WCC executive committee radiates hope amid world’s darkness
The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee concluded its meeting in Cyprus with inspiration and practical plans for a way forward with hope, even in a challenging world.
The governing body met in Paralimni, Cyprus, from 21-26 November to focus on planning for 2025, including the budget and implementation of WCC strategies. The thematic focus of the gathering was on peace-building in the context of occupation, war, and conflicts.
“At our meeting in Cyprus, I felt the heartbeat of the World Council of Churches,” said WCC moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm. “The members of our executive committee come from all continents of the world.”
Many of them, he added, come from countries where violent conflicts, occupation, or other forms of injustice dominate everyday life and weigh heavily on people’s lives. “They brought all these backgrounds into our consultations,” he said.
And yet it was a session that gave him hope, Bedford-Strohm added, “because people who shaped it radiated hope, and because the heartbeat of the World Council of Churches is the God who showed himself in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again and who is with us always, until the end of the world.”
The executive committee met in Cyprus at the invitation of the Church of Cyprus, Holy Metropolis of Constantia and Ammochostos, extended by Metropolitan Prof. Dr Vasilios, WCC president. Like the meetings in Abuja and Bogota, the meeting in Paralimini was a significant encounter on the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity.
The governing body paid particular attention to the experience of 50 years of Turkish occupation and division of Cyprus and the impact on the people and churches.
The spiritual life included daily Orthodox prayers each morning with a different parish. The meeting took place on the premises of the Holy Diocese of Constantia and Ammochostos.
The business agenda also included preparations for the central committee, which will meet 18-24 June 2025 in Johannesburg, as well as an update on the Green Village property development project. The executive committee also issued statements on public issues affecting the life and witness of the churches.
Moderator reflects on power of prophetic speech
Bedford-Strohm, in his report to the WCC executive committee, posed complex questions and reasons for hope.
“Should we act as prophets or as pastors?” he asked “And what do we mean when we talk about prophetically speaking truth to power?”
He also underscored aspects of the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity.
“How can the churches critically accompany political processes?” he asked. “When should they speak up to power in ways which are more shocking than comforting and sustaining?”
He acknowledged that the answers to these questions are highly contextual. “But it is helpful to ask these questions no matter what our context is,” he said. “The way we speak to people in power as churches must take different dimensions into account.”
General secretary: WCC proclaims God’s justice in the world
In his report, WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay reflected that, particularly during the past several months, his focus has been to lift the profile of the WCC. “I believe that this is being achieved in major proportions,” he said. “I am also grateful that many of the invitations that come my way are also graciously funded by the inviters and this certainly helps our budget constraints, especially when the requests for the general secretary’s presence are so numerous.”
He also reported on the Working Group on Palestine and Israel and, offering an overview of WCC programmes, Pillay highlighted some of the activities and events undertaken in the WCC’s programme areas since the last executive committee meeting in June.
“It is important to note that the programmes are aligned to the WCC objectives and priorities,” he said. “Moreover, they communicate how the WCC continues to witness within the fellowship and beyond as we encourage transforming discipleship.”
Pillay described preparations underway for Ecumenical Year 2025, as well highlights under the WCC’s Public Witness and Diakonia area.
“Efforts have intensified to support churches in engaging with UN human rights mechanisms,” he said. “Marking ten years of partnership with UNICEF, the WCC has worked with various partners to address climate justice, violence against children, and rights protection.”
Addressing the world’s issues
The WCC executive committee released seven statements, including:
Overcoming Fifty Years of Division—Seeking Justice, Reconciliation and Unity in Cyprus. The statement expresses deep concern over the scars of division, dispossession, and displacement that remain unhealed.
Statement on the War in Gaza, Lebanon, and the Wider Middle East. The governing body expressed deep concern over ongoing and widespread Israeli attacks on civilian populations and infrastructure in occupied Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon, spilling over into neighbouring Syria and beyond.
Yearning for Just Peace in Europe. The statement recalls with heavy hearts that the war in Ukraine has now passed 1,000 days.
Outcomes of Climate COP29 and Biodiversity COP16: Confronting Threats to the Living Planet. The statement addresses the intensifying environmental crisis and its humanitarian impacts.
Statement on Haiti. The text focuses on the people of Haiti, suffering under severe economic and political crises.
Appeal for the People of Sudan. The WCC denounced continued fighting in Sudan, and urged solidarity and assistance to people and churches.
Recommitting to Multilateral Cooperation. The statement expresses the WCC’s fundamental commitment, shared with the United Nations, to cooperation across boundaries and lines of division, as well as shared purposes for peace, human rights, justice, protection of the environment, and sustainable development.
Business agenda
Midterm Evaluation Working Group
In response to the WCC 11th Assembly, the WCC strategic plan, approved by the central committee in June 2023, offers a common direction to guide the work of the WCC as a fellowship of churches until the next assembly. The strategic plan stipulates that “a midterm evaluation will be conducted in 2027 to assess progress with the first four-year period (2023-2026).” The working group will be elected by the central committee in June 2025.
