January 2005
<span style="font-weight: bold; "» Orthodox pre-Assembly meeting
<span style="font-weight: bold; "» Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
<span style="font-weight: bold; "» Young Missiologists’ Conference
<span style="font-weight: bold; "» WCC at the World Social Forum
<span style="font-weight: bold; "»» Orthodox pre-assembly meeting
10-17 January 2005
Rhodes, Greece
The Orthodox pre-assembly meeting will gather over forty delegates of WCC Orthodox member churches and other participants to reflect on the assembly theme, assess the progress made through the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the WCC and prepare for the WCC’s ninth assembly in 2006. The programme will include sessions on the assembly theme, Bible and spirituality, and the consensus model of decision-making.
More information about the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the WCC is available at
www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/who/special-01-e.html
<span style="font-weight: bold; "»» Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
18-25 January 2005
Global
Under the theme "Christ, the one Foundation of the Church" (1 Cor 3:1-23), the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2005 focuses on Slovakia. Churches there have experienced more than a decade of renewal and growth after emerging from a political situation which had tended to impede their growth and limit their witness in society.
Members of the Theological Committee of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Slovakia prepared the texts for the week of prayer in collaboration with the WCC’s Faith and Order Commission and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU). For the first time this year, the text is not only jointly prepared but is also being jointly published in a common format.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is one of the oldest ecumenical initiatives that, each year, involves Christian communities all over the world. Traditionally, it is celebrated between 18-25 January. In the Southern hemisphere, other dates are sometimes chosen, for example, around Pentecost.
More information on the Week of prayer, including resources, are available at
www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/wop-index.html
<span style="font-weight: bold; "»» Young missiologists to prepare for the WCC Conference on World Mission andEvangelism
19-25 January
Rome, Italy
Around 30 young participants from various spiritual, denominational and cultural backgrounds will gather at a "Young Missiologists’ Consultation" to work on the theme of the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) "Come, Holy Spirit, heal and reconcile!". The participants will share their reflections on how a renewed emphasis on the Holy Spirit can shape mission theory and practice. The consultation is an important part of the preparations for the conference as the young missiologists are expected to raise important issues to be brought to the conference, and to collect material to be published as part of the preparatory process.
The CWME Conference will be held from 9-16 May 2005 in Athens (Greece).
More information about the CWME is available on our website at:
<span style="font-weight: bold; "»» Ecumenical participation in the World Social Forum
26-31 January
Porto Alegre, Brazil
"Affirming Life and Dignity: enhancing justice and rights in a globalized world" is the overall theme for the WCC’s presence at the World Social Forum 2005 in Porto Alegre (Brazil). The WCC's contribution includes seminars on international ethics and peace, ecological debt, water, and the dignity of children. Other events will be carried out by a global ecumenical coalition, and will deal with "interfaith cooperation for peace and reconciliation" and "dignity through justice and rights".
The World Forum on Theology and Liberation, taking place just before the World Social Forum, will develop visions of a "Theology for another possible world", and is being organized by the local ecumenical organizations in Brazil.
The annual World Social Forum is an open meeting place for civil society groups and movements to debate alternative ways to build a world in solidarity and justice. More than 100,000 participants from all over the world are expected.
Information on WCC work on economic globalization, including participation in prior World Social Forums, is available on our website at:
wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/economy.html
