wfn.org | WARC - American Indian religious educator to address global church event

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

> World Alliance of Reformed Churches
> News Release
> 21 April 2010

American Indian religious educator to address global church event

A respected American Indian religious educator and cultural consultant is to be 
a featured speaker at an international gathering of Reformed churches in the 
United States this June. Richard Twiss, a member of the Rosebud Lakota/Sioux 
Tribe, will address the founding meeting of the World Communion of Reformed 
Churches (WCRC) in Grand Rapids.

Twiss is co-founder and president of Wiconi International, an organization 
supporting Christian ministry in Indigenous communities throughout the United 
States and the Americas.

Stephen Kendall, a member of the Uniting General Council (UGC) planning team, 
says the keynote presentation will focus on the present-day concerns and 
aspirations of Indigenous peoples in the United States.

â??This will enhance the understanding of all UGC delegates as they reflect on the 
historic relationship between the Church and the First Peoples of North America and the 
need for healing and reconciliation,â?? Kendall says.

Twiss replaces the originally-scheduled speaker, Wilma Mankiller, following her 
death in early April.

Issues affecting American Indian and Canadian First Nationsâ?? peoples figure prominently in 
the UGC agenda. Programme highlights include the ceremonial invitation by local tribal leaders for 
delegates to meet in their land; workshop opportunities; and, after Twissâ??s presentation, an 
afternoon of activities in Ah-Nab-Awen Park, on the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids. The 
feature will be a Pow Wow to which the public is invited, with artistsâ?? and vendorsâ?? 
displays, as well as a Christian worship service led by indigenous members of North American 
denominations who are in the  WCRC.

The UGC will mark the merger of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the 
Reformed Ecumenical Council to form the World Communion of Reformed Churches. 
Member churches include Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Waldensian, United and 
Uniting churches representing 80 million adherents in 214  countries.

Organizers expect up to 1000 people to gather for the 10-day event with 
delegates traveling to the United States from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin 
America, the Caribbean, Middle East and Pacific.

The keynote presentation is to be delivered Tuesday, 22 June at Calvin College 
in the Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex at 11:15 a.m. The event is open to the 
public.

> ***

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