World Council of Churches
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Non- Governmental and Other Organisations
- Christianity
- Ökumenischer Rat der Kirchen; Conseil œcuménique des Églises; Consejo Mundial de Iglesias; Conselho Mundial de Igrejas; Всемирный Совет Церквей
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150 route de Ferney, 1218 Geneva, Switzerland
777 United Nations Plaza, 9D, 10017, New York, NY, USA
- oikoumene
English, German, French, Spanish- Show
Aim
Pursue the goal of the visible unity of the Church. This involves a process of renewal and change in which member churches pray, worship, discuss and work together.
History
The World Council of Churches was formally founded in August 1948, in Amsterdam (Netherlands), by 147 churches, carrying on the activity of Life and Work Movement and of the Faith and Order Movement, two bodies which, prior to World War II, proposed the setting up of such a Council. Originally European/North American centred, the Council steadily became more world-oriented in fact as well as in inspiration. In December 1961, in New Delhi (India), at the WCC 3rd Assembly, International Missionary Council (IMC) merged with WCC to become Commission on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches (CWME) and eventually the Commission itself was merged into the WCC programmatic structure. Among the many conspicuous achievements of the WCC, working in collaboration with churches and other partners, have been its early work for a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, its decades-long campaign against apartheid, its pathbreaking consensus on Baptism and Eucharist and Ministry, its deeply influential Decade of Solidarity with Women, its production with the Vatican of materials for the annual Prayer for Christian Unity, its programmes for addressing climate change, its pioneering programme addressing pastoral dimensions of HIV and AIDS in Africa, its sponsorship of ecumenical observers in Israel/Palestine, and its recent successful campaigns for an independent South Sudan, a global Ecumenical Water Network, and passage of an international Arms Trade Treaty at the UN.
IRD Activities
- Strengthening Inter-religious Trust and Respect
This project attempts to strengthen inter-religious trust and respect through bilateral and multilateral dialogues, regional and cross-cultural encounters on topics like religion and violence, perceptions of "the other", and the search for identity in pluralistic societies.
Main Focus Countries of Activities
Algeria - Angola - Benin - Botswana - Burkina Faso - Burundi - Cameroon - Congo - Democratic Republic of the Congo - Equatorial Guinea - Eritrea - Ethiopia - Gabon - Gambia - Ghana - Guinea - Ivory Coast - Kenya - Lesotho - Liberia - Madagascar - Malawi - Morocco - Mozambique - Namibia - Nigeria - Rwanda - Sierra Leone - South Africa - South Sudan - Sudan - Swaziland - Tanzania - Togo - Uganda - Zambia - Zimbabwe - New Zealand - Australia - Bangladesh - Cambodia - China - India - Indonesia - Japan - North Korea - South Korea - Laos - Malaysia - Myanmar - Nepal - Pakistan - Philippines - Singapore - Sri Lanka - Thailand - Timor-Leste - Antigua and Barbuda - Bahamas - Barbados - Belize - Cuba - Dominica - Guyana - Haiti - Jamaica - Netherlands Antilles - Saint Kitts and Nevis - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Suriname - Trinidad and Tobago - Puerto Rico - Albania - Armenia - Austria - Belgium - Croatia - Czechia - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Germany - Greece - Hungary - Iceland - Ireland - Italy - Latvia - Lithuania - Malta - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - UK - Russian Federation - Turkey - Argentina - Bolivia - Brazil - Chile - Colombia - El Salvador - Mexico - Nicaragua - Panama - Paraguay - Peru - Uruguay - Cyprus - Egypt - Iran - Israel - State of Palestine - Lebanon - Syria - Jordan - Canada - USA - American Samoa - Cook Islands - Fiji - French Polynesia - Kiribati - Marshall Islands - New Caledonia - Niue - Papua New Guinea - Samoa - Solomon Islands - Tonga - Tuvalu - Vanuatu