Search results

At an ecumenical service hosted at St Paul’s Anglican Church by the Barbados Christian Council, those gathered prayerfully explored the symbols of stones and water as “the beginning of a decolonized spiritual practice.”

Young people in the Pacific region shared their unique ecological insights, along with their passion for change, at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Eco-School on Water, Food and Climate Justice in February.

Ma’alul, a Palestinian village destroyed in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, saw a visit by ecumenical accompaniers in mid-March. “I would have liked to invite you to a real home, not just as a refugee,” said Jad Saba Yusef Salem as he received the group of accompaniers to the village. Today, 95-year-old Salem is one of few remaining survivors from the 75 families who used to live in the village back in 1948.

Ecumenical diakonia means complementing each other in what we do best: serving our communities, thus bringing visible church unity to the world, agreed participants at an Ecumenical Strategic Forum on Diakonia and Sustainable Development convened by the World Council of Churches (WCC) last week.

When Fernando Enns thinks of water in a German context, he is reminded of thousands and thousands of refugees who have come to the country fleeing the conflict in Syria.

The refugee situation is something that we must treat with the utmost seriousness. People are fleeing without food, water and somewhere to live. These are people who have fled for their lives. It is a fact that we must treat with the utmost seriousness, says Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC.

It is raining. It is cold and windy. Autumn is in the air in northern Greece. We have just arrived at the Idomeni refugee camp in northern Greece, on the border between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). The fast-approaching winter poses as great a threat to the refugees as do the smugglers. In the worst case, winter means death.

“I cannot forget the poignant memories of the march when thousands of refugees set out from Budapest, Hungary, towards Austria, and finally reached the other side of the border aboard buses provided by the Hungarian government,” said Bishop Tamas Fabiny of the Lutheran Church in Hungary, vice-president of the Lutheran World Federation.

Challenged by Christians from Brazil to strive for greater respect for religious and cultural diversity, churches are reflecting together on the gospel of John as they celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The vision of Christian unity accompanied by respect for diversity has inspired this year’s prayer materials produced in Brazil for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Dr Rommel F. Linatoc reflected on the issues of water and sanitation from an ecumenical perspective in the Philippines, speaking in an interview at the Global Forum of the Ecumenical Water Network. The theme of the forum, which took place from 25-27 October in Nairobi, Kenya, was "Like a tree planted by the water".

“Nature is our home,” said Dr. Maria Sumire Conde from the Quecha community of Peru. She says some of those who have come there, however, have not been good guests.

More articles and free photos at

<span style="font-weight: bold; "» Orthodox pre-Assembly meeting

"When we recognize that our lives are gracious gifts of God, it becomes our mission in this world to care for life and the dignity of all," said the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia in a public lecture given during his visit to Fiji last week.