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Speaking through reflections and a sermon during an international peace gathering in Berlin, World Council of Churches moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm reflected on how people of faith can work to overcome suffering in a wounded world.

With the topics of the war in Ukraine and climate protection as the focal points, the 38th German Protestant Kirchentag takes place in Nuremberg, Germany from 7 to 11 June. The World Council of Churches’ presence in the Kirchentag’s exhibition space “Market of Opportunities” (hall 9, stand 9-C32) enables lively encounters and an opportunity to learn more about the ecumenical movement.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee closed its meeting after convening from 12-17 November, leaving with a sense of hope, even while publicly expressing grave concern over many global injustices facing the world today.

As the World Council of Churches executive committee was meeting in-person for the first time in two years, they gather at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute for meetings and prayers.

A special COP26 service involving Christian churches and organisations from around the world will be held at Glasgow Cathedral on Sunday afternoon. (7 November). The event, which has been organised by Glasgow Churches Together, will be attended by guests from countries including Australia, Fiji, and Zimbabwe, as a show of solidarity for global climate justice.

In times of involuntary isolation due to lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, online ecumenical retreats have emerged as an alternative place for spiritual dialogue. In Sweden, a series of four so-called “Quiet Days” retreats, where participants join online in a digital room to share a moment of stillness and reflection, were launched on the Eve of Pentecost. Initiated already last year under the headline “A spiritual dwelling for God,” by Lutheran Bishop Karin Johannesson from the Diocese of Uppsala, Sweden and co-hosted by Cardinal Anders Arborelius from the Roman Catholic Church in Sweden, the retreats have been expanded this year with English subtitles to also attract international audiences.  

As the WCC central committee meeting opened on 23 June, Most Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, presiding bishop of the Church of Norway and former general secretary of the WCC, offered an opening prayer and sermon at what Tveit described as a “profound moment.”

The life and insights of the German Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer can shed light on the theme of the forthcoming assembly of the World Council of Churches, “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity,” writes Keith Clements in the article that opens the latest issue of the WCC quarterly, The Ecumenical Review. 

Protestants in Germany have commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt, made by German church leaders to an international ecumenical delegation shortly after the Second World War, in which they confessed their failings and shortcomings in opposing National Socialism and the Third Reich.

In historic Nidaros Cathedral, the ancient shrine and pilgrimage destination of medieval Trondheim, the Church of Norway on Sunday, 10 May 2020, consecrated the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit as bishop of the Diocese of Nidaros and installed him as Preses or presiding bishop of its Bishops’ Conference.