WCC news: WCC central committee to convene in South Africa for pilgrimage encounters

The World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee will convene 18-24 June in Johannesburg, South Africa for important encounters on the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity, particularly with South African churches.  Sunday service at the Anglican church of Christ the King in Sophiatown, Johannesburg. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC 3 June 2025 The facets will include pilgrimage encounters with South African churches, apostolic faith today, climate justice, and gender justice. The meeting will begin with an opening prayer, and end with a closing prayer, with daily prayer in between planned as spiritual encounters with member churches in South Africa. Member churches will lead morning prayers, noon prayers, and evening vespers, with a different church preparing and leading each service. The South African Council of Churches is preparing a welcome prayer on 18 June, followed by a reception. Expected outcomes  In South Africa, the central committee will initiate a midterm review of strategies and governance. It will also initiate preparations for the next assembly in 2030, inviting churches to host the next assembly. The central committee will elect a second executive committee, beginning in November 2026; a midterm evaluation working group, reporting in June 2027; a governance review working group, reporting in June 2027 and June 2029; and an assembly planning committee and a worship planning committee, reporting in June 2027 and June 2029. The central committee is expected to receive the application of the Eternal Sacred Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim (Nigeria) and to welcome four new member churches: Apostolic Pentecostal Church International (Liberia), Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (Malawi), Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria, and Union of Evangelical Free Churches in Germany Other proceedings The central committee will review the general reserves policy and receive reports from WCC commissions, reference groups, and joint consultive bodies.  The public issues committee will begin with a suggested list of statements on some of the burning issues affecting the life and witness. There will be a hearing on the report of the working group on Palestine and Israel which, following an assembly mandate, reviewed the current crisis, the use of the term apartheid, and WCC policy supporting a two-state solution.  In addition, there will be regional meetings, confessional meetings, a women’s meeting, and a meeting of Africans and African diaspora. The WCC executive committee will meet 16-17 June, just prior to the central committee.  The WCC central committee comprises 150 members and eight presidents, and 100 advisors from the wider ecumenical movement. Its purpose is to implement the assembly mandate, make policy decisions, and address issues affecting the life and witness of the churches. Learn more about the upcoming meeting of the WCC central committee 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 Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland