Welcome to the 2025 Church World Service Covenant Members Convening
On October 22-23, 2025, Heads of Communion and program, advocacy, communications and general counsel staff from the 16 Covenant Members with Church World Service will be meeting in New York City for the Covenant Member Annual Convening.
Eighteen months after the creation of the Church World Service Covenant Membership and eight months after the Ash Wednesday Ecumenical Declaration, leaders from the Covenant Member Communions and Church World Service staff will celebrate the first in-person convening.
CWS President and Chief Executive Officer Rick Santos, in conversation with leadership of some Covenant Members, frames the theme of the Convening this way:
In 1945 in the aftermath of World War II, there was no Church World Service, no Marshall Plan, no United Nations and scarce humanitarian infrastructure to respond to massive human suffering. The mainline Protestant churches of the United States, inspired by Scripture, determined that they could do far more together and created a way to work together to address suffering. Church World Service, formed in that moment, took this mandate of working together over the decades to provide humanitarian relief, development support and care for refugees.Now, in 2025, values that created this approach are under attack, and the global infrastructure that sustained this work is in shambles. What are the churches called to do together? What are the churches and CWS called to do together?
Join us for a day of reflection, connecting and strategizing!
The Convening will begin with a reception with the CWS Board of Directors on Wednesday, October 22nd from 5-6:30 pm at Riverside Church in New York City. At the reception, CWS will also be honoring the Church of the Brethren and the York County Food Pantry with the annual CWS Ecumenical Award.
The Convening continues all day on Thursday, October 23rd and is designed to be very participatory and to allow for planned as well as serendipitous collaboration.
The Program for the CWS Covenant Members Convening
At the kick-off reception on Wednesday, October 22nd from 5-6:30 pm at Riverside Church in New York City, we will honor the Church of the Brethren and the York County Food Pantry with the annual CWS Ecumenical Award.
The Convening continues all day on Thursday, October 23rd and is designed to be very participatory and to allow for planned as well as serendipitous collaboration.
A compelling keynote from Dr. John Nunes, President of California Lutheran University and former President of Lutheran World Relief will begin the program. John is known as a powerful and thoughtful orator. He will offer some challenges for the participants to consider as they collectively think through the challenges.
After the keynote, participants will self-select into three break-out sessions:
- Immigration and Refugees
- Hunger and Poverty
- Domestic Disaster Response
The Details
See the detailed Convening Program Schedule here.
All of the Convening activities will be held at Riverside Church on the Upper Westside in New York City. Attendees should enter at the 91 Claremont Avenue entrance.
Registered attendees are invited to join the reception on October 22nd from 5-6:30 pm and the Convening Program on October 23rd from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm. Breakfast and lunch will be provided on the 23rd and will provide a unique opportunity for networking and discussion of topics of shared interest.
There is no limit on the number of representatives a Covenant Member may send to the Convening, but advance registration is required by August 31, 2025. Register here.
Attendees are responsible for their own travel arrangements and costs. CWS has arranged for a discounted hotel room rate at the Hotel Belleclaire, 2175 Broadway (at 75th Street) while rooms remain available. To receive the discounted rate you must book using this link: Hotel Belleclaire Reservations – CWS rate. The cost of hotel accommodation is also the responsibility of attendees.