By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) has joined global church leaders in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for the 2026 World Council of Churches (WCC) Joint Biennial Meeting of Commissions and Reference Groups on Life, Justice and Peace.
The high-level meeting, led by WCC General Secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, is running from 4 to 10 October and has brought together church leaders and practitioners from across the world at a time of armed conflict, growing inequality, ecological crisis and threats to human dignity.
ZCC is being represented by its Head of Programs for Humanitarian Services and Diakonia, Ms Maria T. Dendere, who is attending both on behalf of the organisation and as a member of the Ecumenical Diakonia Reference Group (EDRG).
At the centre of the discussions is one question: how are churches called to witness together today?
According to organisers, delegates are revisiting the ethical foundations of ecumenical social thought, drawn from more than a century of church engagement with society, and discussing principles that still hold in a fractured, fast-changing world and which need renewing.
The programme also includes an outreach component, with delegates visiting local organisations working on migration, health, refugees and climate change.
The visits have shown how communities and partners in Thailand are responding to challenges that many of the communities served by ZCC in Zimbabwe also face, providing ideas and possible partnerships.
"This event produced a shared reading of the signs of the times, renewed guiding principles for the churches' public witness, a common conference message, and stronger cooperation among WCC commissions, reference groups and ecumenical partners," ZCC said in a statement.
For ZCC, the meeting is an opportunity to share lessons from its work with communities, build partnerships with ecumenical partners worldwide, and bring home ideas that will strengthen its climate resilience, humanitarian, development, peacebuilding, and justice efforts.
The meeting is expected to produce a common conference message and renewed guiding principles for the churches' public witness.
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