News

Applications are open for the 2024 Ecumenical School on Governance, Economics and Management (GEM School) for an Economy of Life, which will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, 19-30 August 2024.

GEM School aims to train church leaders and young persons on eco-just international economics and global economic governance, thereby equipping churches with tools to enable them to engage in advocacy for transformations in the financial and economic architecture.

Co-organized by the World Council of Churches, World Communion of Reformed Churches, Lutheran World Federation, World Methodist Council, and Council for World Mission, this initiative responds to recommendations outlined in the “Sao Paulo Statement: International Financial transformation for an Economy of Life” and in the document “Economy of Life for All Now: An Ecumenical Action Plan for a New International Financial and Economic Architecture,” which identified as a priority the development of competencies in economics within churches.

Presently churches’ ethical, moral, and theological perspectives on the workings of the global economy have minimal impact on financial and economic policies, business practices and ways of thinking. To address this gap, the GEM School aims to build economic literacy within churches by equipping participants with the tools and languages to effectively advocate for urgent transformations in the global financial and economic realm.

Among candidates who meet the nomination criteria, participants will be selected with a view to achieving regional, gender, and denominational balance.

Applications are due by 1 March 2024. Selected participants will be informed by 31 March.

The justice work of the WCRC is funded by Otto per Mille, the Council for World Mission, and other partners.

(Image: Paul Jeffrey/Life on Earth)