World Council of Churches is a worldwide organization of hundreds of Protestant, Anglican, Old Catholic, and Orthodox churches. The council works to promote cooperation and unity among all the churches of the world. The churches that belong to the council have millions of members.
The Roman Catholic Church, though not a member of the council, works with the organization in a number of programs. The World Council of Churches has also opened discussions with such non-Christian groups as Buddhists and Muslims.
The activities of the World Council of Churches include education; worldwide missionary and evangelical work; aid to refugees, people who are sick, and people who are underprivileged; and the promotion of world peace and social and interracial justice. It has sponsored studies on the future of human society in an age of scientific and technical progress. It has also studied the role Christians should play in improving government, courts, prisons, and other social institutions.
The World Council of Churches was founded in 1948 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. A central committee meets annually to set council policies. The council’s administrative center is in Geneva, Switzerland. It also has an office in New York City. The World Council of Churches website at http://www.oikoumene.org provides additional information.
