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Uppsala 1968: The times, they were a’changing

By rights, it should have been Africa. The World Council of Churches’ (WCC) First Assembly had been held in Europe (Amsterdam), the second in North America (Evanston, USA), the third in Asia (New Delhi). Hopes were raised that Africa would be the next continent to host the council. But questions arose concerning acts of violence and military conflicts in Africa throughout the 1960s, from the Biafran region in Nigeria to Zanzibar and Eritrea, from Algeria to Mozambique and Rhodesia. And so the Fourth Assembly returned to the “safety” of Europe, to Uppsala in Sweden. In one of history’s ironies, Soviet tanks would roll into Prague one month after the assembly’s close.

Green Village: Sale of land and office building and start of second development phase

Convinced by the innovative and sustainable concepts initiated by the World Council of Churches and Implenia, the leading Swiss construction and real estate services provider, Swiss Life Investment Foundation has bought a land plot on the Green Village estate and the Kyoto office building, which will have a gross floor area of some 14,000 m². Green Village, the real estate development project in the heart of the Quartier des Nations in Geneva, has successfully achieved a further milestone towards completion of its first phase.

Brunnen: a well of faith-inspired initiatives

In Harare it was called Padare —a public procession celebrating a special day or event; In Porto Alegre, Mutirao —celebrating and reflecting together; In Busan, it was Madang —the traditional courtyard, a space for deliberation, celebration, and fellowship. And now in Karlsruhe, it is Brunnen —a well in the marketplace.

Churches will share perspectives on human dignity amidst escalating conflicts

Addressing the challenges for a common vision of churches on human rights today, the international conference “Christian Perspectives on Human Dignity and Human Rights” will take place on 9-12 April in Wuppertal, Germany. Everyone is invited to follow the public session of the conference on 11 April, when a panel of the keynote speakers will bring together biblical, theological and practical perspectives on human dignity.

Christian Perspectives on Human Dignity and Human Rights

11 April 2022

Part of the international conference held on 9-12 April in Wuppertal, Germany, the online panel discussion on 11 April will reflect on the challenges for a common vision of churches on human rights today, bringing together biblical, theological and practical perspectives on human dignity.

Wuppertal, Germany / online

Digital communicators weigh a future with “profound values at stake”

As a symposium on digital justice drew to a close on 15 September, participants  were weighing their vision for the future in a landscape fraught with injustice. Those taking part in the symposium—be they theologians, church leaders, politicians, students, journalists or professional communicators—are all in fact, digital communicators,” and this broad array of people who care worked to hone their collective thoughts into recommendations they believe can help the world.

Economy’s commercial logic threatens digital justice discourse, says German church leader

Besides the dangerous monopoly structures in the digital economy, there is a danger for liberty and justice as they are crucial for pluralistic democracies in the digital world, says Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. Bedford-Strohm is also chairperson of the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany and was a keynote speaker at the opening of the symposium exploring challenges and opportunities for a more just digital future, in Berlin on 13-15 September, and co-organized by the EKD.

Arctic communities to WCC pilgrims: “We need your voice”

Lorraine Netro, who was raised in the Gwichin First Nation of Old Crow, Yukon (Canada), is part of an indigenous community—but shes also a global citizen.

Todays Arctic peoples are important members of global society,” Netro said. The survival of Arctic cultures and communities remains tied to the wildlife and landscape of the Arctic Refuge.”