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Programme to Combat Racism began during apartheid, but xenophobia fight still churches’ focus

When the World Council of Churches (WCC) launched the Programme to Combat Racism after years of in-depth theological reflections and prayer in 1971, South Africa's insidious racist apartheid policies were in full throw. The programme brought the WCC into the world's spotlight. Yet racism did not start 50 years ago. And it did not end with the casting out of apartheid at the end of the 20th century. During that era, figures such as Nobel Peace Prize laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela fought racism in society and the church.

Webinar - “People on the Move: Solidarity and Advocacy”

12 November 2020

A 12 November webinar entitled “People on the Move: Solidarity and Advocacy” will highlight the experiences and often untold stories of refugees, stateless persons, seasonal and migrant workers, and undocumented persons, with a particular focus on ways they have been affected by COVID-19.

https://www.oikoumene.org/live

Inspirations for an “economy of life” in The Ecumenical Review

The possibility of a new economic framework is the chief focus of the newly published issue of The Ecumenical Review. Informed by years of ecumenical work on the relationship of poverty, wealth and ecology (including the proposal for a “greed line”), the 14 contributors offer an array of insights from specific contexts and religious standpoints – Dalits, South Africans, Latin Americans, Indigenous spirituality, feminist theology and non-Christian religions – into the values and structures that can create an “economy of life” for all.

“Mission from the margins” explored at CWME event

Participants in the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism pre-assembly event bring concerns of the marginalized, including women, young people, Dalits, Indigenous Peoples and minorities into the heart of the debate on mission and evangelism.

In highly violent communities, peace advocates hold out hope

As peace advocates from around the world relayed heartrending stories of violence and oppression, they also expressed their ongoing hope that a movement of peace will prevail during the proceedings of the second day of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) being held in Kingston, Jamaica.

International church anti-racism conference sees time for change

"We believe that this is a moment where we are invited by God to commit ourselves to be instruments of change in the church and the wider society," participants in an international conference on "Churches against Racism" have said, 17 June. The message was read in the presence of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands during a closing worship service.

Ecumenical conference to tackle racist patterns left by slave trade

The legacies of the slave trade, and how churches can respond to past and present forms of slavery, are going to be discussed at an ecumenical conference to be held 10-14 December in Runaway Bay, Jamaica. About sixty theologians, church leaders, social scientists and activists, mainly from Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean will gather in the country where nearly one million Africans and later indentured servants from Asia were exploited as human commodities and many more transited on their often deadly passage into slavery.

Theologians reflect on Inclusivity from the point of view of the excluded

Representing the experiences, perspectives and visions of different excluded groups, a select group of 25 theologians from many parts of the world gathered in La Paz, Bolivia during May 2007, perhaps for the first time, to articulate their visions of the world and the church. Their attempt was to identify the possible thematic directions for the new programme