World Council of Churches

Dr Liza B. Lamis is executive secretary of the International Committee for the Fellowship of the Least Coin. She reflects on the collaboration with the World Council of Churches, and the importance of Thursdays in Black. 

A Lantern for Peace—which remembers the victims of atomic bombings—has arrived at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The lantern is among 22 sent by the city of Hiroshima to International Geneva, the City of Peace, and the headquarters of the United Nations. The lanterns, accompanied by messages prepared by young citizens of Hiroshima, were distributed among organizations in Geneva, including the WCC.

His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew addressed a gathering at the Oxford Law School on 17 September, reflecting on the topic “Orthodoxy and Human Rights.”

Prayers rang for the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel during a special service in the Ecumenical Centre for World Council of Churches (WCC) staff, partners, and visitors on 22 September. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC), on 16 September, hosted a group from the General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR) of the United Methodist Church. The visitors received a welcome to the WCC, then entered into a conversation with WCC staff on global migration issues within the European context.

World Council of Churches president from North America-Turtle Island Rev. Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith, on 21 September, joined other religious leaders offering prayers before the official opening of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. 

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay will speak at the Pannonhalma Archabbey, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Hungary, as part of symposium being held 25-26 September.

A prayer walk in Vancouver, Canada on 20 September brought a grassroots lens to the World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity. 

Prof. Dr Richard Topping is president and vice chancellor at the Vancouver School of Theology, where the World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity Reference Group is meeting. He took time to reflect on the nature of ecumenism at the Vancouver School of Theology, what it means to host the WCC gathering, and his hopes for stronger ties with the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey.

The World Council of Churches (WCC), in partnership with the Network of Positive Advocates of the Philippes, is cohosting, from 24-26 September, a multi-stakeholder dialogue, “Faith Forward: Reclaiming HIV in the Health Agenda,” in Manila, Philippines.

A group of students from the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey visited the World Council of  Churches (WCC) as part of their orientation programme. They learned more about the WCC’s work, and received a tour of the Ecumenical Centre.

An ecumenical collaborative document is addressing spiritual violence against Indigenous Peoples in Canada—and suggesting ethical guidelines and calls to healing.

Rev. Janet Anstead is general secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches. During a meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity Reference Group, she took time to reflect on the commitment of churches tor reconciliation, and on her vision of how people are ultimately healed and transformed on a grassroots level. 

The 2026 International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in Seoul from 9-13 September, jointly organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC), Christian Conference of Asia, and National Council of Churches in Korea, also marked the 40th anniversary of the historic Glion Consultation, a groundbreaking peace gathering convened by the WCC in September 1986 in Switzerland.

The Council of Bishops of the Zambia Anglican Council released a pastoral statement on their country’s post-election situation.

A delegation from Colombia visited the World Council of Churches  (WCC) on 16 September, meeting with WCC staff to discuss the current situation of the peace process in Colombia, as well as the role of the churches and the WCC.

In connection with the start of the World Council of Churches (WCC) World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel, the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center with the General Secretariat of Christian Educational Institutions organized three services in Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Jerusalem with over 1,300 students. The services were hosted by church leaders in each city. 

In a Sudan Council of Churches Round Table held 12 September in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, church leaders called for solidarity, unity, and collective action as they move toward an assembly in November.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Reference Group for the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation and Unity (PJRU) began its in-person meeting on 17 September at the Vancouver School of Theology (VST), bringing together WCC representatives, church leaders and local ecumenical partners to reflect on the pilgrimage and its role in the life of the ecumenical movement.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay called for  courageous, transformative leadership in a world marked by conflict, division, and uncertainty, as the WCC Reference Group for the Pilgrimage for Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity began its meeting in Vancouver, Canada.