News and stories

The last issue of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation newsletter is now available online. Learn about the final preparations for the upcoming gathering in Jamaica and about ways you can participate from afar.

"Peace is more than the absence of war. It is the absence of any kind of violence, too," WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit writes in the editorial of the newsletter. He invites churches and Christians around the...

As the sun rises on Sunday 22 May Christians and churches across the world are being encouraged by the World Council of Churches (WCC) to celebrate God’s peace in their worship services, to hold a Peace Sunday dawn vigil, to plant a tree as an act of peace or to use social media to share prayers for peace with Christians around the world.

As churches worldwide prepare for the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) in Jamaica in May, the latest edition of the World Council of Churches (WCC) quarterly journal, Ecumenical Review, will focus on challenges of peacemaking in places as varied as the Middle East and Africa.

From the sound of a new song written specifically for the upcoming International Ecumenical Peace Convocation, to a proclamation that Jamaica is the proper place for this peace event, the IEPC was officially launched at a ceremony in Kingston, Jamaica on 15 March.

Five essays have been selected as the top entries in the Echos International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) essay contest.

“Water and Just Peace” will be the theme of this year's Lenten reflections provided by the Ecumenical Water Network. Starting on Monday 7 March the weekly reflections will explore the connection between access to water, struggles over this precious resource and building just peace.

Justice and peace provided a framework for planning and assessment of programmes as the WCC Central Committee met in Geneva from 16 to 22 February 2011.

Jamaica – a proud and independent Caribbean nation struggling with a high level of violence and criminality – is the location of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) facilitated by the WCC from 17 to 25 May 2011.

Graduate study in peacemaking will be available for academic credit at the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation, held 17-23 May in Kingston, Jamaica. A course for seminarians and other graduate students will be offered on “Overcoming Violence: An Engagement with the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation”.

The World Council of Churches is hosting an international exhibition of textiles, arpilleras and quilts from 16 February to 18 March at its Geneva headquarters. The curator Roberta Bacic, a former member of Chile’s truth and reconciliation commission, will officially open the exhibition on Wednesday 16 February, the first day of the WCC Central Committee meeting, together , with moderator Rev. Dr Walter Altmann and general secretary Tveit.