wfn.org | WCC AGENDA: November 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 - 25/10/2005

NOVEMBER 2005

> African church leaders visit Israel & Palestine
> Ecumenical Water Network consultation
> Interreligious event on "My neighbour's faith and mine"
> Women-to-women solidarity visit to Pakistan
> The Roman Catholic Church and the WCC: 40 years of cooperation
> Consultation on terrorism, human rights and counter-terrorism
> Kobia supports Bread for the World campaign
> European youth, Asian, German, Baltic and Nordic churches prepare for
WCC Assembly

> African church leaders visit Israel & Palestine
> 5-12 November, Jerusalem, Israel

A high-level delegation from the All Africa Conference of Churches, South
African Council of Churches, Quaker Africa, Zimbabwe Council of Churches,
as well as two bishops from Sri Lanka and Nigeria will be visiting
Israel/Palestine to learn about the WCC's Ecumenical Accompaniment
Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).

They will meet with current ecumenical accompaniers, regional church
leaders and local partners with a view to assuming the role of national
coordinators in their respective countries, thus extending the programme
to more Southern countries.

http://www.eappi.org

> Ecumenical Water Network consultation
> 7-11 November, Machakos, Kenya

An Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) "Water for Life" consultation, sponsored
by Norwegian Church Aid, Bread for the World Germany, and the WCC will
look at successful community-based initiatives in South Africa, Ghana,
Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania in order to connect African discussions on
water policies with the international debate. Some 70 people working with
water and experts on the politics of water, as well as church leaders,
mostly from Kenya, but also from the Pacific, Latin America, Asia, Europe
and North America, will participate in the consultation.

EWN was formed by Christian agencies and movements to promote the
preservation, responsible management and equitable distribution of water
for all, based on the understanding that water is a gift of God and a
fundamental human right.

http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/earthdocs.html#water

> Interreligious event on "My neighbour's faith and mine"
> 12-14 November, Geneva, Switzerland

"My neighbour's faith and mine: Religious identity - for better or for
worse?" will be the theme of a major multi-faith event being organized by
the WCC in partnership with the Geneva Interreligious Platform. Local and
international speakers will debate the impact of religious identities on
coexistence in plural societies. A public conference with religious
leaders, a youth interfaith forum, a multi-faith celebration at St Pierre
Cathedral as well as a colloquium on tolerance will all be open to the
general public.

http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/interreligious/index-e.html
http://www.interreligieux.ch

> Women-to-women solidarity visit to Pakistan
> 12-19 November, Lahore and Peshawar, Pakistan

On the heels of the recent earthquake, an Ecumenical Women's Delegation
from WCC and the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) will pay a pastoral
women-to-women solidarity visit to Pakistan. The team, comprised of women
from the USA, Guyana, Indonesia, Philippines and Geneva, will focus on
issues facing Pakistani women, especially Christians, like honour killing,
and discrimination against women by the state.

The delegation will also meet with church leaders to learn about their
work in relation to women's issues as well as with the Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan and the UN special rapporteur on freedom of
religion. The delegation may also visit Afghan refugee camps in Peshawar.

http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/women.html

> The Roman Catholic Church and the WCC: 40 years of cooperation
> 17-19 November, Bossey, Switzerland

A consultation "Towards the renewal of ecumenism in the 21st century",
organized by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the
WCC, will celebrate the common journey of the two bodies since the Second
Vatican Council, and evaluate the mandate of their Joint Working Group
(JWG).

After a public event at the Ecumenical Centre, Geneva, on Thursday 17
November, the consultation, with present and former JWG members, will take
place at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute. Walter Cardinal Kasper and
Bishop Brian Farrell, respectively president and secretary of the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, as well as WCC central
committee moderator Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church
(See of Cilicia), and WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, will
participate in the consultation.

http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/ecumenical/index-e.html#rcc

> Asian churches prepare for WCC assembly
> 22-25 November, Tomohon, Indonesia

On 24-25 November, delegates from Asian churches will meet to prepare for
their involvement in the WCC's 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre. Participants
will also discuss specific Asian issues like the situation on the Korean
peninsula, as well as militarization and human rights. On 22-23 November,
the meeting will take the form of a Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) Asia
Focus consultation on "Building communities of peace", with case studies
from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Korea.

> Consultation on terrorism, human rights and counter-terrorism
> 23-24 November, Geneva, Switzerland

In preparation for the WCC Assembly, a small group of experts, theologians, political and social scientists, as well as peace and human right
activists, will reflect on how to develop an understanding of contemporary
terrorism. In considering theological and ethical perspectives, they will
seek answers to such questions as: What are the moral and ethical
dilemmas? What principles can be developed to counter terrorism? What
constitutes a responsible approach to the role of religion?

A draft comprehensive convention on terrorism is currently under debate in
the General Assembly of the United Nations.

> European youth getting ready for Porto Alegre
> 23-27 November, Sinaia, Romania

An Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe (EYCE) course for 30 young WCC
Assembly delegates and stewards from Europe is designed to equip them with
the skills needed to raise the voice of young people at the Assembly.
Young people from central, east and south-east Europe - where leadership
training is particularly needed - will receive special attention. EYCE is
coordinating the involvement of young people from Europe in Porto Alegre
on behalf of the WCC, laying the ground for them to be elected into WCC
working structures like the Central Committee.

http://www.eyce.org

> German churches prepare for WCC Assembly
> 25-26 November, Hanover, Germany

In their third pre-Assembly meeting, delegates from the Evangelical Church
and other WCC Assembly participants from Germany will have the opportunity
to learn about the new consensus decision-making procedures, and discuss
main Assembly topics such as globalization and an 'appeal for an ecumenical future'. A group of some 60 people from Germany - Protestants, Orthodox
and Catholics - will be going to Porto Alegre.

> Kobia supports Bread for the World campaign
> 27 November, Herrnhut, Germany

On the first Sunday of Advent, WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia will
give the keynote address at the opening worship of the 47th annual
campaign of the German aid agency Bread for the World. The theme of this
year's campaign is "God's rules for a just world" ["Gottes Spielregeln
für eine gerechte Welt"]. The campaign opening will be hosted in
Herrnhut by the Moravian Church in Germany. Bread for the World presently
supports more than 1000 projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

http://www.brot-fuer-die-welt.de/ [German only]

> Baltic and Nordic churches prepare for WCC Assembly
> 27-29 November, Tallinn, Estonia

Hosted by the Estonian Evangelical-Lutheran Church, some 80 participants
from the Nordic and Baltic countries will meet to prepare for the WCC
Assembly. They will discuss ecumenical issues and the future of the WCC,
coordinate regional concerns, focus on information on the WCC's new
consensus decision-making methodology and a major statement on ecclesiology and unity. They will also work in small groups on more specific issues
such as reconfiguration, economic justice, religious plurality and DOV.

> Major WCC events coming up:

World AIDS Day
1 December 2005

GS visit to Jerusalem
21-24 Jan 2006 (new dates)

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
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.