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This is the second of the two-volume set Towards a Global Vision of the Church, which forms part of the work done by the ecclesiology study group of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Faith and Order between 2015 and 2022 to broadening the table of ecclesiological dialogue by going into more and wider conversations with ecclesiological perspectives from various regions (especially Asia, Africa, and Latin America), denominational families (such as Evangelical, Pentecostal, Charismatic, and independent churches), and forms of being church (such as ecclesial movements, new forms of monasticism, and online churches), “which have not always been clearly or strongly part of discussions on the way to TCTCV, and whose understandings of ecclesiology we want to discover and to enter into dialogue with.”

The first volume in this set included 24 chapters written from the perspectives of theologians from the global South. In this second volume, nearly all of the chapters have come from commissioners who have worked on ecclesiological issues during this past term.

“Because God Loves Me—Affirming My Value in Christ,” a new curriculum written in French that is designed to help children ages 7-12 address gender-based violence.

Though the curriculum, edited by Yvette A. Kelem and Blandine E. Ackla, was developed for use primarily with churches and church groups in Africa, it is relevant and accessible for other French-speaking populations as well.

The Christian education programme encourages the full involvement of children, adolescents and youth in becoming early proponents of nonviolence. Developed for children's Bible study leaders, teachers, parish volunteers, and others who work with children, the curriculum serves as a guide to help churches live into their responsibility to protect all children, girls and women from gender-based violence.

Up to 80 percent of Africans are estimated to be traumatized as a result of violence, poverty, disease, natural disasters, and other causes. As a continent where the majority of the population are young people, Africa’s adolescent population is particularly affected. Along with common causes of trauma, youth also experience many other struggles related to growing up. But this trauma often goes unaddressed, not only because sexual and gender-based violence become normalized, but also because of the lack of specific services and awareness. 

This book addresses this lack. It is an important gift to enhance the role of churches to provide wholeness.

Often perceived as conservative and rigid, the churches have sometimes been barriers to people’s claiming their sexuality. Yet, in their response to the crisis posed by AIDS and HIV, Christian churches have also often challenged harmful cultural practices and surmounted that stereotype. Focusing on sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), especially in African settings, this volume seeks to identify and cultivate the positive, indeed liberating, role that the churches must play.

From despair to hope, Christian engagement with HIV has challenged stigma and discrimination - and also entailed genuine transformation in the church themselves.

Bringing together people living with, working with, researching, or personally affected by HIV or AIDS, this volume developed by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA) and its global partners draws directly from on-the-ground experiences elicited from frontline actors in the churches and agencies. Their insights and reflections are always lively, sometimes uncomfortable, and often deeply moving.

The debate about justice and equity in global economic arrangements has preoccupied ecumenical Christianity for a century. It has been given new impetus and urgency by the global financial crisis, by widening disparities of income and wealth, and by a looming climate crisis fuelled by ever expanding consumer-driven economies.

In an era in which life itself is imperilled, Christians around the world are challenged to authentic witness to the God of life and to justice and peace. Ecumenical Visions, prepared as a core resource for theological education and reflection in advance of the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, equips Christians to discern and develop relevant and responsible insights in many arenas of Christian engagement.

HIV—the ongoing challenge to churches and church leaders—

Almost thirty-five years after the advent of HIV and AIDS, churches, church bodies and church leaders are developing competence in handling the enormous personal, communal, cultural and religious dimensions of the epidemic. Yet the challenge is ongoing and global. While the rate of new infections is declining in Africa, for example, it is on the rise in Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

In an age of global threats to human health—including, most devastatingly, HIV and AIDS—it is time for Christians to ask: what is the role of faith in healing?