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Today the world joins in mourning the passing of a towering figure in the struggle for freedom and for human dignity and rights.

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.

Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt have taken a significant ecumenical step by signing a common declaration that Roman Catholics and Copts may recognize each other’s baptisms. The agreement is, in the eyes of the World Council of Churches (WCC), a “sign of hope”.

On 6 December, the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network (EDAN) and the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) launched three new theological resources during the 7th AACC Theological Institute.

Music can be a key resource in building truly multicultural congregations and communities, found participants at a seminar, “Music and Cultures,” organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) from 30 October to 2 November in Quebec, Canada.

How does missional formation transform discipleship? A consultation in Cuba from 10-16 September explored this question and others related to the text Together Towards Life. The gathering was coordinated by the World Council of Churches Commission on World Mission and Evangelism as part of an ongoing quest to explore the means and methodologies for the practical application of Together Towards Life in the life of WCC member churches and mission community.

Starting preparations for a Global Ecumenical Theological Institute in the context of the 2018 World Mission Conference in Africa was a tangible result of a meeting of 20 ecumenical educators from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific. They met from 22-24 May in Halle (Germany) at the invitation of the World Council of Churches project on Ecumenical Theological Education.

Two major crises have marked the months since the WCC called Katalina Tahaafe-Williams to work in Geneva on its migration, indigenous, and multicultural ministry programmes. When she took up the job in October, the European refugee crisis was in full flow. Then in November, terrorists attacked Paris.

Five decades after publication of his ground-breaking Theology of Hope, German theologian Jürgen Moltmann continues to insist on the power of hope in the "coming of God" as a force for the transformation of the world.

As rector of the only ecumenical theological institution in Cuba, Rev. Dr Carlos Emilio Ham is at the forefront of exploring how local churches can engage in empowering diakonia.

Shortly after the 14th General Assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia, held recently in Indonesia´s capital Jakarta, WCC News had a brief chat with the newly elected general secretary of CCA, Dr Mathews George Chunakara.

A consultation in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa has discussed creative ways of using the WCC statement in mission education and curriculum. The WCC statement, titled “Together towards life: Mission and evangelism in changing landscapes”, seeks a renewed understanding and practice of mission and evangelism.

Today the WCC 10th Assembly hosted a unity plenary. The plenary invited participants to reflect on unity and the spiritual journey of fellowship grounded in prayerful reflection.

Today the WCC10th Assembly featured a mission plenary. The plenary session presented an action-oriented reflection based on the new WCC mission statement: Together Towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes. The plenary sought to highlight the common challenges and opportunities for mission in the current global context.

Through engaging speakers and discussions, participants at a recent consultation on mission and evangelism explored ways, in which theological education and training programmes on evangelism can relate Christian witness to the changing landscape of Europe.

On 24 March 2012, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism pre-assembly event invoked renewed thinking and commitment on evangelism, disassociated from the forces of oppression, and grounded in humility and respect for all.

Transformative spiritualities and mission is a significant point of discussion at the pre-assembly event of the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) which is currently under way in Manila. Transformative spiritualities are also one of the constituent themes of the CWME statement on mission and evangelism that will be presented to the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Korea in 2013. Dr Rico Palaca Ponce, academic director of the Institute of Spirituality in Asia based in Quezon City, the Philippines, gave an interview on the topic on 23 March.

Making peace, as an integral part of the life of church mission and witness, has not been as common as one might think.

"Indigenous faith is as diverse and as colourful as a garden full of flowers, all diverse, fragrant and beautiful, ready to be shared with whomever is capable of embracing them," guest editor Maria Chavez Quispe writes in her introduction to the latest issue of The Ecumenical Review .