Search results

Ministers praying in the chapel. Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, 2023

Celebration of unity draws churches in Geneva together

In a service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, representatives from 25 churches in Geneva drew together in the World Council of Churches chapel on 18 January.

24 January 2023

Dear future steward

One hundred twenty-seven young people from over 50 countries in all eight regions served as stewards at the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11^th Assembly providing essential assistance in all activities and areas as well as contributing energy and perspective to our life together as an ecumenical fellowship. Two of the stewards assisting the WCC Communication team share their experience as a letter and diary to future stewards at the 12^th assembly.

08 September 2022

People walking in front of large white building in the countryside.

Alexander Vozhdaev, Bossey student, reflects on “rewarding experience in my life”

Alexander Vozhdaev, from the Russian Orthodox Church, participated in a study visit to Rome 20-27 January as part of pursuing a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Ecumenical Studies at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute.

02 February 2022

Bossey students embark on study visit to Rome

Students from the World Council of Churches (WCC) Bossey Ecumenical Institute began an 8-day study visit to Rome on 20 January, with a full programme that includes lectures, a tour of the Vatican, and opportunities to interact with leaders from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

21 January 2022

Rev. Dr Susan Durber: “We belong to one, highly interconnected, world”

As the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity fast approaches, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Commission Rev. Dr Susan Durber reflects on the theme “We saw the star in the East,” and on what unity means for the world today.

14 January 2022

Gathered in the chapel of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey.

As Bossey students graduate, they celebrate "truly different thinking and living in Christ”

As they celebrated their graduation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) Bossey Ecumenical Institute on 26 January, students reflected on their one-of-a-kind experience, and how they will continue their ecumenical work as they go forth into the world.

28 January 2021

Christians worldwide gather in prayer for unity— even if distanced

Even as nations continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, final preparations are under way for one of the world’s largest annual prayer observances, traditionally celebrated 18-25 January. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity involves Christian communities from many traditions and all parts of the globe. At a time when public health concerns put a limit on physical gatherings, it provides an opportunity for churches to come together by means of a typically Christian practice that long predates modern transport: prayer.

15 January 2021

Bossey students expand fruits of knowledge as they near graduation

Looking toward their graduation ceremony scheduled for 26 January, students at the World Council of Churches Bossey Ecumenical Institute are set to expand their encounters with the ecumenical world.

14 January 2021

A Greek volunteer waves at a refugee boat in the Aegean Sea, directing it toward a safe place to land on a beach on the Greek island of Lesbos. Photo: Paul Jeffrey, 2015

Christian organizations representing 2 billion people call for more compassionate EU migration policy

Christian organizations representing 2 billion people—about one-third of the world's population—have released a statement on the dire situation of migrants and refugees in Europe, and they are demanding a more compassionate approach.

23 September 2020

For the service broadcast on national TV, the Ursuline sisters in Trnava had decorated the altar space with a boat evoking St Paul's shipwreck in Malta. Photo: Nata Hovorkova/Ecumenical Council of Churches in Slovakia

Week of Prayer in Slovakia: “The unity was growing in front of my eyes”

Rev. Eva Guldanova is a Lutheran minister, ecumenical theologian, and assistant to the general secretary of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Slovakia. This interview is part of a series dedicated to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

24 June 2020

Sisters share wisdom of life rooted in Christ for next week of prayer for unity

The newly available materials for next year‘s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity draw on the experience of contemplative community life to guide us on a journey of prayer bearing fruits of reconciliation and solidarity. Tasked with preparing a draft for the 2021 edition, the Community of Grandchamp in Switzerland chose the theme “Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit” (cf. Jn 15:5-9).

10 June 2020

Ecumenical celebration at Zagreb cathedral, January 2020. Photo: COMECE

“Week of Prayer made me feel deeply the Lord’s desire for our complete unity”

This interview with Fr Manuel Barrios Prieto, secretary general of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), is the first one in a series dedicated to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

10 June 2020

Mikael Stjernberg. Photo: Arne Hyckenberg

Christian unity strengthens between Sweden, Malta

Mikael Stjernberg is public relations manager for the Christian Council of Sweden, which visited Malta in October to meet with churches and organizations to hear how they worked to produce the material for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and to see how they work with refugees.

23 January 2020

Dr Ani Ghazaryan Drissi speaks in the Ecumenical Centre chapel. Photo: Grégoire de Fombelle/WCC

Hospitality, generosity “much-needed qualities” in search for Christian unity

In a reflection in the Ecumenical Centre Chapel in Geneva on 20 January, WCC programme executive for the Faith and Order Commission Dr Ani Ghazaryan Drissi offered a reflection on how important it is that, in difficult times, churches welcome people who have no place to go.

23 January 2020

Praying for unity with the Sisters of Grandchamp in 2021

You may miss the cry of the tortured Christ on the cross, carved by the Brazilian artist Guido Rocha, if you do not look carefully at your right hand side as you enter the dark-wooden chapel of the monastic Community of Grandchamp, a hamlet near the Lake of Neuchâtel, in Switzerland.

20 September 2019

Solidarity in aiding migrants informs upcoming week of prayer for unity

Maltese creators of the newly available materials for the upcoming Week of Prayer for Christian Unity have focused on hospitality to the stranger as their theme, evoking the shipwrecked Apostle Paul’s statement that “They showed us unusual kindness” there (Acts 28:2).

12 September 2019

Bossey transforms the life of ecumenical students

Almost 30 international students from the WCC's Bossey Ecumenical Institute, Switzerland, are embarking on a future of ecumenism, dialogue and unity that began with months of intense study and fellowship.

29 January 2019

Italian Protestants and Catholics sign “Let’s remain human” appeal on immigration

The Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy, Italian Episcopal Conference, Waldensian Board, and Community of Sant’Egidio signed a joint declaration, entitled “Let’s remain human,” that encourages a spirit of humanity and solidarity towards migrants.

24 January 2019