WCC interview: Rev. Dr Ibrahim Wushishi Yusuf reflects on peacebuilding in Africa

Rev. Dr Ibrahim Wushishi Yusuf, coordinator of the World Council of Churches Africa Regional Programme Office in Abuja, received the Father of Faith Award from the Christian Association of Nigeria. Photo: Magnus Aronson/WCC 22 October 2026 What has been most on your heart this month with regard to peacebuilding in Africa? Dr Yusuf: What has been most on my heart is the continuing human suffering caused by conflict, insecurity, and divisions across Africa. I think especially of families who have lost loved ones, communities displaced from their homes, and people whose trust in one another has been deeply wounded by violence. In Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and other contexts, these realities remind me how urgent it is to strengthen relationships across religious, ethnic, and communal boundaries. Yet, even amid these challenges, I draw hope from the courage of local peacebuilders, religious leaders, women and young people who continue to work for reconciliation. Romans 12:18 speaks powerfully to me because it reminds us of our personal and collective responsibility to pursue peace wherever possible.  What do you most wish churches would do? Dr Yusuf: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” — 2 Corinthians 5:18 I would like churches to see peacebuilding not as an additional activity, but as an essential expression of their Christian mission. I wish to see churches become more intentional in speaking against violence, hate speech and discrimination, while creating spaces for dialogue, forgiveness, and reconciliation across religious and denominational boundaries. I also hope that churches will model in their own relationships the unity they proclaim through the Gospel. For me, the WCC's commitment to visible unity is particularly important here: Christian unity is not about erasing our differences, but about recognising our common calling and working together in service to the world. The ministry of reconciliation entrusted to us, as described in 2 Corinthians 5:18, challenges us to build bridges where there are divisions and to accompany those whose relationships and communities have been broken by conflict. Would you be able to tell us a bit more about the award itself? Dr Yusuf: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) Receiving the Father of Faith Award from the Christian Association of Nigeria during its 50th anniversary celebration on 18 October was a deeply humbling and meaningful experience for me. I am grateful for this recognition, which I receive as an encouragement to continue serving the church and society through peacebuilding, reconciliation and the promotion of peaceful coexistence. The title Father of Faith speaks to me of the responsibility that comes with faith: to serve with integrity, to remain committed to the common good, and to help build bridges across divisions. I see the award not simply as a personal honour, but as an affirmation of the importance of peacebuilding and the contribution of churches and faith communities to Nigeria and Africa`s search for peace. I also recognise that this work is never done alone; it depends on the commitment of colleagues, church leaders, interfaith partners, and local communities who continue to work, often quietly, for a more peaceful society. Matthew 5:16 reminds me that our faith must be visible through our actions and service. WCC member churches in Africa 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 356 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

SojoMail - A cannonball in the cesspool of lies

View this email in your browser Tyler Huckabee Managing Editor, Sojourners digital You Can See Everything, the three-hour Elizabeth Holmes documentary that’s becoming a cinematic phenomenon, argues two truths that shouldn’t be radical, but are: First, there is such a thing as the truth. Second, it can be really, really hard to figure out what the truth actually is.  The movie does a cannonball into our current cesspool of lying politicians, fake news, and new technologies that make reality feel ever more unknowable. Our social media algorithms are tailored to deliver us a bespoke version of reality that fits all our preconceived biases, and artificial intelligence-generated content supercharges those biases. The result is to make reality feel unspeakably confusing and tangled. “The truth will set you free,” Jesus told the disciples in John 8, but that promise comes with a condition: “You will know the truth.” The harder the truth is to know, the harder it is to be set free. But Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s documentary posits that the truth is real, it’s there, and the struggle to take hold of it is worth the fight. That’s the crux of Georgia Coley’s review of You Can See Everything, where she argues that “Some truths can still be seen, and some must be, even when they are hard to stomach.” Elsewhere this week:  -Moody Vs. Marx: D.L. Moody and Karl Marx were two contemporaries with very different ideas about how to help the poor. Amar Peterman and Yanan Melo try to figure out who was right.  -ICE’s Shock Gloves: Immigration and Customes Enforcement agents have added electric shock gloves to their toolkits. This tells us something important about how they think about power, argues Colin Martinez Longmore.  -A Civil Rights Landmark: 16th Street Baptist Church became a beating heart of the Civil Rights Movement. Evana Upshaw takes us inside its new plan to educate the next generation.  -Voting With Your Faith: As midterms approach, Sojourners president Adam Russell Taylor argues for casting your ballot as an exercise of your spiritual convictions. -The Valley of the Shadow of AI: Data centers have become a surprise political flashpoint. Holly Flynn told us about a big one—right in her backyard.  -The Rise of Black Church Bankruptcy: Predatory lending has been a scourge for many Black churches. Now, Pamela Foohey reports that some have found a surprise way to fight back: through Chapter 11. ‘You Can See Everything’ But Can You Know the Truth? Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s new documentary about Elizabeth Holmes raises an urgent question about how we discern truth in a world of competing realities. Read the full article Advertisement Community Notes A couple of weeks ago, we asked you about the increasingly rare practice of putting coats over your Halloween costumes. We heard from several of you, including these two gems:  All of our costumes in kindergarten and first grade were hidden by coats, so when I wanted to go as a red crayola crayon, you could only see my cap and the round red cheeks with the blue coat and snow pants messing up the middle. It did not take long for my creative mom to come up with costumes that went over the coats and snow pants. —Rev. Steph McClellan I do remember having to change [costumes] to a ghost in a sheet, so my woolen ski pants would fit under and be hidden, and then got sweaty. That was 87 years ago or so. Good grief! —Dolly J. Marshall We hope that no matter what your plans are for the end of October, you’re staying as warm (or as cool) as you’d like to be and you’re enjoying the cozier aspects of the season in community with each other. Our Latest Stories What Moody Didn’t Teach Us About Marx (by Amar D. Peterman and Yanan (Abdul) Rahim Melo) Does a new Christian book ultimately choose the wrong side? Read more Reading Augustine in the Age of ICE’s Shock Gloves (by Colin Martinez Longmore) Augustine knew that the power to punish doesn’t make anyone innocent. Read more An Iconic Civil Rights Church Looks to Educate the Next Generation (by Evana Upshaw) The executive director of the 16th Street Education Center discusses youth education, collaboration, and church tours as ministry. Read more I Vote Because I’m a Christian (by Adam Russell Taylor) I understand the many reasons for not voting, but I see it as an essential way to love my neighbor, follow Christ, and seek the kingdom. Read more From the Magazine: Living in the Shadow of a Data Center (by Holly Flynn) My neighborhood’s new development has changed the landscape and impacted the homes where we live. Read more From the Magazine: Bankruptcy Has Helped Some Black Churches Bounce Back (by Pamela Foohey) How congregations have used Chapter 11 reorganization to survive predatory lending. Read more Advertisements MCC is Seeking a Co-area Director for Southern, Central Africa & Nigeria This position is responsible for programming in the SCAN region. They communicate organizational strategic directions to personnel and maintain relationships with stakeholders. They work with other ADs to develop and implement key priorities and networks throughout International Program. To apply, visit mcc.org/careers Faith Overcomes Fear: Donate Today Authoritarianism relies on an exhausted, fearful public. But faith calls us to action. Give to Sojourners’ fall fundraising campaign to fuel investigative reporting and equip local churches with tools to defend democracy, protect vulnerable neighbors, and organize for justice. Make your tax-deductible gift today! Donate Subscribe Copyright © 2026 Sojourners. All rights reserved. 611 Pennsylvania Ave SE #342, Washington, DC 20003 Email: sojourners@sojo.net | Tel.: 202.328.8842

