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As the World Council of Churches Commission on Faith and Order convened in North Sulawesi, Indonesia from 1-8 February, the gathering was underscored with hope at the heart of a Christian message to the world. 

Archbishop Rev. Dr Soritua Albert Ernest Nababan, a global ecumenical leader, passed away on 8 May in Jakarta, Indonesia, at the age of 88. He was the World Council of Churches (WCC) president from 2006-2013 and served as the former Ephorus (Archbishop) of the Huria Kristen Batak Protestan, the largest Protestant church in Indonesia and the largest Lutheran church in Asia with a membership of 4 million people.

A webinar held 22 October gave space for persons with disabilities to share their reflections. Entitled “From Lamentation to Transformation,” the event, first in a series of webinars on COVID-19 perspectives, highlighted hope through stories, practical support, and social change as experienced by persons with disabilities.

Former Bossey student Rev. Jianmei Jing who works at the Jingling Protestant Church in Hongkou near Shanghai in China has shown that masking your intention can be a truly Christian act. At significant sacrifice during the current COVID-19 pandemic when they were in short supply, she managed to get hold of 300 face masks and sent them to the Bossey community who she knew needed them in Switzerland.

In a recent interview for Christian Conference of Asia News, four ecumenists from regional and international conciliar fellowships from Asia, North America and the WCC, responded to questions about the role and challenges of ecumenical councils and the importance of conciliar unity in a changing ecumenical and ecclesial context.

At a global conference on xenophobia in Rome, a panel of four religious leaders from, respectively, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Islamic traditions, spoke candidly about how xenophobia can sometimes be woven deeply into the fabric of these traditions.

Rev. Dr Jooseop Keum received an honorary doctorate on 8 September from the Debrecen Reformed Theological University (DRTU) in Hungary. Keum, a pastor with the Presbyterian Church in Korea, is a former World Council of Churches executive and long-time friend of the Reformed Church in Hungary.

An international consultation on “Education for Transformation: Challenges and Prospects for Formation and Reformation” was organised to mark the bicentenary of Serampore College, and the centenary of the Senate of Serampore.

Whether as individual believers or as a community, it is our collective task to advocate for Christian unity, says Melanio L. Aoanan from the Philippines. A clear vision for religious and ecumenical theological education is needed that is relevant in the 21st century.

Relations between Catholics and Protestants at the local level in East Indonesia are not as complex as talking about dogma at higher church levels, says a pastor from the Protestant Church in Maluku.

The Ecumenical Institute Bossey, which Pope Francis visits on Thursday, 21 June, as part of his pilgrimage to the World Council of Churches in Geneva, is a workshop of ideas, where the future path toward Christian unity is being mapped out.

Applications are now open for YATRA (Youth in Asia Training for Religious Amity) 2018, an inter-religious training programme of the WCC. The intensive training course, held annually since 2014, seeks to enable young Christian leaders from Asian churches to contribute towards the building up of just, harmonious and peaceable communities by equipping them for ministries of justice and peace from an inter-religious perspective.

The adoption of consensus decision-making for WCC meetings was proposed in 2002. Dr Jill Tabart of the Uniting Church in Australia was consensus mentor as these new meeting procedures were introduced at the 9th Assembly and beyond.

After six intensive days, offering plenty of food for thought, the Asia Mission Conference (AMC) in Yangon, Myanmar, came to an end with a sending out and closing session last Monday. With around 600 participants from all over the world – double from what was originally expected – the need to discuss, learn about and elaborate around mission was clearly affirmed.

For Prof. Dr. Mathew Chandrankunnel, the Asia Mission Conference is a big celebration of ecumenism, with churches from Asia and all over the world coming together expressing the call of Jesus. As director of the Ecumenical Christian Centre in Bangalore, India, he appreciates the initiative to bring member churches, faith organizations and partners together to revive mission.

In a keynote speech in Yangon, Myanmar on Sunday, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit praised the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) for its longstanding commitment to ecumenism and mission, and its efforts to unite Christian churches on the continent.

As they gathered in Jakarta, Indonesia from September 2-8 to prepare resources for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2019, ecumenical partners reflected on the theme of “Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue.”

The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), on 11-12 July, held an international consultation on “Towards Revitalising the Ecumenical Movement in Asia.” The gathering of 60 church and ecumenical leaders was organised by the CCA at its headquarters in Chiang Mai, Thailand as a prelude to its Diamond Jubilee celebration.

In a letter to archbishops Philip Richardson and Winston Halapua, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed his sadness at the recent passing of Archbishop William Brown Turei.