wfn.org | WCRC Springs to Life

["Daphne Martin_Gnanadason" <Daphne.Martin_Gnanadason@warc.ch>]

Uniting General Council 2010                                    

>News Release 
>19 June 2010

>WCRC Springs to Life
>By Chris Meehan, News Editor
>The World Communion of Reformed Churches, the marriage between
>two worldwide Reformed organizations, took place Friday amidst
>prayer and praise and words of joy in Van Noord Arena on the
>campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids in the northeastern
>United States. 
>Many years in the making, this new union of churches represents
>some 80 million Reformed Christians in nearly 230 denominations
>around the world. “I’m thrilled to say that the vote by both of
>the organizations was unanimous,” said Peter Borgdorff, president
>of the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC), at a press conference
>following the agreement to merge. “We are intended to be more
>like a family than a structure.” 
>The other organization involved in the union is what has been
>known as the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC). On
>Friday afternoon, the new ecumenical body was to be formed
>following a vote upon a constitution and formal articles of
>union.
>“What you see here today is the commitment of Reformed churches
>to be together globally,” said Clifton Kirkpatrick, president of
>WARC at the press conference. “The whole process has come
>together so well today.”
>The new organization will combine the strengths of the REC,
>which places a strong focus on biblical and confessional unity,
>and WARC, which has involved itself in issues of social justice
>and peace. As such, WCRC can serve as a joint witness of faith
>and action in a fragmented world.
>Also speaking at the press conference was Ofelia Ortega, pastor
>of the Presbyterian Church in Cuba. She serves as well as
>moderator of the Network of Theology and Ecumenical Work of WARC.
>“It is particularly sad that we have had 73 people denied visas
>to come to this meeting, of whom 46 are official delegates. That
>means there will be delegates who will not be here to vote,” she
>said
>After the press conference, a group of Indigenous people spent
>time to conduct rituals to make the platform upon which the new
>constitution is to be signed a sacred space. This platform will
>also be used for the opening of the Uniting General Council, the
>first formal meeting of the WCRC.
>The Uniting General Council 2010 in Grand Rapids, United States
>(June 18-28) marks the merger of the World Alliance of Reformed
>Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council to form the World
>Communion of Reformed Churches. 

Contact: Kristine Greenaway

UGC News Room – Calvin College - Hoogenboom Center Room HC 204
Cell phone: 1-616-826-5540 or 1-616-826-8636: News Room:
1-616-526-7885

UGC News Room – Calvin College - Hoogenboom Center Room HC 204 
Cell phone: 1-616-826-5540 or 1-616-826-8636
email: kgr@warc.ch
web: www.reformedchurches.org (
http://www.reformedchurches.org/#_blank )