Also, in light of the recent earthquake in Haiti, the WSCF is encouraging everyone who participates in this celebration to take up a collection for the student victims. Donations may be sent to the WSCF Latin American and Caribbean Regional office. Information is below.

Please send contributions to:
Bank Account No. 190 0523 854
SWIFT: BROUUYMM
ABA: 026003324
Bank: Republic Montevideo, Uruguay
Send email confirmation to the WSCF-Latin America and Carribbean Region at fumec (at) fumec-alc.org.

There are scholarships available for young adult participation Email NewFireYoungAdults (at) gmail.com to get the scholarship application forms, which are due on Monday, January 25th!

A vision statement which declared, “New Fire is movement-building work to call the Church to re-imagine its mission to live out the God-given mandates of love, justice, unity, and peace on a global, regional, and local level” was given the backing of the participants of New Fire, with the launching of the Ecumenists of All Ages fundraising initiative. All of the young adults present made their commitment to the movement by donating at least their age, seeing a collection of more than $650 lay the foundation of their work together. The invitation to partner with and to match this commitment will be extended to the participants of the National Council of Churches and Church World Service General Assembly on Tuesday.

A set of goals was also adopted, first in the next 6 months, and then in the next year. Participants committed to:

• Form New Fire Task Force, expand diversity and representation 
• New Fire concept paper and grant proposal finalized including long term wish list  
• Funding for next year’s New Fire event 
• Tools for witness:  logo, tagline, and promotional materials 
• Seed grant pilot program, empowering local ecumenical possibilities  
• Organized single database of contacts for targeted outreach 
• Launch and further develop the Ecumenists of All Ages Campaign and  involve at least 100 under 35 and 100 over 35 
• Fundraiser/Development roundtable for deepened collaboration           
• Leadership training – resources, tool-kits, trainers - empowering young adults for local ecumenical work 

All of this was the result of a weekend full of worship, conversation, relationship building, and issue education. The participants of New Fire 2009 began on Saturday by hearing from more seasoned ecumenical leaders, including the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, who challenged the participants with the message of unity in Christ, saying, “Unity is not a matter of us coming together in agreement. God has acted in Christ to bring the world together to God's own self. Everyone who has communion with Christ is united with everyone who has communion with Christ.”  They also heard from Rev. Peg Chemberlin, the President-elect of the Council, who told them to, “Don't wait for the title, don't wait for the authority, take a risk." 

Saturday afternoon saw participants explore different forms of ecumenical dialogue that they could take back to their local contexts, including a theological table discussion of ministry, social justice trainings on climate change, immigration, health care, and gun violence, and just some table conversation over dinner. The evening ended as they began discussing their vision and goals for the movement, preparing for the work of the next day, before closing in a powerful worship that included pieces from numerous different traditions. 

On Sunday, participants began with worship, at the Church of All Nations in Minneapolis. Worship was a blend of the Church of All Nations sharing their multicultural vision for the church and the New Fire movement sharing their ecumenical vision – and exploring the intersections between the two. Church of All Nations was chosen as the New Fire movement seeks unity not only among communions, but unity in Christ among different ethnicities and genders.  

That afternoon saw the further development of the purpose statement and goals, including the Ecumenists of All Ages Initiative and plans on a more sustained fundraising proposal – with a concept paper presented including things like a permanent New Fire Movement coordinator, a New Fire Task Force, and young adult participation in ecumenical events. Even more significant, in an effort to build local participation in the movement, were ideas around local ecumenical training, seed grants for local ecumenical events, and regional events to make the movement more grassroots.

The evening was spent sharing the vision of the movement with seasoned ecumenists, including National Council of Churches staff and denominational representatives. The New Fire Movement shared their vision, proclaiming, “New Fire is movement-building work to call the Church to re-imagine its mission to live out the God-given mandates of love, justice, unity, and peace on a global, regional, and local level.”  An intergenerational conversation around the goals and vision explored how the seasoned ecumenists can aid the members of New Fire in achieving their goals  - but also saw the young adults calling on the seasoned ecumenists to join them in this revitalization of the ecumenical movement.

Sunday evening closed with another powerful time of worship together, as participants lit candles around the purpose statement, dedicating themselves to carrying this vision forward.  Monday concluded the event as they gave concrete ways they would take their experience with them - committing to financial support, spreading the word, and taking ecumenical action at home. Prayer partners were picked to help sustain one another in the journey, before the participants closed in prayer.

New Fire, “creates a space to work for human reconciliation, and facilitates new vision through awareness-raising, relationship-building, education, ecumenical formation, worship, civic engagement, and leadership training.” This is the vision for a revitalized young adult movement, a flame dreamed of, and then put into action, by the participants of New Fire 2009.

NCC Photo by Kathleen Cameron.

After church the New Fire delegates met with ecumenists over 35 — "seasoned ecumenists" in the lexicon of young adults — to talk about building momentum to keep the New Fire movement going forward.

Worship was a blend of the Church of All Nations sharing their multicultural vision for the church and the New Fire movement sharing their ecumenical vision – and exploring the intersections between the two.

