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As Christians across the world prepare to celebrate Easter shuttered in their homes, they will still find the joy of the day and feel closer to each other, thanks to creative thinking by church leaders.

From including photos of church members within webcast worship services, to placing written greetings at doorways, Easter celebrations can still safely connect people who want to celebrate the resurrection of their common Lord.

In the aftermath of armed attacks by both the US and Iran, WCC reiterates its call for restraint and de-escalation of the confrontation.
“Further escalation and conflict between the United States and Iran can only serve short-term political interests, while threatening the permanent destruction of many lives, communities and precious cultural and environmental heritage,” said World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. “I appeal to political leaders on all sides of this confrontation to put the interests of the people of the region ahead of their own interests, and to seek peace through dialogue and negotiation rather than confrontation.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) condemned an attack on a Hanukkah celebration at a rabbi´s home north of New York City, on 28 December, stabbing and wounding five people. Several state and local officials have described the location of stabbing as a synagogue.

Elizabeth Eaton is presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). On 8 August, the ELCA adopted a resolution to encourage church-wide participation in the World Council of Churches Thursdays in Black campaign for a world free from rape and violence.

An interfaith prayer breakfast in New York City on 26 September tackled the involvement of faith leaders and faith communities, in partnerships with non-faith actors, to accelerate optimal HIV services to reach men and children, and to promote action to address issues related to sexual violence against children and HIV.

In a sermon at Marble Church in New York City on 22 September, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit asked an elemental yet profound question: “Do you love me?”

From New York City to Hamburg, from Oslo to Melbourne, from Nairobi to Mumbai, hundreds of thousands of young people peacefully protested climate change on 20 September - and the World Council of Churches (WCC) walked alongside them.

Members of Bread for the World’s Pan African Young Adult Network embarked on a pilgrimage to Jamestown, Virginia (USA) on 23-25 August to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved African peoples in 1619.

Rev. Nathan Day Wilson is a pastor with the Disciples of Christ in the United States and currently holds the position as director of communications at the Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is associate editor and columnist for the Faith and Values section of the Indianapolis Star. Wilson was a lecturer at the seminar, “Equipping each other for Christian Witness in a multi-cultural and multi-faith world”, taking place at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute from 5-15 August.

Gun violence in the United States, which over the last weekend alone took three dozen lives, continues to pose stark challenges for US churches.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is standing in solidarity with the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA and WCC member churches in the USA as they demand an end to gun violence, racist rhetoric, and white supremacy.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has released “A 60-Day Journey Toward Justice in a Culture of Gun Violence,” a collection of daily observances that call people to face the painful truth of gun violence and work for its prevention.

During a service of remembrance and celebration in the Ecumenical Centre Chapel on 24 May, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee commemorated the lives, witness and ministry of Rev. Robina Winbush and Rev. Norman Tendis.

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit sent a welcoming letter to His Eminence Metropolitan Elpidophoros of Bursa upon his election by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
 as the new archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) condemned an attack on Congregation Chabad, a synagogue in Poway, California, on 27 April that left at least one person dead and three wounded. A 19-year-old man was in custody after the shooting, which officials were describing as a possible hate crime.

Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Anglicans and Reformed discern further steps towards deeper ecclesial communion and common witness during a consultation at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, United States from 26 to 28 March.

(LWF Communication) – An ecumenical prayer service in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, United States, marked the opening of a four-day consultation of five Christian World Communions discussing the historic importance of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) and its impact on the search for full, visible unity of the church.

Rev. Robina Winbush, a World Council of Churches (WCC) Central and Executive Committee member known for her fierce advocacy for justice, died suddenly on 12 March.

A prayer service held on 28 February at the Ebenezer United Methodist Church in Washington, DC dedicated a Pan African devotional guide, “Lament and Hope.” The biblical guide, created by Bread for the World, marks 400 years since enslaved Africans arrived in Jamestown, Virginia.