WCC NEWS: As Lent begins, “hear from God on how we as black people should move forward”

The fourth of a series of five webinars promoted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) Pan-African Women’s Ecumenical Empowerment Network (PAWEEN) was held on 18 February, providing reflections on inclusion of both African culture and tradition into theological reflection. Photo: Valter Hugo Muniz/WCC, 2020. 22 February 2021 The episode, titled “Reimagining the future: the celebration in transformation,” was marked by the start of the season of Lent in the Christian calendar. Reflecting on the meaning of Lent as a special time of reflection and faith, practiced in prayer and by the act of giving up something, Dr Kimberly Lymore, associate convener of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium-US, added that this is also a time “to hear from God on how we as black people should move forward.”  “It is not a time to be complacent, because there is a lot of work to be done in racism, food insecurity, mass incarceration and so many other problems that affect the black community not only here in the United States, but across the world,” added Lymore. Her article in the Ecumenical Review in 2019 outlines a model of diocese and theological schools to partner together to provide funding for African American lay people to receive theological education and then to commit to ministering for three years in the black Catholic community. The webinar was moderated by Dr Fulata Moyo, former WCC programme executive for Women in Church and Society. Additional speakers included Rev. Dr Marjorie Lewis, university chaplain at Acadia University, Canada, and Marilia Schuller, former WCC programme executive for Combating Racism, from Brazil. The final episode of the series will be held 18 March under the theme “Re-imagining the Future: Resurrection. The “Third Thursdays Webinar Series on the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace” brings together authors of the October 2019 edition of the WCC journal The Ecumenical Review titled “Pan-African Women of Faith and a Vision of Inclusive Global Theological Education.” PAWEEN is a project of the WCC’s programme on Ecumenical Theological Education. Formally established as a network in 2015, PAWEEN aims to celebrate, commemorate, and build upon the legacy of Pan‐African women in the ecumenical movement.  Watch the recording of the webinar Learn more about this webinar series 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 350 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC acting general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, from the Orthodox Church in Romania. 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 Add us to your address book