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Ukraine: Responding to humanitarian need

When the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, churches had already been responding to humanitarian need in the country for eight years, since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.  The work being undertaken by churches in meeting the needs of those displaced by the war is not new, but the scale is staggering as 14 million people have been displaced in the six months since the invasion began.

Assembly participants come together as church families

With over 3,500 participants from all over the world, opportunities for “encounter” are rich and continuous at the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) taking place in Karlsruhe, Germany. Intentional gatherings – from small “home” groups to regional meetings also help to connect participants and bring different perspectives to the concerns and hopes being raised under the Assembly theme, “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity”.

WCC celebrates life of Brazilian theologian and ecumenist Zwinglio Mota Dias

Zwinglio Mota Dias used to make jokes about problems with the spelling of his first name in Brazil and elsewhere. In Brazil because of the first half of it. Elsewhere because of the second. Born to a Presbyterian family, his parents wanted to name him as a tribute to the great Swiss reformer of the 16th century, Ulrich Zwingli.

Brazilian city joins “water diagram” initiative headed by Swiss Church Aid

The Brazilian municipality of Juiz de Fora has approved a cooperation agreement with Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER), a member of the WCCs Ecumenical Water Network (WCC-EWN), thus becoming part of an international working group that wants to contribute to good water management and management practices using a water flow diagram. The project also encompasses the city of Bern, Switzerland; Cape Town, in South Africa, and Rio Pardo de Minas, in Brazil.

The ecumenical spirit at Calvin’s Cathedral

Few moments in the early history of the World Council of Churches have embodied and conveyed the spirit of the modern ecumenical movement as vividly as the service celebrated at Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Geneva, 20 February 1946, less than one year after the end of World War II.

1920 (4): Towards a Universal Conference of the Church of Christ on Life and Work

Hotel Beau-Séjour, Geneva, 8 August 1920. It’s been too cold an August, with average temperatures around 17.3 Celsius. Tomorrow is the opening day of a very promising post-war international consultation. Its title is “The Preliminary Meeting to Consider an Ecumenical Conference of the Church of Christ on Life and work.” However, I can tell you that a Church of Scotland delegate, J.-A. MacClymont, will certainly object to this awkward use of the word “ecumenical.”

Protestant Church in Switzerland, WCC commemorate work of Pastor Adolf Keller

The Council of the Protestant Church in Switzerland and the Permanent Committee on Consensus and Cooperation of the World Council of Churches (WCC) will jointly honor the visionary work of Pastor Adolf Keller (1872-1963) at a colloquium. A hundred years ago, Keller, a pioneer of the ecumenical movement, was a trailblazer for both the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches and the WCC.

Tveit “Continue to be the light and the salt in this society”

Interview in written form with Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches. On the occasion of his farewell visit during the Fall Assembly of Delegates the general secretary of the World Council of Churches WCC, pastor Olav Fykse Tveit, gave the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches FSPC an exclusive and elaborate interview regarding the current ecumenical movement and its future prospects

WCC general secretary to Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches: “Ecumenism has never been more relevant”

In a visit to Bern on 4-5 November, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit visited with leaders of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches, focusing on the role of the WCC in the future shaping of the ecumenical movement.

Tveit spoke during the general assembly of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches, exploring the question “Where does the ecumenical movement stand today and where should the WCC take in it in the future?”