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Three World Council of Churches (WCC) commissions meeting this week at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva have elected vice moderators.

The environment doesn't give to us; we provide to the environment, said Rev. Dr Stavros Kofinas, coordinator of the Network of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Pastoral Health Care. Kofinas, the new moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Health and Healing, spoke on 5 March, during a discussion by three WCC commissions.

During a panel discussion at the meeting of three World Council of Churches (WCC) commissions on 5 March, speakers explored the theme “Climate emergency—churches responding in faith and hope.” The panel was moderated by Archbishop Rev. Julio Murray Thompson, who also moderates the Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development, which organized the panel.

On 27 October Korean Theology Forum on Climate Crisis organized a conference “The Response of the WCC to the Climate Crisis and its Policy for Carbon Neutrality” for the formation of church leaders, pastors and students interested in ways to connect local activities to the global horizon. The conference was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of the Republic of Korea.

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca extended greetings and sympathy to the many in South Korea affected by record heavy rainfall—the most in 115 years. The deluge battered Seoul and caused damage throughout the central and eastern regions in South Korea.

In a pastoral letter to the Korean Christian Federation, World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed “very deep Christian concern” over the COVID-19 outbreak in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed grave concern about a major humanitarian crisis following the emergence of COVID-19 in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Authorities have acknowledged the deaths of at least 50 people and that 1.2 million suspected cases – or almost 5% of the entire population – are being monitored.

A group of bikers from the Bike for Peace visited the World Council of Churches on 30 August as part of a commemoration in the Place de Nations. 

The National Council of Churches (USA) has joined with other humanitarian and human rights organizations in writing the US Congress to urge that obstacles keeping nongovernmental organizations from addressing the “devastating potential for COVID-19’s spread” within the nation of North Korea be removed.

A webinar on churches’ ministry online will bring inspiration and knowledge to churches who want to develop their online ministry, discovering how we continue to pray and worship together in times of pandemic.

Prof. Christoph Stückelberger is president and founder of globethics.net. This interview was first published and produced in German by Reformiert.info

On Tuesday, 31 March at noon, Central European time, a panel of experienced church leaders and medical experts goes on air to address the global challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic from a medical, moral, and spiritual perspective. Moderated by outgoing World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the televised 60-minute session is accessible via the WCC website.

As the world grapples with the spread of the new coronavirus, churches are finding ways to continue their traditions, but now by virtual means. On the coming Sabbath, churches around the world will engage in prayer, not publicly – as the church moves out of big public buildings – but inside the private spaces of homes.