WCC Pilgrimage Blog

Fifty years after Uppsala 1968, the pilgrimage continues

I was not yet born in 1968, but I have heard the stories: How the World Council of Churches Assembly in Uppsala, Sweden changed the world church agenda and put focus on social justice and equality. To live and to practice the Gospel. To show the reality and embrace of the Incarnation.

Tags: just community of women and men, FellowPilgrims, WhatIsAPilgrimage, spiritual life

Our hope and our prayer

Olle Alkholm

50 years after the 1968 Uppsala Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Rev. Olle Alkholm, vice president of the Uniting Church in Sweden, shares a personal reflection, based on his only memory from that year.

Tags: Christian Unity, FellowPilgrims, PilgrInspire

Deepavali lights celebrate the victory of justice

Meera Baindur

The festival of lights called Deepavali (or Diwali) in India is deeply connected with the idea of hope, aspiration and abundance. Deepavali is the celebration of victory that is promised to a person who leads a morally responsible life. It is a victory of justice, represented by the oil lamps that cast away the darkness of oppression.

Tags: JusticeAndPeace, Inter-religious

Lord, when did we see you hungry?

Kristine Greenaway

‘Keeping hope a challenge’, as Al Walaja homes suffer demolition

Ecumenical Accompanier

“You are never safe, you never know when they will come.” When Israel issued Ilham with a demolition order for her home in the Palestinian village of Al Walaja last month, she knew that it was not an empty threat.

Tags: human rights, JusticeAndPeace, Solidarity with churches in the Middle East, EAPPI, FellowPilgrims, Human dignity

Reflections of Ecumenical Accompaniers: being present, bearing witness

Ecumenical Accompanier

Ecumenical Accompaniers walk children to school, accompany shepherds, serve as a presence of peace, and share what they see. They are the fruit of the WCC-EAPPI, and offer reflections from a variety of settings and the life around them.

Tags: JusticeAndPeace, Solidarity with churches in the Middle East, EAPPI, FellowPilgrims, Human dignity

Preaching in Toronto about the Pope’s visit to Geneva

Kristine Greenaway

When I was asked to preach recently, it seemed obvious that I would speak about the visit of Pope Francis to Geneva in June at the invitation of the World Council of Churches. This would give me the opportunity to talk about ecumenism with people who might not be familiar with either the word or the concept. It would also be the chance to draw attention to the 70-year quest by the WCC for practical ecumenism, that is to say an ecumenism that is about Christians working together to love their neighbour and care for creation.

Tags: Christian Unity, FellowPilgrims, just community of women and men, spiritual life

Assembled by faith, united in Christ, strengthened by God

Doug Chial

This week we continue celebrating the foundation of the World Council of Churches at the Amsterdam Assembly in 1948. Since its founding 70 years ago, the WCC has held assemblies in Evanston, New Delhi, Uppsala, Nairobi, Vancouver, Canberra, Harare, Porto Alegre and Busan.

Tags: Christian Unity, transformed, spiritual life, PilgrimsOnTheMove

Prayerful patience as Zimbabwe waits for election results

Andrew Williams

I participated as an international observer in the Zimbabwe 2018 harmonised elections, representing the World Council of Churches. I am very impressed with the work of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches.

Tags: WhereWillYouGo, transformed, JusticeAndPeace

We pray and hope, for Zimbabwe's elections

Kerstin Pihl & Sven Eckerdal

Kerstin Pihl and Sven Eckerdal are currently in Zimbabwe to monitor the first election to take place since Robert Mugabe was forced to leave power in November 2017. Here comes a first snapshot of the situation in the country.

Tags: human rights, FellowPilgrims, just community of women and men, JusticeAndPeace

Water and the human right to food

Luise Steinwachs

Water is a key resource both to provide drinking water and to generate food and energy for a growing world population. A fifth of the global population lives in regions affected by water stress - in regions where more water is used than can naturally be recharged.

Tags: human rights, PilgrimFocus, Food, PilgrimsOnTheMove, JusticeAndPeace, water, Human dignity

Youth involvement requires trust, mutual support and formation

Renato Valenga

Youth participation in the World Council of Churches (WCC) brings a lot of challenges ahead of the young people involved in the ecumenical movement. It is possible to find reflections about the lack of participation of young people in WCC since the first assembly.

Tags: Youth, FellowPilgrims, transformed

VAMP for a day – or my media pilgrimage with Pope Francis to Geneva

Stephen Brown

When Pope Francis landed in Geneva slightly after 10am local time on 21 June for his visit to the World Council of Churches in an Alitalia plane with a discreet papal coat of arms, he was accompanied by a 60-strong contingent of journalists collectively known as the “VAMP,” for Vatican Accredited Media Personnel.

Tags: communication, FellowPilgrims, transformed, WhereWillYouGo

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Matilde gives drawing to Pope Francis, surrounding him with love

Albin Hillert

As Pope Francis visited the World Council of Churches in Geneva on 21 June, five-year-old Matilde Colombo gave him a drawing with a message of love.

Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr: drawing closer to God through prayer and praise

Fatimah Ashrif

For many Muslims the focus this month has really been praise: prayer, recitation of sacred texts, meditation and contemplation. Anything which nourishes my connection with the Divine.

Tags: inter-religious

“Era of Peace” coming to Korea

Patti Talbot

Off-again/on-again Trump-Kim summit cannot derail the peace train!

Tags: Nuclear arms control, JusticeAndPeace

Time for religious leaders to speak out - No child should die of TB

Stuart Kean

Statistics about TB in children make shocking reading, especially because TB is preventable and curable. Religious leaders and faith communities have an opportunity to speak out and demand action is taken by their governments and by the international community.

Tags: human rights, Inter-religious, PilgrimsOnTheMove, JusticeAndPeace, Youth, PilgrInspire, transformed, Children's rights, Human dignity

South Sudan: the wounds

Maureen Jack

As the World Council of Churches pilgrim visit of justice and peace to South Sudan draws to a close, I’m struck by how several issues intersect and interact: the position of women, poverty, sexual exploitation, the prevalence of weapons, and the lack of safety.

Tags: FellowPilgrims, just community of women and men, JusticeAndPeace

The flame may be weakened, but it will not be erased

Rolf Schünemann

On 1 May, the old police headquarters of the Federal Police in São Paulo, Brazil, burned down and collapsed. Rev. Rolf Schünemann reflects that the building, in fact, not only an historic site but a living ecumenical presence that touched the lives of thousands of people over more than 100 years.

Tags: human rights, FellowPilgrims, JusticeAndPeace

Wadi Qana and the politics of nature

Ecumenical Accompanier

Although the Israeli authorities declared Wadi Qana as a nature reserve as far back as 1983, the decision to turn it into an Israeli leisure and recreation area was only taken in 2006. This did not fail to impact Palestinian landowners. who are not allowed to dig new wells to water the fields or to repair existing facilities, whereas the Israeli settlements on the hilltops get their water from deep wells on the valley floor, with water pumped uphill through thick pipes.

Tags: EAPPI