The Church of All Nations was chosen as the New Fire movement seeks unity not only among communions, but unity in Christ among different ethnicities and genders. The church describes itself as, “high-risk, low-anxiety church because our hope is in Jesus Christ. We are committed to being honest, transparent and vulnerable with one another, just as Jesus modeled." Following worship, members of the church exchanged stories with members of New Fire about what it means to be vulnerable in the church, and share with one another.

After worship, participants moved to doing the work aimed at sustaining the New Fire movement into the future. The afternoon began with sharing of methods of communication to continue building the relationships that have been formed, and that will continue to be formed, and then moved into a fundraising opportunity to sustain the movement.  Entitled “Ecumenists of all Ages”, participants were challenged to give their age in a donation to the movement – donations which the General Assembly of the National Council of Churches and Church World Service will be challenged to match in the coming week.

Plans were also laid for a more sustained fundraising proposal – with a concept paper presented including things like a permanent New Fire Movement coordinator, a New Fire Task Force, and young adult participation in ecumenical events. Even more significant, in an effort to build local participation in the movement, were ideas around local ecumenical training, seed grants for local ecumenical events, and regional events to make the movement more grassroots.

The evening was spent sharing the vision of the movement with seasoned ecumenists, including National Council of Churches staff and denominational representatives. The New Fire Movement participants shared their vision, proclaiming, “New Fire is movement-building work to call the Church to re-imagine its mission to live out the God-given mandates of love, justice, unity, and peace on a global, regional, and local level.” 

An intergenerational conversation around the goals and vision explored how the seasoned ecumenists can aid the members of New Fire in achieving their goals - but also saw the young adults calling on the seasoned ecumenists to join them in this revitalization of the ecumenical movement.

With a vision, goals, and fundraising momentum behind them, the participants of New Fire will spend Monday exploring ways to stay connected, stay involved, and keep the flames of the movement burning.

NCC Photo by Kathleen Cameron.

Browse photogallery from New Fire 2009.

"The world desperately needs our example," said the Rev. David V. Fraccaro, Young Adult Ecumenical Formation Coordinator for the National Council of Churches who provided staff support for the New Fire 2009 planning team.

"We are a broken, fragmented world," Fraccaro told the conferees. "We can be a powerful witness for Christ, especially if this movement catches fire."

New Fire 2009 is meeting November 7-9 prior to the annual General Assembly of the National Council of Churches and Church World Service. The General Assembly meets in Minneapolis November  10-12.

The first New Fire gathering was held a year ago prior to the General Assembly in Denver. The event generated much enthusiasm on the part of young adults who discovered they had an important role to play in the ecumenical movement. The movement has a Web page created by the Young Adult Task Force of the U.S. Conference for the World Council of Churches, www.faithconnectsus.org, and considerable energy has gone into the planning of the current meeting.

One of the group's goals, Fraccaro said, is to bring together young adults who are already active in unrelated ecumenical and interfaith groups.

"There are numerous young adult organizations that are meeting all the time, but if you go to their meetings you'll never see a familiar face," Fraccaro said. "A lot of people have never heard of the other organizations."

Another goal of New Fire is to reintroduce ecumenism to young adults who have lost interest. "We want to take ecumenism down from its elite rafters and make that world real for you," Fraccaro said.

The Rev. Reggie Bachus of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., leading the group in opening worship, expressed high hopes for the movement,. "We need to know there is still power in the Holy Spirit, still power in our being together," he said. Citing the popular movie, Field of Dreams, Bachus said, "If you ignite the flame, they will come.

Leaders the young adults describe as "seasoned ecumenists" were present to encourage the group.

The Rev. Peg Chemberlin, executive director of the Minnesota Council of Churches who will be installed next Thursday as President of the National Council of Churches, urged the participants not to wait until they were older to seize the mantle of leadership.

She cited Joshua DuBois, a 26-year-old who now staffs the White House office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. DuBois went to then Senator Barack Obama three times before he was able to convince the senator to add him to his staff.

"Don't wait for the title, don't wait for the authority, take a risk," Chemberlin advised the young adults.

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC General Secretary, asserted that "the unity of the church is a gift, not simply an achievement. Unity is not a matter of us coming together in agreement. God has acted in Christ to bring the world together to God's own self. Everyone who has communion with Christ is united with everyone who has communion with Christ."

The message of ecumenism is that all Christians are inexorably united and can no longer look upon other Christians as different, Kinnamon said.

He recalled sitting in a meeting the Chaldean bishop of Baghdad during the 1991 assembly of the World Council of Churches in Canberra, Australia, when the U.S. was bombing Iraq.

"The bombs are falling on you, too," the bishop said, pointing out that if Christian sisters and brothers in Christ were experiencing the bombing in Baghdad, all Christians shared the experience.

Kinnamon urged the young adults to reject modern idolatries of Christianity, including "the idolatry of claiming absolute knowledge of God's will. God is God and we aren't."

The Rev. Ann Tiemeyer, director of the NCC's Women's Ministries, urged participants to be patient. "We need to stand together on the historic (ecumenical) movement that is there and not reject it because the structure cannot move fast enough," she said. "The ecumenical movement is about relationships and listening."

