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During 2014 the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey will be holding a number of seminars raising awareness on issues related to women’s concerns, justice and peace, ecology and Christian theology, interfaith relations and migrant churches.

More than 200 international theology students of varied Christian traditions have commenced participating in the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute (GETI). An opening with a vibrant worship service at the Graduate School of Theology of Hanshin University marked the beginning of the GETI on 26 October in Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Young people of the Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths have created a unique community during a summer course at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey. Together they seek to break religious stereotypes, promote mutual respect and enhance their understanding of religions beyond the conflict paradigm.

A seminar at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland gathered diverse reflections on eco-theology, care for the creation and climate change, and how to build a sustainable world. The contributors included Christian theologians and activists as well as youth.

A conference held by the WCC and the Focolare movement founded by Chiara Lubich addressed the theme of “Peace and justice, fruits of unity” on the 10th anniversary of Lubich’s last visit to Geneva and the fifth year after her death.

The upcoming 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Busan, Republic of Korea, will present an opportunity for sustained ecumenical formation and theological education.

“It is impossible to speak exclusively for the unity of the church and be indifferent about the unity of humankind,” said Dr Petros Vassiliadis, at an academic gathering held in his honour in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed sadness over the death of Rev. Dr Toshitsugu Arai, a renowned Asian ecumenical leader and former staff member of the WCC and the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA).

Three major projects were launched at the recent All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) international symposium to encourage theological education initiatives throughout the African region.

The first ecumenical affirmation of mission since 1982, invoking a new understanding of mission and evangelism amidst a changing world and ecclesial landscape, has been presented to the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

"The fellowship in the church should always be a sign of the empathy of God, with everyone who is suffering, groaning, longing for relief," said the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit in his keynote presentation at the 27th Quadrennial Assembly of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI).

Transformative spiritualities and mission is a significant point of discussion at the pre-assembly event of the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) which is currently under way in Manila. Transformative spiritualities are also one of the constituent themes of the CWME statement on mission and evangelism that will be presented to the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Korea in 2013. Dr Rico Palaca Ponce, academic director of the Institute of Spirituality in Asia based in Quezon City, the Philippines, gave an interview on the topic on 23 March.

“Christians are to acknowledge that changing one’s religion is a decisive step that must be accompanied by sufficient time for reflection and preparation, through a process ensuring full personal freedom.” This assertion is one of the guiding principles for Christian mission in India suggested in early March by a consultation convened under the leadership of the Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore University (BTESSC).

“Before God and our communities, we are responsible to Jews for the historical and ongoing realities of anti-Semitism, to Palestinians since the Nakba, to Muslim neighbours in the light of Islamophobia, to persons who are vulnerable, and to victims of colonial conquest, among others," said participants of a World Council of Churches (WCC) sponsored conference.

by Theodore Gill (*)

Hendrew Lusey has never forgotten the words he first heard at a World Council of Churches (WCC) workshop on human sexuality in 2002. At that time, he had recently been appointed the regional coordinator for central Africa with the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA).

Graduate study in peacemaking will be available for academic credit at the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC), held 17-23 May in Kingston, Jamaica and sponsored by the World Council of Churches (WCC). A course for seminarians and other graduate students will be offered on “Overcoming Violence: An Engagement with the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation”.

Religious diversity is an unavoidable reality today – and an opportunity, according to the participants of an interfaith seminar held in July at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey outside Geneva, Switzerland.

Firsthand reports on the extraordinary development of Christianity in Nepal and the growing need for improvements in theological education and participation in the ecumenical movement were all part of recent consultation on the future of theological education in South Asia.

By Annegret Kapp*