Moderated by outgoing World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the televised 80-minute invites all member churches and partners around the world, as well as the public, to learn more about pertinent issues, such as:
- Why collaboration at all levels in society is important and how faith communities can contribute in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, along with health authorities and governments.
- How church leaders’ constituencies are responding to the pandemic, and how they are accompanying their congregations.
- How to ensure that information received from WHO is distributed and is adhered to.
- How to uphold church life, worship services and convene congregations in conditions of a total shutdown.
- Key aspects of church practices and traditions, that can assist us during quarantine and isolation.
- How do we deal with stigma and discrimination against certain nationalities that have surfaced along with the pandemic?
Participants:
- Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general secretary (moderator)
- Dr Mathews George Chunakara, general secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia
- Sarah Hess, WHO Information Network for Epidemics (EPI-WIN), Health Emergencies Programme
- Rev. Dr Hyunju Bae, Presbyterian Church of Korea, member of the WCC Executive Committee
- Archbishop Job of Telmessos, Permanent Representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the WCC, and Rector of the Institute of Post-Graduate Studies in Orthodox Theology in Chambésy, Switzerland
- Ebun James, general secretary, Council of Churches of Sierra Leone
- Dr Olivia Wilkinson, director of Research, Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities, Washington DC, USA
- Dr Katherine Marshall, professor of Practice and Senior Fellow, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University and Executive Director, World Faiths Development Dialogue
- Dr Mwai Makoka, WCC programme executive for Health and Healing
“All in all, a diverse panel of experts in relevant fields, which we hope can shed light on urgent issues,” Tveit concludes.
Find more WCC resources on COVID-19 here.
Learn about and join new faith and COVID-19 resource platform with Berkley Center at Georgetown University, JLI, and World Faiths Development Dialogue here.