World Council of Churches

Gathered in prayer in the chapel on 10 June, the WCC Ecumenical Institute at Bossey saw four new students graduate with a Master of Advanced Studies in Ecumenical Studies.  

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay welcomed the United Nations Ocean Conference being held in Nice, France, from 9-13 June under the theme, “Accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.” 

Hundreds of people gathered in St Mary’s Anglican Church in Bridgetown, Barbados, for a trip down memory lane on 27 May during the annual “Hymnspeak,” during which people of all ages lifted their voices in harmony, singing timeless hymns that have shaped their faith and experiences.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) will be held in Belém, Brazil from 10-21 November 2025. Rev. Romeu Martini, Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil, shared how climate change is affecting communities, and his expectations for COP30. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is celebrating the life and mourning the death of Walter Brueggemann, who passed away peacefully on 5 June at the age of 92.

The World Council of Churches (WCC), in collaboration with the Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa and the South African Council of Churches, is organizing from 12-16 June a conference and seminars inspired by the centenary of the 1925 Life and Work inaugural conference, which emphasized the church’s role in addressing social, political, and economic injustices.

The Joint Consultative Group between the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Pentecostal World Fellowship held a meeting from 4–7 June, alongside the Pentecostal World Conference in Helsinki, Finland. The meeting was hosted at Siion Church.

World Council of Churches president from North America Rev. Dr Angelique Walker-Smith has authored a book, A Legacy of Faith and Justice: Pan-African Advocacy and Leadership for Ending Hunger, that celebrates 50 years of advocacy through Bread for the World.

Rev. Dr Susan Durber, World Council of Churches president from Europe, offered a sermon for a service on 7 June celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Welsh covenant between five church communities. 

Preaching at a special centennial service for the United Church of Canada, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay lifted his voice with joy and thanksgiving with those gathered at the Gower United Church in St. John’s, Newfoundland, on Pentecost Sunday. 

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay is visiting Canada, where he will preach at the centennial service of the United Church of Canada. The following is excerpted from a previous interview with Dr Pillay in Canada. 

Amidst a global momentum in discussions on decolonization and reparations, African churches are challenging the notion that early Western missionaries were part of the colonial enterprise, while asserting that the continent’s churches were not solely a product of colonialism.

World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee moderator Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm gave a laudatio on His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Munich on 6 June. 

World Council of Churches of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay joined church leaders in condemning in the strongest terms yet another deliberate and unconscionable attack on the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. The attack killed five people, including three journalists.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) had input into the 49th Session of Universal Periodic Review, a process in which UN member states undergo a peer review of their human rights records. 

Adele Halliday, the Anti-Racism and Equity lead at The United Church of Canada, raised questions that served as touchstones for further conversation during an ongoing international conference “Berlin 1884–1885 and Anti-Black Racism: In Search of a Shared Anti-Racist Ecumenical Vision.”

At the World Council of Churches (WCC) conference in Berlin, where theologians, scholars, and faith leaders gather to reflect on religion’s role in a fragmented world, in May 2025, one of the main keynotes focused on the reframing of the perennial struggles over race, class, and power. 

A 5 June webinar, “Accompaniment, solidarity, and joint action for justice and peace,” organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, starkly illustrated the how crucial it is to carry the voices and share the stories from Palestine and Israel. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) joined global faith leaders on 3 June for "Nourishing Hope: Faith-Based Solutions to Hunger and Environmental Crises," a comprehensive webinar that demonstrated how religious communities are uniquely positioned to address the interconnected challenges of hunger, debt, and climate change. The event, co-hosted with Caritas Internationalis and World Vision International, brought together practitioners and advocates from across continents to share innovative faith-led solutions and build momentum for coordinated action against what speakers called a "moral crisis of the world."

Religious institutions worldwide are confronting their role in perpetuating menstrual stigma while simultaneously emerging as powerful advocates for women's dignity and health equity. The World Council of Churches (WCC) fourth annual Menstrual Hygiene Day webinar on 4 June brought together speakers from multiple continents and faith traditions to examine how patriarchal structures within religious communities have weaponised menstruation for control and marginalisation, whilst demonstrating how scripture, theology, and faith-based action can become tools for justice and liberation.