The New Fire participants will worship Sunday in the Church of All Nations, a Presbyterian congregation in Minneapolis. They will be joined Sunday evening by ecumenical officers of NCC member communions and by National Council of Churches and Church World Service staff.

The sessions Monday morning will include a strategy session on how to stay connected.

We have a wonderful planning team of a dozen young adults who are working together to ensure this year's New Fire gathering builds upon last year's momentum. While the young adult ecumenical scene has changed considerably over the past year, our purpose and goals with New Fire have become more focused and refined. We believe that the crucial work of building and sustaining an inclusive and increasingly expansive young adult ecumenical movement in the US requires us to prepare and empower young adult leaders for ecumenical work on the local level. We further believe that greater connection to the goals and aims of the National Council of Churches, Church World Service, the World Council of Churches, and the World Student Christian Federation, and many other ecumenical initiatives will help bring greater efficiency and cohesion to our work together as young adults, and for the greater ecumenical movement as a whole.

Official New Fire 2009 programming will begin at 9am on Saturday morning, November 7th and will continue through Monday afternoon at 4pm, November 9th. We encourage where possible for participants to stay through the opening day of the NCC/CWS General Assembly for the young adult led worship and New Fire presentation on Tuesday evening, November 10th. Registered participants will be given a more specific schematic of New Fire 2009, as well as numerous preparatory resources a few weeks before the gathering.

The attached application provides all of the needed logistical information about the New Fire gathering. Please note that we are asking participants to arrive on Friday evening, November 6th into Minneapolis and depart after 4pm on Monday November 9th if possible. Participants are encouraged where possible however to stay through the young adult led worship and New Fire presentation as a part of the GA on Tuesday evening, November 10th. The registration feel is $50, and will include all meals from Saturday morning through Monday afternoon. There is specific information on hotel arrangements in the application. Please note that the registration deadline is Oct. 23rd!!

Please feel free to email or call David Fraccaro, Young Adult Ecumenical Formation Coordinator with the NCC, USA if you have any questions or concerns. dfraccaro@ncccusa.org 212-870-2192

*For more info on the NCC/CWS 2009 General Assembly, please visit www.ncccusa.org/ga2009 and www.ncccusa.org/ga2009/links.htm

NCC Photo by Kathleen Cameron.

We offer particular prayer and concern for our brothers and sisters in the Student Christian Movements (SCMs) in the Philippines and Indonesia.  We especially lift up in prayer and acts of solidarity the SCM members and senior friends whose lives have been lost, whose homes have been destroyed, whose workplaces have been decimated, and whose communities have been forever changed. We also pray for the many students and senior friends who are working tirelessly in the relief efforts. We appeal to the WSCF global community to embrace them in whatever manner God calls us to do.

Finally, while it is essential to care for and seek to comfort victims and survivors, it is also imperative we seriously analyze the global context of natural disasters in a time of extreme economic inequality and irreversibly devastating climate change. We decry the global economic system that privileges some survivors with tools for survival and recovery, while hundreds of thousands of others are left with nothing. We acknowledge strong scientific evidence that floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis are increasing in frequency and intensity because of climate change.  We repent of the Christian history of consuming in unsustainable ways and of preaching a theology of domination over creation.  We call for a serious examination of economically and ecologically unsustainable actions worldwide, but most especially those done by the global north.  We urge individuals and societies to take concrete actions to slow climate change, and therefore ameliorate its exacerbation of natural disasters.  We call upon our government leaders to carry the grief of this week of disasters and tragedy into the Copenhagen summit and hope that this time of widespread pain and suffering may propel government leaders to become more determined   to agree upon thorough environmental sustainability sanctions.

In Grief and in Hope,

Mr. Horacio Mesones, Chairperson
Rev. Michael Wallace, General Secretary

A prayer for the people of the Philippines, Indonesia, Tonga, and Samoa

One: People have lost homes, personal possessions, places of worship, schools, public infrastructure.
Many: Help them rebuild.
One: People have no food, water, and shelter.
Many: Bring the basic necessities to those in need. Help communities and relief agencies work with speed and discernment; help aid to arrive on time.
One: People have lost loved ones.
Many: Help them to find the bodies for burial and closure; where this is not possible, help people find other ways to grieve. Bring healing and hope to those who have lost family members and friends.
One: People have lost a sense of security.
Many: Let people feel a sense of dignity restored as they find solutions for the future.
One: People have struggled with God.
Many: Let people know Your loving presence with them.
O God, we are overwhelmed in the presence of such loss and suffering. Make us instruments of assistance and comfort to one another, and especially to those who have lost much. Guide us all with your Holy Spirit. Comfort your people. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. 

World Student Christian Federation
Inter-Regional Office, Ecumenical Centre
5 Route des Morillons, PO Box 2100
CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel. +41 (0)22 791 6729
Email: chh (at) wscf.ch
Website: www.wscfglobal.org

Forty years after the heyday of student activism in 1968, Christian student activists from across the Christian spectrum are rising as a force once again. The planning of a beautiful revival to face the great challenges of the 21st century and take steps towards realizing the Kingdom of God has gained traction in the hearts of students near and far and this weekend a steering committee laid down the first concrete steps towards further organization and action. 

