Young People Needed for WCC Stewards Programme 2011

Young Christians from around the world are invited to apply to the World Council of Churches (WCC) stewards programme for one of two hands-on learning experiences at major ecumenical meetings in 2011, the WCC Central Committee meeting, 8-24 February, and the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation, 12-26 May. Applicants must be between the age of 18-30 years.

During the meetings stewards work in the areas of worship, conference room and press office staffing, documentation, sound, and other administrative and support tasks. Details of the two meetings where stewards are required are as follows:

1.  The WCC Central Committee meets every 18 months in Geneva, Switzerland to monitor and set directions to the Council's work. The meeting brings together about 150 church representatives, advisers and observers from WCC member churches and associated organizations worldwide. Twenty stewards will help to make this event happen.

2.  The International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) will gather some 1000 participants from all over the world in Kingston, Jamaica. Participants of many different backgrounds will witness to the peace of God as both gift and responsibility of the entire human family. The IEPC stewards programme will have 45 participants, with one third of them coming from Jamaica and the Caribbean.
Before the meetings, stewards follow an ecumenical learning programme which exposes them to the key issues of the ecumenical movement worldwide. The last phase of the stewards programme, following the meeting, focuses on designing ecumenical projects which stewards will implement back home. Being a steward means hard work, but it is also a unique ecumenical experience of togetherness with young people from different churches, countries and cultures.

I encourage young people from our diocese to consider applying to be stewards at either of these events. The cross-cultural and linguistic skills and lived ecumenical experience of many of our young adults will be valuable gifts to bring. I also invite the priests of the diocese to consider encouraging applications from suitable young adults in their congregations.

Applicants are invited to send in the application form by 30 September 2010 for the Central Committee by 30 November 2010 for the IEPC.  More information on the WCC stewards programme can be found here.
Download the information brochure (pdf, 275 KB) here. Download the application form (pdf 60 KB) here.

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