WCRC: Award of Lombard Prize for theological essay on ''paradise'' marks World Environment Day

A Nigerian theology student has won the top honour for the 2013 Lombard Prize for his paper on how the biblical concept of ''paradise'' affects contemporary attitudes towards the earth’s human and natural resources.

Victor Audu, a student at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria, was awarded USD600 for his essay examining how ideas of paradise might serve as a source of inspiration for the renewal of social and economic structures in global society.

Results of the essay competition were announced today by the General Secretariat of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) to mark World Environment Day.

Audu, a member of the Reformed Church of Christ in Nigeria, writes that the concept of paradise enshrined in the first chapters of Genesis can be conceptualized as “the key for building economic and social structures that could be a rousing model for a just society.”

An award of USD400 went to Maria Elisabeth Voorwinden, a Dutch student at the Institut Protestant de Théologie, in Montpellier, France. Voorwinden, who is a member of the Protestantste Kerk in Nederland, submitted an essay entitled "L'homme économe, le créateur créé et décentré" (Economic man: the creator created and sidelined)

In addition to cash prizes, both winners will be awarded scholarships to WCRC’s Global Institute of Theology scheduled to be held in Costa Rica in July 2014.

The competition is open to theology students or pastors 35 years of age or younger. Essays were received from India, Indonesia, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Cameroun, and the Netherlands.

WCRC’s Executive Secretary for Theology and Communion, Douwe Visser, says, “It is significant that these awards are announced in connection with World Environment Day because of the theme of paradise, a biblical concept of the deep roots of our natural environment.”

Applicants were asked to reflect on the biblical concept of “paradise” as it is developed in the first chapters of the book of Genesis. The concept of paradise as a time and place where all forms of life thrived in harmonious relationships has served churches in the Reformed tradition as a model for building social and economic structures of society.

Submissions were judged for their presentation of issues related to the theme and for their theological reflection on those questions. Jury members for the English essays were Jason Goroncy (New Zealand), Christopher Dorn (USA), Viktoria Koczian (Hungary), and Douwe Visser (the Netherlands). Liz Vuadi Vibila (Congo) and Visser reviewed the French-language submissions.

The prize is named after the Genevan banker, Georges Lombard, who served from 1948 to 1970 as General Treasurer to one of WCRC’s predecessor organizations, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. WCRC coordinates the competition on behalf of the Lombard Prize Committee. The prize was last awarded in 2009.

Visser, whose office administers the competition on behalf of the General Secretary, says, “We congratulate the winners and are grateful to the Lombard Darier Hentsch Bank for making the award possible.”


World Communion of Reformed Churches, June 5, 2013

die reformierten.upd@te 09.1

Das reformierte Quartalsmagazin / März 2009
Jetzt auch online als PDF: Das Magazin des Reformierten Bundes. Die Themen: Friedensarbeit, Calvinismus-Ausstellung in Berlin, reformierte Ekklesiologie, Texte aus dem Reformierten Weltbund, eine Predigt zu Johannes 19, 16-30 von Jochen Denker

die reformierten.upd@te 09.1.pdf >>>
Jörg Schmidt, Generalsekretär des Reformierten Bundes
Eine neue Internetseite informiert über die Aktivitäten der im Entstehen begriffenen World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), dem Zusammenschluss von Reformiertem Weltbund (WARC) und Reformiertem Ökumenischen Rat (REC).

Barbara Schenck

Größeres Risiko von Gewalt gegen Frauen in der ökonomischen Krise

Der Reformierte Weltbund zum Internationalen Frauentag am 8. März
Geneva (ENI). Women are at higher risk of violence during the current economic crisis, yet the world is paying less attention to their needs, says the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. In a statement to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, the Reformed churches alliance expresses concern that violent crimes against women, particularly rape and domestic violence, are on the rise at the same time that support for programmes to protect women is under threat. "The world seems to have become almost immunised to the stench of violence against women," said Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth, WARC's spokesperson on gender issues, in the 5 March statement.

Barbara Schenck

Churches told to confront ''moral crisis'' in the world economy

''Where are the prophetic voices of the churches?''
The multiple crises confronting the world are fundamentally a moral crisis says the president of the United Nations General Assembly. In remarks recorded for a public hearing on reconciliation in Geneva, Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann asks, ''But where are the prophetic voices of the churches today?''

Setri Nyomi zum Internationalen Jahr der Versöhnung 2009

Generalsekretär des Reformierten Weltbundes warnt vor dem Ausschluss von Immigranten und Minderheiten
Geneva (ENI). Immigrants and minorities in affluent countries are becoming targets of exclusion at a time when the global economic system is facing strains, a global Protestant leader has warned at a gathering in the Swiss city of Geneva. "There has been a resurgence of hate crimes against minorities in a number of nations," said the Rev. Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, at a 19 February meeting to mark the International Year of Reconciliation proclaimed by the United Nations for 2009.

Barbara Schenck

WARC welcomes statements made at the World Social Forum in Brazil

Reformierter Weltbund begrüßt die Stellungnahmen des Weltsozialforums
The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) has issued a statement of support in response to a declaration by a representative of the World Council of Churches (WCC) that the global economic crisis offers an opportunity to create a more just financial system.

Quelle: Reformierter Weltbund, 2. Februar 2009

RWB Kommunikation: neue Chefin

Kristine Greenaway: moderne Kommunikationstechniken verbinden
Der Reformierte Weltbund (RWB) hat den leitenden Posten in der Abteilung Kommunikation neu besetzt: Frau Kristine Greenaway von der Vereinigten Kirche von Kanada hat am 5. Januar die Arbeit in der Genfer Zentrale aufgenommen. Sie ersetzt somit John Asling, der die Stelle bis Ende Dezember 2008 innehatte.

Quelle: Internetseite Reformierter Weltbund (RWB)

End the Violence in Gaza

''The rockets from Gaza aimed at Israeli communities are destructive and the suicide bombing incidents cannot be condoned ... We strongly condemn the air and ground assaults from the Israeli Defense Forces leading to senseless deaths ...'' (Reformierter Weltbund)

Pressemitteilung des Reformierten Weltbundes (WARC), 7. Januar 2009

Die Schweiz und die Einigung Europas

SEK für Ausdehnung der Personenfreizügigkeit
Der Schweizerische Evangelische Kirchenbund (SEK) spricht sich für die Weiterführung und die Ausdehnung des Freizügigkeitsabkommens zwischen der Schweiz und der Europäischen Gemeinschaft auf Rumänien und Bulgarien aus.

Medienmitteilung der SEK, Simon Weber, 8. Januar 2009

Gemeinsame Grundsätze zur Pfarrerausbildung

Die theologischen Fortbildung von Pfarrerinnen und Pfarrern soll auch intensiviert werden
Mit einer Konsultation vom 20.-23. November 2008 in Berlin hat die Gemeinschaft Evangelischer Kirchen in Europa (GEKE) einen Prozess zur Verständigung über gemeinsame Grundsätze zur Pfarrerausbildung begonnen.

24.11.2008 Thomas Flügge, GEKE
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