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Along with acknowledging and celebrating ecumenical life in Canada and the United States, the prupose of the gathering was to prepare the North American delegation for the June 2025 WCC central committee meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“We give thanks to God for the ecumenical leadership of the WCC member churches in North America-Turtle Island, and our related ecumenical bodies of the Canadian Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA for the prayerful deliberations and vision for our meeting,” said Rev. Dr Angelique Walker-Smith, WCC president from North America.
“The work shared over these three days of prayers, discovery, and journeying (pilgrimage) together have highlighted the timely importance of our ecumenical witness,” she said. “These days have also identified the convergences of the regional foci of racism, climate justice, poverty/wealth gap, and solidarity with Indigenous communities,” added Walker-Smith.
The WCC Relations Committee of the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) organized the first session, sharing updates on Canada’s ecumenical initiatives as well as preparations for the Canadian Council of Churches’80th anniversary celebration in December.
Pastor Peter Noteboom, CCC general secretary said: “The Zoom chat box was particularly active during these North America regional ecumenical meetings: greetings, introductions, ideas, comments, links to resources, invitations, proposals, and wonderings among and between friends and together as the ecumenical community in North America. This is a valuable networking and planning moment for all of us."
On 13 November, the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA guided discussions focused on racial and environmental justice, economic equity, and solidarity with Indigenous peoples, as well as plans to celebrate the council’s 75th year in 2025. The session also previewed the WCC’s Nicaea 2025 plans.
The final day, 14 November, provided participants with the opportunity to receive greetings from the WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay and synthesize learnings from the previous days. Attendees offered direct input on North American contributions to the WCC central committee, and key insights were highlighted for future discussion in Johannesburg.
A report of observations and recommendations from the North American context and globally will be shared later.
