Search results

Today the world joins in mourning the passing of a towering figure in the struggle for freedom and for human dignity and rights.

As Christians worldwide prepare to mark Easter weekend, South Sudanese church leaders have offered peace as a gift to the people, who have experienced great suffering and trials by violence and conflicts.

After a visit to Israel and Palestine on 21 February through 1 March, a delegation of South African and African-American church leaders, released a Group Pilgrimage Statement on Israel and Palestine.

As the implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan gains ground, Christian and Muslim leaders have united to draw to attention to a growing conflict in Yei River state, which is displacing thousands while igniting a severe humanitarian challenge.

The South Sudan Council of Churches, United Nations World Food Programme, and UNICEF have signed an agreement to work in partnership towards peace building to realize food security.

Speaking to a gathering of key church leaders in Harare, Zimbabwe on 1 July ahead of a 30 July election of parliament and a new president, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit brought greetings from the WCC and assured those gathered of the support and prayers of the ecumenical fellowship.

“Is our notion of discipleship inclusive of those who exist in the marginal spaces of our world?”, asked Adi Mariana Waqa, the keynote speaker of a plenary on the theme of mission from the margins at the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME).

On 2 March, Christian women from 170 countries will observe the World Day of Prayer, a tradition that has continued since 1927. The 2018 theme, “All God’s Creation is Very Good!” features materials written by people from Suriname, on the northeastern coast of South America.

In many ways, the World Council of Churches (WCC) pilgrimage of justice and peace hinges on protecting, advocating, and educating people about human rights. In Nigeria, a series of workshops in November promoted human rights across a number of WCC programme areas, including the Churches’ Commitments to Children, preventing gender-based violence, and engaging with the United Nations human rights system.

The huge impacts of businesses on the communities in which they operate often bring benefits, but companies can disregard and even harm people’s rights in pursuit of economic gain. The WCC, ACT Alliance and the Lutheran World Federation hosted a side event at the 6th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva on 28 November, in this context.

As more people face famine today than any time in modern history, the WCC together with the All Africa Conference of Churches and a range of faith-based partners and networks invite a Global Day of Prayer to End Famine on 21 May 2017, in response to the hunger crisis.

With a prayer service on Ash Wednesday in Sealite Mihret Orthodox cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the WCC's Ecumenical Water Network began its annual Lenten campaign “Seven Weeks for Water”. This year during Lent it will raise awareness of water justice issues in Africa.

A plenary discussion on support by religious communities for the rights of children, and a first draft of the statement of “principles for child-friendly churches,” captured the imagination of the Central Committee of the WCC on 27 June. The document will now undergo further revision and be resubmitted at the next WCC executive committee meeting.

Christians need a "spirituality of resistance" to face oppression, violence and experiences of defeat, the WCC general secretary said in an address at Germany’s biggest Protestant gathering.

The “pilgrimage is both a way to continue working for the one ecumenical movement and a way to move forward in our times that offer new dimensions, opportunities and practices,” said the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

Inspired by the theme “pilgrimage of justice and peace”, the Central Committee of the WCC, a chief governing body of the Council, has set directions for the work of the Council from 2014 to 2017.