Member Church News: Voices, Liturgies, Visits

Raising our Tribal Voice for Justice: An Indigenous Theological Revolution, took place last week in Melbourne. Held by the Univiersity of Divinity in collaboration with the School of Indigenous Studies, the ecumenical conference brought together Indigenous theologians and church leaders from across Australia.

Latin Leadership Connection: an ecumenical liturgical formation project: About 25 people from different countries of Latin America and the USA gathered in Colombia at the end of January to connect their ideas, learning, dreams and experiences in the liturgical journey of the great Abya-Yala and beyond.

The first national ecumenical study conference on pastoral care in the healthcare sector took place in Fribourg, Switzerland, in late January. 140 participants listened to numerous inputs from experts and took the opportunity to discuss the job profile, quality and future of pastoral care.

24 February 2024 marks the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. During a solidarity visit to Ukraine by Mario Fischer, general secretaery of the Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe, a special prayer for peace was created and commended for use on the upcoming anniversary.

Towards CWM Assembly 2024: Rise to Life with the Africa Regional Pre-Assembly: The Africa region held its Pre-Assembly from 8-12 February in Durban, South Africa—the first Council for World Mission region to convene ahead of the full CWM Assembly in June.

Is our planet still to be saved or is it already too late? Even small steps can achieve great results in environmental conditions. Teofilus Nathanel is convinced of this. At the Jakarta Theological Seminary (JTS), the student experiences every day how much has already happened since the introduction of an ecotheology project in 2022 at the university. And it should not stay with that. In his blog post, he reports on a large ecological vision with very practical approaches.

Member churches, religious leaders, and local Christian groups in Palestine and Israel—as well as Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli president Isaac Herzog—will meet with World Council of Churches General Secretary Jerry Pillay as he visits the area in the coming days.

Members of the United Nations Security Council have completed a visit to Colombia, during which they received firsthand impressions of the ongoing Colombian peace process, and participated in dialogues with many organizations, including the World Council of Churches.

_{Image courtesy of the Uniting Church in Australia.}