The GreenFaith Leadership Institute

An Image from the August 2026 NYC Interfaith Pilgrimage Organized by GreenFaith I wanted to make sure this didn’t get lost in your inbox, because at GreenFaith we’re working on something special with people like you in mind. We’re launching the GreenFaith Leadership Institute for people of faith and spirit ready to turn their values into action for climate justice. Would you like to learn more? We’re living in a moment where faith is being co-opted by those in power to harm the vulnerable and our Sacred Earth. At GreenFaith, we say not in our name, to this gross distortion of faith. Instead, we are asking the question: what is your faith calling you to do at this moment? Is it calling you to serve? The GreenFaith Leadership Institute is an opportunity for you to explore your own calling to service. Over five months, participants in the Institute will reflect, build relationships, develop other leaders, understand power, organize a team, and put their faith into action through a real community campaign. Because organizing isn't only about what we believe. It's about bringing people together to act on those beliefs. If you feel called to do engage, champion, and build power alongside others who share your commitment to justice; this is your invitation. We do hope you’ll apply for this opportunity with GreenFaith. Bring your faith. Bring your story. Bring your courage. We’ll build what comes next together. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION & APPLICATION In faith and action, Rev. Amy Brooks Paradise GreenFaith US, Organizing Coordinator Building a Worldwide, Multi-faith Climate and Environmental Movement. 1216 Broadway Floor 2 PMB 1005 New York, NY 10001 +1-917-997-8783 Copyright © 2022 GreenFaith - All rights reserved.

EARTH Fall 2026

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EARTH: Earth Action, Reflection, Theology, and Hope The Nature of AI “AI is neither artificial nor intelligent. “[There is an] enormous environmental footprint – the minerals, the energy, the water – that drives AI. This is the opposite of artificiality. It’s profound materiality.” - Kate Crawford, author and scholar When petroleum products first became widespread in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there was no moral debate about their benefits versus their harms. Oil was a miracle lying under our feet that would revolutionize civilization for everyone’s good. Today, we can’t claim the same naivete about AI. It has already permeated our lives. (The quote above was offered to me by Google AI.) We see its benefits, but also its inherent harms, especially to the environment. Unless our technology-based civilization collapses, AI won’t go away. That’s why it’s important for people of faith who care about Mother Earth to become educated and demand accountability and action before we reach the point a greater enviromental crises than we already face. The articles, prayers, and discussion in this newsletter offer few answers, but they ask important questions, and that is the first step toward changing our present course. Eric Diekhans Editor Science and Faith As artificial intelligence races ahead of our ability to control it, could the 20th-century philosopher and Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin offer wisdom for our technological age? Nancy Corson Carter explores his vision of an interconnected humanity united by love—and challenges Christians to put faith into action to protect our shared future and the Earth we call home. Read More The Hidden Environmental Cost of AI Artificial intelligence may seem to exist in an invisible cloud, but its real-world footprint reaches deep into the Earth—from mineral mining and energy-hungry data centers to the water resources communities depend on. Mark Douglas calls for an ecosystem approach to AI that acknowledges these costs, pursues environmental justice, and harnesses technology to help protect the natural world. Read More AI: Climate Solution or Environment Threat Artificial intelligence offers powerful new ways to predict climate disasters, protect forests, and advance clean energy—but its enormous appetite for electricity, water, and land comes at a steep environmental cost. Read More Talking AI and Faith Video by David Barstow A panel discussion with Rev. Mary Beene, Hildegard von Bingen, ChatGPT, Claude, and Saint Francis of Assisi with a focus on the environmental effects of AI. An episode in a series in which live human beings, ancient theologians, and AI chatbots talk about topics that are important to people of faith, and to the future of the world. Click below to watch the discussion A Prayer in the Anthropocene Living God, Creator Spirit, present with us now: in Christ, we pray, please put us in our place— our place as one more primate among hundreds, one more vertebrate among tens of thousands, one more species among many millions, humans within the community of your creation. Put us in our place as disciples of Jesus, near to the world’s wounds, seeking new ways to love and care for our neighbors in a time of climate change— struggling as a church to respond to the demands of justice in an atmosphere of hate and violence and inequality— trying to speak the truth of the Word in a culture of lies. Put us in our place, which is to say, hold us in your grace and guide us as a community, a movement, a church to seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with you. Amen. Sam Hamilton-Poore with gratitude for the life and work of Holmes Rolston III Sam Hamilton-Poore is vice moderator of Presbyterians for Earth Care. PCUSA Resources Find more videos and written resources about AI here: Click Here

Copyright (C) 2026 Presbyterians for Earth Care. All rights reserved.