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Feature story
Brother Richard from Taizé Community

Taize’s Br Richard: “Peace starts in our hearts”

Br Richard first came across the Taize Community when he was a high school student growing up in Berne, Switzerland. After he finished high school, he served as a Taize volunteer for one month. “That month became one year—and then I stayed here,” he said with a smile.

17 April 2023
Feature story
Palestine-2022-Hillert-20221124_AH1_7230.jpg

"I could hardly believe I was in Jerusalem"

This year at Easter, the WCC is highlighting current realities and challenges related to religious holidays in the Holy Land, joining with local communities in action and prayer; to ensure that freedom of worship is protected in a land so worthy of justice, peace, and dignity. The reflections and voices presented here are meant to welcome the reader into the details of everyday lives—lives met with challenges that often turn into obstacles impeding everything from simple family celebrations to livelihoods, to freedom of religion and movement. Together, these voices also raise the hope for a less divided and conflict-ridden Jerusalem, and a Holy Land in which people of all faiths enjoy an equal measure of freedom of movement and religion.

11 April 2023
Blog post
Coffee being tested in the RAOS laboratory. RAOS, Cooperativa Regional Mixta de Agricultores Orgánicos de la Sierra, is a Fairtrade-certified coffee producer based in Marcala, La Paz, Honduras.

True fasting as actions towards justice

Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of injustice,

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them,

and not to hide yourself from your own kin? - Isaiah 58:6-7

To understand Isaiah’s message about true and false fasting, let’s take a minute to remind ourselves of the role and intention of fasting in the context of our Christian faith. This is vital, as fasting is one of the spiritual disciplines in the Christian faith that is no longer practised universally.

07 April 2023
Event
Religious leaders carry a large red ribbon--the symbol of AIDS--as they participate in a July 20, 2010, human rights march through the streets of Vienna, Austria, during the XVIII International AIDS Conference. The theme of the conference was "Rights here, right now."

HIV Stigma and discrimination revisited: challenging our ideas for the next phase of the HIV response

19 April 2023

This zoom round table has the objective of re-opening a deep conversation about HIV stigma and discrimination, based on evidence, and seeing it with programmatic lenses, in the context of faith and theology. The round table will discuss studies, current programs and theological reflections on the manifestations of stigma and discrimination in HIV with the aim to promote collective thinking to sharpen our response.

Blog post
Improving financial literacy among rural women in Uganda

Women’s wellness and mental health as part of the mission of the church – a wounded healer’s balm

I received a call from a friend of mine - we both work as medical doctors and had earlier realised that our husbands, who are ministers in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, had been friends for years —this is one of the reasons that drew us to each other.  She had been attending the February meeting of the Methodist Women’s Prayer and Service Union (Manyano), Connexional Extended Executive Meeting. My friend said that the general president, Gretta Makhwenkwe, had appointed us to the Wellness Committee.

30 March 2023
Bible studies
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Seven Weeks for Water 2023, week 6: "Water for Life", by Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm

Originally published in 2014, the sixth Biblical reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2023 is by Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, Germany, and moderator of the WCC central committee. Citing examples from the Bible, he highlights that water is absolutely necessary for life and that everybody has the right of free access to water for their sustenance,  irrespective of their economic status.

27 March 2023
Bible studies
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Seven Weeks for Water 2023, week 5: "Water: a gift of God, a public good and a human right. Should we privatize it?", by Rev. Dr. Donald Bruce Yeates

Originally published in 2020, the fifth reflection of the seven weeks for water 2023 of the WCC’s Ecumenical Water Network is by Rev. Dr. Donald Bruce Yeates, a minister of Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church of Suva, Fiji and a consultant chaplain at The University of the South Pacific. Bruce has been active in the Pacific since 1975 as an academic in social work, community development and social policy having served at the University of Papua New Guinea and The University of the South Pacific. In the following  reflection he underlines the importance of human right to water and the onslaught of privatisation in the backdrop of  world’s most famous bottled water which comes from his home country, the “Fiji waters”.

20 March 2023
News
UN Photo/Manuel Elias (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

UN water summit: how we can make a difference

It is the first UN conference on water in almost 50 years. Taking place in New York from 22-24 March 2023, the “UN 2023 Water Conference” will be a key opportunity to influence and hopefully re-shape the global water discussion. Church and civil society activists are urging affected people, human rights defenders, social movements, and concerned leaders to raise their voices.

20 March 2023
Interview
Prof. Jace Pillay

Prof. Jace Pillay reflects on importance of churches in upholding children’s rights

Prof. Jace Pillay, South African research chair for Education and Care in Childhood at the University of Johannesburg, reflected on the importance of churches in ensuring the rights of children.

Twin brother of World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, Jace Pillay noted that South Africa has very good policies with regard to children’s rights —but in many areas those policies exist only on paper, as they are not implemented.

14 March 2023