wfn.org | WCC AGENDA: October 2005

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - Agenda
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 26/09/2005

OCTOBER 2005

> Middle East, US, Caribbean and Latin American churches
    prepare for WCC Assembly
> Women's Voices and Visions on Being Church
> Aram I and Kobia at US seminar on the future of ecumenism
> Global Communicators' Network Meeting
> Kobia at International Conference on Violence and Christian Spirituality

> Middle East churches prepare for WCC Assembly
> 28 September - 1 October, Damascus, Syria

The WCC Middle East pre-assembly meeting will gather over 50 participants,
including Assembly delegates from WCC member churches and youth stewards
from the region, as well as resource persons and guests from the Catholic
church. They will reflect on the assembly theme and prepare for their
involvement in the WCC 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre. Participants will
also discuss the situation and future of Christians in Palestine.

> US churches prepare for WCC Assembly
> 8-12 October, Chicago, USA

WCC member churches from the US will gather for their pre-assembly
conference in Chicago from 10-12 October. Church leaders and ecumenists
will engage in theological reflection on the theme of the WCC Assembly.
Plenary sessions will focus on justice concerns and stewardship of the
earth. The meeting will be co-hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America.

Leading up to the WCC conference a youth event "Shift Your Space -
Transform The World" will be held from 8-10 October in Chicago. The
gathering will enable seminarians, students and youth delegates to the WCC
Assembly to strategize on new ways of engaging with the vision promoted by
the WCC Decade to Overcome Violence.
http://www.wcc-usa.org

> Caribbean churches prepare for WCC Assembly
> 10-13 October, Eggelston, Dominica

The Caribbean Conference of Churches - in collaboration with the WCC and
the Dominica Christian Council - will organise a WCC pre-assembly meeting
(10-11 October) along with its annual Regional Forum for National Councils
of Churches (12-13 October). The meeting will gather WCC Assembly
delegates from the region and guests from the Caribbean churches. The
theme for the Forum will be "Crime and Violence - an Ecumenical Response"
and it will be based on a "Pastoral letter on Crime and Violence" prepared
by the bishops of the Roman Catholic Antilles Episcopal Conference.
http://www.ccc-caribe.org/

> Latin American churches prepare for WCC Assembly
> 16-18 October, Mendes, Brazil

The Latin American pre-assembly meeting will gather some 50 delegates of
WCC member churches from the region and other participants to prepare for
the WCC's 9th assembly. The programme will include analysis of the
situation in Latin America, as well as discussion and reflection on Latin
America's contribution to the Assembly. The programme will be co-hosted by
the Latin American Council of Churches.
http://www.clai.org.ec

> Women's Voices and Visions on Being Church
> 17-20 October, Geneva, Switzerland

Women from all WCC member confessions will draw together the findings of
the "Women's Voices and Visions: On Being Church" process in the past 6
years. The study process is a follow-up to the 1988-1998 Ecumenical Decade
of Churches in Solidarity with Women. This meeting will bring together
women's concerns from all six world regions, and it will look at the role
of women at the 9th Assembly of the WCC and beyond.

> Aram I and Kobia at US seminar on the future of ecumenism
> 22 October, New York, USA

WCC moderator Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia, Armenian Apostolic Church
(Lebanon), will convene a seminar entitled "Challenges facing the
ecumenical movement in the 21st century" at the Interchurch Center in New
York. Keynote speaker will be WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia. The
meeting is co-hosted by the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA and the US Conference of the WCC.
http://www.armenianchurch.net/

> Global Communicators' Network Meeting
> 25-30 October, Havana, Cuba

The theme for this conference is "Communication and Power: Independence
and Responsibility in a Globalized World". The meeting will involve around
60 participants and will include presentations, debates, workshops as well
as sharing of visual and other productions by Global Communicators'
Network (GCN) members. The local host is the Cuban Council of Churches.
The GCN is an association of ecumenical communication professionals who
work with mass media. It is co-ordinated jointly by the Lutheran World
Federation and WCC.
http://www.globalcommunicators.net/

> Kobia at International Conference on Violence and Christian Spirituality
> 27-29 October, Boston, USA

Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, in co-operation with WCC and
the Boston Theological Institute, will host an international conference on
"Violence and Christian Spirituality". Opening remarks will be given by
WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia. Keynote speaker will be Archbishop
Demetrios of America, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America.
Scholars from nearby Harvard University, Boston College and Boston
University will contribute to the programme.
http://www.hchc.edu/
http://www.bostontheological.org/

> MAJOR WCC EVENTS COMING UP:

Kobia visits Jerusalem, inaugurates Ecumenical Centre
5-10 November, Jerusalem, Israel

Interreligious event on "My Neighbour's Faith and Mine"
12-14 November, Geneva, Switzerland

Roman Catholic Church and WCC: 40 years of co-operation
17-20 November, Bossey, Switzerland

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2006
18-25 January 2006, world-wide

WCC 9th Assembly (2006)
14-23 February 2006, Porto Alegre, Brazil

Unless noted otherwise, events are by invitation only and not open to the
general public. The information above may change without notice.

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org

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The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 347, in
more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works
cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly,
which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally
inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by
general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.