Governance Review Working Group
Between assemblies, the WCC central committee undertakes a review of the WCC Constitution and Rules. Past central committees have elected a working group of four to six central committee members with relevant experience and expertise. The executive committee will present a proposal to the central committee in June.
Membership Contributions Working Group
At its meeting in Geneva, June 2022, the central committee approved an integrated income development strategy, while taking note of particular steps with regard to the membership contribution plan, including the formation of a working group, which was delegated to the executive committee. The proposed working group will review the membership contributions plan, seeking to incorporate values of fairness and transparency, size, and financial capacity; as well as its continued implementation through dialogue and negotiation, in the spirit of companionship and fellowship.
Report from the working group on Palestine and Israel
The executive committee discussed the Report of the WCC Working Group on Palestine and Israel, and asked the general secretary to initiate a study and educational process on distortions of theology (in coherence with already existing programmes and with member churches) towards dismantling the political ideological motivations.
The final report from the work will be presented to the central committee in June.
Plans and budget for 2025 approved
The executive committee received an update on programmatic work conducted since the executive committee last met in June 2024. The update is a regular item on the programme agenda to help monitor the implementation of the WCC strategic plan.
The executive committee discussed and approved programme plans for 2025. The umbrella of all programmatic work remains the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity.
The year ahead includes significant anniversaries, namely, 1700 years since the Ecumenical Council at Nicaea and the centennial of the Universal Christian Conference of Life and Work in Sweden. These are two foundational historical highlights for the ecumenical movement, particularly in the areas of ecclesiology and ecumenical social thought and action. Year 2025 will be a special Ecumenical Year, providing an opportunity for WCC member churches to reaffirm together our common apostolic faith. The executive committee also decided to launch the Ecumenical Decade for Climate Justice during the central committee meeting in June 2025.
In addition, member churches and ecumenical partners will observe, during 2025, a number of additional milestones that have marked the life and witness of the churches, including the 140th anniversary of the Berlin Conference regulating the colonization of Africa; and the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Beijing Declaration.
Commissions and reference groups
The executive committee received an update on commissions and reference groups that took place since the executive committee last met in June 2024. The update is a regular item on the programme agenda to help monitor the implementation of the WCC strategic plan.
Financial overview
The executive committee received a financial monitoring report, and an update on the Green Village property development project.
Renaming Public Witness and Diakonia to Life, Justice, and Peace
The executive committee decided to rename the programme Public Witness and Diakonia to Life, Justice, and Peace, with the goal of honouring the WCC’s historic roots in the Life and Work movement, reaffirming its theological and ethical commitments, and signalling a more integrated approach to the ecumenical movement’s calling in our time.
Faith and Order Sixth World Conference
The executive committee received a report on the planning for the Faith and Order Sixth World Conference in October 2025. The governing body also reviewed the nomination process for the conference, which will take place in Egypt under the theme “Where now for visible unity?” The conference aims to integrate outcomes from global discussions on the First Ecumenical Council occurring within churches and academic institutions, focusing on how to live the apostolic faith together today.
Communications
As the WCC will continue to address the most pressing concerns and deepest aspirations of our one human family, the main focus of the special Ecumenical Year with pilgrim-related communication in 2025 will be to invite, to inspire, and to be a catalyst for change – fostering a world with justice, reconciliation, and unity at its heart. WCC communication will reflect the most pressing concerns and deepest aspirations of people in the churches and beyond.
Meetings in 2025
The WCC executive committee and central committee will meet in Johannesburg in South Africa in June. The executive committee will meet in November 2025 in China.
Experience of Orthodox spirituality
The WCC executive committee experienced the profound depth of Orthodox spirituality during its visit to Cyprus, participating in the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom on two occasions. This liturgy, celebrated across the entire Eastern Orthodox tradition, powerfully demonstrates the unity of the Orthodox church despite current tensions, embodying the spiritual oneness to which we all aspire.
Visits to ancient churches, such as Ayia Napa Monastery, St Anna Church in Paralimni, the Church of the Transfiguration of Christ in Sotira, and St George Church in Famagusta, offered a vivid connection to the rich history and spirituality of Orthodox liturgical spaces. Some of these churches, dating back to the 5th and 6th centuries, revealed the enduring faith of the Christian community. Renovations of ancient frescoes and icons allowed the group to witness the reverence with which these sacred spaces are preserved, celebrating both their historical and spiritual significance.
A visit to the Church of the Tomb of Apostle Barnabas, though marked by sorrow over the neglect of Christian heritage in the occupied northern Cyprus, was a solemn reminder of the cost of division and the need for reconciliation. Fellowship with His Beatitude Archbishop George of Cyprus, alongside prayer and reflection in churches like Panagia Panagiotissa and St Epiphanios, deepened the group’s spiritual engagement.
The liturgy’s deep theological and mystical dimensions were a profound expression of unity and divine communion. This spiritual journey culminated in an ecumenical closing prayer in St George church, uniting the committee in shared intercession for the many troubles in the world and reaffirming the hope for greater Christian unity.
Source and photos: oikoumene.org