Following a historic conference in January bringing together progressive Christians with a global vision of change, students in the United States are reclaiming their prophetic voice. "Raising New Prophets: Arising of a Movement," the first North American Regional conference of the World Student Christian Federation in decades, was organized to re-energize a student Christian movement in the U.S. Now, 9 months later, a steering committee is deep in strategic planning sessions towards grassroots networking of ecumenical communities on campuses nation-wide.

Included within this session are meetings with theologians from different seminaries in New York, the trustees who carried the spirit of the movement from previous incarnations, and representatives of the National Council of Churches and World Council of Churches

This effort will culminate in October of 2010 with the official launch of the renewed student Christian movement in the United States. Student representatives from seminaries, colleges, and universities across the country will come together to discuss how they will collectively put their faith into action towards progressive Christian concerns.

The World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) is a network of more than 100 national movements in every region of the world. Founded in 1895, the WSCF was a precursor to the World Council of Churches (WCC) and now has advisory status with the WCC as well as consultative status with the United Nations and UNESCO.

"Students have struggled, and sometimes even died, to build a movement that follows the radical life of Jesus Christ," said Alice Hageman, an alumni and chair for the trustees of the U.S. Student Christian Movement (SCM), which voted itself out of existence in 1969. "It is they who paved the way."

Current leaders of the ecumenical movement recognize the debt they owe to the Student Christian Movement. The rich legacy has fostered nascent leadership for over 100 years, including the involvement of such figures as Martin Luther King Jr. and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

For more information, see www.wscfusatrustees.org and www.wscfglobal.org

Contacts:

• Luciano Kovacs, Regional Secretary, (646) 246-8936, wscfna (at) gmail.com
• Nickie Gonzalez Moreno, Student and Steering Committee Chair, Tejanachickie (at) gmail.com
• Bill Muhler, Senior Friend and member of the WSCF USA Trustees, 510-531-5155  william.muhler@comcast.net 

 The drive for more significant inclusion grew following the 2006 WCC Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil, when delegates affirmed the creation of a new body to communicate with and coordinate the involvement of youth (defined as those age 30 and under) in the life of the WCC. More than 700 youth participated in that assembly.

 Out of that came Echos – Commission on youth in the ecumenical movement, a group of 25 youth drawn from a wide range of churches and other ecumenical youth organizations. The name of the commission is drawn from the Greek word for “sound”, signifying its desire to send the waves of its voices rippling into the future of ecumenism.

 Echos held its first meeting in May 2007, and it has continued to build. Four working groups have been developed: collaboration with the WCC, networking with the wider ecumenical movement, ecumenical formation and communications.

 “When we held our first meeting, we were full of expectations and ideas, and full also of fears” of the challenges ahead, said Diana Fernandes dos Santos of Brazil, who serves as moderator of Echos. “Now we can see some progress in understanding what ecumenism means and what are the real opportunities where young people can participate in the WCC and the wider ecumenical movement.”

 The youth are clear that they don’t want those opportunities to be token roles or involvement at the edges of organizational life. They want to be involved in significant, meaningful ways at the heart of the WCC’s work and in the world beyond.

 “Establishment of Echos is a very good sign . . . of wanting to hear the voice of young people,” said Rev. Aaro Rytkönen, a youth member of the WCC Central Committee from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. “But it is not enough. Youth issues cannot be outsourced to a small group.”

 Rytkönen noted that youth are gathering ecumenically on their own and will not wait for the WCC to catch up. He said the WCC needs to “take bold steps toward new ways of thinking” and working. Youth want to be engaged in specific issues, he said, and their unique experiences already give them specific knowledge and skills to offer.

 WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia again affirmed the need to embrace those gifts in his address to Central Committee on 26 August. Kobia said youth have a “crucial role” to play in the discernment of the WCC’s future. After his address, he invited Fernandes to read a statement from Echos – one that urged a forward-looking vision.

 “We are spending too much energy lamenting over budget cuts and for nostalgia of things past,” the statement said. “Instead, let us put our energy into a new vision for the future of the ecumenical movement in this changing world.” It challenged the WCC not simply to train the next generation “to be good central committee members” but to equip youth – and people of all generations – to engage the ecumenical movement, especially locally.

 There have been positive steps. Ray Ranker, a student at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, USA and a member of the Echos commission, says that, on the whole, the WCC and its central committee “have been very receptive to our contributions … I feel the WCC has taken seriously the assembly’s commitment to youth.”

 For example, youth have been placed on WCC “Living Letters” delegations to areas dealing with violence and are serving as members of various WCC commissions and committees. Others are involved in regional ecumenical movements, such as the “New Fire” young adult events in the US, scheduled to meet again in Minneapolis in November.

 Ranker said he has encountered other youth, especially youth serving on central committee, who have expressed excitement at the new directions and greater opportunities to have their voice heard. The challenge now, Ranker said, is to reach out to those who aren’t already involved in the life of the WCC.

 Echos plans to have a presence at various ecumenical gatherings, such as the 2010 Edinburgh conference on world mission, he said. It also hopes to have a website up by early next year and is developing an internal database that will help to match the gifts of youth around the world with the needs of the WCC.

