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In good weather, I was told, you might even be able to see Mont Blanc from up here. Here on the rising Jura mountains with its peaks behind you and Lake Geneva in front of you. But on a rainy day like this, you hardly had a chance to even glimpse the Alps on the other side of the lake. The day was to include other things than beautiful mountain landscapes, even as the 35 students from all over the world set out to climb new, ecumenical peaks. It was the Dies academicus of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, with the motto "Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and unity.”

Ushered into the venue of the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany, one finds a sanctuary, a safe space under the canopy of yellow leaves. Under the shade of trees with leaves slowly going through the withering process is the springing of hope for a better world engaged in conversations and dialogues that promote life at its fullness.

How can an experience be life-changing? If you have time, I invite you to read this small testimony of my theological pilgrimage during the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute (GETI) 2018 experience, which was life-changing.  

You are very much needed. You are very much appreciated. You are very much discussed. You are bringing the fellowship of churches together through prayers, discussions, reflections, and actions in consensus.

“Peace especially attracts the Spirit of God, for peace is the mother of love and the hallmark of sanctity.” So said Alcuin of York. Although he lived and died over 1,200 years ago he remains one of the greatest Christian scholars this country has ever produced, and even though he is not so well remembered today, his influence upon the church in Europe was profound and long-lasting.

Last September I visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki for the first time as part of my sabbatical year. How does one encounter these two places that are such containers of pain, suffering and for me, as an American, complicity? To be a tourist feels wrong and I ended up contemplating the World Council of Churches (WCC) model of pilgrimages of justice and peace as a way to be in a space of suffering, and as a way to practice accompaniment, commitment and perhaps even hopefulness.

On 7 July 2020, the 3rd anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Fiji became a State party to the treaty following the unanimous approval of the Fijian Parliament in May.

In July 2014, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee adopted a statement entitled "Towards a Nuclear-free World." In the same year, on 4 August, on behalf of the world's 500 million Christians, WCC Asia president Dr Chang Sang visited Japan, and delivered this statement in person to the chief cabinet secretary of the Japanese government, Yoshihide Suga. The churches in Japan, which experienced Hiroshima and Nagasaki, were greatly encouraged by these WCC actions.

I will never forget those August days in 2015: Together with an ecumenical pilgrimage group, I came to Hiroshima to listen to the survivors of the atomic bombing 70 years before.

On May 24, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA hosted a memorial service for lives lost to COVID-19. In a time of physical distancing, the church ecumenical gathered online for “A Time to Mourn,” drawing thousands together to remember and lament. Grounded in our hope in the resurrection, the Rev. Elizabeth A Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, declared, “The body of Christ is COVID-positive.”

Cyclone Tino - the second cyclone to visit Fiji in less than 3 weeks - disrupted our plans to visit several climate-impacted communities in the island of Vanua Levu as part of the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace in the Pacific. Heavy rains rendered impassable the roads leading to the Naviavia community.

A dear friend of mine has written a book titled Re-encounters, views from the field. She is pri-marily a designer but has now added writing to her repertoire.

Over the last 5 years, the World Council of Churches has been following the process that led Colombia to a Peace Agreement. During these three years since its signing, the WCC has met with government agencies responsible for its implementation and heard reports from the UN Verification Mission, from the Kroc Institute, and from the Truth Commission and the Special Jurisdiction for Peace.

It was meaningful indeed to visit St Sebastian Church outside Colombo, and meet with survivors after the awful Easter bombings, Oslo bishop Kari Veiteberg from Church of Norway said.

Using Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, I crafted the following text to reflect the timelessness of Dr King’s speech, and to share my own personal dream within my context of the Holy Land. I am attempting to honor the original words of Dr King while, at the same time, making it clear that his passion and unflagging determination are still badly needed today. May the spirit of our dreams find unity in pursuing peace and justice for all human beings.

I love riding subways, well, all trains for that matter. I am a people watcher. Sometimes I just stare off as station-wall signs speed by in a blur. This time, however, something was different.

As senior clergy, I have more and more realized the importance of a living, reflecting, open Bible reading in the midst of the parish life.

At a meeting held in Paris, June 25-27, the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) restored formal relations after a hiatus of more than two decades.