The leadership of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee shared an Easter message with the WCC global fellowship and friends that affirms the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and its powerful liberating message.“This year, we observe Easter in a challenging context amid painful situations,” reads the message. "The COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected the whole world, is also affecting the way Easter is to be celebrated.”
Though we cannot fill the streets with processions, or express and share our Easter joy in church, we still share the mystery of Easter in our homes. “Yet, despite these traumatic and painful situations, the message of Easter continues to be a joyful one of courage and hope,” reads the message. “Easter is a reminder and encouragement that God in Christ continues to love and care for the whole world, overcoming death with life, conquering fear and uncertainty with hope.”
The Easter message also conveys that our God is a loving God, the source of life, not death.
“Dear brothers and sisters, throughout the centuries, the Easter greeting ‘Christ is risen!’ has always infused Christians with the power and courage to confront death, destruction, oppression end enslavement, fear, doubt and uncertainty,” concludes the message.
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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 general secretary is the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway.
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