World Alliance of Reformed Churches News Release 22 November 2006
COVENANTING FOR JUSTICE PROJECT ENTERS NEW ERA
The Covenanting for Justice Project of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) entered a new era following a meeting of WARC?s Officers in Geneva 13 to 18 November, engaging two consultants and embarking on an ambitious work plan over the next two years.
Officers agreed to endorse the plans that were created in meetings of the Covenanting for Justice Network held in the two days prior to their gathering.
The project continues the work of the former Department of Cooperation and Witness which culminated in a statement of the 24th General Council in 2004 (the Accra Confession) which declared that working to create a more just economy is essential to the integrity of Christian faith.
When Seong-Won Park, the long-time coordinator of the covenanting for justice efforts within the Alliance, finished his term of office in September, the work was shifted to the Office of Church Renewal, Justice and Partnership under the leadership of its executive secretary, Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth.
?It?s an opportunity to mark a new era in the life of the Covenanting for Justice Project,? WARC general secretary Setri Nyomi said at the Officers? Meeting.
Helis Hernán Barraza Díaz of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia, moderator of the Covenanting for Justice Network, added, ?This new emphasis in our mission is an important step in re-committing Latin American churches to the struggle for economic justice.?
Sheerattan-Bisnauth said the project is seeking to build a movement of churches and communities who are active in the struggle for justice and peace and are therefore a beacon of hope for life in fullness for all.
?This phase of the covenanting process seeks to strengthen the involvemen t of churches in building resistance against the evils of the empire, recognizing its pivotal role in perpetuating and intensifying economic injustice and ecological destruction,? she added.
Over the next two years the consultants will work with WARC Area Councils in Latin America, North America and Africa to bring together their churches to discuss economic justice. The consultants will develop print and web resources to promote study and action around the Accra Confession.
The consultants are:
* Roberto Jordan, an ordained minister and president of the Reformed Churches in Argentina, a member of the WARC Executive Committee who was for a number of years a part of the team working on covenanting for justice and one of the drafters of the Accra Confession; * Gretel Van Wieren, an ordained minister of the Reformed Church in America, who was involved with the covenanting for justice process with WARC from 1997 to 2004 and who has worked in Kenya and Uganda as a community development volunteer.
The two consultants will begin working out of Latin America and North America immediately. If funding is available, a third consultant from Africa will be added in 2007.
They will be building on the work already accomplished this year in two important events. The Covenanting for Justice Network and the Council for World Mission held a joint forum on the spirituality and mission of covenanting for justice in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in May. In July WARC and the United Church of Canada gathered a group of theologians and church leaders in Manila, Philippines, to develop a theological stance on global empire.
Sue Davies of the United Church of Christ in the U.S., vice-moderator of the network, said the project?s ecumenical collaboration is critical to its success.
?The Covenanting for Justice Network gives witness to God?s ?solidari ty economy? by equipping WARC churches and Area Councils as they engage in global theological reflection, discussion and action for economic justice for the earth?s peoples and wholeness for the earth herself.
?With the Council for World Mission and others we have begun a covenantin g for justice movement which is giving us the strength of companionship on the journey, courage as we struggle against imperial claims and the capacity to resist the principalities and powers of our times.?
The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) brings together 75 million Reformed Christians in 215 churches in 107 countries * united in their commitment to making a difference in a troubled world. The WARC general secretary is Rev. Dr. Setri Nyomi of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana. WARC?s secretariat is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Contact: John P. Asling Executive Secretary, Communications World Alliance of Reformed Churches 150 Route de Ferney P.O. Box 2100 1211 Geneva, Switzerland tel. +41.22 791 6243 fax: +41.22 791 6505 web: www.warc.ch