 “It’s about moving from the idea of having (a quota of youth participation) to how can youth be strong contributors, participating in the full life of the WCC,” Ranker says. “I think we really want to come to the next assembly (in 2013) and hopefully show our goals and the work we’ve done.”

 In the meantime, Echos and the young people it represents will continue their quest to move fully into the centre of WCC activity. Ranker and Fernandes both said they will be reaching out to general secretary-elect Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, offering their support and their ideas. And they will continue to reach out to young people everywhere.

 “We want to encourage people to be engaged and to contribute,” Fernandes said. “It’s not the time to advocate for space any more, but to solidify that space. Young people are all the time knocking at the doors. Now they are here. We need the WCC to say very clearly what we can do to help and how we can contribute and serve.”

 (*) Walt Wiltschek is an ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren in the United States. He serves as editor of the denomination’s magazine, Messenger.

More information on Echos

More information on the WCC programme "Youth in the ecumenical movement: challenges and hopes"

More information on the Central Committee meeting

Here are the many ways to get to and be involved in the 2010 Edinburgh Missionary Conference!

1. Essay writing contest - http://www.edinburgh2010.org/en/participate/youth-competition/writing-contest.html

2. Multi-media contest - http://www.edinburgh2010.org/en/participate/youth-competition/multimedia-contest.html

3. Online Consultations - http://www.edinburgh2010.org/en/participate/global-discussion.html

General details are:

Submission date: 15 January 2010
Sge bracket: 18-30 years old (youth)
Pprize: invitation to the Edinburgh2010 event
contact email: 2010youth (at) googlemail.com

Schedule of Online consultation:

Block one (September 16th-30th)

1. Foundations for Mission
2. Christian Mission Among Other Faiths
3. Mission and Postmodernities

Block two (October 14th-28th)

1. Mission and Power
2. Forms of Missionary Engagement
3. Theological Education and Formation

Block three (November 11th-25th)

1. Christian Communities in Contemporary Contexts
   
2. Mission and Unity – Ecclesiology and Mission
3. Mission Spirituality and Authentic Discipleship

The platform for this consultation is on facebook.com, the direct link to the Edinburgh2010 facebook group is: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=86413318386.

There are also event invitations on facebook.com to the 3 youth events:
essay writing: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=126840822408 multi-media: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119339550811
online consultation: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119651120917

2010.global:

Since the scale of the centenary event has been down-scaled to 250 delegates, not everyone who has the interest and even resources to attend will be able to officially come. The Edinburgh2010 planners therefore recommend organizing local celebrations.. :) They also encourage to set this "local celebration" on June 6, 2010 promoting concerted celebrations all around the world..! With technological advancements, we may even get to have live broadcasts from the different celebrations being held.. The concept of "celebrations online" is excitin(http://www.edinburgh2010.org/en/participate/2010global.html)

• an ecumenical act of worship
• a youth night
• a drama presentation
• an outreach event
• a home group celebration

The website offers a simple template for designing and building and local event.

Edinburg2010 related events in 2009, 2010, and beyond:

here is a list of events (also found at the website) for your informaiton that will happen by year..
look for your continent.. :)

• 2009 - http://www.edinburgh2010.org/en/events/chruchevvents0.html
• 2010 - http://www.edinburgh2010.org/en/events/other2010projects.html
• beyond 2010 - http://www.edinburgh2010.org/en/events/eventsafter2010.html

*News and Newsletters: For news on the developements of Edinburgh2010 in general you can always visit the website and navigate to their news page.. however, if you wish news/newsletters to be sent to your email account you have to subscribe (starting point: link below) or just regularly check the same link.. http://www.edinburgh2010.org/en/news/newsletter.html

Commission on Youth tries to understand opportunities and challenges faced by the youth in their respective Church and society. It tries to respond to social issues and commit them for a meaningful social engagement. In order to strengthen and promote ecumenical youth participation and leadership, NCCI-COY plans to organize a National Ecumenical Youth Assembly (NEYA) based on the theme Come, Let's be Friends, from 6 - 10 January 2010 in St.Thomas School, Kolkata, India. 2010 is also the centenary year of the World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh 1910. Commemorating the centenary year, Ecumenical Youth Assembly will also be reflecting to identify new and creative perspectives in the direction of ecumenical mission in the 21st century.

Come, Let’s Be Friends, is a universal beckoning by the young people to the whole of humanity. It is a call to renew and revitalize their tampered and broken relations with their fellow beings, nature and the creator. Throughout history humanity has been connected through various relations, but the one relation that is best cherished by everyone is the relationship of friendship. Commission on Youth offers friendship as a new and inclusive paradigm of relation to ecumenism for relating with the whole of creation. It believes that friendly relation alone will bind and unite all humanity together. National Ecumenical Youth Assembly targets to gather hundreds of youth from different Christian denominations and religious traditions from around the world, for more details please visit the exclusive website: https://sites.google.com/site/neya2010/.

Youth delegates pledged to keep global warming high on the international agenda as the Tunza International Youth Conference on Climate Change, organized by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), ended today in Daejeon, Republic of Korea.

