At the World Council of Churches 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe Germany, Jackcilia Salathiel Ebere will be carrying the voices of women from South Sudan who are crying for peace and justice.
Prof. Dr Sarojini Nadar is director of the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice, University of Western Cape, South Africa. Below, she reflects on outcomes from the inaugural “Ecumenical Women’s Initiative for Leadership and Learning” held in May.
Right Rev. Dr Emily Onyango, assistant bishop, Anglican Diocese of Bondo, Kenya, was ordained in 1987—the second woman priest ordained in all of east Africa—and appointed as assistant bishop in 2021. She also serves as a lecturer for St Paul’s University. Below, she reflects on her path to becoming a church leader, the resistance she encountered, and her message to young people today.
Global Christian Forum sustains imperative role in a post-pandemic world and reaches out to new groups of people. Global meeting to be held in Ghana in 2024.
At ecumenical prayers in the capital city, Juba, South Sudanese church leaders called for unity, peace, and reconciliation, as their nation continued to struggle with instability and conflict, a decade after independence.
Dans une déclaration, le Comité exécutif du Conseil œcuménique des Églises (COE) a affirmé son soutien en faveur des Églises du Soudan dans leur témoignage et leur ministère. Il s’y félicite d’une visite de solidarité œcuménique au Soudan du 20 au 25 avril effectuée conjointement par le COE, la Conférence des Églises pour toute l’Afrique et la Communauté fraternelle des Conseils et des Églises chrétiens dans la région des Grands Lacs et de la Corne de l’Afrique.
En una declaración, el Comité Ejecutivo del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI) afirmó su apoyo a las iglesias de Sudán en su testimonio y ministerio. La declaración acoge con satisfacción la visita de solidaridad ecuménica a Sudán, realizada conjuntamente por el CMI, la Conferencia de Iglesias de Toda el África (AACC) y la Comunidad de Consejos Cristianos e Iglesias de los Grandes Lagos y el Cuerno de África (FECCLAHA), entre el 20 y el 25 de abril.
In einer öffentlichen Erklärung versicherte der Exekutivausschuss des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen (ÖRK) die Kirchen im Sudan seiner Unterstützung für ihr Zeugnis und ihren Dienst. Weiterhin begrüßte er darin den gemeinsam vom ÖRK, der Gesamtafrikanischen Kirchenkonferenz und der Gemeinschaft Christlicher Räte und Kirchen in der Region der Großen Seen und des Horns von Afrika unternommenen ökumenischen Solidaritätsbesuch im Sudan vom 20. bis 25. April 2022.
In a statement, the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee affirmed its support for the churches of Sudan in their witness and ministry. The statement welcomed an ecumenical solidarity visit to Sudan on 20-25 April undertaken jointly by the WCC, All Africa Conference of Churches, and Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa.
At an online roundtable hosted by the All Africa Conference of Churches, male “champions for gender justice” shared their ideas and insights during their yearlong service as men who are helping to prevent gender-based 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.
The churches of Sudan – and especially the Sudan Council of Churches as their ecumenical forum – have suffered from a serious lack of attention and support by international ecumenical partners since the separation of South Sudan in 2011.
To accompany the churches and people of Sudan in the midst of significant changes and challenges in the country, a delegation of World Council of Churches (WCC) along with its ecumenical partners is undertaking an ecumenical solidarity visit to Sudan.
At the end of a 9 February press conference — which followed a long day of videoconference meetings — Dr Agnes Abuom and Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauce fielded a surprise question: what first got them involved in the ecumenical movement?
Mientras el Rev. Frank Chikane dirigió el Consejo Sudafricano de Iglesias (SACC, por sus siglas en inglés) en su denuncia de las injusticias del sistema del apartheid, la organización no cejó en sus esfuerzos, ni siquiera después del atentado que redujo su sede a escombros en los años ochenta. Moderador de la Comisión de las Iglesias para Asuntos Internacionales (CIAI) del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI) desde 2016, el Rev. Chikane ha denunciado injusticias en múltiples lugares del mundo. El departamento de comunicación del CMI le pidió que volviera la vista atrás sobre su mandato en la CIAI y sobre el constante llamado de las iglesias a poner fin a las injusticias que afectan hoy al mundo.
Als Pastor Frank Chikane als Generalsekretär den Südafrikanischen Kirchenrat leitete und das Apartheidsystem wegen seiner Ungerechtigkeiten anklagte, führte er seine Mission unbeirrt fort, auch nachdem das Büro des Gebäudes nach einem Bombenanschlag völlig zerstört war. Pastor Chikane ist seit 2016 Vorsitzender der Kommission der Kirchen für internationale Angelegenheiten des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen (ÖRK) und engagiert sich für den Kampf gegen Ungerechtigkeiten in zahlreichen Ländern der Welt. Die ÖRK-Kommunikationsabteilung hat Pastor Chikane darum gebeten, auf seine bisherige Arbeit innerhalb der Kommission zurückzublicken und über die fortwährende Berufung der Kirchen zu sprechen, ein Zeichen gegen die Ungerechtigkeiten in der Welt von heute zu setzen.
Lorsque le pasteur Frank Chikane était secrétaire général du Conseil des Églises d'Afrique du Sud pour dénoncer les injustices du régime de l'apartheid, son travail s’est poursuivi même après la démolition du bâtiment abritant les bureaux du Conseil dans les années 1980 suite à une bombe. Modérateur de la Commission des Églises pour les affaires internationales du Conseil œcuménique des Églises (COE) depuis 2016, le pasteur Frank Chikane s'est engagé dans la lutte contre les injustices dans de nombreuses régions. Le département de communication du COE a demandé au pasteur Frank Chikane de revenir sur son mandat à la commission et sur l'appel permanent des églises à s'attaquer aux injustices dans le monde d'aujourd'hui.
When Rev. Frank Chikane was leading the South African Council of Churches in calling out injustices of the apartheid system, their work did not stop even after the council’s office building was bombed to the ground in 1980s. Moderating the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches (WCC) since 2016, Rev. Chikane has been engaged in addressing injustices in many parts of the world. WCC Communication asked Rev. Chikane to look back at his term at the commission and the ongoing calling of churches to address injustices in the world today.
I see five imperatives for theologians (prophetic, pastoral and priestly), to occupy the social media space, which is currently dominated by politics (politricks), business (including profiteers), entertainers (artists, sports, etc.), economists, lawyers, etc.
As churches and other groups battle sexual and gender-based violence, it is urgent to include men in trainings and amplify the issues for global accompaniment and support, church women leaders, lay members and gender advocates recommended at a recent church human rights training in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.