World Council of Churches

A webinar on 14 October, “Follow the Money: Multilateral Development Banks, Fossils Fuels and Climate Justice,” hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC), examined where money is going, what kinds of energy systems and development pathways it is helping to finance, and who bears the costs and risks.

An Online Learning Series on Interreligious Dialogue will continue with a new webinar on 26 October.

Leaders from three World Council of Churches (WCC) reference groups, following a recent conference in Chiang Mai, reflected on what it mean to witness together, and what they hope churches will do.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) will host a panel at the Geneva Peace Forum on 15 October to explore the role of faith-based actors in peacebuilding. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Ecumenical Education and Formation (EEF) concluded its meeting at the WCC Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, reviewing ongoing initiatives and discerning priorities for the future of ecumenical education and formation.

Dr Sureka Goringe is national director of UnitingWorld, the international aid and partnership agency of the Uniting Church in Australia. She took time to reflect on how the organization supports Thursdays in Black—and how the campaign is able to spark important conversations.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay met with the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr Denis Mukwege on 13 October to discuss calls for stronger international action to end violence and advance lasting peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

World Council of Churches central committee moderator Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm spoke on 13 October during the annual Christian Unity Gathering of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, underway from 12-16 October. 

Dr David Barstow is a ruling elder at First Presbyterian Church in Corvallis, Oregon, (US) and a member of the Faith and Science Working Group of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing. Barstow earned a PhD in artificial intelligence at Stanford 50 years ago, so he has seen the field grow from an obscure academic discipline to a rapidly changing technology that will have dramatic effects on society and the planet.

A conference of World Council of Churches commissions and reference groups in Chiang Mai, Thailand, has closed with a message entitled “Call to Prophetic Action for Life, Justice, and Peace.”

World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee moderator Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm will be speaking during a special evening, “What Connects Us. Interests Need Common Ground.” We warmly invite you to join us for the discussion.

World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm will speak on “Ethical Values Behind Development and Global Health” during an event organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC), ONE, and Global Health Diplomacy on 14 October in Berlin. His remarks will reflect on what values shape governments’ national interests, and how responsible national interest and international solidarity can reinforce one another.

During the Fast-Track Cities Conference, the World Council of Churches (WCC) built action and engagement across the Fast-Track Cities network. 

Rev. Serge Fornerod brings forty years of international experience in development, public administration and ecumenical relations. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, he managed aid and development programmes in Eastern Europe and later contributed to international relations within the umbrella organisation for Switzerland’s Protestant Churches. Since retiring in 2023, he has remained active in ecumenical networks, supporting the Foundation for Aid to Reformed Protestantism and the John Knox International Reformed Centre in Geneva. 

Films from France and The Netherlands were the prize winners at "Belief on Screen,” the SIGNIS/WACC Europe 21st European Television Festival of Religious Programmes held in Copenhagen from 23-25 September. The festival showcased 18 contributions from different European countries at the Danish Film Institute.

The World Council of Churches is commending the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Navanethem “Navi” Pillay for her efforts to promote peace and international law. 

World Council of Churches (WCC) commission leaders in Chiang Mai, where those gathered are exploring how are churches called to witness together today, took time to reflect on what it means to re-articulate ecumenical social ethics today, and their hopes for the impact of the conference. 

Listening before speaking and walking before leading set the tone for the Joint Conference of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commissions and Reference Groups on Life, Justice, and Peace, taking place in Chiang Mai, Thailand this week.

A webinar on 16 October will commemorate World Food Day and say farewell to the UN special rapporteur for the Right to Water and Sanitation. 

A new publication from the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Ecumenical Education and Formation (EEF) brings together the voices and theological reflections of young ecumenists from around the world who attended the 2025 edition of the WCC Global Ecumenical Theological Institute (GETI). It brings fresh inputs to the pressing question for the churches today: Where now for visible unity?