World Alliance of Reformed Churches News Release 9 May 2007
Speak out on economic and ecological injustice, WARC leader urges
Reformed churches around the world should end their silence on economic and ecological injustice, Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), told the Synod of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands on 7 May.
"Two hundred years ago churches were silent about the slave trade. If we remain silent now, we are failing God. Each individual and each congregation can do something to change their lifestyles and make an impact on economic injustice and global warming."
In his address at Ocho Rios, Nyomi said the Jamaican church has inspired many churches in the Alliance by its focus on church unity and mission. He challenged the church to join WARC's covenanting for justice movement and be in solidarity with victims of injustice.
"We live in a world in which conformity is the norm. Christians are afraid to do the will of God. If the world says talking about 'sin' is not politically correct, we refrain from talking about sin. If the world's economic systems value greed and neglect the cries of the poor, many Christians uncritically follow suit."
Nyomi reminded the Synod that Saint Paul's letter to the Romans calls on Christians to resist the temptation to conform to the ways of the world.
"If we examine the state of the world today by the measuring rod of our faith, do we believe that we can sit quietly back in satisfaction because everything is consistent with God's will for life?" the WARC leader asked.
Millions of people around the world are forced to exist on subsistence wages, do not have enough to eat or access to clean water, health care or a good education, Nyomi added.
"Some countries like Jamaica and the Cayman Islands have become wonderful vacation spots for the wealthy from other lands while large numbers of nationals are suffering within miles of the beautiful resorts."
Rules set by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) penalize hard-working people in the South.
"In the Caribbean and on the continent of Africa, there are many hard-working people who are unable to find work or earn a decent living because of how the global economy is arranged and because economic structural adjustment solutions dictated by institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank continue to render some hard-working people unemployed," Nyomi said.
"How can we stay silent when the way the household is, leads to death for some people in the household, while 20 per cent of people in the world have so much and keep wasting and throwing away what could be useful to others?"
Nyomi's address was in honour of Madame Doritte Bent who for decades has been a strong advocate for justice in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean. She was present for his address.
On 6 May the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands inducted its new moderator Henley Bernard. The church's biennial Synod is taking place until 10 May.
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The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) brings together 75 million Reformed Christians in 216 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 2, Switzerland tel. +41.22 791 6243 fax: +41.22 791 6505 web: www.warc.ch