wfn.org | 'Fullness of life' to be at center of next Reformed world gathering

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Note #6821 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

in 2004
29-August-2001
01304

'Fullness of life' to be at center of next Reformed world gathering in 2004

World Alliance of Reformed Churches General Council will be in Ghana

by Laurie Spurr
Ecumenical News International
and Jerry L. Van Marter

HOLLAND, Mich. - Leaders of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC)
are calling on their members to reflect on issues such as peace, economic
justice and creation as they prepare for the organization's next world
gathering, scheduled for 2004.

	The gathering - known as the General Council - will take place in Accra,
Ghana, on the general theme "That All May Have Life in Fullness," an
adaptation of the biblical verse John 10:10.

	At a ten?day meeting here earlier this month, members of WARC's executive
committee identified these issues among other sub-themes - healing,
pluralism, gender justice and inclusiveness and participation - for the
General Council, which is the organization's top governing body. It meets
every seven to eight years.

	WARC is a fellowship of more than 200 Congregational, Presbyterian,
Reformed and United churches with 75 million members world-wide.

	Although the issues identified for the general council are not uniquely
Christian, WARC's approach will be different from that of other
non-governmental organizations or the United Nations, WARC general secretary
Setri Nyomi told ENI.  WARC could bring a theological perspective to bear on
social problems, he said.

	"The concept of fullness of life for all is deeply theological, deeply
biblical," said Nyomi, a minister in the Presbyterian Church if Ghana. "Part
of our tradition as Reformed Christians involves being in the world. We are
applying who we are [as Reformed Christians] to human conditions."

	WARC is planning to produce a congregational study guide and other
materials on the themes of the general council. Doug Chial, a member of the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who will coordinate the planning of the General
Council, told ENI that a Christian education outline should be ready this
autumn to allow member churches to weave WARC materials into their education
program cycles for the next three years.

'Time for action,' Nyomi declares

	In his address to the Executive Committee, Nyomi reflected the ecumenical
movement's increasing preoccupation with the global economic order,
reminding WARC's churches of the pressing need to eliminate poverty and
restore human dignity for all peoples of the world.

	"In the 21st century, we cannot afford to waste time while people are
dying," he said. "We are called to make a difference! This is the time for
action."

	Nyomi criticized what he called the "lethargy" of some churches in their
commitment to advocacy for the poor. Referring to Jubilee 2000, the
international movement to rid the world's poor countries of debt, he said:
"Imagine that as the year 2000 drew to a close there were people who
actually heaved a sigh of relief, stating that finally the Jubilee campaign
can come to an end."

	Nyomi linked many crises around the world to the emergence of a global
economic order based on growth at the expense of the social and natural
environment. He charged member churches around the world to fight what he
described as the unfairness of such a system.

	"Our children and grandchildren will not forgive us if we sit by and do
nothing about the injustices so rampant all around us," he said.

	In other comments, Nyomi reminded committee members of the importance of
spirituality as the basis for the churches' response to the world's
challenges, and of remaining united in mission. "We need to strengthen our
churches to be communities in
which young and old, women and men, lay and clergy, feel at home in using
their gifts," he said.

Executive Committee to meet in Indonesia
to show 'solidarity' with churches

	The WARC Executive Committee chose to hold its next meeting in Indonesia,
despite reports of political instability and religious violence in the
region.

	WARC has 28 member churches in Indonesia - more than in any other country.

 	"The Alliance has not been known to wait until things are peaceful to show
solidarity," said Nyomi. The meeting is set for next July.

	In recent weeks, Indonesia has faced tension following the impeachment of
its president, Abdurrahman Wahid, who was unanimously voted out of office
last month by members of the country's national assembly and replaced by the
vice-president, Megawati Sukarnoputri. There have also been separatist,
ethnic and religious clashes in various parts of the country.

	The approximately 60 participants at the WARC gathering will be the guests
of the Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa, a predominantly Christian
region of Sulawesi.

	About 87 per cent of Indonesia's population of 216 million is Muslim, about
9 per cent is Christian, and 2 per cent Hindu (mainly in the island of
Bali).

Financial troubles persist

	In other actions, the Executive Committee approved a budget for 2002 of
$1.6 million, including more than $320,000 yet to be raised.

	According to a report from the finance committee, "the Alliance is facing
serious financial difficulties in the years ahead. This requires of us all
that we address these difficulties with energy and without delay"

	The executive committee approved a number of fund raising initiatives
designed to address the deficit.

	WARC president Choan-Seng Song, a member of the Presbyterian Church in
Taiwan who teaches in Berkeley, Calif., said financial problems are related
to spiritual problems and urged churches to recapture a sense of
spirituality or risk losing their relevance in the 21st century.

	"Ecumenical organizations are in trouble spiritually," Song said. "We have
to take the leadership, not only follow what other people are doing."

	Particularly disturbing was a public perception that ecumenical
institutions are "stressing social and political action without spiritual
strength," Song told ENI. The perception was not always accurate, he said,
"but my question is, why do we give that impression?"

	Mainstream churches are losing members to charismatic churches, he added.
Protestant Christians have suffered a "credibility problem," causing
ecumenical organizations "to lose ground in their member communities and
also [to lose] financial support.

	"Spiritual support and financial support are related," Song concluded.
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