A broad range of more than 600 Christian leaders ended an eight-day missions conference after hearing a plea from Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, that they be a "moral compass" for contemporary society.

ATHENS, Greece — Tensions between Orthodox and Non-Orthodox churches surfaced during the first ecumenical World Mission Conference held May 9 to 16 in Athens. Conservative members of the Greek Orthodox Church protested at the entrance to the conference center against what they perceive as proselytism or “sheep stealing” by Protestant missionaries.

The wood of olive trees uprooted near Bethlehem during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian crisis is transformed into an emblem of hope and reconciliation.

As the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) convened by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Athens, Greece, closed on Monday 16th May, Christian leaders across all denominational lines have not stopped in their passionate calls for the churches to become "healing and reconciling communities of hope".

GENEVA, Suiza - A letter from participants at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Conference on Mission and Evangelism recognizes that the centre of gravity of world Christianity has moved from the Northern hemisphere to the South and East.

The churches of the West should defend themselves against the pressures of secularisation, said the head of the Greek Orthodox Church last week at a major mission conference in Athens.

Following the historic thirteenth Conference on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME), convened by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Athens from 9-16 May, British and Irish participants are calling for “an ecumenical recovery of the central Christian vocation to announce the Good News of Jesus Christ”.

As the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) convened by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Athens, Greece, closed on Monday 16th May, Christian leaders across all denominational lines have not stopped in their response of passionate calls for the churches to become "healing and reconciling communities of hope".

Christian mission leaders from a broader-than-usual theological spectrum on Monday (May 16) ended the 13th Conference on World Mission and Evangelism hearing a potpourri of calls to find ways to respond to Christianity's growth in Africa and Asia, the AIDS pandemic and a global economic system that has elevated money to the level of an idol.

Believers from more than 100 nations gathered Sunday for the closing of one of the largest gatherings of church representatives and mission organizations in the 21st century.