As African women church leaders gathered last week for an inaugural “Ecumenical Women’s Initiative for Leadership and Learning”, they lamented grave injustices, celebrated women pioneers, and nurtured a spirit of solidarity they hope will blaze a global trail for the future.
The Middle East Council of Churches held its 12th General Assembly on 16-20 May in Egypt, exploring the theme “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid.”
A message from the gathering touches upon many challenges facing the Middle East.
The upcoming central committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) 15 – 18 June will be the sixth meeting of this central committee since it was elected at the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea, in 2013.
Eighteen Thursdays in Black ambassadors gathered on 12 May to discuss how to build on the momentum of many creative efforts across the world to move toward a world free from rape and violence.
World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed the revulsion of the global fellowship of churches at the murder of Deborah Yakubu, a second-year college student beaten to death and burnt by a group of her fellow students in Sokoto, northern Nigeria.
An inaugural “Ecumenical Women Church Leaders Initiative Consultation” will kick off from 17-19 May as a dozen African women gather in Geneva and online to exchange experiences and critical reflections.
Recognising that we all live in multi-religious societies, African church leaders gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the 2016 World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) regional workshop on “Birth Registration and Gender Discriminatory Nationality Laws in Africa”, stressed the need to develop inter-faith strategies and affirmations in our advocacy work for the human rights of stateless people.
A youth delegation from the Church of Norway visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Bossey Ecumenical Institute, where they received an overview of the WCC’s work and also shared how they are at the forefront of shaping their church’s identity.
World Council of Churches (WCC) staff gathered from 5 to 8 April for the first in-person Staff Planning Days in more than two years. Gathering also in a hybrid fashion, the aim was to strengthen collaboration, continue planning for the WCC 11th Assembly and initiate planning for 2023.
As the hybrid book event on a deeper dive in the youth publication “Let the waves roar” commenced on 1 April, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca welcomed everyone, saying: “I am so grateful to have the new publication with perspectives of young prophetic voices in the ecumenical movement, especially as we move toward the 11th assembly.”
On the UN International Day of Conscience, 5 April, the World Council of Churches (WCC) releases a new volume of “I Belong – Biblical Reflections on Statelessness”. The day highlights the need for the creation of conditions of stability, peaceful coexistence, respect for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, language or religion.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee, during its February 2022 meeting, approved a set of Gender Justice Principles that clearly define the WCC’s own approach to gender justice.
A Gender Advisory Group developed the principles through many rounds of review by leadership and staff, as an internal document for WCC staff, governing bodies, commissions, and reference groups.
After the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee, during its February meeting, approved a set of Gender Justice Principles, the WCC’s work of implementation is just beginning. The principles clearly define the WCC’s own approach to gender justice and apply to WCC staff, governing bodies, commissions, and reference groups. The WCC executive committee will review and evaluate implementation of the principles.
The GETI 2022 theme, “Christ’s Love (Re)moves Borders,” echoes the WCC 11th Assembly theme, “Christ’s Love Moves the World to Reconciliation and Unity.” The study process will guide participants to delve deeply and creatively into the theological and practical implications of the claim that Christ (re)moves borders.
As we observed World Water Day on 22 March, the issue of availability of water, including the impact of climate change and how it affects quality access to water for many people across the world, came to the fore.
During a prayer service organized online on 21 March, the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Rev. Traci D. Blackmon, associate general minister, Justice & Local Church Ministries, United Church of Christ, reflected on what it means to stay silent in a world full of injustice.
Our series of interviews with Thursdays in Black ambassadors highlights those who are playing a vital role in increasing the impact of our collective call for a world without rape and violence. Marcelo D. Leites is general secretary of the World Student Christian Federation.
