New Reformed body to be formed

The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) has agreed to unite with the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) to create a new global Reformed body representing more than 80 million Reformed Christians worldwide.

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	Richard van Houten, Setri Nyomi, Clifton Kirkpatrick and Douwe Visser mark the historic vote. (Photo: Stephen Brown, ENI)

The historic decision was taken at WARC’s Executive Committee meeting which was held in Trinidad and Tobago in October. WARC wants the new body to be called the World Communion of Reformed Churches and is calling for a uniting General Council to be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 18 to 28 June 2010.

“This is a truly, truly important moment,” said WARC president Clifton Kirkpatrick after the vote was taken.

“It’s a great moment,” added REC president Douwe Visser. “I hope we can combine the efforts of these two organizations and have an even broader outreach than WARC and REC have at the moment. I have a feeling this new body will be the voice of the Reformed world.”

WARC general secretary Setri Nyomi said, “This is a historic moment. The Reformed family has demonstrated that we have the ability to engage together in a united fellowship and overcome divisions – and for this we are thankful to God.”

The WARC Executive Committee also agreed on a definition of the word “communion” in the proposed new name. It reads:

“Communion is an expression of our being together in the body of Christ as we move towards that oneness which is the gift and calling of God, fully expressed in the Trinity. Our desire to enter into communion signifies the commitment of our churches, in the richness of diversity, to mutual caring, respect and service of one another, as witness to our common calling by the Spirit of God in Jesus Christ.”

The proposed name of the new Reformed entity, the suggested site and date for the uniting General Council will go to REC for its consideration along with some suggestions for a theme for the meeting to be developed by WARC staff.

A uniting General Council in Grand Rapids has key symbolic and practical value, WARC’s Executive Committee was told. REC has its secretariat in Grand Rapids and two key churches that 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.

WARC general secretary Setri Nyomi told the meeting that the last time the Reformed group met in the United States was when one of the founding organizations, the Alliance of Presbyterian Churches, met there in 1954.

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.

In order to stabilize the financial situation of WARC and the merging Reformed body, WARC leaders agreed to establish a (U.S.) $20 million endowment fund through the Presbyterian Foundation affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA).

A proposed basis for the union reads:

“The basis of the World Communion of Reformed Churches shall be the Word of the triune God, incarnated in Jesus Christ, found in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and witnessed to in the church. This World Communion of Reformed Churches embodies Reformed identity articulated in historic Reformed confessions and continued in the life and witness of the Reformed community.”

The new Reformed body will be open to all members of WARC and REC who are not under suspension, as well as other Reformed, Presbyterian, Congregational, Waldensian, First Reformation, United and Uniting traditions who affirm the basis of the new entity.

The new Reformed body will also invite movements, agencies and theological institutions of the Reformed movement into active affiliation with it.

The key callings of the new Reformed body will be:

- to foster Reformed confessional identity and communion among Reformed churches, and unity in the whole church;
- to promote justice in the economy and the earth, and all of God’s creation, and to work for peace and reconciliation in the world;
- to encourage the renewal of Reformed worship and spiritual life as a global family of God’s people;
- to strengthen leadership development and the nurture of the covenant community;
- to promote the full participation of women and youth in all aspects of the church’s life;
- to renew a passion among Reformed Christians for God’s mission, both witness and service, in a spirit of partnership and unity;
- to interpret Reformed theology for contemporary witness and for the unity of the church.