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“The promotion of peace is at the core of our sacred teachings and therefore a condition we endeavor to achieve”, said Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, representative of the World Council of Churches (WCC) to the United Nations, during the Third Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-Based Organizations in International Affairs, held at the UN headquarters, in New York, on 23 January.

The General Board of Global Ministries, a mission agency of The United Methodist Church, hosted representatives from the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism this week for a meeting to plan a World Mission Conference scheduled for March 2018.

The ecumenical dialogue between churches has a long and fruitful history. But since war and terrorism are threatening the existence of churches in the Middle East, Christians of this region feel more and more neglected by their Western partners.

Baden-Württemberg minister-president, Winfried Kretschmann, has expressed gratitude to the churches for putting Christian service and neighbourly love into practice, and not only at Sunday sermons. The German state’s governor Kretschmann gave his message in a meeting with the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, in Stuttgart last Thursday.

As increasing numbers of people are seeking refuge in Europe, a new project aims to promote the rights of refugees to speak on their own behalf, to assess their portrayal in the media and uphold good journalistic practices, and to raise the visibility of refugee voices and networks.

Music can be a key resource in building truly multicultural congregations and communities, found participants at a seminar, “Music and Cultures,” organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) from 30 October to 2 November in Quebec, Canada.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has hailed a joint commemoration by Catholics and Lutherans of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation as a major advance in dialogue between Christian traditions.

Faith-based organizations and religious leaders must be included in efforts to address the challenges of human trafficking and forced migration, representatives of the United Nations, international organizations, Member States and civil society have said.

At the second-ever convening of the Moral Imperative in New York City on 22 September, advocates from faith-based groups joined World Bank representatives and UN officials to discern the next steps for a diverse group of people trying to end extreme poverty by 2030.

As wars and conflict continue to force thousands of families to flee their homes every day, the WCC appeals to all people of good will to support the UNHCR’s #WithRefugees campaign. By signing a petition to be handed over to the UN headquarters before the General Assembly meeting on 19 September, people around the globe are asked to raise their voices, to ensure that every refugee child gets an education, that every refugee family has somewhere safe to live, and that every refugee can work or learn new skills to make a positive contribution to their community.

As many in the world observed and cheered the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, church leaders spoke out in support of the Olympic refugee team and the place of public honor it offered for refugees competing in the games.

Canadian Lutheran World Relief and the WCC are planning joint action on refugee rights now that the Canadian church agency has been approved for WCC membership. Plans are for CLWR to collaborate with WCC on advocacy initiatives through the Ecumenical United Nations Office in New York.

An historic event is coming up, and we invite you to join and support it. At the Rio 2016 Olympics, for the first time ever, a team will represent those women, men, boys and girls displaced from their homes by crisis. The WCC encourages all people and churches to cheer on the strongly symbolic Refugee Olympic Team, a group of ten top-tier athletes from around the globe.

In a “Statement on the Forced Displacement Crisis,” a call for the world’s nations to “honour the letter and spirit of their obligations under international law, including human rights and refugee law and especially the right of asylum” was issued on 28 June by the WCC Central Committee.

The worsening refugee situation, which now counts round 65 million people among those fleeing their homes worldwide, calls for the church to be more outspoken, says Trondheim pastor Marianne H. Brekken.

Three times a week refugees are invited to Luthergemeinde - or Luther Parish - in central Halle, Germany to visit with parish members. Sometimes they cook and sometimes they just meet to talk and get acquainted. This initiative is a creative effort to integrate some of the 400 refugees that have been placed around the vicinity of the parish.