World Council of Churches

A seminar entitled “The word of God is living and active: Decolonising the Bible in the midst of colonial legacies and idolatrous powers” was cohosted on 18-24 November, by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and University of the Western Cape.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, has given thanks for the creative and inspiring work of Rev. Prof. Dr Choan-Seng Song, former WCC associate director for Faith and Order, who has died at the age of 95.

A regional consultation on “Gender-Based Violence and Forced Migration of Women: Towards Strengthening Gender Justice Advocacy,” held 19-21 November in Bangkok, Thailand, organized by the Christian Conference of Asia, emphasized the need for collaborative, inclusive, and transformative action to address gender-based violence and the forced migration of women.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay extended condolences upon the passing of Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay welcomed the news of a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is mourning the death of Rev. Dr John Moyer, Presbyterian minister from Berkeley, California (US), who dedicated his life to ecumenical work. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) collaborated with interfaith partners at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, to amplify faith communities’ moral and ethical advocacy for climate justice. This included participation in the Interfaith Talanoa Dialogue, support for the Interfaith Call to Action, moderating side events, and cohosting press conferences.

The Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) Africa, in collaboration with the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Water Network and Norwegian Church Aid, hosted a hybrid workshop in Abuja, Nigeria, to mark World Toilet Day 2024. The event, themed “Toilets—A Place for Peace,” highlighted sanitation's vital role in promoting health, dignity, and harmony across communities.

A World Council of Churches (WCC) webinar on 5 December, “Toward Love and Justice in Reproductive Health,” will debut the publication “Love, Justice, and Reproductive Health: A Framework for Churches.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee released a statement addressing the intensifying environmental crisis and its humanitarian impacts.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) shared insights with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) on 21 November, with Dr Manoj Kurian, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing, offering an online half-day session addressing mental health awareness and the impact of trauma on mental health.

The people of Haiti, suffering under severe economic and political crises, are the focus of a World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee statement. “We pray for God’s compassion for the people of this troubled land, and an answer to their cries,” reads the text.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, in a statement, expressed deep concern over ongoing and widespread Israeli attacks on civilian populations and infrastructure in occupied Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon, spilling over into neighbouring Syria and beyond. 

In a statement, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee denounced the continued fighting in Sudan, and urged solidarity and assistance to the people and churches.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, in a statement, expressed its fundamental commitment, shared with the United Nations, to cooperation across boundaries and lines of division, as well as shared purposes for peace, human rights, justice, protection of the environment, and sustainable development.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee, meeting in Cyprus, an island that is still suffering from the consequences of unresolved conflict, expressed in a statement deep concern over the scars of division, dispossession, and displacement that remain unhealed.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee, in a statement entitled “Yearning for Just Peace in Europe,” recalled with heavy hearts that the war in Ukraine has now passed 1,000 days. “Each of those days has been marked by the blood of so many civilians as well as combatants killed and maimed, the traumatic displacement of communities, and the destruction of homes, livelihoods, and civilian infrastructure,” the statement reads. “We reaffirm our Christian calling and desire for peace, and for the justice without which peace is unsustainable.”

As the global campaign “16 Days Against Gender-based Violence” approaches, the World Council of Churches (WCC) shares ideas and resources from Thursdays in Black ambassadors. 

Prayer will be at the centre of the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order when it gathers in October 2025 near Alexandria, Egypt, on the theme “Where now for visible unity?”

At COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, the World Council of Churches (WCC) interviewed Archbishop Rev. Julio Murray Thompson of the Anglican Communion in Central America, moderator of the WCC Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development. The conversation explored the WCC’s “Triple COPs” strategy, the commission’s ongoing work, and how faith communities can call for greater collaboration with governments and the private sector to ensure just and effective climate solutions.