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Creation is a sacred gift, not a commodity. With this conviction, the World Council of Churches (WCC), ACT Alliance, and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) speak together ahead of COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026. The churches call on governments to deliver climate justice: cut emissions and pay the finance they promised.

[World Council of Churches] The World Council of Churches Commission of Young People in the Ecumenical Movement opened its meeting on Nov. 4 in Accra, Ghana, and will continue through Nov. 9. Rooted in the biblical account of the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35, the meeting’s theme is “Journeying Together: Creating Healing Spaces.” It emphasizes the importance of accompaniment, listening and solidarity in responding to challenges young people face today, such as injustice, conflict, exclusion, mental health concerns and artificial intelligence’s growing impact. Guided by the Ghanaian expression “Biako Ye,” which means “togetherness,” the gathering aims to unite young people to strengthen ecumenical relationships, share experiences and share how churches and communities can become spaces of healing, reconciliation and hope. Read the full article here.

[Episcopal News Service] When St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Hampstead, New Hampshire, was named a parish, it wasn’t the church’s first big change since it was founded in 1962. The congregation has worshipped in three different locations in southern New Hampshire, including one where the church building was moved to a new town, before settling in its current location in 1990. It began as a mission, then became a parish, and returned to mission status more than a decade ago. “St. Christopher is the patron saint of travel, so it is interesting that the church has had this traveling kind of experience,” the Rev. Zachary Harmon, the church’s rector, told Episcopal News Service. During the Diocese of New Hampshire’s annual convention on Oct. 23, it once again became a parish. The new status reflects the vitality of the congregation, Harmon said. With an average Sunday attendance of between 50 and 60 people, the small church actively serves its community, including hosting six AA meetings a week, an annual international dinner and its recent second annual children’s carnival. That event drew more than 200 children and their families for face painting, carnival games and the opportunity to get close to a fire engine, a school bus and an excavator at its touch-a-truck activity. Almost everyone at St. Christopher’s is involved with one of the outreach ministries, Senior Warden Maureen Dadekian told ENS, which also extends to collecting goodie bags for those at the local men’s and women’s shelters, participating with the local police department in Toys for Tots and supporting refugee families resettled in New Hampshire by the International Institute of New England. St. Christopher’s is surrounded by wealthier churches in an affluent county, she said, but what it lacks in financial resources it makes up in spirit and commitment. “We are consistent,” she said. “We have remained consistent and genuine in our love for God and Christ and our mission as Christian people.” In recent years, church attendance has grown, thanks primarily to families with young children, Harmon said, many of whom he has baptized. He isn’t sure if this growth came from parents searching for certainty after the pandemic or a feeling of needing God in their lives, but whatever drew them in, these families have added a new liveliness to worship. He credits St. Christopher’s former priest, the Rev. Miriam Acevedo, with helping to set up a nursery that now gets frequent use. There also is robust lay leadership of the Sunday school program under coordinator Kim Ryder, and the choir and music ministry, overseen by music director Andrea DeGiovanni, are outstanding for a parish of its size, he said. The process to get to parish status, which is governed by diocesan canons, took about a year, Harmon said. It included official approval of the change from St. Christopher’s bishop’s committee, a special group appointed by New Hampshire Bishop A. Robert Hirschfeld, the diocesan standing committee and the bishop. The final vote required a two-thirds majority of clergy and laity voting separately. It took place during the online business meeting of the diocesan convention. Before the vote, Hirschfeld spoke about his experience of the congregation. “I hope you all can get a chance to go to St. Christopher’s some Sunday and just see what it’s like,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun. And it’s a community of saints and yes, sinners, but just lovers of Jesus, disciples of Jesus, whose hearts are full of joy and in service to God and the community.” Clergy and lay voting members, in turn, held their green “yes” cards up to their webcams, and the vote was unanimous. During the in-person portion of the convention on Oct. 24 at St. Paul’s Church in Concord, when the main task was the election of the 11th bishop of the diocese, St. Christopher’s new status was officially recognized, as Harmon and the church’s lay delegates came forward to rousing applause. Structurally, little will change since St. Christopher’s became a parish, Harmon said. He now holds the title of rector instead of vicar, and the governing body, formerly the bishop’s committee, is the vestry. St. Christopher’s already was paying the diocese’s 15% assessment, so there is no new financial commitment needed. Challenges remain for St. Christopher’s, Dadekian said, but they aren’t alone in that. One involves the rising cost of propane and heating oil used to heat the church and parish hall. Oil alone is averaging up to $6 a gallon, and she said the vestry is still looking at contracts that would lock in prices for the season. But by gaining its new status, she hopes St. Christopher’s can be an inspiration to other smaller churches around the diocese. “We really do things with joy, and we encourage each other,” she said. “We can do more than we think we can.” — Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.

A handover ceremony on 5 November honored the ministry of 13 accompaniers from the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, and ushered in a new group of 11 accompaniers.

Why Does Child Protection Matter?  No child should have to navigate uncertainty alone. For many immigrant and unaccompanied children, rebuilding stability requires more than meeting immediate needs. It requires trusted support, access to services and a sense of safety.  For Angela*, that support was an essential step toward stability. Through CWS Post-Release Services, her caseworker connected her with a counselor, ...

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In a series of short video reflections, study group conveners of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Faith and Order explain what the commission is working on and how its studies can help churches grow in visible unity.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay shared greetings with the 7th Session of the 13th Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany, gathering in Würzburg, 8 - 11 November, under the theme, “Moving Forward Together – The Church as a Workshop for Democracy Education and Intergenerational Learning as an Expression of Lived Faith.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) co-convened an online interfaith gathering on 4 November in the spirit of the Talanoa Dialogue. Talanoa is a Pacific method that asks three questions: where are we, where do we want to go, and how do we get there. Dozens of people of different faiths met five days before COP31 opens in Antalya, Türkiye.

The Trump administration’s indefinite refugee ban, stop work orders and prolonged delays in reimbursement for resettlement agencies have had a devastating impact on tens of thousands of refugee families and communities across the country and around the world. Welcome to the latest edition of State of Play from Church World Service. This resource provides regular updates from the CWS Policy ...

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The post Daily State of Play: Trump’s Indefinite Refugee Ban and Funding Halt appeared first on CWS.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay extended condolences upon the passing of Rev. Juan Pedro Schaad, pastor emeritus and former president of Evangelical Church of the River Plate.