27.10.2007
WARC favours United States for site of Uniting General Council
World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) leaders are calling for their Uniting General Council with the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) to be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 18 to 28 June 2010.
REC has its secretariat in Grand Rapids and two key churches who are members of both WARC and REC are strong in the area, the Christian Reformed Church of North America and the Reformed Church in America.
General secretary Setri Nyomi told WARC’s Executive Committee meeting Saturday that the last time the Reformed group met in the United States was when one of its founding organizations, the Alliance of Presbyterian Churches, met there in 1954.
“From our (WARC) end, it looks like a good time to return to the United States,” Nyomi said during the final day of meetings in Trinidad and Tobago. A closing worship service will be held Sunday.
The WARC Executive Committee will send a delegation to the U.S. State Department early in 2009 to make certain that all delegates to the meeting are granted visas. “It is unthinkable to have a Uniting General Council with some people who are supposed to be there not being there,” said Donald Watts, secretary of WARC Europe.
WARC staff have been asked to begin to develop theme papers on communion and justice and other issues that take into consideration the current global context, including interfaith themes and the environment.
The site and theme recommendations from WARC will go to REC for its consideration.
WARC’s Executive Committee also reaffirmed its commitment to work with the World Council of Churches and other partners towards an Ecumenical Assembly to be held in 2013.
The Reformed leaders heard from WARC’s Mission Project that its Making a Difference Project will embark on a compensation programme concerning CO2 emissions from all flights taken in the course of its programmes. These funds will be invested in renewable energy schemes of participating churches.
“The current 0.8 degree increase in overall world temperatures is understood to be directly linked to changing patterns of flooding, drought, intensity of hurricanes, and the rise of sea levels,” the Mission Project report said.
The Executive Committee agreed to explore the implications of the Mission Project embarking on another mission funding project together with the United Church of Canada and the Canadian International Development Agency from 2009 to 2013, in light of the move to merge with REC.
At the request of REC, the Mission Project will also explore the possible links between the Micah Project, an evangelical justice effort, and the Accra Confession, WARC’s statement on neoliberal globalization out of its 2004 General Council.
WARC’s Youth Network reported to the Reformed leaders that a number of challenges face young people around the world, denying them full lives, including HIV/AIDS, gender and sexuality concerns and tensions among religions.
They challenged the Reformed churches to better include young people, saying, “Reformed churches need to work more intentionally to include young people in the leadership and worship life of the church.”
