The World Council of Churches has announced that the focus of two forthcoming conferences will be ‘transforming the world’.

The Chicago conference on 8 to 10 October is running under the banner of “Shift your space – transform the world: young adults connecting ecumenically for peace and justice workers”. The event is intended to “provide opportunities to draw on the strength of the unity of the church by building ecumenical connections”.

Seminarians, students and youth delegates will also meet for the WCC’s 9th Assembly running from 14 to 23 February, 2006, in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The WCC said the Assembly “will find links between their peace and justice work and the World Council of Churches, and engage with the vision for peace promoted by the initiative, ‘Decade to Overcome Violence: Churches Seeking Reconciliation and Peace 2001 – 2010 (DOV)”.

The Chicago conference will see participants engage with local peace and justice projects, which include an action with the Chicago chapter of the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, as well as giving attendees a chance to speak with peace and justice leaders within the WCC.

Conference participants will also meet with members of the U.S DOV Committee to discuss ways of improving the support of the committee for young adults in ecumenical peace and justice work.

The Conference will be held in Chicago’s Hyde Park, home to the University of Chicago Divinity School, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, and McCormick Theological Seminary, among others.

“Seminarians are at the forefront of innovative peace and justice work,” said Jenny Phillips, U.S. DOV program assistant and coordinator of the Chicago conference. “We look forward to the wisdom and insight Chicago seminarians can share.”

“Shift your space – transform the world” will be held side by side with the U.S. Conference for the World Council of Churches and the WCC Ninth Assembly Pre-Event from 10 to 12 October.

“The Ninth Assembly of the World Council of Churches has been deemed ‘the youth assembly’ by general secretary, Dr. Sam Kobia,” said Rev Deborah DeWinter, WCC program executive for the United States.