wfn.org | WARC - Martin Luther King Jr. inspires church actions for racial and economic justice

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

> World Alliance of Reformed Churches
> News Release
> 14 January 2010

Martin Luther King Jr. inspires church actions for racial and economic  justice

As Americans prepare to celebrate Martin Luther King Day marking the
life and achievements of the influential African-American pastor who
campaigned in the 1960's for an end to racial segregation in the
United States, church leaders from North America and the Caribbean are
gathering to plan campaigns to overcome racial and economic injustices
which persist today.

"Martin Luther King Jr. could see that part of racial oppression had
to do with economic oppression based on skin colour", says Edith
Rasell, an economist with the national offices of the United Church of
Christ in the United States. "He was active in the Poor People's
Campaign and gave his famous "I have a dream" speech when he
participated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Rasell is one of the organisers of a colloquium in Stony Point, New
York (15-17 January) titled "Confessing when Empire Trembles". The
event will focus on two declarations endorsed by the World Alliance of
Reformed Church (WARC) that call on churches to take action against
racism and economic inequality.

The statements ? known as "confessions" are public
declarations of belief which can be used to determine the limits to
membership in a church or faith-based organization.

The Belhar Confession was written in South Africa and adopted by WARC
in 1982 in response to racial division in that country. The Accra
Confession, endorsed by WARC's General Council at its meeting in
Ghana in 2005, recognizes that the global "economic empire" causes
extreme poverty and provokes violence.

Colloquium organiser Chris Iosso says that the event is designed to
emphasize participant involvement and strategizing for "how to move
the church ahead on the important emphases of the two confessions".

Iosso who is on the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy with
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) says discussions will take into
account the processes already underway in WARC member denominations in
response to the confessions.

The two declarations have been the focus of worldwide study and action
in WARC member churches in recent years and are expected to form the
basis for justice programmes for the World Communion of Reformed
Churches, a new global network to be formed in June 2010 by the merger
of WARC and the Reformed Ecumenical Council at a global assembly in
Grand Rapids, United States.

WARC staff person Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth notes calls from church
economic justice advocates for the Accra Confession to be the basis
for communion between churches in both rich and poor countries.

"It needs to be clear that unity without justice is false unity",
says Bisnauth-Sheerattan who responsible for coordinating WARC's
social justice programmes.

For Canadian churches, the focus at the colloquium will be on the
implications of the Belhar Confession for the country's Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that has been called to hear stories
about abuse of aboriginal children in schools run by churches for the
Canadian government. The last of the schools closed in the 1970â??s.

In recent years mainline Protestant churches, including WARC member
churches, have been taken to court by residential schools survivors to
face accusations of physical, sexual and psychological abuse. The
churches are now engaged in a process of healing in listening and
prayer sessions in aboriginal communities throughout the country.

Peter Noteboom, a representative of the Christian Reformed Church in
North America, believes the Belhar Confession has a lot to say to
Canadian churches as they prepare for the TRC which is scheduled to
begin public hearings in June 2010. But he notes it hasn't yet been
used as a reference by the churches: "The Belhar Confession is under
the radar of the United Church of Canada and the Presbyterian Church
in Canada."

Noteboom's own denomination is now involved in a study process with
the objective of adopting the Belhar Confession as one of the
church's defining documents at its Synod meeting in 2012. If
adopted, the confession would be the first one added since the church
was founded 150 years ago.

The social justice advocate has high hopes for the colloquium's
impact on the WCRC:  â??We want justice burned into the DNA of the new
organization,â?? he declares.

> Resources

> Accra Confession

> Belhar Confession

> ***

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

> email: kgr@warc.ch

> web: www.warc.ch