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 Legacy of John Calvin

Some action for the Church in the 21st Century
Eine Broschüre des Reformierten Weltbundes und des internationalen reformierten John Knox Zentrums informiert über Theologie und soziale Anliegen Johannes Calvins und regt von seinem Werk ausgehend an zu „life-giving action“ im 21. Jahrhundert. Die Broschüre ist in englischer Sprache erschienen.

Barbara Schenck

Neue Kirchenleitung in Ghana

Francis Amenu und Godwin Osiakwa werden kirchenleitende Theologen der E. P. Church, Ghana
Am 1. Januar 2009 übernehmen Francis Amenu und Godwin Osiakwa ihr neues Amt als kirchenleitende Theologen der Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana (E.P.Church). Beide wurden während der jüngsten Synode zum Moderator bzw. Synodalsekretär gewählt.

Antje Wodtke, Öffentlichkeitsreferentin der Norddeutschen Mission

Predigtpreis für Paolo Riccas ''Sprachwitz''

Waldenser-Theologe Paolo Ricca erhält Predigtpreis 2008
Bonn. Professor Dr. Paolo Ricca ist mit dem ''Predigtpreises'' des Verlags für die Deutsche Wirtschaft AG (Bonn) für sein Lebenswerk geehrt worden. Der 1936 geborene reformierte Theologe lehrte Kirchengeschichte und Praktische Theologie an der Waldenserfakultät in Rom.

Pfr. Dr. Andreas Flick, Celle

Church unity vital for belief in world peace says Reformed leader Setri Nyomi

''Does the church have a moral voice or credibility when our divisions are so visible?''
Geneva (ENI). Threats to peace and security around the world ought to give urgency to the quest for Christian unity, the general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Rev. Setri Nyomi has said. "Does the church have a moral voice or credibility when our divisions are so visible?" Nyomi asked during an address at the "Civilisation of Peace - Faiths and Cultures in Dialogue" conference in Nicosia, Cyprus, on 18 November, according to a statement by WARC.

Barbara Schenck

Soziale Ausgrenzung größte Herausforderung für evangelische Kirchen

Ergebnisse einer Umfrage unter den 105 Mitgliedskirchen der GEKE
„Die wachsende Lücke zwischen arm und reich führt zu sozialer Ausgrenzung.“ Diese Tatsache ist die aktuell größte soziale Herausforderung für die 105 Kirchen der Gemeinschaft Evangelischer Kirchen in Europa (GEKE).

Bern, 10. November 2008 / Thomas Flügge (Pressesprecher)

Gewalt gegen Christen in Orissa

Ein Bericht von der Synode der Kirche von Nordindien (CNI). Von Anto Akkara
Die Kirche von Nordindien (CNI), die gegenwärtig die schwersten Zeiten ihrer Geschichte durchmacht und deren Mitglieder zahlreich verfolgt werden, hat auf ihrer Synodaltagung vom 17.bis 21. Oktober in Pathankot im Bundesstaat Punjab ihre Einheit demonstriert. Die CNI ist Mitglied im Reformierten Weltbund.

Barbara Schenck
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
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