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The author shares the untold stories of several pan-African women of faith from Africa, North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe who provided local, national, and global ecumenical leadership during formative periods of the modern-day ecumenical movement.

In addition to the author’s personal experiences with these women, the publication offers an important rewriting of the ecumenical narrative from a pan-African Women’s lens. It is hoped that the publication will strengthen the ecumenical agenda of a more inclusive community that embraces the objectives of the pilgrimage of justice and peace as it embraces the experience of these women who have historically been marginalized and affected by racism and gender discrimination.

This year’s theme for Ecumenical Youth Day is Young People and Their Voices from the Warzones. Political insurrection and ideologies have permeated the fabric of society. This has caused division and hatred, resulting in the loss of innocent lives.

Addressing the realities young people face in the world today represents a moral imperative for and crucial aspect of peace-building. Providing them with access to education and psychological support is the only solution for their empowerment. Through this toolkit, the World Council of Churches, via youth engagement in the ecumenical movement, extends an invitation and encourages all member churches and ecumenical partners to participate in this year’s Ecumenical International Youth Day. This year, there is a special desire to draw attention to the situation of young people who live the hard realities of wars, conflicts, and injustice. This document contains resources and suggested ways to observe this day and adapt it to your context.

In this volume, Olav Fykse Tveit sketches an ecumenical movement that reveals a horizon of hope and illumines many of our most pressing global challenges.

Rather than focusing inward, Tveit envisions an ecumenism that leverages the Christ-inspired unity of the global fellowship into transformative engagement with the world. He shows how the recent journey of the Christian fellowship reframes its diversity and differences through solidarity in witness and service.

Then, ranging across issues of economic and ecological justice, interreligious encounter and gender justice, just peace, racism, and xenophobia, he demonstrates the potential of Christians and Christian churches to engender authentic discipleship, reform and renew the churches, and pursue justice and peace for the whole human family.

The Churches of the World Council of Churches have been on a “Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace”—together with people of goodwill—since they met for their assembly in Busan in 2013. Building peace with justice has been at the heart of the ecumenical movement since its beginnings. It reflects the call of the churches in a wounded world caused by systemic injustice—racism, sexism, xenophobia, economic exploitation, and violence among humans and against nature, our “Mother”. While political advocacy, theological reflections, and ethical orientation have been high on the agenda of the World Council of Churches, the spiritual dimension of a “just peace” has not always received the same attention.

Starting a Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, the WCC began to focus intentionally on “transformative spiritualities” in order to (re-)discover the strength of the many and diverse faith communities around the globe. What is the well of that distinct power to resist evil with good, to transform injustices into a life of dignity for all, to heal broken relations – including Mother nature? And what are some of the spiritual practices that inspire communities on that “sacred walk”?

This volume provides a selection of reflections on those transformative spiritualities, from Indigenous perspectives to women’s voices, from Black communities´ to campesino/as´ struggles, from specific Christian traditions to sister faiths. It is that common well we all drink from—inviting readers to participate in that promise that a life in peace and justice is, in fact, possible for all.
 

Celebrate Christ’s Love! Sing and Pray

Feiern Wir Die Liebe Christi! Singen und Beten

Célébrons L’amour Du Christ! Chante et Prie

¡Celebremos El Amor De Cristo! Canto y Oración

In four languages, a newly released publication developed by the assembly’s worship planning group, Celebrate Christ’s Love!, expands the opportunity to prepare spiritually for the assembly.

This publication contains some of the components of the final spiritual-life resource that will be used at the assembly. It invites assembly participants and the wider fellowship to celebrate the love of God that we find in Christ through prayer, song, and reflecting on Jesus’ preaching and healing as portrayed in the Gospels.

Consultations with young people, participants in WCC events between the 10th and the 11th assemblies, and a number of church leaders have concluded that there is a need to provide an updated resource to get to know young people of today and to explore ways for the church to effectively engage the 18–30-year-old age group in the ecumenical movement.

The 17 young people whose voices are heard in these pages represent eight regions and diverse church traditions. Another three chapters have been contributed by the editors and former WCC youth department staff. The book invites all generations to discern the signs of our times and to be proactive in our response to them.

This first publication in the WCC and Globethics.net series on the WCC pilgrimage of justice and peace brings together the voices of 12 young people sharing their vision for Africa.

