WCC MEDIA ADVISORY: Invitation to media

With this media invitation, it is our joy to invite you to attend the installation of Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay as the 9th general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) during the afternoon of Friday, 17 February 2023. Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, WCC general secretary. Photo: Peter Williams/WCC 14 February 2023 The event will begin at 14:00 CET, Friday, 17 February with a prayer service in the Ecumenical Centre Chapel at which the general secretary will preach. The celebration will continue in Visser ‘t Hooft Hall at 15;15 with greetings from churches and partners.  Media are also able to attend online.   Interpretation available online into Spanish, French and German. Please respond ASAP, at the latest 16 February at 15h00 CET.  We have limited number of seats in the chapel. The WCC has invited Swiss church leaders, Geneva civic leaders as well many Geneva-based UN and governmental partners. Also attending will be the leadership of Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, the South African Council of Churches, as well as family and friends of the general secretary. Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, WCC moderator of the central committee, wrote in the invitation “The celebration is an opportunity to seek God’s blessing for a new term of leadership and to give thanks for the WCC fellowship of member churches’ continued witness for justice, reconciliation, and unity.” Media are able to be present and report on the installation. Media are also invited to request an interview with the WCC general secretary, although not on the same day, but for the following weeks. Press photos will be available at the installation. For more information and interview requests, please contact WCC Communication media@wcc-coe.org or call WCC Communication Department:  +41 22 791 61 11 Marianne Ejdersten, WCC Communication director Email: mej@wcc-coe.org + 41 79 507 63 63 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 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. 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