WCC NEWS: WCC moderator urges “get involved in the struggles of the world by affirming hope”

In an address to the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, WCC moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm underscored the deep meaning of meeting in Colombia, as well as why churches must bring hope to the struggles of the world. Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm presents his address to the WCC executive committee meeting in Bogota, Colombia, on 6 June. Photo: Camilo Garcia/WCC 06 June 2024 “In our last meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, we were informed about the newest developments in the struggle for peace and reconciliation in Colombia,” he said. “We heard about the important role the churches can play in this struggle.” When the WCC received an invitation from the Colombian churches and the government to hold the executive committee meeting in Bogota, it was soon clear the WCC would accept this invitation, explained Bedford-Strohm. “Our visit takes place during a time that the Colombian government, churches, and people are collaborating in the design, implementation, and advocacy for the construction of peace in the country,” he said. “We come to Colombia to reaffirm our ecumenical conviction that violence is never a solution but produces only losers and creates new suffering.” In addition to expressing words of gratitude to the Colombian hosts and to his colleagues within the WCC, Bedford-Strohm also spoke of a wounded world, and what churches are called to do. “I conclude with a call to get involved in the struggles of the world by affirming hope,” he said. “In societies in which citizens often show apathy or even disgust for politics, churches must be a source of encouragement for involvement.” Christians must be a source of solidarity for marginalized and disadvantaged people, as well as for the nonhuman natural environment which has become increasingly vulnerable, Bedford-Strohm urged. “Politics is an indispensable, sometimes even decisive, dimension of such advocacy,” he said. “The fact that we have been invited to this country, struggling for a lasting peace, mirrors the great responsibility we have.”   The WCC executive committee is meeting in Bogota, Colombia, from 6-11 June, where the governing body will focus not only on the business of the WCC but also on absorbing the life and witness of churches at the heart of the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity. Moderator's address at the WCC executive committee in Bogota, Colombia In Colombia, WCC executive committee will focus on life and witness of churches (WCC news release, 30 May 2024) WCC general secretary to executive committee: “in Christ all things are held together” (WCC news release, 6 June 2024) 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