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Rev. Matthew Ross, who served as WCC programme executive for Diakonia and Capacity Building from 2018-2023, reflects on how the document “Called to Transformation – Ecumenical Diakonia,” which he edited, is being received in ways that affirm the importance of diaconal service and mission.

Rev. Dr Curtiss Paul DeYoung, co-chief executive officer of the Minnesota Council of Churches, helped convene the team of authors for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity materials. Below, he reflects on the challenges and hopes the team brought to the table as they composed the text.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly elected eight new presidents on 5 September. Below, Rev. Dr Angelique Walker-Smith, WCC president from North America, reflects on the new role, and a vision for how insights gained at the assembly will carry forward.

Right Rev. Dr Emily Onyango, assistant bishop, Anglican Diocese of Bondo, Kenya, was ordained in 1987—the second woman priest ordained in all of east Africa—and appointed as assistant bishop in 2021. She also serves as a lecturer for St Paul’s University. Below, she reflects on her path to becoming a church leader, the resistance she encountered, and her message to young people today.

The Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe - CCME released a statement that speaks about the response of Europe to refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. The statement addresses the concerns of discriminatory treatment of non-Ukrainians and minority ethnic people in this context and the more general question that the generosity shown in recent weeks often has not been extended to those fleeing from elsewhere.

Below, Dr Torsten Moritz, general secretary at the Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe, reflects on why church leaders requested such a statement, and what lies at the heart of some of their different inputs.

Rev. Romi Bencke, general secretary of the National Council of Christian Churches of Brazil, believes that being an ecumenical leader means having the courage to ask the most difficult questions even in a polarized society.

Recently the World Council of Churches (WCC) published “The Light of Peace: Churches in Solidarity with the Korean Peninsula.” The article below is linked to the questions in Chapter 15 in the book, a chapter that highlights the road ahead for peace and reconciliation on the peninsula. In this interview, Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, president of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, reflects and shares his deep wisdom, and emphasizes the importance of working for peace and justice.

Rev. Eva Guldanova is a Lutheran minister, ecumenical theologian, and assistant to the general secretary of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Slovakia. This interview is part of a series dedicated to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The visit 9-10 February 2017 to the World Council of Churches by the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, H.H. Abune Matthias, occasioned reflection on the distinctive history and traditions of that ancient church, as well as its role in Ethiopian society and in the larger ecumenical landscape. Coming to his work from a lifetime of service in the church and its monasteries and schools during an especially turbulent time, Abune Matthias was elected in 2013. The church numbers about 50 million members, including several million outside Ethiopia itself, where it accounts for about half the population. What follows is a brief interview with the Patriarch.