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The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee will meet 8-14 November in Abuja, Nigeria to approve plans and budget for 2024, and to further develop the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity.

Beloved ecumenical leader and indefatigable peacemaker Dr Agnes Abuom has died at the age of 73 in her native Kenya, following a short illness.

“Tax justice is a matter of faith,” said Suzanne Matale. “By faith, [all] are entitled to abundant life. Ordinary people have a right to know and to participate in decision-making tables that affect our own God-given dignity.”

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.

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.

Last week, the chairperson of the WCC Ecumenical Water Network, bishop Arnold Temple from The Methodist Church Sierra Leone, came to Stockholm to participate in the World Water Week, which is the world’s leading annual water event where experts and decision-makers from all over the world gather to strengthen the systems and processes that govern access to – and protection of – fresh water.

Almost 800 participants, including 324 delegates, are gathering in Windhoek from 10-16 May for the Twelfth Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the highest LWF decision-making body that meets every six years. World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit will address the plenary on 12 May.

Increasingly, the unity of the church is threatened by different positions on moral issues. In response to this, the Faith and Order Commission of the WCC continues to study how churches arrive at the ethical decisions they make.

Sexual and reproductive health services must be not just "youth-friendly" but also “male- and female-friendly" and "youth participatory" so that young men and women gain access to the information and services they need and want, agreed adolescents who attended a workshop in Lomé, Togo on 24-25 March.

Religious beliefs and traditions in Africa continue to influence the way HIV is spread, especially among young women. There is a great need to understand these issues from a faith-based perspective, so that church leaders may engage in a constructive dialogue to help and support women threatened by the pandemic.