Media Advisory: WCC central committee press conferences: apply for media accreditation now

Media accreditation is mandatory to attend online press conferences on 24 and 29 June, to be held in conjunction with the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee meeting. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC 17 June 2021 The central committee meeting on 23 – 29 June will be the first of its kind to be held online. Originally scheduled to be held at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva in 2020, it was postponed due to the pandemic. It will be the fourth meeting of this central committee since it was elected at the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea, in 2013. The central committee meets according to the rules every two years and serves as the chief governing body of the WCC between assemblies. It is responsible for implementing the policies adopted by the assembly, as well as reviewing and supervising WCC programmes and the budget of the council. The current central committee’s mandate terminates at the 11th WCC Assembly, which will take place 31 August – 8 September 2022 in Karlsruhe, Germany.    In addition to news releases on a regular basis throughout this central committee meeting, online press conferences will be held on 24 and 29 June. Media accreditation is mandatory to attend online press conferences. Please apply for accreditation by filling out and returning accreditation form. Due to the extraordinary circumstances entailed by the pandemic, all central committee sessions will be held online, with exclusive attendance of central committee members and a limited number of guests.  Although it won’t be possible for the media to follow sessions in real-time, the WCC online media centre will do its utmost to convey information from all sessions promptly and make sure that the media gets the service to which it is accustomed. That includes finding answers to questions and setting up on-demand individual interviews with central committee delegates online.          The main focuses of this central committee meeting are the preparations for next year’s WCC Assembly, and revisions of WCC strategies and plans. A more detailed agenda for the meeting will finalized and shared with the media soon. For your convenience, the moderator’s opening address on 23 June, as well as the acting general secretary’s report, will be made available under embargo for accredited media from 11 am CET on 23 June.   More information about the WCC central committee can be found at the WCC Press Centre: https://www.oikoumene.org/en/press-centre    For further questions, you are most welcome to contact: Ms Marianne Ejdersten, WCC Director of Communication, mej@wcc-coe.org,  +41 79 507 6363. WCC Central Committee media coordinators: Mr Claus Grue, clg@wcc-coe.org, +46 70 611 0977.  Accreditation form     See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 350 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC acting general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, from the Orthodox Church in Romania. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland