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The World Council of Churches executive committee met virtually on 1-3 June. The work of the committee, in three intense sessions, focused on governance matters, giving consideration to the ways of working until face-to-face governance meetings can occur again; and to finance matters, with the need to address the requirement for a revised budget for this year. In addition, two public statements have been prepared, discussed and issued, the first concerning the role of churches as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, and the second a “Statement on Racial Justice in the USA.”

The worldwide ecumenical family came together to celebrate the life of African bridge-builder, transformer, and social justice champion, Rev. Prof. Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies-van Huffel at an online service led by the World Council of Churches (WCC).

The executive committee, on behalf of the central committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), has decided, in close consultation with the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and other host churches and local partners, to postpone the 11th assembly, originally planned for September 2021 in Karlsruhe, Germany, until 2022.

Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca has been confirmed interim WCC general secretary by the executive committee at an online meeting held on 3 June. Sauca will hold the post until the WCC central committee meets in June 2021.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) will remember the life and work of Rev. Prof. Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies van Huffel with an online memorial service on 4 June at 4pm CET.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee will meet virtually on 1-3 June, offering solidarity to a world in which many find themselves in critical situations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

An online memorial service for Rev. Prof. Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies-van Huffel drew family members, friends, colleagues and students who mourned the passing of the World Council of Churches (WCC) president for Africa. Plaatjies van Huffel, known as a transformative church leader in sub-Saharan Africa, passed away on 19 May.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is mourning the death of Rev. Prof. Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies van Huffel, a South African pastor and academic who was currently serving as the WCC president from Africa since 2013. She passed away on 19 May.

The WCC Executive Committee will meet online on 1-3 June, while the WCC Central Committee meeting has been postponed until June 2021.

As the UN secretary-general António Guterres shared a message on 12 May with religious leaders about how our shared vulnerability to the coronavirus pandemic reveals our common humanity, World Council of Churches (WCC) leaders agreed that solidarity is a foundation of a meaningful global response.

In historic Nidaros Cathedral, the ancient shrine and pilgrimage destination of medieval Trondheim, the Church of Norway on Sunday, 10 May 2020, consecrated the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit as bishop of the Diocese of Nidaros and installed him as Preses or presiding bishop of its Bishops’ Conference.

On 5 May, former World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit received the Dongbaek Medal of the Order of Civil Merit of the Republic of Korea, during a ceremony at the Korean Embassy in Oslo, Norway.

WCC ambassadors of the Thursdays in Black campaign are standing behind a joint statement that urges both awareness and protection from the “dual pandemics” of COVID-19 and gender-based violence.

In an online prayer service on 1 April, the World Council of Churches (WCC) bid an official farewell to its outgoing general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, who will take a new role as presiding bishop of the Church of Norway.

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit and the moderator of the WCC Central Committee Dr Agnes Abuom urged people and churches to give highest priority to “doing whatever we can do to protect life” and ”ask churches not to have public services tomorrow as this can become hubs of transmission of the virus” and to follow strictly the rules and guidelines from authorities based on WHO guidelines.

Leaders in the World Council of Churches (WCC) advise the faithful to use information based on science and evidence and to respect authorities’ advice if we are to overcome the novel coronavirus COVID-19 afflicting humanity and growing into new areas such as Africa.

In a pastoral letter to WCC member churches and ecumenical partners, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit and WCC moderator Dr Agnes Abuom urged people to give highest priority to “doing whatever we can do to protect life” and “This is a time to touch each other’s hearts, by what we say, what we share, what we do – and what we do not do – to protect the life God loves so much.”

Rev. Prof. Dr. Ioan Sauca has been appointed acting World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary beginning 1 April. Sauca, who currently serves as deputy general secretary for the WCC programme on Ecumenical Formation and Bossey Ecumenical Institute, will hold the general secretary post until the WCC Executive Committee meets in June.

In light of concerns about and implications of the current international spread of COVID 19, the coronavirus, the leadership of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee has decided to postpone the upcoming full WCC central committee meeting, currently slated for 18-24 March, along with the executive committee meeting that was to precede it.

Brought together by the South Sudan Council of Churches, women and men are sharing the pain of many years of war and associated gender-based violence in a series of workshops in Kenya and Burundi.