wfn.org | WCC AGENDA: September 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 - 24/08/2005

SEPTEMBER 2005

> How do we share copyrighted worship resources?
> Transformation journey - young adult outreach
> International Day of Prayer for Peace
> World-wide ecumenical leaders meet in the USA
> Kobia visits churches in Ethiopia
> Theological guidelines for accompaniment in Palestine and Israel

> How do we share copyrighted worship resources?
> 6-11 September, Faverges, France

The World Association for Christian Communication and the World Council of
Churches will co-organize a consultation on the impact of contemporary
copyright regulations on creativity, innovation and sharing of resources
within the ecumenical movement. The main focus of the consultation will be
on the impact of copyright on the production and sharing of worship
resources. Participants will include ecumenical publishers, web-managers,
composers, legal experts, theologians, Christian artists and young
communicators.

http://www.wacc.org.uk/ipr

> Transformation journey - young adult outreach
> 10-18 September, Dubuque, Decorah, Minneapolis and St. Paul, USA

A WCC Transformation outreach team will travel to colleges and seminaries
affiliated with member churches to build relationships with young adults
as well as introduce students and faculty to the ecumenical movement and
the global partnerships of the WCC. The team will visit classes, deliver
lectures, lead chapel services and Bible studies, meet with small groups
and offer workshops. Stops on the tour are Dubuque, Iowa (10-13 September), Decorah, Iowa, (14) and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul,
Minnesota (15-18).

http://www.wcc-usa.org/

> International Day of Prayer for Peace
> 21 September, world-wide

For the second year running, churches representing over 560 million
Christians world-wide are being invited to mark the UN International Day
of Peace, 21 September, as an International Day of Prayer for Peace.
Launched by the WCC as part of its Decade to Overcome Violence (2001-2010), the initiative calls on churches all over the world to arrange services
or vigils on 21 September, and also include prayers for peace in their
services on the preceding or following Sunday.

The year's theme "Building communities of peace for all" comes from
churches in Asia. Prayers and resources are available on the Decade to
Overcome Violence web site. The DOV has published a pamphlet for distribution, available free on request from the DOV office and electronically on
the web site.

http://www.overcomingviolence.org/

> World-wide ecumenical leaders meet in the USA
> 22-26 September, Washington, DC, and New York, USA

The general secretaries of nine regional ecumenical councils and the WCC
meet for their annual exchange, hosted by the National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the USA (NCCCUSA) this year. They will discuss
proposals concerning the Ecumenical Alliance for Development, as well as
poverty and responses to security concerns. On Friday, 23 September, there
will be a press conference in the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.,
and on Saturday, 24, the meeting will continue in New York, including
exchanges with the NCCCUSA on the current global situation. The nine
participating regional organisations represent Asia, Africa, Europe, North
America, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific.

http://www.ncccusa.org/

> Kobia visits churches in Ethiopia
> 24-29 September, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

On the invitation of His Holiness Abuna Paulos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church, WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia will visit Ethiopia.
The visit coincides with the Festival of the Finding of the True Cross
(Meskal celebration), one of the major holidays in the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church. While staying in Addis Ababa, Samuel Kobia will also meet leaders
of the Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, the other WCC member church in
Ethiopia. Furthermore Kobia will meet with government officials. In an
exchange with representatives of the African Union and the Economic
Commission for Africa, both based in Addis Ababa, Kobia will present WCC's
concerns about how to overcome poverty in Africa.

> Theological guidelines for accompaniment in Palestine and Israel
> 28-30 September, Geneva, Switzerland

The WCC's Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel
(EAPPI) is preparing for a theological review of its first three years.
The experiences of over 200 voluntary accompaniers from all parts of the
world have raised many questions and challenges, and given rise to
numerous creative possibilities for theological reflection. Following
suggestions by former ecumenical accompaniers, national co-ordinators and
EAPPI partners, the WCC is now co-ordinating a Theological Reflection on
Accompaniment workshop. A booklet will be produced on the theology of
accompaniment, to be used as a guide for future accompaniers and as a
reflection on key theological and spiritual insights to be shared by the
ecumenical family.

http://www.eappi.org/

> Major WCC events coming up:

Conference on "Living the interreligious experience together"
12-14 November, Geneva, Switzerland

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

Unless noted otherwise, events are by invitation only and not open to the
press or 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.