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Seven Weeks for Water 2024, week 6: "Cured water, peaceable people: A reflection from Pasifika (Pacific)"

The sixth reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2024 series of the WCC Ecumenical Water Network is written by Rev. Dr Jione Havea from the Pacific region. Reflecting on the interesting story of the Bible where Moses turns the bitter water of Marah into drinkable water, with the help of God, Havea argues that drinkable water can bring peace while lack of water is a source of conflict. Then he encourages the readers to advocate for water justice. 

Seven Weeks for Water 2024, week 3: "Celebrating Jesus’ life in water through the lens of justice”

The third reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2024 series of the WCC Ecumenical Water Network is written by Very Rev. Dr Augustinos Bairactaris. In this reflection, he underscores that the water justice issue is a theological task for all, and that the health of the water is vital to human civilization, and for the stability of the worlds climate and biodiversity. He urges all Christians to pray, fast, and act together for a sustainable environment and planet, especially during Lent.

Seven Weeks for Water 2024, week 1: Water for peace in the Middle East region

The first reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2024 series of the WCC Ecumenical Water Network is written by Dr Munib Younan,* bishop emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and former president of the Lutheran World Federation. In this reflection, the author, as a Palestinian, in line with this year's theme of "leveraging water for peace,” reflects on Isaiah's promise of free water for the thirsty in the context of the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza that has worsened the water situation in Gaza to catastrophic levels.

Religious leaders uniting for climate peace in solidarity with refugees, boost UN conference

The moment religious leaders from around 40 faith-based organisations worldwide agreed to keep defending the individual right to seek asylum during a gathering in Geneva marked a high point on the eve of the Global Refugee Forum, the world's biggest such international gathering.They met at a one-day event on 12 December at the World Council of Churches (WCC), chaired by an Armenian archbishop and a UN diplomat who was once a Turkish legislator.

Statement: Religious Leaders Unite for Climate Peace in Solidarity with Refugees

Reinforcing the traditional role of faith communities in offering sanctuary and, indeed hospitality to refugees, 90 faith-based leaders today committed to offering their continued and additional support to refugees, including children, on their journey to safety, including in reception and admission, meeting protection or service delivery needs and supporting communities to find solutions such as private sponsorship or scholarship programmes.

Ecumenical movement

Address by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the WCC Town-Hall Discussion on Interfaith Dialogue, Climate Change, and Refugee Displacement

Address by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the WCC Town-Hall Discussion on Interfaith Dialogue, Climate Change, and Refugee Displacement - at the Religious Leaders Unite for Climate Peace in Solidarity with Refugees, Ecumenical Center, Geneva, Switzerland 12 December 2023.

Ecumenical movement

Participants at the Emerging Peacemakers Forum send a message of hope to COP28

50 young people from 24 countries have sent a message of hope to the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), which will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates at the end of 2023. The message was delivered during a special ceremony during the second edition of the Emerging Peacemakers Forum, held at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland.

Christ’s Love Moves the World to Reconciliation and Unity: Report of the WCC 11th Assembly

The Report of the WCC 11th Assembly is an important element of a wider collection of resources that offers a flavour of what took place at the assembly in Karlsruhe in 2022, which gathered more than 4500 people, including 659 official delegates from the WCC’s 352 member churches around the theme “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity.”

This report includes an overview of the assembly, the message and unity statement, various reflections, an overview of the spiritual life of the assembly, reports of the work since the previous assembly, an overview of thematic plenaries and ecumenical conversations, reports of assembly committees, statements and minutes, messages from pre-assemblies, greetings to the assembly and various appendices.

Events shed light on finance reform, prioritising vulnerable communities

The World Council of Churches (WCC) co-organised an in-person side event at Civil Society Policy Forum of the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, DC. Participants shared critical civil society perspectives on reforming international financial institutions, the Bridgetown Initiative, and climate finance.

"Faith Community is a Blue Community” unfolds alongside UN Water Conference

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Water Network and its partner organizations hosted a hybrid side event, “Faith Community is a ‘Blue Community,” on 22 March in conjunction with the UN Water Conference in New York City.Prof. Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, UN Special Rapporteur, human right to water, opened the event with a video message on how this is the first time in almost 50 years that the United Nations has convened a global event to reflect on the global water crisis—a crisis that finds 2 billion people without access to clean water, and 4 billion without access to adequate sanitation.

Seven Weeks for Water 2023, week 2: "God’s Gift of Water", by Grace Ji-Sun Kim

Originally written in 2019, the second reflection of the “Seven Weeks for Water 2023” of World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Water Network is by Grace Ji-Sun Kim, an ordained minister of PC (USA). She received her PhD from the University of Toronto and works as a Professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion. She is a prolific writer and the author or editor of 21 books including, Making Peace with the Earth. Kim is part of the World Council of Churches working group on climate change. In this reflection, she recollects her early days in Korea and how she looked at the water then and now, as an eco-feminist theologian. She further reflects on the promise of God "I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground…" and contrasts it with today's consumeristic lifestyle, which is polluting our water bodies and denying millions from enjoying this life-giving gift of God – Water!

Oasis of Peace

Spiritual Life Resources

Oase des Friedens: Gottesdienstbuch

Oasis de paix: Ressources pour la vie spirituelle

Oasis de Paz: Recursos para la vida espiritual

This multilingual volume of spiritual life resources is meant to inspire the collective prayer and praise of participants at the WCC’s 11th Assembly, taking place in Karlsruhe, Germany, from 31 August to 8 September 2022, where Christians from around the world, the whole oikoumene, are uniting to rejoice in the love of God in Christ.

Resource Book

World Council of Churches 11th Assembly, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2022

This assembly Resource Book, a documentary collection published in four separate language editions, is meant to orient assembly delegates and participants to the assembly process, convey documents and reports upon which the assembly will act, and also link participants to a variety of important background documents about the many substantive matters that will engage the gathered fellowship there.

To that end, the Resource Book will function as a ready documentary reference and resource for assembly delegates as well as other participants.