wfn.org | Stately Service Impresses WCRC Delegates

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

Uniting General Council 2010                                    

>News Release 
>20 June 2010

>Stately Service Impresses WCRC Delegates

>By Chris Meehan, UGC News Editor

Several African delegates to the newly constituted World
Communion of Reformed Churches worshipped Sunday morning inside
the stately sanctuary of Central Reformed Church in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, in the upper Midwest of the United States.

A full-bodied organ prelude, accompanied by a powerfully played
trumpet finale, greeted the guests as they sat in pews in the
front of the historic Reformed church.

Delegates from Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, Zambia, Indonesia,
Switzerland and Malawi were at the service. Other WCRC delegates,
observers and visitors attended services in a range of churches
across the area, mainly to get an idea of how the Reformed faith
is practised and celebrated in this part of the United States.

As the music faded at Central Reformed Church, bells chimed and
a procession of pastors and others in robes slowly made their way
up the central aisle of the church. One of the men carried a
larger banner. Another a cross. Others bore candles. They were
greeted in the front by Daniel Meeter, a former pastor of Central
Reformed Church who now serves a congregation in Brooklyn, New
York, which is part of New York City in the United States.

Once everyone was settled, Meeter gave the Call to Worship. The
liturgy included hymns, the Prayer of Confession and Assurance of
Pardon, as well as readings from the Bible and a sermon by Olav
Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches.
Tveit is attending the meeting of the WCRC.

Preaching from Galatians 3:23-29, the WCC official said the
passage is sometimes referred to as the "Magna Carta of the
Bible, the declaration of freedom." In the passage the Apostle
Paul writes: "For freedom in Christ has set us free, stand fast
therefore, and do not submit to the yoke of slavery."

The words of this passage always open the doors of his heart. In
fact, they have changed him, making him much more aware of the
need for freedom for all people in the world.

"For me, there are almost no more powerful words than we have
just heard from Galatians," said Tveit, a pastor of the Lutheran
Church of Norway. 

"They convey freedom to all people, freedom to people to be
themselves. Freedom to be something very different than others
have supposed them to be; different also from what others have
forced them to be."
Also in his sermon, he said: "Nobody can save herself or
himself. Nobody can fulfill what the good law of God requires. We
are all alike in our relation to God. We are free, free to serve
one another as we are, as you are, as I am."

After a hymn and the benediction, people filed out of their pews
as trumpet music filled the spacious sanctuary.

"It was a great experience," said Chatha Msangaambe, pastor of a
congregation that belongs to the Church of Central Africa
Presbyterian in Malawi "There are so many different ways for
Reformed people to worship. It was exciting to see. This was a
more classic service … in Africa, the service would be more
expressive."

Delegates and members of the church mingled in the atrium
outside the sanctuary following the service. They sipped drinks
and ate desserts.

"We're delighted to have people attend our church. We are
modest, but very proud of this church which has been here for 50
years," said Ken Vanderkolk, a retired physician. 

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 )