Feature stories

The first Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the 21st century "will mark the beginning of a new phase in the search for Christian unity," says WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia.

What steps must we take to achieve transformation? In this article on the Assembly theme "God, in your grace, transform the world", His All Holiness Bartholomew I addresses this question and reflects on self-discovery, the healing of the community and of the earth.

The large worship tent at the World Council of Churches (WCC) 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre will be a unique space and one of the main features of the Assembly life.

Transformation has become almost a cliché. Everything needs to be transformed: individual lives, cultures, economies, societies? all. But it is not often that God or grace are named in this context.

The Internet is a revolutionary new communications space of fascinating diversity. It reflects the richness of real life, with some of its truths but many of its half-truths (and untruths!) too.

The WCC 9th Assembly will offer a diverse and innovative programme for the expected 3000 participants from virtually all Christian traditions and regions.

The theme of the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches - God, in your grace, transform the world - speaks to many people in different ways. What does it say to Christians living in a situation as difficult as that in Palestine? Naim Ateek, a leading Palestinian theologian, reflects on this question.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, contributes in the following article a reflection from the perspective of the Roman Catholic Church on the theme of the upcoming World Council of Churches 9th Assembly: God, in your grace, transform the world.

"God, in your grace, transform the world" is a prayer that, in principle, could express the yearning of people from different religions. In the following article, Rabbi Naamah Kelman from Jerusalem reflects on the theme of the upcoming World Council of Churches 9th Assembly from the point of view of the Jewish tradition.

As alien as the word might seem at first sight for the average person, "ecclesiology" is actually at the heart of the life of every Christian community. The answers that "ecclesiological" questions obtain in the churches influence the daily life of the faithful and set the course of the search for Christian unity.