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By Maurice Malanes (*)

The global ecumenical family's concern about the growing human rights violations in the Philippines will be a major focus of the 18-21 November visit to the country by the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia.

A severe reminder "of the wealth that was built and sustained on the continued extraction and plunder of Africa's resources as well as on the exploitation of Africa's people" was addressed to Christians in the global North by the participants in the African ecumenical consultation "Linking poverty, wealth and ecology" last week.

"Some would have said that this event was not possible, but here we are - and the world wonders what will come next," said the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia at the opening of the Global Christian Forum taking place in Limuru, near Nairobi, Kenya, from 6-9 November.

A unique gathering of high level church leaders to start Tuesday 6 November near Nairobi, Kenya, features the broadest range of Christian traditions ever represented at a global meeting, allowing for a discussion of unprecedented ecumenical breadth on what Christians are called to do - together if possible - in the world today.

Leaders from the World Council of Churches (WCC) and its member churches are calling on the United Nations and member states as part of their concerted ongoing advocacy efforts.

The United Nations and the World Council of Churches (WCC) have reaffirmed their commitment to collaborate at a meeting between the general secretaries of both organizations held on 29 October at the UN headquarters in New York.

When does the pursuit of economical wellbeing turn into greed? This is one of the questions to be discussed at a 5-9 November ecumenical consultation in Dar es Salaam. Joint church strategies and actions for addressing the interlinked problems of poverty, excessive wealth, and ecological degradation in Africa are intended results.

Calling for alternatives to enforced free trade, churches and church-related organizations world-wide, along with other religious groups and community partners, are gearing up for the Trade Week of Action, 14-21 October.

By Jerry Hames (*)

The Kyoto Protocol is "an important step forward towards a just and sustainable global climate policy regime" and as such needs to be fully implemented, however "much more radical reductions [of greenhouse gas emissions] are urgently needed," the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee stated at its 25-28 September meeting in Etchmiadzin, Armenia.

The bloody conflict in Northern Ireland, the crimes committed under the apartheid regime in South Africa and under communist rule in eastern Germany, mass killings perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia or by the Guatemalan military during a 35 year long civil war: the diverse cases of these nations and their struggles to cope with the legacies of massive human rights violations are at the heart of the 1-4 October ecumenical consultation "Healing of Memories - Reconciling Communities" in Dublin, Ireland, co-organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Irish School of Ecumenics.

By Jerry Hames (*)

While the situation on the horn of Africa remains tense, Ethiopians prepare themselves to sound the bell for a new millennium of hope for peace, reconciliation and transformation. The country, home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, follows its own calendar, which dates the birth of Jesus Christ seven years later than the Gregorian calendar. That is why on Wednesday, the 12 September 2007 according to the Gregorian calendar, Ethiopians celebrate the first day of the year 2000. The so-called Ge-ez calendar corresponds also to the liturgical year of the World Council of Churches' two members in the country, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus.

Church leaders and communities facing situations of violence in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and New Orleans will share their experiences with an international ecumenical team visiting the United States from 15-23 September. Being from South Africa, Lebanon, Pakistan and Brazil the team members will express the solidarity of churches worldwide with the US churches while learning from their peacemaking efforts concerning urban and gun violence as well as the Iraq war and community peace building.

"Now more than ever, the unity of the churches in Europe is needed to bear witness to a future that transcends the vision of a common economic and political future, to embrace a future in which abundant life in Jesus Christ gives hope to all people, everywhere," said World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, speaking in Sibiu, Romania on 5 September.

Orphans and vulnerable children are one focus of the 4th Pan African Conference hosted by the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians in Yaoundé, Cameroon, from 3-8 September 2007. Topics include sexual abuse, child-headed households, the role of faith based organizations in child care, and many more.

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) is ready to join the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Vatican in supporting a code of conduct to guide activities seeking converts to Christianity.

By Annegret Kapp*