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“We won’t leave Gaza as long as there is a standing church.” 

“We will not be the last Christians living in Gaza.” “

“We lost everything, but we can’t lose our mission and our belonging to this place dear to our hearts.”

“Christianity started here and will continue to be here.”  

These are the words people are uttering as Nader Abu Amsha, executive director of Department of Services to Palestinian Refugees of the Middle East Council of Churches (DSPR-MECC), tries to help them simply survive the next day. 

After four years as general secretary of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), Dr Jørgen Skov Sørensen has returned home to Denmark, filled with confidence in the future of CEC and its growing influence on European affairs. With a clear mandate to sharpen CEC’s purpose and profile fulfilled, and strategic directions for the future affirmed at last year’s general assembly in Estonia, he now continues an extraordinary ecumenical journey, a journey where the search for his own Christian identity has played a significant role.

Across the globe, churches shared Christmas and New Year messages expressing hope amid the grave challenges in the world. 

War has always tragically impacted women and children, but the traumatic effects of weaponizing women in war have long been swept under the carpet.On 8 December, the World Council of Churches (WCC) held a hybrid discussion watched globally as part of the 16 Days Against Gender-based Violence. 

With a close look at the “skin-whitening pandemic,” a 4 December webinar hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) explored the intersections of mission, gender, racism, and health. 

A young Christian from the United Kingdom has said that the young generation needs the older generation to work with them to tackle the world's problems, as neither group can do it alone.

The world needs young leadership very badly because those from the older generation have not delivered, the head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has told young Christian, Jewish, and Muslim participants at the Emerging Peacemakers Forum.

“We carry the cross with dignity and hope.” These were the opening words as Middle East Christians stood to bear witness at the World Council of Churches central committee meeting, to the burdens and challenges – but also the resilience – that they live on a daily basis in the land where Christianity was born. 

Immediately after the installation on 17 February of Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay as the ninth general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), church leaders, heads of ecumenical organizations, friends, family, and WCC staff shared greetings and welcoming words.

Nach einem schweren Erdbeben gehen die Such- und Rettungsarbeiten in der Türkei und in Syrien weiter. Kirchen engagieren sich für humanitäre Hilfe und beten.

As search-and-rescue continued in Turkey and Syria following a massive earthquake, churches mobilized to offer humanitarian aid and prayers.

In 1919, three Armenian families—the Balian, Karakeshian, and Ohanessian families—were brought to Jerusalem by Sir Ronald Henry Amherst Storrs, then military governor of Jerusalem, to renovate the 16th century tiles at the Dome of the Rock in Al-Aqsa Mosque. 

Their stories are harrowing and painful. Their lives are still not easy. But their triumphs are shining. They are refugees, women, mothers, wives.

Dalia Al Mokdad, a Muslim from Lebanon who works in communications with the Adyan Foundation, completed an inter-religious course at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute in 2015.

Can inter-religious encounters and dialogue help address challenges and conflicts? Can representatives of different religions act together for peace?

Teilnehmende der 11. Vollversammlung des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen (ÖRK) hatten die Gelegenheit, sich am Freitag, 2. September, mit anderen Delegierten aus ihren Regionen zu treffen und sich mit ihnen auszutauschen. Das Format und die Diskussionen zu den acht Regionen haben die große Vielfalt der Kulturen in Afrika, Asien, der Karibik, Europa, Lateinamerika, im Nahen Osten, in Nordamerika und im Pazifik gezeigt. Dabei ging es um Themen, die auf der Vollversammlung prominent behandelt werden sollten, bis hin zur regionalen Vertretung in Ausschüssen und um die Wahl der Präsidenten/innen.

Participants of the World Council of Churches’(WCC) 11^th Assembly had the opportunity to meet and share with others from their regions on Friday, September 2. The format and discussions of the eight regions demonstrated the diversity of cultures from Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America, and Pacific – and ranged from the issues they wished to make visible in the assembly to regional representation on committees and the election of the WCC presidents.