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Our series of interviews with Thursdays in Black ambassadors highlights those who are playing a vital role in increasing the impact of our collective call for a world without rape and violence. Rev. Sally Azar is a pastor at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and currently serves as a pastor in Jerusalem for both Arabic and English-speaking congregations. 

Thursdays in Black ambassadors play a vital role in increasing the impact of our collective call for a world without rape and violence. H.E. Archbishop Dr Vicken Aykazian is vice-moderator of the World Council of Churches central committee.

Thursdays in Black ambassadors play a vital role in increasing the impact of our collective call for a world without rape and violence. Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm is moderator of the World Council of Churches.

When Rev. Rita Famos became involved in the youth programmes of her local congregation in Bern, Switzerland, back in the early 1980s, a lifelong commitment to the Reformed Church and the ecumenical movement started to evolve.

Mathilda Johnson is world vice president of the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women. She also serves as lay president for the Methodist Church in The Gambia. Below, she reflects on her childhood, her top women’s issues, and her hope for her sisters in Africa.

Our series of interviews with Thursdays in Black ambassadors highlights those who are playing a vital role in increasing the impact of our collective call for a world without rape and violence. Marcelo D. Leites is general secretary of the World Student Christian Federation.

When Rev. Frank Chikane was leading the South African Council of Churches in calling out injustices of the apartheid system, their work did not stop even after the council’s office building was bombed to the ground in 1980s. Moderating the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches (WCC) since 2016, Rev. Chikane has been engaged in addressing injustices in many parts of the world. WCC Communication asked Rev. Chikane to look back at his term at the commission and the ongoing calling of churches to address injustices in the world today.

Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee, was asked about the WCC executive committee meeting held on 17-23 May 2021. The WCC executive committee set a tone of hope for the future while, at the same time, addressing multiple global crises with statements, pastoral messages, and calls for prayer.

The transition to online programming and prayers during COVID-19 has challenged the WCC, and the rest of the world, Abuom found, and said is a “heavy burden” on all in the ecumenical family as the WCC prepares for its 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany next year.

As Rev. Fr Dr Alkiviadis Calivas celebrated Easter with his children and grandchildren near Boston, Massachusetts (USA) he reflected with joy on the differences between this year and last year, on the everlasting message of the Resurrection, and how we free ourselves from fear in order to find hope.

WCC News met online with Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the World Council of Churches central committee, and she offers reflections on the impact of COVID-19, what gives her hope, and the future of the ecumenical movement. 

In an ongoing call to churches across the globe to work together to prevent gender-based violence, particularly against women, children and young people, World Council of Churches moderator Dr Agnes Abuom reflects below on some of the reasons such violence has increased, and the vital role churches can play in creating safe spaces for those most at risk.

Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, chair of the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany, and Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop in Munich and former president of the German Bishops’ Conference, were awarded the 2020 Augsburg Peace Prize for their “unconditional will to live together in peace.”

Rev. Inácio Lemke is president of the National Council of Christian Churches of Brazil (CONIC). He is an ordained pastor of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil. This interview is part of a series dedicated to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Our series of interviews with Thursdays in Black ambassadors highlights those who are playing a vital role in increasing the impact of our collective call for a world without rape and violence. Jouni Hemberg is executive director of Finn Church Aid.