WCC NEWS: “Wake up!” Conference calls churches to act for justice

Participants in an ongoing “Prophetic Witness for Life, Justice, and Peace Conference” on 14 June in Johannesburg, South Africa, broke into seminars focusing on many facets of justice—climate, economic, racial, gender, and health. Participants of the conference “Prophetic Witness for Life, Justice, and Peace” taking place on 12-16 June in Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo: Simphiwe Zama Mthethwa/WCC 16 June 2025 After two days of reflecting on the theological grounding and critique from the Kairos Document, as well as contextual analysis and nonviolent resistance theory, the conference’s focus shifted to seminars and capacity-building sessions addressing specific focus areas.  “It is like the church has been sleeping, and now we have to say ‘Wake up!’” said Rev. Malikopo Mohlatsane from the Lesotho Evangelical Church in Southern Africa. Acknowledging that justice issues are intersectional and interconnected and often share roots, seminars covered topics such as engaging the Kairos Document in a de-colonial spirit, nutrition, mental health, freedom of religion, human rights, and many more. Eunice Gwengweya from the Malawi Council of Churches emphasized the importance of young women attending and learning new approaches despite cultural resistance: “It never came in my mind that a nonviolent approach is something that would also make a change, a better change.” His Holiness, the Most Rev. Dr Rufus Okikiola Ositelu, World Council of Churches president from Africa, commended the expertise of the facilitators and noted two messages that he would want participants to take back to their churches: “We must take the message of gender equality. In all the churches, statistically, women are the majority. Women must also be at the decision-making tables. Secondly, I wish that we all take the message to take care of the environment, that we do not do anything that harms the climate, because this kills the future.” The World Council of Churches, in collaboration with the Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa and the South African Council of Churches, is organizing from 12-16 June a conference and seminars inspired by the centenary of the 1925 Life and Work inaugural conference, which emphasized the church’s role in addressing social, political, and economic injustices.   Conference and seminars in southern Africa: “Prophetic Witness for Life, Justice, and Peace” 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 Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland