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Amidst deaths and displacement, church leaders in eastern Africa are re-stressing a warning against floods, while appealing for support for communities displaced by the climate change disaster.

The world needs a “reformation of hope and confidence,” according to the moderator of the central committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, giving the Otto Karrer lecture in Lucerne, Switzerland. 

“Hospitality is one of our main values,” said president of the Protestant Church in Switzerland Rev. Rita Famos as she welcomed members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee to a reception at the Ecumenical Centre on 23 June.

An ecumenical delegation composed of five members from the National Baptist Convention USA Inc, United Methodist Church; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and United Church of Christ attended the first session of the Permanent Forum for People of African Descent, a historic event that constitutes the culmination of several years of consistent advocacy.

H. Lamar Gibble, 91, a former long-time member of the Church of the Brethren denominational staff, died on 29 October at St Joseph Hospital in Elgin, Illinois (USA).

Amid a warning that a famine is “at the doorstep” in eastern Africa, church leaders are re-stressing urgent action to save millions of people caught in a drought described as the worst in 40 years.

Where two or three Christians are gathered, you will most likely find them in worship or enjoying fellowship over food. Gather a few thousand Christians in one place, and you will definitely find them engaged in a Bible study.

“Lord, who may abide in your tent?” asked a reading from Psalm 15 at the start of morning prayers on Saturday 3 September during the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11^th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany.

A “ban plan” outlining what the world needs to do to eliminate nuclear weapons is the “strongest condemnation of nuclear threats by a multilateral UN conference,” said Jennifer Philpot-Nissen, programme executive for Human Rights and Disarmament for the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs. 

Churches in South Africa are actively responding to the flood disaster in KwaZulu Natal, in which at least 440 people have died. The floods—the strongest to hit the province in recent times—were triggered following a week of heavy rainfall in the province bordering the Indian Ocean in the east of the country.

Gathered at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey on 27 January, a group of more than 30 Bossey students joined faculty members, partners and friends of Bossey in celebrating the experience of “a school of life,” as they earned their post-graduate Certificates in Ecumenical Studies.

Women of faith who are African or of African descent held a powerful recent gathering, “Ubuntu: Remembrance, Diversity, and Advocacy in Unity Now!” in which they shared their call to action with a sense of Sankofa, or a season of now while looking back and forward. The event was organized by the Pan African Women’s Ecumenical Empowerment Network (PAWEEN) and Pan African Women of Faith (PAW).

As children and women in Nigeria become targets of rising insecurity and violence, churches are moving to offer support to the victims, while amplifying their voice against the challenge, according to senior Christian women leaders in the West African nation.

As African churches joined the rest of the world in marking International Women’s Day, pastors, gender experts and activists called for a critical evaluation and strengthening systems to ensure gender justice and equality in churches and society.