Have faith in a better world, says WCC chief
-22/09/05
As churches representing 560 million Christians across six continents joined together in an International Day of Prayer for Peace yesterday, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches called on religious communities across the globe to renew their commitment to working for a better world.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the day at the International Centre in Geneva, which houses the WCC and a number of other ecumenical bodies, the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia said that the complex challenges facing us today should not discourage Christians from working for justice and peace.
Affirming the role of the UN, which has also identified 21 September as an annual opportunity to recommit to peace-building, Dr Kobia declared: ìTogether, as people of faith, we have faith in a better world.î
An Anglican bishop from Sudan, the Rt Rev Francis Loyo, also appealed for continuing support from the worldís churches, as his countryís president announced the formation of a power-sharing government as part of a deal to end a decades-long civil war.
ìPray that we get in with the government, talk with the government, so they donít take things for granted,î Bishop Loyo told a meeting at the WCC, according to Ecumenical News International.
The theme for this year’s International Day of Prayer for Peace has been ìBuilding communities of peace for allî. Churches from Asia, the region chosen as the special focus of the Decade to Overcome Violence during 2005, proposed this topic.
Launched in 2004 by the World Council of Churches in the context of its Decade to Overcome Violence: Churches Seeking Reconciliation and Peace (2001-2010), the WCC prayer initiative calls on Christian churches all over the world to arrange for services or vigils on 21 September, as well as to include prayers for peace in their services on the Sunday before or after that day.
The WCC brings together more than 340 churches, denominations and church fellowships in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world, representing some 400 million Christians and including most of the worldís Orthodox churches, scores of denominations from such historic traditions of the Reformation as Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed, as well as many united and independent churches.
While the bulk of the WCC’s founding churches were European and North American, today most are in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific.
Have faith in a better world, says WCC chief
-22/09/05
As churches representing 560 million Christians across six continents joined together in an International Day of Prayer for Peace yesterday, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches called on religious communities across the globe to renew their commitment to working for a better world.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the day at the International Centre in Geneva, which houses the WCC and a number of other ecumenical bodies, the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia said that the complex challenges facing us today should not discourage Christians from working for justice and peace.
Affirming the role of the UN, which has also identified 21 September as an annual opportunity to recommit to peace-building, Dr Kobia declared: ‘Together, as people of faith, we have faith in a better world.’
An Anglican bishop from Sudan, the Rt Rev Francis Loyo, also appealed for continuing support from the world’s churches, as his country’s president announced the formation of a power-sharing government as part of a deal to end a decades-long civil war.
‘Pray that we get in with the government, talk with the government, so they don’t take things for granted,’ Bishop Loyo told a meeting at the WCC, according to Ecumenical News International.
The theme for this year’s International Day of Prayer for Peace has been ‘Building communities of peace for all’. Churches from Asia, the region chosen as the special focus of the Decade to Overcome Violence during 2005, proposed this topic.
Launched in 2004 by the World Council of Churches in the context of its Decade to Overcome Violence: Churches Seeking Reconciliation and Peace (2001-2010), the WCC prayer initiative calls on Christian churches all over the world to arrange for services or vigils on 21 September, as well as to include prayers for peace in their services on the Sunday before or after that day.
The WCC brings together more than 340 churches, denominations and church fellowships in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world, representing some 400 million Christians and including most of the world’s Orthodox churches, scores of denominations from such historic traditions of the Reformation as Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed, as well as many united and independent churches.
While the bulk of the WCC’s founding churches were European and North American, today most are in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific.