Search results

In a pastoral letter to “sisters and brothers in Ethiopia,” eight faith-based organizations expressed Christian love and care, as well as a commitment to accompany churches and people of Ethiopia as they face the challenges confronting their country.

Damaris, a Nigerian woman, described her experience of 2020: “We’ve gone through hell.”

Damaris and her sisters were kidnapped in March 2020 and threatened with death as their kidnappers demanded money. Her father had to sell everything and beg on the streets to meet their demands. “We are just a common people in Nigeria,” she said. “We don’t know what we did.”

Bishop John K. Yambasu, resident bishop of the United Methodist Church in Sierra Leone and president of the Council of Churches in Sierra Leone, died suddenly in a road accident on 16 August.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Château de Bossey is mourning the passing of Anglican Bishop Desire Mukanirwa, from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is mourning the death of Rev. Prof. Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies van Huffel, a South African pastor and academic who was currently serving as the WCC president from Africa since 2013. She passed away on 19 May.

Recent calls for increased action against hunger by church leaders, faith-based humanitarian agencies and development leaders are finding significance as a new report warns of serious levels of under-nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa.

The National Council of Churches of Kenya on 17 February launched a programme that seeks to empower men to actively participate in the global journey towards an AIDS-free generation.

The South Sudan Council of Churches in its Christmas message calls for peace among communities in South Sudan and respect towards the ethnic differences. Christmastime is a time for justice, peace, healing and reconciliation, the message reflects.

While lighting candles at a gathering of the All Africa Conference of Churches in Nairobi, church leaders, members of the civil society and youth on Monday launched Thursdays in Black, the global movement calling for resistance to attitudes and practices that permit rape and violence.

Unveiling the campaign, Archbishop Timothy Ndambuki, an African Brotherhood Church leader who is the chairman of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, urged churches to hear and give compassion to women suffering violence without asking questions.

Churches across southern Africa are publicly saying #EnoughIsEnough,” with many denominations and congregations continuing to issue strong statements, arrange special prayer events, and speak out against rising levels of violence.

Both the Dutch Reformed Church and the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) have been discussing gender justice and how to keep the momentum going on the unprecedented public demand for change.

Two workshops in Nigeria and Tanzania organized by local church councils in collaboration with the World Council of Churches (WCC), All Africa Conference of Churches, and UNICEF consolidated the partnership on ending sexual violence against children.

As South Africa grapples with a gender-based violence crisis, president Cyril Ramaphosa is convening, on 18 September, the entire parliament for a special session on how to create a society in which women feel not only safe, but enjoy human rights equal to men. With 52,420 sexual offences reported in the last financial year - and many unreported - hundreds of thousands of people in South Africa are publicly saying “#EnoughIsEnough.” Churches and faith communities are a vocal, visible part of this call for change. Will the momentum grow? Will we stand with the women of South Africa?

From Canon Gideon Byamugisha, to newlywed couple Jemimah Ate and Opio Charles, people in Uganda are advocating to end stigma and discrimination associated with HIV.

A wave of change is blowing at the All Africa Conference of Churches, as the African ecumenical body implements a new five-year strategic plan. In an ambitious six pillar road map, the grouping of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, and indigenous churches has unveiled completely new areas of work, as it moves to inject new energy into older programmes. At the core of the strategy is effectiveness, efficiency and reliability for the ecumenical body, which is keen to deliver on its prophetic mission.

On 5 April, the South Sudan Council of Churches officially presented its new website through a slideshow featuring photos from the site reflecting the idea of embracing peace. Several heads of churches attended to express their support for the council and its latest mode of strengthening communication with its members and with peace supporters across the globe.

Social media was awash with messages of love on Valentine’s Day, but from Thursdays in Black supporters, the flowers came with strong messages that love is not violent.