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Moderator`s address - Faith and Order commission meeting, Indonesia, February 2024

I am pleased to offer a word of welcome at this historic moment, the gathering of the new Faith and Order Commission here in North Sulawesi in Indonesia. As far as I know, this is the first time our Commission is meeting in Indonesia. We are thankful for the opportunity to gather here, and immensely grateful for the hospitality the local church is offering to us.

Commission on Faith and Order

WCC Pilgrim Team Visits accompany communities in Italy, Armenia, Norway

Three World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrim Team Visits, one to Italy, a second to Armenia and a third to Norway, are continuing the WCCs accompaniment for communities in their quest for justice and peace under the theme of Christs love moves the world to reconciliation and unity,” through the lenses of post-war trauma healing, gender justice, and migration.

Programme to Combat Racism began during apartheid, but xenophobia fight still churches’ focus

When the World Council of Churches (WCC) launched the Programme to Combat Racism after years of in-depth theological reflections and prayer in 1971, South Africa's insidious racist apartheid policies were in full throw. The programme brought the WCC into the world's spotlight. Yet racism did not start 50 years ago. And it did not end with the casting out of apartheid at the end of the 20th century. During that era, figures such as Nobel Peace Prize laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela fought racism in society and the church.

Address by Prof Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri at the closing ceremony of Eco-School 2020/21 for the Pacific (26 February 2021)

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

I had addressed you less than a week ago at the opening of the WCC Eco School 2020-2021 on Sunday evening, Geneva time. And here I am addressing you at the closing. The past 5 days have passed very quickly.  I have been updated by my colleagues responsible for the Eco School that this was an unique experience for all of them and I am sure for you as well. Carrying out a training programme for 5 consecutive days beyond midnight was new for most of them.  But I gather it has been a very enriching experience for them journeying with you all imparting this important training and at the same time listening to your valuable comments, questions and feedback.  But as I said in the opening, despite the geographic and time divide, we are united together virtually for a common cause  -  and that it eco justice! 

WCC Programmes

Address by Prof Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri at the opening ceremony of Eco-School - Pacific (22 February 2021)

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

We are deeply privileged to conduct this Eco- School with all of you, with the youth from 5 different nations, in Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Tonga and Vanuatu. We are truly blessed to join you, the Pacific youth, along with the global ecumenical family and partners for this opening ceremony. We are holding hands virtually, bridging the oceans, the geographic and time divide, and the disruptions caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. We thank you, the Pacific youth, for your time and commitment.

WCC Programmes

World Council of Churches assembly theme urges an “ecumenism of the heart”

In a world crying out for justice and peace, the theme of the 2022 assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC), “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity,” speaks of hope for a future in which resources are shared, inequalities are addressed and all can enjoy dignity, according to a new publication reflecting on the assembly theme.

Cultivate and Care

An Ecumenical Theology of Justice for and within Creation

Faith and Order Paper No. 226

The alarming climate change demands that the churches’ journey toward visible unity must include a sustained dialogue with a theology for justice for and within creation and seek ways to put the fruits of that dialogue into practice.

This theological document seeks to demonstrate how a committed response to the environmental devastation of our time can be motivated by Christian faith in God the creator, redeemer, and sanctifier.

We have sought, first, to point to some of the urgent environmental situations which cry out for Christian reflection and action. Next, we have sought to root such a response in the progressively increasing ecumenical consideration of creation on the part of the WCC in recent decades and in various theological, ecclesiological, and ecumenical convictions which our churches share and which call them to join together in engagement to protect the environment. Finally, we have proposed ways in which such engagement can take form.

Morning Prayer for Monday, 18 January 2021

Come and direct our hearts toward you...

With the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle we pray for the churches and people of the Arabian Peninsula:

Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

AND

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021.

Theme: Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit

(John 15: 5 – 9)

WCC Programmes

“Arusha Call to Discipleship” issued

Participants from the World Council of Churches Conference on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) issued a “Call to Discipleship” on 13 March, the closing day of the conference. More than 1,000 people gathered in Tanzania for the CWME, and all are engaged in mission and evangelism, coming from different Christian traditions across the world.