The Echos commission consists of 25 young people from a broad cross-section of churches and youth organizations within the ecumenical movement. It was set up as an "active think tank" to provide the WCC and ecumenical youth networks with new ideas on how young people can engage in ecumenical work.

Echos had its first meeting in May 2007 in Geneva, Switzerland. They set out the goals for their work until the next WCC assembly in 2013. They also came up with a name, learned more about each other’s church involvement and met with Ecumenical Officers from churches around the world 

At it’s first meeting, Echos decided to take a strong focus on mission and what this means for young people in the churches and ecumenical movement today. The group is also aware that in 2010 in Edinburgh, Scotland a large conference on mission will take place. In fact, in 1910, a mission conference took place in Edinburgh and is often cited as the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement.

Echos is motivated to ensure a strong youth involvement in the processes, meetings and discourses related to mission and this centenary mission conference.

Members of the Echos commission come from:
• each of the other WCC commissions
• from the executive committee to moderate and provide ongoing follow-up with WCC governing structures
• from the central committee and member churches
• from the broader ecumenical constituency   read more

The WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) had decided to meet in Bangalore for one of the regular meetings that is has every 18 months. Their commission is similar to Echos in that it is composed of 25 members from various churches around the world.

Since the model of meeting with other groups, such as the Ecumenical Officers in Geneva May 2007, has worked well in creating intergenerational cooperation, Echos decided to approach CWME to have a joint meeting in 2008. This means we will have joint prayers, some joint thematic sessions and social time together with the CWME members in order to strategize for Edinburgh, learn more about mission topics and raise their consciousness on the analysis and views of our younger generation of leaders
                                                                           read more

Bangalore has a lot to offer in terms of exposure and ecumenical learning. The Student Christian Movement (SCM) in India, is one of the most thriving movements of the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF). Asia as a whole is also a region with a deep and active commitment to ecumenism. We will learn from this environment where we are meeting and engage with the local youth.                                                               read more

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