From the National Council of Churches in Australia

As the Australian Government prepares to introduce amendments to Migration Legislation the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) again calls for Australia to take seriously its obligations to protect refugee and asylum seekers under international law.

“Australia not only has legal obligations to asylum seekers it also has moral obligations. We are a prosperous nation and the Government is introducing legislation that will place a burden upon poorer nations in the region.” said the Reverend Tara Curlewis, NCCA General Secretary.

The Australian Partnership of Religious Organisations

We, the representatives of the major religions affiliated to the Australian Partnership of Religious Organisations (APRO), remember with sorrow the events which took place in the United States ten years ago on September 11 ("9/11"). We mourn the victims, and unite in condemnation of all acts of violence perpetrated in the name of religion.

As members of APRO, we resolve to play our part in the effort to ensure that such actions are relegated to history.

Gracious and Holy God,
You are our strength and our refuge.
In days of old you provided water and manna,
for those in the wilderness.
Today your people in the Horn of Africa,
are threatened by famine and drought.
In your great mercy provide food, water and shelter,
for these your people.

The November meeting of the NCCA Executive, as a followup to the Forum made additional resolutions with respect to;

Refugees and Asylum Seekers
The NCCA Executive minute 10.11.07 relates to the Government's policy to release children and families into the community for processing.

Supporting a vision for the future beyond the current realities for Palestinian and Jewish peoples.
The 7th Forum Minute and the NCCA Executive Minute 10.11.06 are not to be reproduced in any form without the permission of the NCCA. In addition these two Minutes are to be kept together; there should be no extraction of any one Statement from within the Minutes they are always to be seen together and to be used in this context and never in isolation of the other.

Some potions of the Forum minute have been repeatedly quoted out of context by third parties and used in ways that were not the intention of the NCCA, in some instances the misrepresentation has been corrected and in a few instances this has not been possible to achieve. The NCCA apologises for any hurt that this may have caused in the Australian community.

from Act for Peace, the international aid agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia

As South Sudan prepares to become the world’s newest country on 9 July, Act for Peace and other humanitarian organisations are deeply concerned about heavy fighting in the disputed border areas between North and South Sudan, including Abyei and South Kordofan. Between January and mid-May 2011, over 117,000 people were displaced and almost 1,400 killed in South Sudan alone, more deaths than in all of 2010.

from the National Council of Churches in Australia
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On Sunday 24 April Christians all over the world will remember God’s love and compassion as Easter is celebrated.  Easter is the time when above all other times the church pauses to remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Previous Resources

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

• 2014 “Has Christ Been Divided?” (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:1-17)
• 2013 "What does God require of us?" (cf Micah 6:6-8)
• 2012 “We will all be changed by the Victory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (cf. 1 Cor 15:51-58)
• 2011 "One in the Apostles' Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread and Prayer" (Acts 2:42)
• 2010 "You are witnesses of these things" (Luke 24:48)
• 2009 "That they may become one in your hand" (Ezekiel 37:17)

World Sunday for Peace (22 May 2011) was part of the WCC's International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) that marked the culmination of the “Decade to Overcome Violence: Churches Seeking Reconciliation and Peace”.  A variety of resources are available at www.overcomingviolence.org/sunday