World Council of Churches

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.

Just a short drive from Malmö city centre in southern Sweden sits Rosengård – a neighbourhood built in the 1960s as part of a nation-wide so-called “million programme”, through which the Swedish state set out to build one million affordable and functional housing units across the country, mainly intended for working class families. Though in itself a groundbreaking housing programme, it was not specifically designed with a multicultural reality in mind.

A webinar hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Canadian Council of Churches on 17 September brought forth voices on the topic “Counting the Ecological Cost of AI - Data Centres, Water, Energy, and Critical Mineral Extraction."

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.

Sight Loss Sunday, an annual awareness day for churches to celebrate blind and partially sighted members and make services more accessible, is on 11 October. Organized by the UK-based Torch Trust, the special day will explore the theme “Who does God call?”

Seventeen fellows and representatives from the International Geneva Peace Fellowship Programme visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 4 September as part of a community-building initiative—including fellow Wendyam Hervé Lankoandé, who will work at the WCC. 

Governments signed the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030), a ten-year promise to act on growing old. On 16 September, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing asked where churches belong inside it, opening an online webinar that Dr Gisela Schneider said set European and African experience beside that of India and Hong Kong.

The Faith and Science Working Group is part of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing. It evaluates modern technological and scientific advancements through theological and ethical lenses, focusing on human dignity, digital justice, and existential risks. 

Bishop emeritus Dr Jonas Jonson, during a keynote address at the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in Seoul, Republic of Korea, spoke on “Just Peace and the Vocation of the Church.” He began by positing that, even in apocalyptic times, believers are ceaselessly called to plant in faith what may blossom and bear fruit in an unknown future.  

Faith leaders, faith-based organizations, and climate actors in Africa are demanding urgent implementation of existing climate commitments ahead of the 32nd Conference of the Parties (COP32) in November 2027 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.