The collection features work selected during an essay competition for young people which was held in a collaboration of the All Africa Conference of Churches and the WCC. The publication covers important thematic areas for African society, including truth, trauma, displacement, gender justice and racial justice, among others. 

Call to Discipleship: Mission in the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace is a collection of study documents of the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism 2018-2021. They give an overview of the state of the missiological thinking and practice of the ecumenical movement at the end of the 2010s and beginning of the 2020s. Each study document is preceded by a short introduction.

Led by Thursdays in Black Ambassadors – leaders in their communities committed to being visible and outspoken against such violence – a series of Bible studies are being prepared for individual and congregational reflection on sexual and gender-based violence. Such reflection will help us listen to the word of God and apply our faith and vision of justice, peace, and love in our contexts today. This first series of reflections address critical topics in our societies and Christian communities that contribute to or respond to gender-based violence and provide diverse perspectives from our wide ecumenical fellowship.

A core group of Thursdays in Black Ambassadors oversaw this Bible study series: Anders Göranzon, Claudia Bandixen, and Karen Georgia Thompson.

Pilgrim Prayer, the new edition of the ecumenical prayer cycle, is a unique resource for global spiritual solidarity. Connecting us each week with the unique gifts and challenges of a particular region and context, this spiritual practice creates an annual pilgrimage across the world in prayer, uniting us in the Spirit and in witness and service to justice and peace.

This booklet is the first iteration of a multiphase publication project highlighting the ongoing participation of the ecumenical movement toward peace on the Korean Peninsula.

In addition to this introductory booklet, a more comprehensive book “The Light of Peace – The Churches and the Korean Peninsula” will be published by the WCC in September as well as a later multimedia publication.

Donald Norwood traces the history of the World Council of Churches from its roots in pre-World War I Europe through the story of its ten successive assemblies. Published in the Council’s 70th anniversary year, this is a timely reminder not only of WCC’s rich history but also of its significance for member churches and the broader world in the 21st century.

Perhaps the greatest treasure of the ecumenical movement lies in its gatherings of songs, prayers, and other liturgical resources from around the Christian world. Now, adding to this wealth, come these 70 songs from composers around the world. Inspired by the WCC’s 10th Assembly, these songs of praise, adoration, struggle, mission, faith and hope constitute a deep resource for the pilgrimage of justice and peace. They are here published in English, French, Spanish, and German, with other languages, introduced by Andrew Donaldson, and augmented by recorded performances available online.

''At this critical juncture, this book brings together 'texts and voices' that reveal both the profound legacy of the ecumenical movement and the spiritual, theological basis on which it can build to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.'' -- Editor Michael Kinnamon

Included in this exhaustive collection are significant passages from the most widely influential texts produced by assemblies, consultations, and statements of the World Council of Churches, carefully selected, edited, and introduced. They address the most important aspects of the ecumenical movement from its beginnings more than a century ago to toda

Focused on pivotal leaders and key challenges over six decades of women’s participation in the WCC, this brief volume traces the evolving struggles and critical accomplishments of women toward realizing gender justice and “the community of women and men” in the ecumenical movement and beyond.

A first-person account—

“We owe a great deal to Baldwin Sjollema’s dedication and unswerving opposition to injustice. His life story recalls the heroisms and tragedies that accompanied that work of solidarity and social change. I invite readers to hear his story and to share his deep commitment never to bow to racism.”

—Archbishop Desmond Tutu

The voices of the churches in the international arena—
Ranging across the globe, this vital compendium of documents covers an astonishing array of engagement by Christian churches through the World Council of Churches and its Commission of the Churches in International Affairs: war and peace, regional and national conflicts, disarmament and nuclear weapons, violence against women, economic justice, climate justice, freedom of religion, religious intolerance, ethnic and indigenous people’s struggles—the list goes on.

The voices of the churches in the international arena—
Ranging across the globe, this vital compendium of documents covers an astonishing array of engagement by Christian churches through the World Council of Churches and its Commission of the Churches in International Affairs: war and peace, regional and national conflicts, disarmament and nuclear weapons, violence against women, economic justice, climate justice, freedom of religion, religious intolerance, ethnic and indigenous people’s struggles—the list goes on.