As the world lurches through the coronavirus pandemic and its wide-ranging consequences, the World Council of Churches (WCC) will publish sets of resources for individuals, groups and faith communities to grapple spiritually with the new reality and come to terms with its meaning for their lives.The project, entitled “Healing the World: Spiritual Resources for Today,” will feature three kinds of tools for the journey, namely, Bible studies, prayers, and short-form analysis in the form of blogposts.
The first tool is a set of six Bible studies, searching biblical passages on fear and uncertainty, confidence and courage, discernment and understanding to illumine the present context.
An accompanying “backpack” will include prayers assembled from the WCC’s deep well of prayers from many regions and confessions across the ecumenical landscape, to articulate the grief and hopes of individuals and churches in their spiritual journey through the present.
And “bread for the journey” will present short blogposts to nourish reflection by exploring the many related social and theological issues posed by the virus and its aftermath, issues of access to healthcare, economic and ecological justice, gender and racial inequities, and new forms of solidarity.
“This pandemic has led so many of us to prayer, to the Bible, and to deeper reflection on our lives,” said acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca. “I hope that in the coming weeks people will find our many resources help to enlighten and encourage them in their road, as persons and communities, to healing.”
The resources will add to the abundance of guidance and analysis already available to readers through the WCC’s coronavirus page and related blogposts.
A first Bible study, probing the depths of the Psalms for reassurance, is now available. It is authored by programme executive Benjamin Simon who heads the WCC’s church relations programme and is a coordinator of the WCC’s COVID-19 Support Team. Other resources will follow, and the full set will appear in June on the WCC website.
The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 350 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC acting general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, from the Orthodox Church in Romania.
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