H.E. Metropolitan Serafim Kykotis, a member of the World Council of Churches Working Group on Climate Change, participated in COP26. Following is a conversation about “ecological metanoia,” a concept about which the metropolitan has been praying and thinking.
During a discussion, “Tax the rich, save the planet,” on 8 November, speakers explored how a global tax and economic system can deliver equity and make reparations for the exploitation of people and planet.
“Dies Academicus,” is a special annual gathering at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Bossey Ecumenical institute. This academic year’s installment took place on 4 November. The current cohort of 33 students from 20 countries listened to a panel of four speakers who shared reflections on the theme, “Is racism a faith question?” The panel reaffirmed the WCC 4th Assembly held in Uppsala, which declared racism as sin.
Address of Bishop Petra Bosse-Huber from the Evangelical Church in Germany at the meeting of WCC, EKD, German Federal Foreign Office and TransAtlantic Network, 13 October 2021
Presentation of Dr Mwai Makoka, the World Council of Churches programme executive for Health and Healing, at the meeting of WCC, EKD, German Federal Foreign Office and TransAtlantic Network, 13 October 2021.
Address of Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches at the meeting of WCC, EKD, German Federal Foreign Office and TransAtlantic Network, 13 October 2021
A team from the Church of Westphalia visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey from 27 September to 1 October, exploring a global view of ecumenism by learning about the WCC as a global ecumenical organisation.
As the COVID-19 pandemic forced many churches to pivot to an online presence, communicators from the Methodist Church of Brazil quickly pulled together a “toolbox” of support for church leaders.
Berta Caceres was a well-known land rights defender who led a battle against a large dam on ancestral lands in Honduras. She was shot to death at her home in 2016. Recently the former president of the internationally financed dam company was found guilty over the assassination. Members of the WCC-Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) are worried that violence against activists who are taking a stand against the overexploitation of natural resources, like land and water, is on the rise. Unlike the murder of Berta Caceres, most attacks and killings go unpunished.
Dr. CL Nash is ordained in the American Baptist Church and has a PhD in historical theology. She has published in various theological blogs including with the Centre for Religion and Public Life, and the University of Leeds; in journals including the Journal of Theology for Southern Africa; and magazine articles with Mutuality Magazine. In addition to several articles and chapters being released throughout 2021, her first book is scheduled for release in 2022 with SCM Press. Visit her website here.
Participants at a symposium exploring challenges and opportunities for a more just digital future held a lively discussion on and offline on how the digital era has changed the notion of public space.
If digital social justice begins with connectivity, perhaps it ends when that connectivity is usurped by oppressive regimes, extremists, fake news and hate speech. A “press club”-style conversation on 13 September found theologians, politicians, church communicators, activists and journalists from around the world weighing in on the short but exceedingly complex question, “Digital instruments – Blessing or Curse?”
Besides the dangerous monopoly structures in the digital economy, there is a danger for liberty and justice as they are crucial for pluralistic democracies in the digital world, says Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. Bedford-Strohm is also chairperson of the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany and was a keynote speaker at the opening of the symposium exploring challenges and opportunities for a more just digital future, in Berlin on 13-15 September, and co-organized by the EKD.
As a teenager growing up in East Germany in the 1980s, Dr Ellen Ueberschär learned of freedom of speech in her church parish and believes that fundamental digital rights will not prevail on their own or through voluntary commitments by corporations.
An upcoming international symposium, scheduled for 13-15 September, will explore some key questions to help us map a more just digital future, a future that “increasingly calls for deeper reflection and new thinking in philosophy, ethics, jurisprudence, and theology,” said World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof Dr Ioan Sauca.
On Monday, 13 September, the International Symposium for Communication for Social Justice in a Digital Age will begin online at 10 am CET in Berlin, Germany and continue until 5 pm CET on Wednesday, 15 September.
Ukrainian journalist and radio host Katya Potapenko says digital justice remains a goal and not a reality. "For me, digital justice is a possibility of fair access to digital platforms and devices, regardless of country of origin, social status or other features," said Potapenko, a World Student Christian Federation volunteer.
Media and communicators are invited to an online “press club” event during which they can speak candidly on the theme “Digital instruments – Blessing or Curse?”
The Pacific Theological College has published “A COVID-19 Wellbeing Statement: Rethinking Health from a Theological and Pasifika Cultural Perspective.”
