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The World Council of Churches (WCC), with the Korea Institute for National Unification, reflected on international cooperation for improvement of human rights and ecumenical cooperation for diakonia ministry in North Korea.

Chō Takeda Kiyoko passed away on 12 April at the age of 100. Throughout her many scholarly pursuits, she always strived to deepen her engagement with global ecumenical Christianity. The World Council of Churches released a tribute.

It is time to revitalize the Asian ecumenical movement to respond to contemporary realities in Asia, according to Mathews George Chunakara, general secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia, in the article that opens the latest issue of The Ecumenical Review, the quarterly journal of the WCC.

At a consultation in Seoul on December 7-11, participants from churches throughout northeast Asia shared insights on diakonia and how vital it is to the nature and mission of the church.

After six intensive days, offering plenty of food for thought, the Asia Mission Conference (AMC) in Yangon, Myanmar, came to an end with a sending out and closing session last Monday. With around 600 participants from all over the world – double from what was originally expected – the need to discuss, learn about and elaborate around mission was clearly affirmed.

Members of a church-backed coalition have called on Indonesia to open access to West Papua for international journalists, independent observers, human rights organizations and the International Red Cross.

On 17-23 November, the Executive Committee of the WCC met for the first time ever in China. The visit was hosted by the China Christian Council and the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. The Three-Self Patriotic Movement is a Protestant church in the People's Republic of China, as well as one of the largest Protestant bodies in the world.

“As a professor of economics and economic ethics with a theological background, and as dean of the GEM school, I can say that pluralistic economics – getting new prominence as an international student initiative – is an attempt to challenge neo-liberal monolithic economics. It is time for new thinking about economics”, stated Prof. Martin Büscher, first chair for economics and business ethics at the Institute for Diakonia and Management at the Protestant University of Wuppertal/Bethel, Germany, at the conclusion of the Governance, Economics and Management School held in Hong Kong on 22 August-2 September.

Hope in a Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace formed the integral thread for proceedings at the meeting of the Central Committee of the WCC in Trondheim, Norway this week. The 2016 meeting took place 22-28 June, the second gathering since the Central Committee was elected at the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea in 2013.

Violence in the name of religion echoed in the distance, demanding a response, through the November 2015 meeting of the 25-member Executive Committee of the WCC in Bogis-Bossey and nearby Geneva, Switzerland as it planned the work of the Council in the coming years.

In view of the changing global landscape of mission and evangelism, participants in a meeting organized by the WCC and the Council for World Mission explored the concept of evangelism and its life-affirming aspects in the city of Sydney, where the event was held from 5 to 13 September.

Deeply concerned for migrants in many regions, especially those “driven to undertake journeys of desperate risk and danger”, the WCC Executive Committee has declared: “All members of the international community have a moral and legal duty to save the lives of those in jeopardy at sea or in transit, regardless of their origin and status.”

“Christianity in China” forms the theme of 14 articles published in the March 2015 issue of The Ecumenical Review, a quarterly journal of the WCC. According to guest editors Xiao Ping Sun and Dietrich Werner, “Although early issues of The Ecumenical Review devoted some attention to the developments in Chinese Christianity and the need for better understanding and dialogue, in recent years the journal has published few articles” describing expressions of faith in China.

The WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea, concluded on 8 November, acting to inspire churches to renew their commitments to justice and peace. Through varied encounters and dialogue within the fellowship of churches, the Assembly has made concrete decisions and recommendations setting priorities for the future work of the WCC.