"Climate change is the greatest threat we are facing in the 21st century, and many countries are vulnerable. If we the children and youth don't act now, we cannot be sure there will be a future for us, for future generations. We want to make sure that future generations will inherit a better place to live in", outgoing Tunza Youth Advisory Board member, 22-year old Jessie James Marcellones from the Philippines, said.

Regional Action Plans, agreed during the Conference and covering Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, and West Asia, include:

• Mobilizing youth for the upcoming UN climate change meeting that opens on 7 December in the Danish capital
• Reaching out to other environmental groups, especially during the 21-25 September Climate Week
• Educating others about the Copenhagen meeting on campuses, in school and among churches, sports teams and more
• Letter-writing, phone banking, visiting officials to “Seal the Deal”
• Social networking through the Unite for Climate, Facebook, Twitter and other e-fora
• College campaigns and tree planting initiatives

The 220 youths, aged 15-24, were joined by 580 children in Daejeon City in the Republic of Korea. It has been the largest conference of young people on climate change ever.

Seventeen-year-old Yaiguili Alvarado Garcia, from the Kuna indigenous group in Panama, expressed the need for adults to hear and listen and understand why the young need their support.

"There are a lot of indigenous cultures that are losing, because nobody wants to hear what we want to say, what we know about Mother Earth, and it is frustrating for us because we have so many things to share and the world doesn't listen to us", she said. "There are many things we asked the Governments to do and we know it is hard, but we want to work with them, we just want to make a better place for the children, for the animals and plants. It is about time we stop thinking just for us and think also for other beings that cannot speak for themselves. It is time to stop being selfish."

Yaiguili Alvarado Garcia is among the 13 newly elected Tunza Youth Advisory Council members. The Tunza Youth Advisory Council has two Youth Advisors for each of the six regions, and two representing indigenous groups. The Council advises UNEP on better ways of engaging young people in its work and represents youth in international environmental negotiations.

"This global youth and children gathering under Seal the Deal Campaign is the largest international gathering of young people this year advocating for climate change action. Their voices will and must be heard because they will inherit the outcomes of our actions", said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

"The young people of the world are the generation that will inherit the transformational decisions Governments need to take in less than 110 days time. If their passion, commitment and ideas can be embraced by world leaders and Governments over the coming days and weeks, then a climate agreement that can put the world on track to a low-carbon, resource-efficient Green Economy can be secured", said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director.

UNEP organized the Conference with the support of the UNEP National Committee for the Republic of Korea, the Daejeon Metropolitan Government, and Tunza global programme partner, Bayer AG, as well as well as the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the World Organization of the Scout Movement, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts and 350.org. Other private sector sponsors include Hyundai-Kia Automotive group and Samsung Engineering. Nickelodeon TV Asia is the media partner for the event.

For more information and for interviews, please contact: Satwant Kaur, UNEP Information Officer for Asia and the Pacific, at +82-10555-02463, E-mail: satwant.kaur (at) unep.org Jang Jun-young, UNEP National Committee, at +82-1090963497, E-mail: jyjang (at) unep.or.kr

About Tunza: The Tunza Youth Strategy, adopted in February this year by UNEP's Governing Council, is a long-term strategy to engage young people in environmental activities and in the work of UNEP. The word “Tunza” means “to treat with care or affection” in Kiswahili. The Tunza initiative aims to develop activities in the areas of environmental awareness and information exchange on the environment for children and youth. For more information, please visit www.unep.org/Tunza/.

Information on the Conference is available at http://www.unep.org/.

The PDF text of the Conference Youth Statement, "Listen to Our Voices", is available at http://www.unep.org.

All ecumenically interested or engaged young adults are welcome to attend this year's New Fire event in Minneapolis, MN, a young adult ecumenical formation gathering that looks to build upon the momentum of the young adult ecumenical movement into the future! Please also see the attached flyer, as well a applications for the NCC's 2009 General Assembly stewards program!

More information coming this Summer!!

Please find in this posting information about upcoming WCC opportunities for young people and important information concerning the World Youth Program proposals for 2009. Let me also thank each of you for your continued support and partnership over the last few years. I will be leaving the WCC in late June this year and return to Canada to further pursue my studies. We are anticipating that a successor will be hired for the WCC Youth Programme Executive position in July 2009. Please copy your future correspondence to our colleague Cristina Rendon RMC (at) wcc-coe.org during this time of staff transition. She can help you with any questions you may have as she knows the WCC's work and is familiar with our ecumenical youth partners.

World Youth Program Thank you to those who cooperated in the World Youth Program for sending us your 2008 reports! For those who intend to apply to the WYP in 2009 I encourage you to send us your proposals by the end of May if possible in order that I may screen them before leaving the office. Please contact me for a 2009 WYP proposal template. From July to early September, the new staff person will be fully occupied with the Stewards program and WCC governing body meetings that start in August. Realistically, WYP proposals sent after the end of May won't be screened until October. Please keep this in mind if your organization intends to apply to the WYP this year.

