06.12.2004

From the desk of the general secretary

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“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5.14-16)

For the past three years, members of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) had been gathering in the process of the 24th General Council. This past July and August the event part of this gathering took place in Accra. Whatever else this meeting will be remembered for, I hope it will mainly be recalled for its joyful, stimulating worship of celebration and challenge; the call to new heights of engagement in God’s mission; placing spiritual renewal at the centre of our lives together; covenanting with one another to counteract the forces of evil in the world; and the hospitality of the leaders and members of two of our member churches and the people of Ghana. I hope those who participated in Accra will share the message and what they experienced in Accra in a way that will motivate others in all our member churches. Failure to take hold of the inspiration of Accra can be likened to lighting a lamp and putting it under a bushel. We are called to make a difference and draw upon whatever has inspired us personally to make that difference in our home churches and communities.

I want to commend the letter from Accra from the message committee of the General Council to everyone in our member churches and to encourage all to read and use it.

The message pointed to the spiritual vitality of the host churches and of the worship life and Bible studies of the General Council itself – the context in which we met. This portion of the letter is a reminder of the important work done in the spirituality section of the General Council. In these days when many Reformed churches seem to be experiencing spiritual emptiness, we dare not let the inspiration from Accra suffer the fate of a lamp that is lighted and hidden under a bushel. Spiritual transformation is a gift of God and can be experienced all over the church, in North and South, East and West. I hope in the next few months and years we can work together in bringing increased spiritual vitality into the lives of many more of our churches. This is one of the challenges we bring from Accra.

The second challenge from Accra to which the message points is mission renewal and engagement in mission in united ways. It declares, “God’s mission involves your congregation and each of ours in fresh and challenging ways today.” To what extent are we responding to God’s call in the fresh and challenging ways of today? Unless we can respond to this question honestly and courageously in our contexts, the light in us will not be seen. This is another challenge that I hope will not be conveniently stowed away with the 24th General Council souvenir bags, waiting for another church assembly. We have a charge to keep. We cannot afford to ignore the mission to which we have been called.

The final challenge came from the work done around covenanting for justice which led to the Accra confession. The message noted the impact of the visit to the Cape Coast and Elmina castles where some “Reformed Christians were worshipping their God while directly below them, right under their feet, those being sold into slavery languished in the chains and horror of those dungeons.” The message noted, “In angry bewilderment we thought, ‘How could their faith be so divided from life? How could they separate their spiritual experience from the torturous physical suffering directly beneath their feet? How could their faith be so blind?’” Whatever our feelings about the process by which decisions were made in Accra or the personal sacrifices that may be involved in the challenges and commitments inherent in the Accra confession, may it never be said of Reformed Christians of the year 2004 that “Their faith was so divided from their lives.” This light in particular is not so easy to light. But may we not put it under a bushel.

The Accra message rightly anchored the challenges that came from the three sections of the General Council to its theme. This spiritual challenge flows from the words found in John 10/10, where Jesus declares the promise: “That all may have life in fullness.”

In this new phase of the process, in which participants in the Accra General Council gather members of their churches and take the message beyond Accra, may we be faithful to God in experiencing spiritual transformation, new commitments in mission engagement and courage in living out the challenges of the Accra confession.

Let me end on a note of thanks to all WARC member churches and our partners for your participation in the gathering process. A special thanks goes to the churches which have nurtured me in my Christian growth and laid out hospitality so lavishly and selflessly, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, and the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. May our light so shine before all so that they may see our good works and give glory to God in heaven.

Setri Nyomi