The World Council of Churches led a delegation on a visit to Sudan from 18-22 April. The ecumenical group included the World Council of Churches (WCC), All Africa Conference of Churches, ACT Alliance, Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa Global Ministries, Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa, General Board Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, and Norwegian Church Aid.
As World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay began a visit to Lebanon on 20 March, his agenda included a private meeting with His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Holy See of Cilicia.
Rev. Dr Evans Onyemara, general secretary of the Christian Council of Nigeria, attended the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee meeting from 8-14 November in Abuja, Nigeria. He took time to reflect on accomplishments and challenges in his country, and why he’s grateful for the presence of the WCC.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee will meet 8-14 November in Abuja, Nigeria to approve plans and budget for 2024, and to further develop the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity.
Resources—including reflections, prayers, and more—are now available to help churches and all people of good will to observe the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel from 16-23 September 2023.
Against the background of the Russian invasion and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, a high-level WCC leadership delegation visiting Ukraine undertook an intensive series of consultations in Kyiv on 11 May 2023, with church leaders, Ukrainian government officials, and others.
The sun was just setting over Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt when hundreds of protestors turned towards the main plenary hall of COP27 – the United Nations climate change conference – to raise their fists into the air, shouting ‘Pay up! Pay up! Pay up for loss and damage!’
The World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee elected Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay as the ninth general secretary at its 17 June meeting. Below, Pillay reflects on his longstanding passion for ecumenism and his expectations for the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe.
Since the election in mid-June of Rev. Dr Prof. Jerry Pillay as new World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, concerns have been raised, predominantly in Jewish media, about his position on Israel and the Jewish communities and their faith.
Deploring the illegal and unjustifiable war “inflicted on the people and sovereign state of Ukraine” the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee lamented “the awful and continuing toll of deaths, destruction and displacement, of destroyed relationships and ever more deeply entrenched antagonism between the people of the region, of escalating confrontation globally, of increased famine risk in food insecure regions of the world, of economic hardship and heightened social and political instability in many countries.”
In a public statement focused on the Holy Land, the WCC central committee expressed “deep solidarity with the member churches and Christians of the region in their life and work, keeping the Christian faith and witness in the Holy Land alive and vibrant, as well as with all people in the region.”
The World Council of Churches (WCC) has, since the first day of the war in Ukraine and even in the months before, been working and praying earnestly for peace in this conflict and throughout the world. From the beginning, the WCC has called for an immediate end to armed hostilities, to stop the war and has appealed also for an immediate end to indiscriminate attacks with an escalating impact on civilians in Ukraine. WCC News met online with the WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca to get the latest update on the work of the WCC.
Bishop Kortu K. Brown is president of the Liberian Council of Churches. He is also founder and general overseer of the New Water in the Desert Apostolic Pentecost Church located in Brewerville City, outside Monrovia. He shared with the World Council of Churches (WCC) reflections on his new role in resolving land conflicts in Liberia.
WCC News met online with Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the World Council of Churches central committee, and she offers reflections on the impact of COVID-19, what gives her hope, and the future of the ecumenical movement.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is mourning the death of Rev. Prof. Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies van Huffel, a South African pastor and academic who was currently serving as the WCC president from Africa since 2013. She passed away on 19 May.
A high-level delegation of the World Council of Churches (WCC), who are being hosted by the South African Council of Churches (SACC) from 7-12 December 2019, have today kicked-off their official WCC Pilgrim Team Visit to South Africa with a courtesy call on H.E. President Cyril Ramaphosa and some Cabinet Ministers, at Lakes Hotel, in Benoni.
Churches across southern Africa are publicly saying #EnoughIsEnough,” with many denominations and congregations continuing to issue strong statements, arrange special prayer events, and speak out against rising levels of violence.
Both the Dutch Reformed Church and the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) have been discussing gender justice and how to keep the momentum going on the unprecedented public demand for change.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC) met formally on 25-27 June in Paris, under the theme “The normalization of hatred: challenges for Jews and Christians today”. This meeting took place at a time of significant challenges in public and religious life for many communities around the world. At the meeting Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, presented the WCC policies on antisemitism and the WCC’s work for human rights for all. The WCC News met with him after the meeting.
World Council of Churches partners in Arusha, Tanzania reflected on the realities in the communities they serve as they met one year after the World Council of Churches’ Conference on World Mission and Evangelism.
