wfn.org | WARC delegation urges South African Reformed Churches to keep hope alive in stalled unification

["Franziska Surber" <Franziska.Surber@warc.ch>]

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>World Alliance of Reformed Churches
>News Release
>10 March 2009

WARC delegation urges South African Reformed Churches to keep
hope alive in stalled unification talks 

Senior leaders of the Reformed church movement, while lamenting
the painful difficulties that have stalled unity talks among four
Reformed churches in South Africa, hold out hope for
reunification to become a reality.   

A nine-member delegation headed by WARCâ??s president, Clifton
Kirkpatrick, had been invited to mediate the discussions between
two of the four South African Reformed churches engaged in a
process of Reformed reunification.  

In a statement released after the discussions with the two
churches - the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA)
and the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) -the WARC delegation said,
â??We lament the apparent breaking of once shining hopes. 
Nevertheless, we do not lose heart.â??  The other two churches
involved in the unity process are the Reformed Church in Africa
(RCA) and the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (DRCA). 

Commenting on the discussions Kirkpatrick said, "While we deeply
regret the difficulties in the church unity talks among churches
in the Reformed family in South Africa, we give thanks to God
that the leaders of both the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern
Africa and the Dutch Reformed Church share a common passion for
the unity of Reformed Christians and for restorative justice in
South Africa.  Our conversations together last week moved us all
closer to the goals of unity and justice. WARC has a long and
continuing commitment to a post apartheid church and society in
South Africa and we believe these agreements are a positive step
in that direction."

WARC has been closely involved in the affairs of the Reformed
churches of South Africa with respect to apartheid since 1964. 
In 1982, apartheid was declared a sin and its theological
justification a heresy by WARCâ??s 22nd General Council in Ottawa,
Canada.

As a way forward, the delegation is urging the churches involved
in the impasse to engage in a serious study of the Belhar
Confession.  Noting that the content of the Confession has been
recognized by both churches as Biblical and that the problems
with receiving it have to do with history, the delegation
suggests that the study address questions of historical context
and offers the services of WARC to convene a meeting to initiate
the study process and to provide resources on the Confession from
other churches. The full statement from the WARC delegation on
the URCSA-DRC discussions is attached.

While in South Africa, the delegation also held meetings with
leaders of the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa (NRCA),
still under suspension in WARC, as part of evaluating their
readiness for re-admission.  The church had prepared a document
to indicate the NRCAâ??s stance in relation to what it would take
to become a member of WARC again.  The delegation found the
churchâ??s document reflects the divided feelings of member of the
NRCA.  It also came to the conclusion that while there are many
who have made tremendous efforts to overcome the legacies of
apartheid, the church has yet to demonstrate that it is ready for
admission.  

In commenting on the meeting with the NRCA, Nyomi said,  â??We
appreciate the efforts that have been made so far and the real
division of opinions and sentiments in the church on this issue
but had to come to the conclusion that the proposed formulation
did not go far enough.â??  

â??As Christians when we recognize something as sin, we are called
to confession,â?? says Nyomi.  â??So evidence that the church indeed
has rejected apartheid will be stronger if guilt of the
complicity in it is also confessed. This is more a matter of
integrity of relationship with God rather than fulfilling the
letter of conditions required by WARC.â??

>***

The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) brings together
75 million Reformed Christians in 214 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:

>Kristine Greenaway 
>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 ( http://www.warc.ch/ ) 
>e-mail: kgr@warc.ch

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