WGRK: Reformed Communiqué December 2012

Goodbye Geneva. Hello Hannover - New financial system needed - Partnership Fund – Out of Africa… into Malta - New Mexican church group ordains first women pastors - Korean Association of Women Theologians wins Swiss prize - Position posting: General Secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches

Reformed Communiqué
December 2012
Vol. 3 No. 4

Welcome to the electronic version of Reformed Communiqué, the quarterly newsletter of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC). It aims to quickly reach a wide audience, including youth and others not yet involved in WCRC, about the critical events in the life of the Reformed family worldwide. It also hopes to draw more WCRC constituents to our website, programmes and resources. We offer this alongside the print and web versions of the newsletter. We welcome your feedback wcrc@wcrc.ch as well as names to add to our list of subscribers. Thank you.

Reformed Communiqué is published quarterly by the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), a fellowship of 80 million Reformed Christians in 230 churches in 108 countries. Its member churches are Congregational, Presbyterian, Reformed, Uniting and United churches with roots in the 16th-century Reformation led by John Calvin, John Knox and others. WCRC has a small secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland.

Editor: Kristine Greenaway

Full version: PDF (December 2012)

Selected articles follow.

Goodbye Geneva. Hello Hannover.

The Executive Committee of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) has voted to relocate its offices from Geneva, Switzerland to Hannover, Germany.

"We welcome the move to Hannover which allows WCRC to continue to live out its mission as a Communion of churches. We will remain focused on our mandate of seeking church unity and justice in society and the economy and respect for the environment," WCRC president, Jerry Pillay said on 5 November in announcing the decision.

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Why Geneva of all places?

In this article I want to focus on the question of why the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) has its offices in Geneva. It starts with the decision taken in 1937 to form the World Council of Churches (WCC) and establish its offices in Geneva. In 1938, the Secretary of the World Student Christian Federation, Willem Visser 't Hooft, a Reformed theologian from the Netherlands, was appointed as WCC's General Secretary although the organisation, because of the war, only came into full existence at its founding assembly in Amsterdam in 1948.

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New financial system needed

Theologians, anti-poverty advocates and economists have issued a statement naming overconsumption and greed as key factors to be addressed in seeking a more just distribution of the world's resources. Social inclusion, gender justice, care for the environment, and concrete actions to overcome greed are named as criteria for a new economic and financial architecture.

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Partnership Fund – Out of Africa… into Malta

Walter and Lillian Donmilic are Christians who fled Nigeria when Islamist militants burned churches and homes. A crowded truck journey across the Sahara took all their savings; several times, the drivers stopped and demanded more money to finish the journey. Early last year, they reached Libya – and found themselves in the middle of a full-blown war. With thousands of other Africans, they desperately sought escape to Europe.

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New Mexican church group ordains first women pastors

The first two women pastors in Mexico have been ordained to mark the launch of a new communion of churches in the country. The ordination took place 28 October during celebration of the creation of the Mexican Communion of Reformed and Presbyterian Churches (CMIRP).

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Korean Association of Women Theologians wins Swiss prize

An association of feminist Korean theologians has been selected to receive an international prize awarded by women of the Swiss Reformed Churches to organizations or individuals who promote the role of women as church leaders.

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Position posting: General Secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches

The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is seeking a General Secretary to be the Chief Executive Officer of WCRC who will be responsible to the General Council and the Executive Committee to direct and coordinate the work of the Communion.

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From the General Secretary

Mary said to the angel, "How can this be,…? … The angel said to her, "… For nothing will be impossible with God." 38 Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." (Excerpts from Luke 1: 26 – 38)

The young lady, Mary, must have felt overwhelmed by this particular visit – a strange visitor with a strange message that announced she was to become the mother of a special baby – the Son of the Most High. I like the gift of young people to be straight forward. And so Mary dared to ask, "How can this be?" In return, she received a clear answer, "... nothing will be impossible with God". Mary's response was remarkable.

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World Communion of Reformed Churches, 150 route de Ferney, PO Box 2100, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland - Tel: +41 22 791 61 39, Fax: +41 22 791 65 05, Email: wcrc@wcrc.ch, Web: www.wcrc.ch
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The work of Baptists, Methodists and members of the United Reformed Church in the field of social justice has been given fresh impetus, with new work priorities and the appointment of a new leader for the Joint Public Issues Team.

03.10.2008 URC/UMC/BUGB / GEKE-Internet-Newsletter, 8. Oktober 2008

A significant moment for reconciliation of Reformed church groups

New global Protestant body will help overcome 'history of separation'
The creation of the 80 million-member World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) marks an opportunity “to reinvigorate Reformed witness” in a fractured world, says one of the architects of the union.

Barbara Schenck

Treffen von Reformiertem Weltbund (WARC) und Reformiertem Ökumenischen Rat (REC)

WARC and REC governing bodies meet for the first time in Utrecht
Members of the governing bodies of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) will meet in joint sessions for the first time from 6 to 10 October in Utrecht.

Quelle: Homepage WARC

Grußwort Calvins zur Lutherdekade

Eine Entdeckung von WARC und SEK
In einem jüngst entdeckten Brief grüßt der Schweizer Reformator Johannes Calvin seinen deutschen Kollegen Martin Luther zu dessen am 21. September beginnenden Dekade.

Meldung auf der Homepage des Reformierten Weltbundes und des Schweizerischen Evangelischen Kirchenbundes (SEK), 19. September 2008
Ein Treffen zwischen dem Reformierten Weltbund (RWB) und dem Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council (DECC), das im Juli in der Disciples of Christ Historical Society in Nashville, Tennessee, stattfand, sollte den Weg ebnen für eine engere Beziehung zwischen den beiden Organisationen und die Gespräche fortsetzen über „die Entwicklung einer umfassenden Partnerschaft mit dem Ziel der sichtbaren Einheit der Kirche.“

Barbara Schenck

Engage the powers of destruction, churches urged by international feminist theologians

Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth, WARC: ''Resistance to empire is growing and women are very much in the forefront.''
An international group of feminist theologians has issued a dramatic call to churches to engage the world’s destructive powers, stating it is crucial to hear feminist thinking in the debate on theological issues raised by empire.

Barbara Schenck

Ein Schritt, ökumenische Partnerschaft zu vertiefen

Der Reformierte Weltbund (WARC) und das Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council (DECC) trafen sich in Nashville, Tennessee
Geneva (ENI). Two global bodies grouping Protestant Christians, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council, say they are looking to establish a closer relationship.

Barbara Schenck

Clifton Kirkpatricks Amtszeit als Generalsekretär der Presbyterian Church (USA) endete

Kirkpatrick retires after guiding US Presbyterians for 12 years
''I really believe there is no better way of being Christian than to be a Presbyterian'', so der amtierende Präsident des Reformierten Weltbundes (WARC) in einem Interview zu Beginn seines ''Ruhestandes'' als ''leader of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)''.

Barbara Schenck

Nachrufe auf Lukas Vischer

Zum Tod eines großen Ökumenikers
Am 11. März verstarb der Schweizer Theologe Lukas Vischer, einer der bedeutendsten Reformierten und Ökumeniker des 20. Jahrhunderts.

Barbara Schenck

Nordamerikanische Kirchen sind Gastgeber der vereinigenden Generalversammlung

Thema der Versammlung: ''Einigkeit im Geist durch das Band des Friedens''
Nordamerikanische Kirchen werden gemeinsam die vereinigende Generalversammlung ausrichten, an der die neue Weltgemeinschaft Reformierter Kirchen (WCRC) gegründet werden soll.