WCC represented at German Kirchentag

Ecumenical studies in Bossey was one of the hot topics at the WCC booth in Kirchentag 2019. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC

Conversations at the World Council of Churches (WCC) exhibition booth at the 19-23 June German Kirchentag in Dortmund showed there is a growing interest in ecumenical movement among German churches.

“The presence of the World Council of Churches at the Kirchentag festival in Dortmund enabled many conversations with the German public on ecumenism and ecumenical initiatives in which German churches can be involved,” said Marianne Ejdersten, WCC director of communication. “Among the most interesting topics were the Thursdays in Black campaign and ecumenical studies in Bossey”, she added.

Ms Ejdersten continued: “Our cooperation with the hosting Church of Westphalia contributed a lot to the visibility of Thursdays in Black in the German context, standing together for a world free of rape and violence.”

“Many students of theology and of other relevant disciplines stopped by and were highly interested and fascinated in the Bossey Ecumenical Institute study program and the possibilities of not only learning about world Christianity out of books but also by the daily personal encounters,” said Rev. Dr Benjamin Simon, Professor of Ecumenical Missiology at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland.

“Visitors of the Kirchentag are very much interested in concrete initiatives and enterprises - they want to have ideas and suggestions to take home and to implement,” he added. [WCC News]