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Rev. Dr Edmond Perret, a Swiss ecumenical leader who served from 1970 to 1989 as general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), died at the age of 87 on 24 March in Geneva, Switzerland.

"The formation of the World Communion of Reformed Churches is a source of inspiration for all of us who see the call to unity, to mission and to promote justice as one, undivided call", said World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit in Grand Rapids, United States, on Saturday, 19 June.

On 18 June, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) will merge with the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) to form the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC). The new ecumenical body will group 227 member churches representing 80 million Christians in 108 countries.

"The prayer of Jesus that his disciples may be one so that the world may believe (John 17:21) takes on new urgency in view of the challenges peoples and churches are facing today", said the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, in welcoming a delegation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

The United Church of Zambia (UCZ) is keen to deepen its ties with the ecumenical family, says the church general secretary, Rev. Chrispin Mbalazi.

Patriarchy has been the dominant influence in shaping men and oppressing women, a workshop sponsored by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) has concluded.

A wide array of justice movements around the world are challenging churches to create new kinds of spirituality that will sustain them as they struggle against empire.

By Manuel Quintero (*)

Churches working for peace amidst a wave of post electoral violence in Kenya will receive a pastoral and solidarity visit of an international ecumenical delegation sent by the World Council of Churches (WCC) from 30 January to 3 February.

Joint release with the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Council for World Mission

The war on terror will "never" be won "as long as there are conditions in the world that make people desperate," like dehumanizing poverty, disease and ignorance, Nobel laureate and former Archbishop Desmond Tutu told ecumenical participants at the start of the 2007 World Social Forum (WSF) in Nairobi.

Ceremonies in Nairobi's Holy Family Roman Catholic Basilica and All Saints Anglican Cathedral and a procession from one to the other church are part of events being organized by the All Africa Conference of Churches/Caritas Ecumenical Platform to mark the opening of the 7th World Social Forum (WSF).

In a statement released today, the World Council of Churches (WCC) has welcomed the affirmation that, after 2010, the "LWF and WARC would no longer hold global assemblies of their own, given a satisfactory development in this area". The affirmation was made by a joint meeting of the officers of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) with the executive committee of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF).

High-resolution photos available - see below

Having witnessed at first hand the terrible toll on civilian populations as well as the destruction caused by the current conflict in the region, the three members of an ecumenical pastoral delegation returning from a 10-15 August visit to Beirut and Jerusalem will report on their experiences at a

A joint appeal signed today by the leaders of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) calls "upon Israel and Hezbullah to end the fighting in Lebanon" and "upon the United States, the European Union, and the Arab States to exercise their influence toward this end". It also calls "upon the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas to end the conflict in Gaza".

By K.M. George (*)

Six ecumenical bodies, including the World Council of Churches (WCC), have appealed to the African Union and the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) to bring the government of Togo and opposition parties to the negotiating table so that they may together seek a solution to the current crisis.