World Council of Churches

The Indian Orthodox Diocese of Ahmedabad has dedicated 2025 as the “Year of Family Prayer,” aiming to strengthen homes with the love and peace of Christ. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Reference Group for the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity is convening for the first time in person in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 13-18 March.

Preparations for the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute (GETI) 2025 are advancing, with various working groups actively shaping the program. 

Prof. Susan Lea Smith, from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon (US), is a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development. She reflected on how churches can—and should—become involved in climate-related litigation in pursuit of climate justice.

A delegation led by the World Council of Churches (WCC) is participating in the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, being held from 10–21 March at the United Nations in New York City. 

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed deep sorrow and grave concern over the recent tragic developments in Syria, where, according to some sources, more than 1,000 civilians, primarily from the Alawite community, have been massacred.

The first of a series of webinars on Christian unity, “The Bishop of Rome and Christian Unity,” will be offered on 18 March 2025 

Media accreditation is now open for the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee, which will convene in Johannesburg, South Africa, 18 – 24 June. Media accreditation is mandatory for access to open sessions, press conferences, briefings, and seminars – onsite, as well as online.

The World Council of Churches central committee will convene in Johannesburg, South Africa, 18 – 24 June 2025. Media accreditation is mandatory for access to open sessions, press conferences, briefings, and seminars – onsite, as well as online.

The South Sudan Council of Churches, in a statement on 6 March, addressed the escalating insecurity, political tensions, and violence that threaten the peace many have worked so hard to build in the nation. 

As Rev. Tut Kony Nyang Kon sits at the helm of the South Sudan Council of Churches as the general secretary, he hopes to transform the organization into one that inspires Christian Communities to work more for peace, justice, and reconciliation.

The World Council of Churches Gender Justice Reference Group, in a statement for International Women’s Day on 8 March, expressed solidarity with women and girls across the world.

During a prayer held at the St Hippolyte Roman Catholic Church in Geneva, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and its ecumenical partners focused on the beginning of Lent for many western Christian traditions, as well as the Lenten campaign Seven Weeks for Water, led by the WCC Ecumenical Water Network.

More than 170 faith-based groups—including the World Council of Churches—released a joint statement on 4 March entitled “Joint Interfaith Statement to the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.”

The World Council of Churches shared insights connected to Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day during an event on 28 February.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has released a seminar report entitled Indigenous Spiritualities, Land Rights, and Climate Justice. Edited by Lori Ransom, WCC indigenous peoples consultant, the report serves as a platform for the clear, urgent, and much-needed voices of Indigenous peoples to expose the climate catastrophe through which we are living.

Emma Van Dorp, from the Confederation of Switzerland, Eglise Protestante de Genève, is a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Young People in the Ecumenical Movement.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Staff Planning Days are underway from 3-6 March, a time during which the WCC will focus on its Strategic Plan, and streamline activities, resourcing, and cooperation around priorities for the Ecumenical Year 2025. 

As Br Matthew, prior of the Taizé Community, and seven other Taizé brothers visited Geneva, they returned to some of their community’s early roots. 

Hunsam Lee, new general secretary of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, and Dr Sungkook Park, from the Ecumenical Department of the church, met with Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), and Dr Manoj Kurian, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing, at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva.