WARC building a New Community of the Holy Spirit

As the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) General Council continues in Ghana, 400 delegates from worldwide Presbyterian and Congregational churches gathered to discuss a number of life-related issues. The President’s address to the 24th general council has highlighted the commission of reformed churches nowadays in facing up to the embattled world.

The President, a Taiwanese Pastor, Rev. Dr. Choan-Seng Song, addressed the challenges, “In recent years we have seen how the human community has been torn apart by bloodshed and conflicts caused not only by political and economic forces but also by religious forces.”

Rev Song added that today’s rising religious fundamentalism is fuelling fear and insecurity in the world, but actually religions, especially Christianity exist to preach peace, love and salvation.

“Communities undermined by sociopolitical and religious-cultural forces have to be reconstructed. Community rebuilding must be what the Spirit is calling the World Alliance to do today, mobilising us, its member churches and Christians, to take an active part in it in the coming years,” Rev Song declared WARC’ s commission.

Following the tradition of the reformed church, the churches have a strong emphasis on the Word of God. Rev Song said. “The Alliance would do well to ask how it may enable its member churches and Christians to be engaged in the healing ministry of the word of God while it encourages them to strive for economic, racial and gender justice. Justice alone cannot rebuild a community.”

Rev Song viewed the Gospel as the key to heal the impaired world, “The healing word of the gospel is the word that heals divisions within Christianity, the word that heals hatred among people of different religious and cultural traditions, the word that heals the spirits and souls of people, men and women, young and old, and the word that heals the conflicts among nations and peoples.”

Song emphasised again that the Alliance must turn to the Holy Spirit, about whom Reformed churches are often defensive or apologetic. “It is the Spirit that inspired, motivated and empowered Jesus that needs to be activated in the member churches and Christians of the World Alliance.”

The WARC President, Rev Song, is a minister in the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan, a Professor of Theology at the Pacific School of Religion and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He has been President of Tainan Theological College, the Asia Secretary for the Reformed Church in America and Associate Director of the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches.