WCC NEWS: Three WCC commissions meet to confront emerging global challenges

Three World Council of Churches (WCC) commissions—the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, Commission on Health and Healing, and Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development—are jointly meeting from 5-8 March in Geneva to explore the theme "Faith and Effective Witness and Diakonia in the 21st Century.” WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay speaks at an inaugural Joint Meeting of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), the Commission on Health and Healing (CHH), and the Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development (CCJSD) of the World Council of Churches, in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 05 March 2024 The three commissions are guiding the strategic objectives from 2023 to 2030, focusing on international affairs, health and healing, and climate justice. All aim to empower churches and ecumenical partners to effectively address pressing contemporary issues, including climate and economic crises, the regression in human rights, violent conflicts, and the scarcity of essential social services like healthcare, aligning with the ecumenical tradition's commitment to holistic witness and service. Programmatically, these three commissions have their work located in the WCC’s programme department on Public Witness and Diakonia. During the meeting, the commissions will familiarize members with their mandates, as well as with WCC programmes, staff, and working methods. They will also explore the current global context and its implications for the work of the commissions, and develop relevant work streams for the next three years. WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay welcomed the commissioners to the Ecumenical Centre, describing the meeting coming about as a result of “hard work and a dream and a vision of bringing these commissions together. “We gather with joy,” he said. “This Ecumenical Centre belongs to all of us, and people from inside and outside the WCC often come to share in this space.” Pillay also offered an overview of how the work of the commissions fits into the WCC Strategic Plan and into the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity.  Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, WCC programme director for Public Witness and Diakonia, opened his reflections by noting that it’s a very important time in history for the commissions to draw together.  “In the past, pictures of starving children, dying children, anywhere in the world would cause tears,” he said. “This would cause people to call for, to demand action. Ours is a defining moment because starving children in Gaza, in Sudan, in Ethiopia are just another statistic.” Mtata noted that the work of the commissions is rooted in a long tradition of joint witness in diakonia.  “As we reflect and seek to act on the social, economic, and political challenges of our time, it is a tradition that is at the heart of Christin identity,” he said. 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 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland