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Fifty years ago, Dr Martin Luther King was still planning for his sermon at the opening of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Fourth Assembly in the serene town of Uppsala, Sweden. But just three months before the assembly’s opening service, he is assassinated. His dream of a new world is, however, alive at the assembly.

Over 350 members of the central committee, guests, advisors and staff gathered at the Ecumenical Institute Château de Bossey for a celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

In a powerful symbol of unity, Christians from North and South Korea sang together yesterday during celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). The Koreans linked arms to sing the 600-year-old folk song Arirang that is the unofficial anthem of Korea – the united Korea that existed until civil war divided the country in the 1950s.

Observing the 70th anniversary of the founding of the World Council of Churches (WCC) brings special focus and heightened attention to this year’s Central Committee meeting, 15-21 June in Geneva. The WCC Executive Committee meets 13-14 June at the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is mourning the death and remembering the life of Daniela Di Mauro. Her sudden death is a shock and tragic loss for her family, colleagues and friends.

The WCC invites ecumenical youth to be stewards at the 2018 Central Committee in Geneva, Switzerland. With application deadline 31 January, the Stewards Programme aims to bring together a dynamic and diverse group of 20 young people from all over the world from 5-23 June 2018.

A 25 September panel discussion in Geneva offered compelling examples of how climate change and unethical practices in the extractive industry are robbing people of both their human rights and their human dignity.

Monday morning prayer at the chapel of the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva today celebrated the Season of Creation – the time of year when the worldwide Christian family joins in praying and caring for our common home.

At a meeting in Auckland, New Zealand from 1-3 August, the Pacific Conference of Churches released texts on climate change and nuclear weapons, and issued calls to action related to human rights and other issues.

During Kirchentag, a Protestant church festival in Germany, vice-moderator of the WCC Commission of Ecumenical Education and Formation Prof. Dr Esther Mombo visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) booth, where she talked with Marianne Ejdersten, WCC director of Communication.

Speaking at the Peterskirche, the University Church of Heidelberg, on 27 October, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said the Reformation can only be commemorated properly if the remembrance is done in a modus of mutual accountability.

The church must work for climate justice as part of its quest for just peace, urged Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the WCC Central Committee (WCC) as she offered a keynote address at the Württembergische Evangelische Landessynode in Stuttgart, Germany this week.

Georges “Yorgo” Lemopoulos says his discovery of global ecumenism as a theology student in Istanbul, Turkey, transformed his life. The member of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople credits theology professors who were active in ecumenical work with awakening his interest in the global church movement.

The faces of those who lead the global ecumenical movement have changed dramatically since 1954, says the head of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Rev. Dr Sharon Watkins. Pictures of delegates to the World Council of Churches’ assembly held that year in Evanston, USA, show rows of men in dark suits and ties, most of them white.

As the 21st Conference of Parties (COP 21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change came to a close in Paris, a consultation organized by the National Council of Churches in the Philippines and the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance of the WCC on 11 December in Quezon City, Philippines considered “The Right to Food and Life in the Context of Climate Change.”

In a high level panel on Climate Change and Human Rights held at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said that despite all negative conditions “we have the right to hope” – not as a matter of passive waiting but as an active process towards justice and peace, in which human rights should play a key role.

Although climate change is often thought of as something external to an individual person, it is interwoven with personal spirituality, as well. This was the conclusion of a panel of three faith leaders during a session at the Interfaith Summit on Climate Change held on 22 September.

Eighteen-year-old Asha Smith has a vision for changing laws that lead to injustice. In some ways, she is just beginning her life pilgrimage. While studying law at American University in Washington, DC, she serves as a youth intern for the Church Federation of Greater Indianapolis (USA), her home community.

As young people help to facilitate the meeting of the WCC's governing body, they are pursuing a collective pilgrimage of their own.