Historic launch of the South African GRAPE platform in Cape Town
“As it is widely known that South Africa is the country with the widest gap between the rich and the poor it is time that a Basic Income Grant is introduced in South Africa so that we try to narrow the gap between the poor and the rich.” These are the words of Professor Leepo […]
GRAPE campaigns advance advocacy into action
Two “generations” of GRAPE activists gathered the first week of May in Windhoek, Namibia, to sharpen and deepen the advocacy campaigns in Kenya and South Africa, strengthening them for active implementation. The GRAPE—Global Reformed Advocacy Platforms for Engagement—program was established by the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) to address the enormity and complexity of […]
Next round of GRAPE applicants invited
The Global Reformed Platforms for Engagement (GRAPE) programme is looking for its next round of participants from Kenya and South Africa. The magnitude and intricacy of the inequitable economic system, coupled with the escalating climate breakdown, necessitate a paradigm shift. The GRAPE initiative endeavors to tackle the root causes of these challenges, leveraging the distinctive […]
GRAPE pilot project launched in Africa
The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) launched its new Global Reformed Advocacy Platforms for Engagement (GRAPE) project in July with African church leaders. The GRAPE project promotes, supports, and accompanies the advocacy work of WCRC member churches, amplifying the voices of local people in the struggles in which they engage and connecting them to […]
Churches, civil groups amplify calls to stop human rights abuses in Philippines
As a report on human rights abuses in the Philippines was delivered to the United Nations by the global group Investigate PH, churches and human rights groups reiterated their concerns over propagation of a culture that allows the abuse to happen. The report indicates that changes in culture, not just policies, are needed to curb […]
WCRC partners on critical advocacy issues
The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) has joined with ecumenical partners and its regions to call for justice in several critical areas: global sovereign debt relief, political reform in Peru, and the protection of freedom of religion and belief in Indonesia. Sovereign debt relief In a letter to leaders of the Group of Twenty […]
WCRC joins call to protect human rights in the Philippines
The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) has joined Christian organizations around the world “to stand with the Filipino people in light of the deteriorating situation of civil liberties and human rights in the Philippines.” Following a global virtual meeting convened by the National Council of Churches in the Philippines and International Ecumenical Convocation for […]
Churches express solidarity with people of Zimbabwe
In response to the situation in Zimbabwe, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, World Council of Churches, Lutheran World Federation, and World Methodist Council issued a pastoral letter to the people and churches in Zimbabwe. The letter was written in response to the laments of sisters and brothers in Zimbabwe and expressed “a deep concern […]
Call made for action against discrimination
A Consultation on Resisting Cultures of Discrimination, Authoritarianism and Nationalism has “discerned this to be a kairos moment when God has issued a challenge for decisive action. The appropriate theological response at this moment requires status confessionis.” The consultation was sparked by the rise of racist ideologies that are more often than not fed by […]
The Scandal of Hunger
The second annual Global Day of Prayer to End Famine is 10 June. Philip Vinod Peacock, WCRC executive secretary for justice and witness, wrote the following meditation to be shared freely. We are living in the midst of a world hunger crisis. In 33 countries throughout the world there is a “very serious” or “grave” […]