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Brothers and sisters, welcome to the Executive Committee meeting. It is a joy to see each one of you. A lot has happened both positive and not so good, since we last met at the stop in our pilgrimage together in Uppsala, Sweden; this stop for was a moment to learn and be exposed to the Swedish ecclesial landscape and we are grateful to the Church of Sweden for their support and solidarity.

WCC, ACT Alliance and MECC statement on Gaza

With deep concern over the latest hostilities in the Gaza Strip, the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) and ACT Alliance express their belief that the present situation in the Gaza Strip is morally and ethically untenable. We offer our heartfelt sympathies to all the victims, killed and injured and their families, of the recent intense spate of violence.

Food is central to life and our faith. It is a blessing and a gift of God, in the form of the abundant creation which we depend on for our sustenance. Food is also a reflection of the quality of our relationships with each other- our caring for the other and the sharing of resources and the hospitality we show each other. Food is central to our worship life, our liturgy and the Eucharist, which helps us to be one with God and with each other.

Message of Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, WCC Deputy General Secretary at the Reverend Norman Tendis memorial service in St. Ruprecht Church, Landskron, Carinthia, Austria on Saturday, 27th April.

Message to the DMZ Peace Human Chain Movement from Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, World Council of Churches general secretary

This annual review of the activity of the WCC records many of the activities undertaken by the council during 2018 and continuing into 2019.

Meeting of the Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration in the WCC, April 2019.

"What’s Love Got to Do with It? The Ecumenical Future of the Churches", Inaugural Michael Huffington Lecture by Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit World Council of Churches general secretary on 3 April, 2019

The Two Brothers:

A Sermon

Hollywood United Methodist Church

31 March 2019

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit,

General Secretary

World Council of Churches

Are we in a time when the message of the threats of climate change is on its way to sink into our shared consciousness? After being active in the climate debates in the ecumenical and interreligious discussions and advocacy work with not so much of a visible impact on policies and action I am wondering if we are getting closer to the point where we should have been 20 years ago. A point that says that humanity needs to choose another way if we are going to secure a decent future for coming generations and to save ecosystems and peoples opportunities to have a good and peaceful life together.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) held Midday Prayer for those grieving after Ethiopian Airlines flight disaster on 20 March. Prayers focused on grieving families, friends and colleagues who lost loved ones from UN agencies, the WCC and other organizations who perished in the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash on 10 March.

On 15 March 2019, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit sent a letter to member churches and members of the Central Committee presenting the "Roadmap for Congregations, Communities and Churches for an Economy of Life and Ecological Justice”

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, addressed the community of the Ecumenical Center, in Geneva, on the morning of 11 March 2019, on the news of the air crash in Ethiopia that took the lives of 157 persons, including WCC staff Rev. Norman Tendis.

Approved by the participants of the International Seminar on the Ecumenical Diaconal Ministry of North/South Korea
4-5 March 2019, Seoul

Presented by Peter Prove at the International Seminar on the Ecumenical Diaconal Ministry of North/South Korea, 4-5 March 2019, Seoul

The fourth reflection of the “Seven Weeks for Water 2019” of World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Water Network is by Rev. Dr Raj BharatPatta, an ordained minister of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church in India. He has recently completed his PhD on the topic Subaltern Public Theology for India from the University of Manchester, UK. He served the Student Christian Movement of India as its national General Secretary and also the National Council of Churches in India as one of its Executive Secretaries, particularly focusing on Dalit and indigenous people. He currently serves as an Authorised Presbyter at the Stockport Methodist Circuit in UK with a pastoral charge of three churches. In the following reflection, he narrates the story of Hagar through her voice, when she was left in the desert to fend for herself without an adequate supply of water to survive with and to keep her son Ishmael alive. Patta, draws similarities between the Dalit communities in India and that of Hagar, when it comes to access to water.

The first Reflection of the “Seven Weeks for Water” of World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Water Network is by Renemsongla Ozukum, a theologian and a member of the Baptist Church Council, Nagaland India. She has been engaging with grassroots women in North East India for more than a decade. Married to Pangernungba Kechu, she is enjoying learning child theology from her two adorable sons Lenir and Akumdong Kechu. In this reflection she recalls her childhood in North East India as to how she related to water. She further  goes on to dissect the “gendered waters” where girls and women are subjected to exploitation, losing productivity and discriminated against.

Speech of Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC General Secretary at the Open University of Cyprus – Archdiocese of Constantia and Ammochostos, January 10, 2019, Paralimni

Sermon of the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general secretary at the Morning Prayer in the Ecumenical Centre, Epiphany, 7 January 2019

By World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, on 17 December.