John Calvin would have been in the Occupy Wall Street movement, says Reformed church leader

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

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John Calvin would have been in the Occupy Wall Street movement,
says Reformed church leader 
 
The cause of demonstrators involved in the “Occupy Wall Street”
movement would have been supported by John Calvin, the 17th
century church reformer who helped shape modern-day
Protestantism, says the head of the World Communion of Reformed
Churches (WCRC).
 
“I am sure he would have been in the streets of New York or
London with a placard,” WCRC General Secretary, Setri Nyomi, says
of the French lawyer and theologian who wrote extensively about
social and economic justice. 
 
Nyomi makes his comments in a lecture delivered Tuesday at
Princeton Theological Seminary in the United States. The Ghanaian
theologian and Princeton graduate is delivering three lectures
this week on the role of the church in the 21st century. 
 
“Calvin expressed opposition to all forms of social oppression
resulting from money”, Nyomi says. “Today, it is the global
economic systems and practices that have more sophisticated forms
of effects.”
 
Nyomi believes Calvin’s words resonate with life today. “The
church of the 21st century needs to align itself with voices of
justice … even if it means being out there in the streets,” he
writes.
 
WCRC endorses economic justice as an expression of Christian
faith. The Accra Confession, a foundational document for the
organization, declares: “We believe the economy exists to serve
the dignity and wellbeing of people … Therefore we reject the
unregulated accumulation of wealth and limitless growth that has
already cost the lives of millions and destroyed much of God’s
creation.” 
 
“This is not a convenient set of nice words to recite on Sunday
and with which to soothe our consciences. It places demands on
us,” Nyomi says. “A commitment on our part is called for.”
 
The document was adopted in Accra, Ghana in 2004 by one of
WCRC’s predecessor organizations, the World Alliance of
Reformed Churches.
 
WCRC was created in June 2010 through a merger of the World
Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical
Council (REC). Its 230 member churches representing 80 million
Christians are active worldwide in initiatives supporting
economic, climate and gender justice, mission, and cooperation
among Christians of different traditions.
 
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