with a date to be announced. The event was scheduled for June 2020 in Tonga.
The WCC is taking steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including cancelling or postponing certain meetings and limiting travels.

The WCC is offering member churches some resources with a human face during the COVID-19 pandemic. A team of eight resource people has been made available to consult on how churches can discern their roles during the coronavirus pandemic, how they can adapt as faith communities, and how they can connect and share with each other.

As the World Council of Churches prepares for its 11th Assembly in 2021, a special “virtual” issue of the WCC’s journal International Review of Mission is now available online presenting a set of 12 articles published following the WCC’s previous assembly in 2013 in Busan, Republic of Korea.

The latest issue of The Ecumenical Review, the quarterly journal of the World Council of Churches (WCC), focuses on “Global Manifestations of Racism Today,” with a set of articles that originated at a theological symposium organized in Japan in 2019 as part of the WCC’s Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace.

As the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly preparations progress, the Assembly Worship Planning Committee together with the WCC Youth Engagement programme are presenting a creative opportunity to young people between the ages of 18 and 35 who attend a WCC member church, inviting them to enter a song writing competition. This is part of efforts and initiatives involving and engaging young people in the planning and delivery of the assembly; they can be a part of the ecumenical movement with their young voices through music.

Beate Fagerli, World Council of Churches (WCC) assembly coordinator, answers the most frequently asked questions about the upcoming WCC 11th Assembly in 2021.