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More than 1,000 attendees at the 15th Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Churchwide Assembly have formally endorsed the Thursdays in Black campaign for a world free from rape and violence.

Along Lake Geneva from 2-21 July, an exhibit, “Women in War,” highlighted the stories of women who were combatants, activists, mothers, leaders and survivors of war. The exhibit, developed by the International Committee of the Red Cross in collaboration with National Geographic, aimed to break the stereotypes that reduce women to the status of victim only, and to highlight the sometimes complex and difficult roles they have in wars.

Students at Makerere University in Uganda have launched an evangelical and health mission in Kayunga, one of the rural villages in Mityana district located about 50 km from Kampala, Uganda.
The initiative follows the October 2018 launch of the Thursdays in Black Campaign against sexual and gender-based violence in Uganda by the Anglican community of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity at Makerere University.

Conversations at the World Council of Churches (WCC) exhibition booth at the Kirchentag showed there is a growing interest in ecumenical movement among German churches. The topics of a particularly high interest were the Thursdays in Black campaign and studies at the Ecumenical institute in Bossey.

Communities and individuals everywhere are invited to make a powerful, international statement of their commitment to end rape and violence through contributing to a large tapestry exhibit being developed by the World Council of Churches (WCC).

Stories, music, and many other expressions of solidarity marked a lively observation of Thursdays in Black at the German Protestant church festival. From religious leaders to passersby, many offered words of support and encouragement for the campaign for a world free from rape and violence.

On 20 June at Kirchentag, the thriving Protestant church festival in Germany, #ThursdaysInBlack, the global campaign for a world without rape and violence, will take the stage during a noon presentation.

When church bells tolled at the 11th hour on 14 June, they were signalling solidarity with a national "strike" for women's equality held throughout Switzerland with full backing from the ecumenical community, including the World Council of Churches (WCC).

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee is convening at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey from 22-28 May. Among priority items on the agenda are preparations for the WCC 11th Assembly to be held in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2021. The committee is expected to approve a communication strategy for the assembly, which has already adopted the theme “Christ's love moves the world to reconciliation and unity.”

In January 2019, Aya Maasarwe, a university exchange student in Melbourne, was walking home at night and speaking to her sister on her phone. She was attacked, raped and murdered.
The public outcry intensified a national debate about violence against women in Australia following several high-profile murders in the country.

A seminar on human resources and leadership development for diakonia was held in the West African Republic of Bénin from 13-17 May.

A series of four manuals produced by the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy were launched on 1 May in Nairobi, Kenya. The manuals address ecumenical needs for faith-based resources to treat and prevent the spread of HIV along with education on gender issues.

“What can one person do” can often sound like a lament about powerlessness.

For Thursdays in Black, though, one person can build a movement.

David Emmanuel Goatley, Faculty Director of the Office of Black Church Studies at Duke University Divinity School in North Carolina, USA, learned about Thursdays in Black through his involvement with the World Council of Churches’ Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace. He has now launched the campaign through the Office at Duke University.

A group of churches from Germany’s west inspired by the quest for justice and peace presented an ecumenical exhibition showing how “Peace takes a different way” at the World Council of Churches in Geneva.

The Protestant Church of Baden, whose region will host the World Council of Churches 11th Assembly in 2021, has joined the Thursdays in Black campaign with a prayer and a challenge to express solidarity with those suffering from abuse of power.

From joint statements, to reflections, to exchanging ideas, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is engaging in the sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

On International Women’s Day, 8 March, staff based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva organized a worship service to acknowledge achievements of ecumenical organizations in the area of gender justice. Organized jointly by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation, the service included celebratory singing as well as sombre reflections and prayers for women who are affected by conflict, migration, gender-based violence, economic exploitation and discrimination.

Social media was awash with messages of love on Valentine’s Day, but from Thursdays in Black supporters, the flowers came with strong messages that love is not violent.