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An online conference, “The Future of Interfaith Dialogue,” held  7-8 December 2021, discussed principles for common formation as a vital element for the future of interfaith dialogue. 

The purpose of this booklet is both to share some of the key insights and learnings from the conference and to prompt further interest in and discussion of common formation among a range of faith communities and interreligious organizations. Topics covered include; Transformational Formation: Five Fundamental Principles, Ten Practical Pointers for Initiatives of Common Formation, and a Directory of Groups and Organizations Offering Learning Opportunities in the Area of Common Formation.

This publication is the report of the Women of Faith Pilgrim Team Visits for Justice and Peace carried out between August 2017 and July 2020 as part of the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace. This pilgrimage report allows church women worldwide to draw inspiration and strength from the spiritualities of resistance, biblical reflections, and successful struggles of women against violence and injustice and to feel empowered to become agents of transformation and hope in their own contexts.

Led by Thursdays in Black Ambassadors – leaders in their communities committed to being visible and outspoken against such violence – a series of Bible studies are being prepared for individual and congregational reflection on sexual and gender-based violence. Such reflection will help us listen to the word of God and apply our faith and vision of justice, peace, and love in our contexts today. This first series of reflections address critical topics in our societies and Christian communities that contribute to or respond to gender-based violence and provide diverse perspectives from our wide ecumenical fellowship.

A core group of Thursdays in Black Ambassadors oversaw this Bible study series: Anders Göranzon, Claudia Bandixen, and Karen Georgia Thompson.

Published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the WCC’s Programme on Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation, this volume celebrates a common confidence that dialogue can be linked to liberation in ways that can be both faithful and fruitful.

From the Introduction: “The heartbeat of this book is its concern to reimagine interreligious dialogue as a “dialogue of and for life” by interlinking it with liberation. What drives it is a passion that seeks to hold together two distinct concerns that emerged within theological thinking during the latter half of the 20th century and have since freed theological imagination in manifold ways.”

“Because God Loves Me—Affirming My Value in Christ,” a new curriculum written in French that is designed to help children ages 7-12 address gender-based violence.

Though the curriculum, edited by Yvette A. Kelem and Blandine E. Ackla, was developed for use primarily with churches and church groups in Africa, it is relevant and accessible for other French-speaking populations as well.

The Christian education programme encourages the full involvement of children, adolescents and youth in becoming early proponents of nonviolence. Developed for children's Bible study leaders, teachers, parish volunteers, and others who work with children, the curriculum serves as a guide to help churches live into their responsibility to protect all children, girls and women from gender-based violence.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) released a joint document, “Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity: A Christian Call to Reflection and Action During COVID-19.” Its purpose is to encourage churches and Christian organizations to reflect on the importance of interreligious solidarity in a world wounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. The document offers a Christian basis for interreligious solidarity that can inspire and confirm the impulse to serve a world wounded not only by COVID-19 but also by many other wounds.

A dozen theologians from across regions and confessions offer Bible studies for individuals, groups, and congregations to understand and address the vital personal, social, and religious concerns raised for and by stateless persons and their plight.

Encouraging churches and Christian organizations to reflect on the structural roots of what has led to the disruption of peace in the world, and on their own current practices and priorities in relation to education and peacemaking.

In face of unprecedented awareness of religious diversity, as well as the dangers of conflict, interreligious dialogue has become vital. Yet, these authors maintain, it is the commitment to think together about religious faith and our inherited traditions that genuinely moves mutual understanding to new levels.

Exploring hybridity, embracing hospitality— While we tend to think of religions as distinct, univocal, even competing traditions, the phenomenon of multiple religious belonging is widespread, both historically and today. Alive to a variety of traditions and regions, this volume explores the reality of religious hybridity—whether because of cultural inheritance, family circumstances, or explicit choice— its confounding of traditional categories in theology and the study of religion, and its meaning for Christian theology. Even as it complexifies the idea of religious identity, the authors show, it enriches our understanding of ultimate reality and the whole range of practices by which humans relate to it.