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The World Council of Churches (WCC) will host on event on 10-12 in Geneva that will bring together young Black European Christians who will begin to share their ideas and visions for mission and ecumenism.

50 young people from 24 countries have sent a message of hope to the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), which will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates at the end of 2023. The message was delivered during a special ceremony during the second edition of the Emerging Peacemakers Forum, held at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland.

Rev. Dr Fidon Mwombeki, general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches, urged youth to work for the prosperity of Africa, as he reminded them that the continent was their future home.

In 1895, student leaders from ten North American and European countries met at Vadstena Castle in Sweden to form the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF). Among its founders were John R. Mott (US), Karl Fries (Sweden), Martin Eckhoff (Norway), Luther D. Wishard (US), Johannes Siemsen (Germany), and J. Rutter Williamson (UK). The WSCF was the first international student organization and together with YMCA and YWCA, it is one of the oldest youth movements still in existence. 

Absorbing Philip Potter’s profoundly simple direction for the ecumenical movement—“only connect”—those gathered for an online tribute to the former World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary tapped into the still-growing legacy of a remarkable man.

The World Council of Churches is standing behind a call for action on climate justice issued by global youth religious organizations. The appeal—initiated by the World Student Christian Federation in Europe, Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe Network, the Lutheran World Federation, the European Christian Environmental Network, and Junge Buddhisthe Union—is drawing other organizations in solidarity to come together for climate justice.

On 22 October at 15.00 CET, persons with disabilities across the globe will share their experiences related to COVID-19 and the transformation that has come out of it during a public webinar entitled “From Lamentation to Transformation: Persons with disabilities in the context of the COVID-19.”  

A new English-language biography of Willem A. Visser ’t Hooft, the first general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), has been published in the year that marks the 120th anniversary of his birth.

In light of International Youth Day on 12 August, the World Council of Churches (WCC), Lutheran World Federation and the World Student Christian Federation invited youth to celebrate the day at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva. The event promoted a shared understanding of inclusion, acknowledging the gifts and addressing the common concerns and challenges of young people around the world.

After 52 participants from 22 countries from different confessional and faith traditions gathered 16-19 June in Wuppertal, Germany, they have released "Kairos for Creation – Confessing Hope for the Earth”.

From 23-25 March, 1,600 young people from 43 countries came together in Beirut, Lebanon with the brothers of the ecumenical, monastic community of Taizé (France). Middle Eastern and Western Christians discovered how fruitful and stimulating an ecumenical exchange can be.

The life of Rev. Dr Rena Joyce Weller Karefa-Smart is being remembered and commended this week by the WCC fellowship after her passing last week. Karefa-Smart was the first Pan African woman to graduate in 1945 from Yale Divinity School. She was a champion for global ecumenism over the course of a long and distinguished career. An attendee of the first WCC Assembly, she was also a procession leader and author of the liturgies at the second WCC Assembly in Evanston, Illinois (USA).