Displaying 1 - 20 of 598

WCC Financial Report 2024 and Appendix

This is the detailed financial report and appendix of the World Council of Churches for 2023.
The report contains the following

  • Report to the Member Churches on the 2024 Financial Report
  • Report of the Statutory Auditor to the Executive Committee and to the Member Churches
  • Schedule I: Consolidated Balance Sheet  
  • Schedule II: Consolidated Income & Expenditure Account  
  • Schedule III: Consolidated Statement of Movements in Funds & Reserves  
  • Schedule IV: Consolidated Cash Flow Statement  Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements
  • Schedule V: Restricted Funds  
  • Schedule VI (a) and (b): Restricted Funds Programmes
  • Schedule VII: Unrestricted and Designated Funds Schedule VIII: Unrestricted Operating Funds
  • Schedule IX: Unrestricted Operating Funds: Infrastructure Annual Summary of Contributions Non-financial Contributions

Religious communities confront menstrual stigma in international webinar

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.

Upcoming global webinar tackles period stigma in faith communities

As the international community works toward achieving gender equality by 2030, faith leaders are stepping forward to address one of the most overlooked barriers to women's empowerment: menstrual stigma. A joint webinar on 4 June from 15:00-16:30 CEST will explore how religious communities can lead transformative change in making menstruation a normal fact of life globally.

The church as the healing community

In January 2025, I spent time with churches in Bolivia making an appeal for the church to become a healing community. For countries like Bolivia, with several health problems and lack of access to basic healthcare needs, the divine calling and pastoral care mandate for health and healing is unavoidable. 

Towards a Common Date for Easter

Faith and Order Paper No. 241

The feast of the resurrection lies at the heart of the Christian faith. But finding a common date for that celebration has always been complex. Eastern and Western churches have used different calendars to calculate the date of Easter since the 16th century, and only rarely do they coincide. Fresh impetus to explore the hope of a common date for Easter comes in 2025, when all Christians will celebrate Easter on a common day. 2025 also marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which addressed the need for a common celebration of the resurrection.

This publication contains four contributions from different church traditions on the search for a way to celebrate Easter on a common date every year that were presented at a webinar organized by the Commission on Faith and Order om “Easter 2025: Celebrating Together to Strengthen Unity.”

The organizers hope that these contributions may help animate the churches of the world and Christians in their contexts to work with one another towards a common celebration of Easter.

Aleppo Statement
It also contains the document “Towards a Common Date for Easter” produced at a consultation jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches and the Middle East Council of Churches in Aleppo, Syria, in 1997, offering observations and specific recommendations for the churches.

Hope for Children Through Climate Justice

Legal Tools to Hold Financiers Accountable

The urgency of the climate catastrophe demands strong and effective responses. With fossil fuels accounting for over 90% of global CO2 emissions, we must hold accountable those who continue to finance their expansion, harming us and future generations. 

Developed by the Churches’ Commitments to Children programme of the World Council of Churches (WCC), this publication empowers people of faith and partners in the WCC’s global constituency with the knowledge necessary for legal action. It provides a menu of strategies, particularly aimed at financial institutions, one of the most powerful levers to accelerate climate solutions. It is a call to answer the pleas of the scientific community and young people to tackle the root causes of harm to creation and protect future generations’ right to life.

WCC communications in 2024: expanding messages of unity across the world

Communication from the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 2024, through storytelling via many channels, fostered unity in unprecedented ways across the world. From the largest global prayer gathering, to 2.3 million engagements on social media, to large numbers of young visitors both in-person and online, WCC communications connected with more people, in more ways than ever.

In Bolivia, WCC reflects on progress and challenges of 40 years response to HIV

Gracia Violeta Ross, WCC programme executive for HIV, Reproductive Health, and Pandemics, offered two presentations in Bolivia, the first a training for leaders living with HIV on planning and project design for community-based organizations, and the second a keynote speech, entitled 40 years of the HIV response in Bolivia, progress and challenges,” offered at an art museums exhibition closure in Santa Cruz, which is the largest city in the country, with 42% of HIV cases in Bolivia,

Love, Justice, and Reproductive Health

A Framework for Churches
Alexa Dava

Christ’s call to love our neighbours as ourselves includes ensuring that all have access to the resources needed to live and flourish. And yet, societal barriers to reproductive health prevent many individuals from accessing necessary care. Love, Justice and Reproductive Health: A Framework for Churches invites churches to consider reproductive health from a perspective rooted in Christ’s love. It introduces key areas and addresses prevalent disparities within reproductive health outcomes. The framework encourages churches to act on this issue, providing programmatic suggestions for them to embody Christ’s love and justice within their own contexts.

Please send comments and questions to [email protected]
The author, Rev Alexa Dava is ordained with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and serves as project officer for Human Dignity and Reproductive Health at the WCC.

United and Uniting Churches: Two Messages

Faith and Order Papers, Series 2, n. 225

Taken together, these two messages from international consultations, sponsored by the World Council of Churches, provide a valuable entry point for reflection on the self-understanding and mission of United and Uniting Churches in today’s world.
I. Going the Second Mile: A message of the 8th Consultation of United and Uniting Churches. Johannesburg, 29 October–5 November 2008
II. Living in Tents: A Message of the 9th Consultation of United and Uniting Churches. Chennai, 25 November–2 December 2015.
Two appendices provide documentary information about Faith and Order publications concerning United and Uniting Churches.

TUMEWEZA

Compendium of Good Practices for Ensuring Disability-Inclusive Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and Gender-Based Violence Services in United Republic of Tanzania

The Tumeweza compendium iss a vital resource for ensuring disability-inclusive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and gender-based violence (GBV) services in the United Republic of Tanzania. It highlights the significant strides made towards improving accessibility and inclusivity in healthcare services, particularly through the efforts at Selian Lutheran Hospital and Nkinga Referral Hospital. The lessons learned from these initiatives provide a roadmap for other health facilities to follow, emphasizing the importance of collaboration with organizations of persons with disabilities, government stakeholders, and faith-based organizations.
While the progress is commendable, there are still gaps that need to be addressed to fully realize inclusive healthcare services for women and girls with disabilities. These include improving infrastructure, enhancing communication between healthcare providers and patients with disabilities, and creating specific policies and procedures that ensure the dignity and autonomy of all individuals. The compendium underscores the necessity of continuous training, accessible information systems, and advocacy at all levels to ensure that no one is left behind.
Moving forward, it is essential for health facilities, policymakers, and development partners to prioritize the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all healthcare-related initiatives. By addressing the existing gaps and building on the good practices outlined in this compendium, Tanzania can continue to lead in the promotion of disability-inclusive SRHR and GBV services in the region and globally, ensuring that every woman and girl has the right to safe, accessible, and respectful healthcare.

HIV/AIDS until when?

Many people living with HIV like me, would really like to say the HIV pandemic has finished and a cure and vaccine are available. That is aspirational; it is a dream. Currently there are 39 million people living with HIV, but only 29 million have access to treatment.