We will soon be including examples and highlights from projects supported by the WYP in 2008 on the WCC website. We hope this will provide visibility to the important work that young people are doing in the ecumenical movement. If we include highlights from a project that your organization has carried out, we will be sure to include any web links available so that people can find more information. General information about the World Youth Program and the highlights can be found at: www.ecumenicalyouth.org.

Due to a few factors, the WYP has less funding available for youth initiatives this year. Our contract with UCC-CIDA (Canadian Government Development Agency) came to an end after 2008 so fewer funds are available for youth projects especially in Asia and Africa regions. In WCC's reporting to CIDA this year we will ask for information how and if youth organizations can make proposals for further funding directly with them. Also because of the financial crisis we had to make some budget cuts to all our WCC activities including the youth program.

In light of the global financial crisis, it might be a strategic and important moment to make a statement together as youth actors and organizations in the ecumenical movement to point out: 1) The importance of investing in young people's leadership and capacity building 2) Provide examples of how we are working responsibly and cooperating together-as a commitment to support one another and make the most of our resources.

If you have any input or advice to give on such a message please share this with me. I will share this idea with other youth organizations whose headquarters are based in Geneva. If we can come up with some common message, I will let you all know and ask if you/your organization are willing to sign on. This can then be a message for our churches, partners and ecumenical family to show that in time of economic crisis, recovery depends on investing in young people to build up strong, sustainable societies. In the meantime, let us continue to hold one another in prayer during these difficult times.

Young Journalists If you are aware of any skilled young journalists in your networks and think they could benefit from an international, ecumenical experience, please contact the WCC Communications director, Mark Beach MEB@wcc-coe.org . He is trying to mobilize a small network of young journalists that he can invite to cover upcoming WCC events.

Youth E-News If you have any information that you can share for the WCC Youth monthly E-News (such as upcoming events, opportunities for young people, press releases, reports from past youth initiatives, other ecumenical resources, updated website) please share these with our intern, Mark Taylor, who is working with the WCC youth this year MTA (at) wcc-coe.org. He will be more than happy to include your youth-related ecumenical news. young people! Another opportunity for young people is available if you and your organization can identify youth leaders from your networks and region who would be skilled resource leaders (i.e. leading workshops, bible study, panelists etc) for the WCC International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) in 2011, Jamaica. My colleagues are already starting to compile a database of potential resource leaders and I have worked with them to identify young people. Your input would be very helpful in this process.

More information about the DOV and IEPC Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV): http://www.overcomingviolence.org ; International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC): http://www.overcomingviolence.org/?id=3267

DOV Staff contacts: Mr. Hansuli Gerber (DOV coordinator) HUG (at) wcc-coe.org; Ms. Segma Asfaw (DOV expert consultations & IEPC) SAS (at) wcc-coe.org ; Ms. Nan Braunschweiger (IEPC coordinator) NAN (at) wcc-coe.org.

Echos Publication on Ecumenical Formation-looking for young writers and contributions If you are aware of young people that could write an article about Ecumenical Formation-theological and/ or methodological reflections-please send your ideas for authors to NMA (at) wcc-coe.org. The WCC Echos Commission on Youth is working on a publication of intergenerational perspectives on Ecumenical Formation. A general call for submissions should be made as well as specific invitations to individual authors for articles.

We are looking forward to continuing the ecumenical cooperation with you and continuing to strengthen this young generation. Let me also add that it has been a real privilege to work with you and your organization over the last five years. I have been truly inspired by the work you are carrying out in the region. I hope this finds you very well and that you will continue to be guided and strengthened by God to carry out your important work.

With peace and solidarity, Yours in Christ,

Natalie Maxson

Programme Executive Youth (Young Adults)
World Council of Churches,
Geneva
Tel: +41 22 791 6030
Fax: +41 22 791 6406
nma (at) wcc-coe.org
http://www.ecumenicalyouth.org

Over eighty participants from many parts of the U.S. and Canada convened in three San Francisco venues.  There were also WSCF representatives coming from the Philippines, Columbia, and Denmark, and international student SCM’ers studying in the U.S. from India, Cameroon, and Hong Kong.  One day was hosted by the Episcopal Grace Cathedral, the second by the Presbyterian Westminster House Campus Ministry at University of California - Berkeley, and the third by the Women’s Building in the Mission District.  Moving around to these places allowed people a chance to see different aspects of the Bay Area, and actually physically move around as the spirit of a movement was growing.       

Lively worship, music, and Biblical reflection were interspersed through the weekend and was a highlight for many who attended.  Organically formed working interest groups met throughout the weekend and included: eco-justice, migration, gender issues and sexual minorities, affordable housing, and peace-making.  Students heard an introductory welcome speech by Luciano Kovacs, an historical retrospective on the WSCF by Alice Hageman, Chair of the Trustees of the WSCF in the U.S., and a keynote speech on resurrection-centered Christology by Professor Rita Nakashima Brock.  Representatives from several Bay Area activist groups came to Grace Cathedral to meet and network with students.  Participants also spent a day in Berkeley, toured the University of California, Berkeley, the Graduate Theological Union campus, and historical sites of student activism and protest in the 1960’s.  On the evening of that day, the local Senior Friends of the SCM held a banquet to which 30 additional participants came.  Most of these people had had a long involvement in various forms of campus ministry and were very interested in finding out ways to get more students involved in ecumenical and global programs and projects.       

