Feature story
This year, they gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the WCC governing body is meeting 18-24 June.
Rev. Merlyn Hyde Riley, vice moderator of the central committee, welcomed the women, reminding them that this was an "opportunity to share their concerns in a safe space." She emphasized the “scope for open sharing,” which encouraged honest and sometimes painful discussions from the gathering.
Women present recognized the WCC’s ongoing support for women’s initiatives. They highlighted support for women living with HIV.
They also raised concerns about ongoing gendered practices in church settings, where male and female church leaders continue to be treated differently, and where there are still regions and denominations that restrict the roles of ordained women.
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WCC central committee vice-moderator Rev. Merlyn Hyde Riley opens a Women's meeting at the 2025 Central Committee meeting of the World Council of Churches taking place in Johannesburg (South Africa) from 18 to 24 June 2025 on the theme ’Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity’.
Albin Hillert/WCC
Pastor Thandanani Savhasa from Apostolic Faith Mission Church of South Africa and a member of the executive of the Gauteng Council of Churches, highlighted the need to renew mentorship programmes, “As young women clergy we often find that there are not many mentors, unlike in the secular world where women are coached or mentored when they have an executive position of responsibility. We, as young women ministers, also desire that kind of support to juggle being a leader, a wife, and a mother. In my case, my mentor was always a senior male leader whom I respect and appreciate greatly, but I realized that I need a woman mentor.”
Hyde Riley thanked the women, and the younger women particularly, for sharing and asked that “those who are ahead on the journey be a community of solidarity and support.”
Participants committed to expanding and developing communication, sharing, and learning and developing mentorship networks, even between formal meetings.
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23 June 2025, Johannesburg, South Africa: Women in attendance pose for a group photo during the 2025 Central Committee meeting of the World Council of Churches taking place in Johannesburg (South Africa) from 18 to 24 June 2025 on the theme ’Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity’.
Albin Hillert/WCC
The women left the meeting with the words of a prayer from WCC president from Europe, Rev. Dr Susan Durber of the United Reformed Church (UK), ringing in their ears.
Thank you
God of love
for creating women
in your image.
Thank you
that before you
we are beautiful
bearing full dignity
and worth.
Thank you
for our bodies;
flesh and bones,
desires and pains,
for labour and for joy.
Thank you
for moments and movements
that empower us and liberate us,
for the full humanity and glory
that you create for us.
We pray for all women,
for all who identify as female,
for young girls and old women,
and for all women who suffer
from violence and poverty
in an unjust world.
Give us solidarity
with one another,
strength for the journey
to freedom,
hope for a new world,
and a humanity
renewed by Jesus,
your beloved child. Amen.
WCC Central Committee, June 2025
WCC general secretary reflects on daring to hope amid struggle (WCC news release, 18 June 2025)
Welcomed by African churches, WCC central committee opens (WCC news release, 19 June 2025)
