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It’s 70 years since the World Council of Churches was founded in Amsterdam on 23 August. In addition to a commemoration service in Amsterdam on 23 August, the WCC, its member churches and partners are planning a variety of events to move forward on our ongoing Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, and at the same time honour and learn from these 70 years of ecumenical endeavour. Dr Abuom, from the Anglican Church of Kenya, is the moderator of the WCC Central Committee. She is the first woman and the first African in the position in WCC’s history. In an interview, she reflects on the evolution of the WCC in the past 70 years.

Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee, has been awarded an honorary doctorate from VID Specialized University, one of Norway’s largest private universities.

The WCC Executive Committee met in Amman, Jordan from 17-23 November to approve the 2018 plan and budget and prepare for renewal of the WCC strategic plan. The Executive Committee also discerned the way forward for the WCC’s involvement in Palestine and Israel by learning more about the particular situation in Jordan and the Middle East, then discussing the challenges of the churches and the WCC response. The Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem, All Palestine and Jordan, Theophilos III, welcomed the group.

Speakers opening the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee meeting in Amman, Jordan from 17-23 November, emphasized peace, justice and unity as the WCC discerns its way forward and evaluates its past work.

During a solidarity visit in Kenya on 10-12 October, leaders from the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee met with Kenyan church representatives, expressed their support for Kenyan churches working toward peace and justice, and deepened their vision for future WCC events, including the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism set for March 2018.

An Ecumenical Strategic Forum on Diakonia and Sustainable Development was convening this week, drawing 130 thinkers from across the globe who have agreed to seek a common vision for churches and strengthen their ability to collaborate.

Participants at the Africa Pre-Conference of the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism, arrived in black clothing on 14 September to act in solidarity with the worldwide “Thursdays in Black" campaign.

In an audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican, World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee moderator Dr Agnes Abuom and WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit discussed how Christian unity is vital in bringing a true sense of justice to issues the world is facing today. The meeting also focused on how deepening relations in the one ecumenical movement.

Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee, offered her reflections on the concept of reformation at a seminar during St Olav’s Festival in July.

Friday evening when the leaders of the G20 states will be meeting in Hamburg and discussing global economic, social, environmental and political issues, the churches in Germany are inviting people in Germany and all over the world to a common peace prayer.

Countries in the Horn of Africa afflicted by droughts and war are facing famine which visits the region regularly leaving the United Nations and faith-based organizations battling to contain the current crisis.

In an awards ceremony held at Lambeth Palace on 9 June, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby presented a Lambeth Cross for Ecumenism to Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee.

The WCC Executive Committee is meeting at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey this week from 7-12 June, focusing on unity, renewal of the WCC strategic plan and financial strategy, the building project, preparations for the 11th Assembly and observance of WCC’s 70th anniversary.

Reconciliation was once primarily seen as a message of the church but is now used by secular leaders trying to establish peace in communities torn by conflict and war, the WCC president for Africa, the Rev. Mary Anne Plaatjies van Huffel, has said at a major Protestant gathering in Germany.

Governments’ foreign policies need to change to focus on issues such as global inequalities that drive conflicts in many parts of the world, the moderator of the WCC Central Committee, Agnes Abuom, said at a forum in Berlin with German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel.

Berlin. Former United States president Barack Obama joined German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in front of tens of thousands of people on 25 May, the first full day of Germany’s biggest Protestant gathering, the Kirchentag, or “church festival”.

Open debates, prayers in many languages and music of all styles: these are the trademark ingredients of the biannual festival of the Kirchentag. Founded in 1949 by Protestant lay people to strengthen democratic culture after the Nazi dictatorship and the Second World War, it has gained European and global reach over the decades.

In a joint communiqué issued on 27 April, delegations from the WCC and the Muslim Council of Elders jointly stressed the importance of valuing diversity, assuring equal rights, and of being able to build mutual relationships with others.

The second meeting of a delegation of the Muslim Council of Elders led by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, His Eminence Professor Dr Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, and a delegation of the World Council of Churches (WCC) led by Dr Agnes Abuom, Moderator of the Central Committee of the WCC and Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary, took place at Al Azhar, Cairo, Egypt, 26 April. Dr Al-Tayyeb opened the gathering by welcoming the World Council of Churches to this important meeting which was taking place at a critical time in the history of the Middle East and the world.

The leadership of the WCC Central Committee met in Geneva on 14-15 March to prepare for the Executive Committee meeting in June in Geneva. The WCC continues to focus on its pilgrimage of justice and peace, preparations for the 11th Assembly in 2021 as well as its upcoming 70th anniversary. The WCC was formed in October 1948 in Amsterdam. During 2018, the WCC fellowship will not only celebrate significant milestones in the history of the WCC but also continue to address modern injustices and the ongoing struggle for a just peace.