WCC NEWS: WCC hosts United Evangelical Mission delegation

The World Council of Churches (WCC) hosted representatives of the United Evangelical Mission (UEM)—including Rev. Dr Andar Parlindungan Pasaribu, general secretary, and Thea Hummel, head of advocacy, on 2 February.  Visit of Rev. Dr. Andar Parlindungan Pasaribu, General Secretary and Ms Thea Hummel, Head of Advocacy, from the United Evangelical Mission, on 02 February 2026. Photo:Gregoire de Fombelle/WCC 05 February 2026 They met with WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, then participated in discussions about unity, mission, ecumenical formation, and communications. They also discussed the WCC Life, Justice, and Peace programme.  “It was a great pleasure to renew our relationship in our respective new responsibilities,” said Pasaribu. “Our meeting reaffirmed our shared commitment to concrete collaboration—particularly through a joint solidarity visit to West Papua, coordinated responses to the situation of churches in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and continued cooperation in the areas of human rights, gender justice, and peacebuilding. With gratitude and hope, we look forward to nurturing this partnership between UEM and WCC as a sign of our common witness to God’s justice, peace, and the integrity of creation.” Visits to the World Council of Churches See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland

WCC NEWS: WCC extends condolences, calls for justice in wake of Congo mine collapse

A landslide caused by heavy rain on 28 January collapsed several mines in eastern Congo, leaving at least 200 people dead. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 02 February 2026 The collapse took place at the Rubaya mines, which have previously collapsed because the tunnels are dug by hand, poorly constructed, and left without maintenance. Rubaya lies in the heart of eastern Congo, a mineral-rich part of the central African nation which for decades has been ripped apart by conflict and is already suffering from an acute humanitarian crisis with more than 7 million people displaced, including more than 300,000 who have fled their homes since December. Congo is a major supplier of coltan, a black metallic ore that contains the rare metal tantalum, a key component in the production of smartphones, computers, and aircraft engines. The country produced about 40 percent of the world's coltan in 2023, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. World Council of Churches general secretary Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay called for prayers from the global fellowship, and extended condolences to those who have lost loved ones. “We grieve with all those affected and hold you in prayer as you cope with loss,” he said. “We call for an end of the exploitation of mine workers who toil in unsafe environments and who bear the brunt of extractive greed.”  WCC member churches in Congo See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland

WCC news: Timeline depicts flowing river of Christian witness and unity

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has released The Timeline of the World Council of Churches – An Ecumenical Journey, a revised and updated chronology of the council’s history capturing more than a century of milestones in the modern ecumenical movement. Photo: Marcelo Schneider/WCC 16 September 2025 Inspired by previous versions that portray the ecumenical journey as a flowing river, the new version traces key moments in Christian witness and unity from the late 19th century to the present, highlighting WCC assemblies, landmark conferences, theological breakthroughs, and joint efforts for justice and peace. The four streams that gradually converged to form the WCC—World Mission Conferences, Faith and Order, Life and Work, and the World Council of Christian Education—are presented as well. Events such as the 1910 Edinburgh World Missionary Conference; the 1948 founding assembly of the WCC in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; the 1982 publication of the Faith and Order paper "Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry"; and the 2022 WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany, are charted alongside initiatives on women, youth, peace, and reconciliation. Download the WCC river chart 2025 See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland

WCC news: International Review of Mission explores women and the Council of Nicaea

The latest issue of the World Council of Churches (WCC) journal, International Review of Mission, focuses on the role and place of women at the Council of Nicaea, a foundational event for Christianity whose 1700th anniversary is being commemorated in 2025.  Empress Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, under whose patronage the Council of Nicaea gathered: Detail from a Greek manuscript dated 879-883 CE. Photo: Public domain 6 August 2025 The council, as guest editor Dr Mutale Mulenga Kaunda writes in the editorial, was a gathering of male bishops, but women's influence, though indirect and largely inaudible in historical records, was nonetheless significant. “While women were not formal participants, and their contributions remain undocumented at the Nicaea council, it is important to acknowledge that they were present in early Christian communities as vital supporters, educators, and patrons,” writes Kaunda, a research tutor at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies and a research associate at the Research Institute for Theology and Religion, University of South Africa. However, “if this was the case, it means that men then appropriated, without acknowledgement, the ideas of women.” The issue is a contribution to the WCC’s Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order to take place at Wadi El Natrun in Egypt in October 2025 and which will mark the Nicaea anniversary. Articles in the issue explore the presence of women at the council, understood not only as physical proximity but as the expansive influence, relational engagement, and enduring memory of a person or group of persons. “This issue of IRM further explores the historical exclusion of women from significant theological events and the historical legacies of ecclesiological exclusion of women,” writes Kaunda. “This has implications for the various ways in which women continue to be excluded from religious doctrines and leadership roles.” The initiative for this thematic issue came from IRM editor, Rev. Dr Peter Cruchley, the director of the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, and Rev. Nicole Ashwood, WCC programme executive for a Just Community of Women and Men. Kaunda, active in the Ecumenical Network of Global Actors for Gender Justice, and who participated at the WCC 11th assembly in Karlsruhe in 2022 with the Just Community of Women and Men in an advisory capacity, was then asked to serve as guest editor.  Dr Andrej Jeftić, director of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order, took part in the review of abstracts and selection of articles. Kaunda said: “While women's perspectives maybe have inspired some of the discussions at Nicaea, women cannot and should not continue to be heard through men who do not often acknowledge that the ideas they are sharing are from women. “We hope this issue will contribute to making women's presence and voice fully included in  conversations about equality and equity.” Ashwood said: “One of the joys of this project was the intentional cross-disciplined focus that fostered inclusivity in spaces of academic rigour that often feels often feels exclusive to males.”  She added: “Including women’s perspectives through this volume affirms the WCC’s commitment toward our visible unity in the Just Community of Women and Men.” International Review of Mission is published twice a year for the WCC by Wiley. More information about Nicaea 2025 and the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order Read Mutale Mulenga Kaunda ‘s  Guest Editorial  Table of Contents Information about subscriptions See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland

WCC NEWS: WCC extends condolences to people of Graz in wake of school shooting

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is extending condolences to the people of the Austrian city of Graz, after 10 people died in a school shooting, along with the alleged shooter. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC 11 June 2025 At least a dozen others were injured after the shooting on 10 June at a high school. Of the ten victims who died, nine were students, ages 15-17, and one was a teacher.  World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed solidarity with the people of Graz, especially with those who lost loved ones in the attack.  “As we walk with the Graz community and churches in their pain and sorrow, we will pray God’s strength for you as you carry the anguish and the scar of this terrible violence,” Pillay said.  Austria has declared a three-day national period of mourning, and held a nationwide moment of silence for the victims at 10 a.m. local time on 11 June.  The city of Graz sits in southern Austria, in the Styria province. It’s the second-largest Austrian city by population, with about 300,000 residents. See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland