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By Jane Stranz (*)

On the eve of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United Kingdom, three stalwarts of Scottish ecumenism and the “churches together” movement met on Tuesday evening to assess church relations today. The three church leaders were Archbishop Mario Conti (Roman Catholic archbishop of Glasgow), Christine Davis (Religious Society of Friends / Quakers) and the Rev. Dr Sheilagh Kesting (ecumenical officer of the Church of Scotland and former moderator of its General Assembly). They shared reflections about the successes, disappointments and hopes of churches working together in the nation.

In August 1960 the World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee met in Scotland and during their visit unveiled an Oikoumene plaque to honour the opening of a local ecumenical centre, the Scottish Churches House, in Dunblane.

A Living Letters team travelling on behalf of the World Council of Churches (WCC)  was welcomed to Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia by a Larrakia elder and regional church leaders.

What does it mean for the church to call for peace in a world where many forms of racism persist? This is one of the questions a World Council of Churches (WCC) conference on racism tried to answer.

A high distinction has been bestowed on the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. On Thursday 2 September, the Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre was presented to Tveit by Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem.

In a message honouring the Day for Creation, 1 September, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I has expressed his hope that the financial and economic crisis experienced by many societies would bring about "a powerful change in direction, to a path of viable and sustainable environmental development."

By Mark Beach (*)

At a time when there are signs of hope emerging from the churches in the Middle East around the conflict in Palestine and Israel, a World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation led by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit will be travelling to the region to emphasize the need for a “just peace”.

“Among the many challenges that we face in the search for Christian unity is the need to overcome divisions and prejudices that exclude one another,” Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC said to the 22nd Pentecostal World Conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

Churches' attitudes and responses to racism today will come under scrutiny at a conference, organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in partnership with the United Church of Christ (UCC) and Dutch missionary and diaconal agency Kerk in Actie , in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, 26-29 August.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is sending an international ecumenical Living Letters delegation to visit the Indigenous Peoples in the Northern Territory of Australia from 12 -17 September 2010.

Young Christians from around the world are invited to apply to the World Council of Churches (WCC) stewards programme for one of two hands-on learning experiences at major ecumenical meetings in 2011, the WCC Central Committee meeting, 8-24 February, and the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation, 12-26 May. Applicants must be between the age of 18-30 years.

By Jane Stranz (*)