By the end of the conference, virtually all of the participants became committed to a vision of revitalizing the SCM in the United States.  A steering committee was formed to begin to plan for future conferences, projects, and movement building.  Fund raising will be an important part of these future activities, and the U.S. Trustees, the North American Region, and the Inter-Regional Office of the WSCF in Geneva are all committed to increasing our staff and office support and making sure that a new U.S. SCM gets off to a solid start.  ~Report by Bill Muhler, WSCF Senior Friend & U.S. Trustee

Reflection from Shantha Ready, Student Vice Chair of the World Student Christian Federation

Picture this: An old University of Berkley campus ministry building with a long, red WSCF General Assembly banner hanging in the foyer, colorfully set tables full of flowers and delicious food, a full room packed with 80 students and 30 senior friends, a team of amazing volunteer ecumenists from a local church helping serve, a silent auction on the patio full of generous donations of interesting books and art, lots of wine, and a flying pig.  This was the scene at the senior friends banquet, where many who had long wished for the rebirth of the WSCF North American Region of the global  WSCF fellowship met new students who plan to return from San Francisco and bring SCMs to their campuses.  Some said this scene would be possible only when pigs could fly.  In fact, North American Regional Committee treasurer Catherine Johannson brought a relic of the past to San Francisco: a one-winged wooden pig figurine, along with its severed wing and a hot glue gun.  This figurine had survived years of being jostled around in boxes, a little symbol of the North American region's potential for rebirth as.. biologically impossible. But, in that room full of WSCFers old and new, made possible by the "hot glue" of the phenomenal organizing skills of our Regional Secretary, the dedication of our San Francisco planning team, the support of SCM Canada, the faithful stewardship of the US Trustees, the service of our ecumenist volunteers, and the witness of the Global Federation, we achieved the impossible on Saturday night. In a moving liturgical celebration, the severed wing of the pig was re-attached, and so the North American Region flies.  We closed with a moving rendition of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," a song that has resounded throughout the struggle for African American equality, and felt appropriate to our official weekend in San Francisco marking our re-birth: 

Lift every voice and sing, till earth and Heaven ring, 

Ring with the harmonies of liberty; 

Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies, 

Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. 

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, 

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; 

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, 

Let us march on till victory is won.

May our efforts to engage and activate Christian students on campuses across the U.S. and Canada fan the flames of the New Fire Movement to spread the ecumenical vision among young people!  

Applications are due March 31, 2009.

More information and an online application are available at the WCC website.

• Rev. Motoe Yamada (UMC and WCC Central Committee)
• Mr. Ray Ranker (ELCA and ECHOS)
• Rev. Robyn Fickes (DoC)
• Ms. Katrice Noland (PNBC)
• Ms. Laura Everett (UCC and Mass. Council of Churches)
• Mrs. Kathryn Lohre (ELCA and WCC Central Committee)
• Mr. Reggie Bachus (NBC, USA Inc.)
• Rev. Eric Fister (UCC and EAPPI)
• Mr. Jordan Blevins (Church of the Bretheren and NCC Eco-Justice)
• Mr. David Fraccaro (UCC and US Conf for the WCC Young Adult Ecumenical Formation Coordinator).

Send your greetings to the task force below!

See the attached program, as well as the joint statment the New Fire young adults presented to the NCC General Assembly on November 11th, 2008!

Statement from Young Adult New Fire Participants (.pdf)

New Fire 2008 Program (.pdf)

Image © Kathleen Cameron

Please see the following internship opportunities below, and if you have questions about specific internships, please contact the respective program executive listed.

• Communications Justice and Advocacy Intern
• Communication and Website Intern, New York City
• Communications Intern - Women's Ministries
• Poverty Outreach and Advocacy Intern
• Health Network Internship- Network & Web Development

Visit the National Council of Churches USA website for more information.

The task force will present on its accomplishments throughout the last year, and put forward some recommendations for the young adult ecumenical movement in 2009. This year's annual meeting has been strategically located in our nation's capital to provide an opportunity for WCC member churches in the US to deliver a message outlining hopes for a new administration in moving our nation forward. Other themes to be addressed will include the Middle East, Racial Reconciliation and Climate Change.

Distinguished guest speakers will include NCC-USA General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, distinguished author on ethics and climate change, Dr. Larry Rasmussen, Dr. Rodney Sadler, Associate Professor of Bible at Union Theological Seminary and the Presbyterian School of Christian Education, and Elizabeth Ferris, Co-Director of the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement.  

The young adult task force will present on Tuesday, December 2nd at 7pm.  The annual meeting will take place at the Omni Shores Hotel in Washington, DC.  

Register today online at: www.wcc-coe.org.

As part of a summer subsidies program initiated by the WCC-US Conference Young Adult Task Force, the group worked in home construction, and engaged in theological group reflection on the social injustices that still affect segments of the population three years after Hurricane Katrina.

Read personal reflections and browse photos at the U.S. Conference site.

Details of the event, including photos and video, are available on the Ecumenical Water Network website.