24 September 2013

As part of the preparations for the upcoming World Council of Churches (WCC) assembly in Korea, young delegates to the event recently got together in Geneva to strategize on making youth contributions to the assembly and to the WCC youth programme more meaningful – envisioning a “youth pilgrimage for justice and peace”.

These young delegates to the WCC assembly met in Geneva, Switzerland, from 18 to 20 September. They will be representing their churches at the 10th Assembly of the WCC, set to take place from 30 October to 8 November in Busan, Republic of Korea. The theme of the assembly is “God of life, lead us to justice and peace.”

“We as a fellowship of young Christians are empowered by God to advocate, build bridges and participate in decision-making within the ecumenical movement,” affirmed the young delegates.

At the meeting, participants discussed trends impacting the lives of young people in churches and communities world-wide. They shared their perspectives and views about the role of the WCC’s youth programme in engaging young adults in work for justice and peace, a focus of the WCC assembly.

Participants reflected on how young people can extend their engagement on issues such as reconciliation, eco-justice and migration. These issues, they observed, will be the focus of various activities such as thematic webinars and online discussions leading up to the assembly.

At the meeting preparations for the Youth Pre-Assembly were finalized. The Youth Pre-Assembly will take place from 28 to 29 October in Busan, providing a vision for post-assembly youth work at the WCC.

The participants of the meeting included Jec Dan Silencino Borlado, Celina Falk, Nana Esi Acquah, Nicholas Pang, Ramy Farouk, Schulamit Kriener, Thomas Kang and Ya-Chi Yang.