WCC FEATURE: We do not despair but are disturbed

Hope and commitment were central in the report that the Africa region presented to the WCC central committee on 26 June. As is customary during these meetings, central committee members, advisors, stewards, and staff from each region met for prayer and sharing and to identify issues affecting the life and witness of the churches in their region. 26 June 2023, Geneva, Switzerland: WCC president H.H. The Most Rev. Dr Rufus Okikiola Ositelu of the Church of the Lord (Prayer Fellowship) Worldwide shares from the African region as the World Council of Churches central committee gathers in Geneva on 21-27 June 2023, for its first full meeting following the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe in 2022. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 28 June 2023 The report highlighted the shift of the centre of Christianity from the Global North to the Global South and that more Christians live in Africa today than on any other continent. Noting the “giant strides made and remarkable signs of hope,” the report did not minimize the “myriad of human-caused challenges.”  The report suggests that these trends are “sustained by multiple interests rooted in politics, economics, social issues, and religion” and various forms of structurally entrenched injustice and destruction, but that “Our vibrant faith in the Living God through Christ Jesus has sustained us in the face of numerous trials and tribulations.”  The report raised concerns about violence in the Anglophone region of Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Sudan, Mozambique, and elsewhere on the continent and the related humanitarian issues and increase in refugees and internally displaced people. The violent approach to Islamization through the activities of terrorist groups, such as Boko-Haram, Al-Shabab, ISIS, and others, was a specific concern. They noted the particular challenge of this violent action to interreligious dialogue. The report appealed for the continued and increased involvement of youth and youth advisors in the central committee and other committees of the WCC. Emphasizing the love of Christ and the imperative of the Great Commission, participants called for continued transformation “by the renewing of our minds.” In the report, African delegates verbalized their “audacious hope for life-giving solidarity” from the WCC “in support of our aspirations for an integrated, peaceful, and prosperous Africa.” Photo gallery of the WCC Central committee meeting WCC Central committee meeting, June 2023 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