WARC General Council Opens in Ghana

Hosted by the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, the 24th General Council of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) began on 30th July in Accra, Ghana. Delegations from over 200 Congregational, Presbyterian, Reformed, and United churches in more than 100 countries will gather under the theme, “That All may have Life in Fullness” (John 10: 10). The council will take place at the University of Ghana. Around 1000 delegates are expected to participant in the event.

Through the theme, WARC invites every reformed church member to look at the life-related issues facing the church today, including economic justice, creation, gender, human rights, violence, marginalisation, and HIV/Aids. Most importantly, it is to discover the ways in which churches are called to bring life and hope to all God’s people under in the face of these threats and challenges to life.

The General Council meets every seven years. The theme of this year's gathering is clear continuity with the discussion from the last meeting (Debrecen, Hungary 1997), which called member churches to engage in a common process of recognition, education and confession of faith in relation to worldwide economic injustice and environmental destruction. This year’s discussion enables member churches to take a step forward in this direction.

Running alongside the general council meeting, a number of other conferences are being held at the same time. On the 27th July began the International Reformed Youth Forum in which 120 young people from more than 20 countries participanted. Fifty of them will also be delegates to the general council later this week. Africans, Europeans, Asians and those from the Pacific, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean prayed, danced and praised together.

Rev. Philip Nai, a youth pastor with the Presbyterian Church in Ghana, told the assembled 18 to 30-year-olds, “As youth leaders... we should not allow anyone to belittle us. Rather we should hold on to our God-given talents, develop and use them to glorify God. It behoves us to promote Christian faith, engage in prayer through which we tap into God's power.”

Another conference - The Global Institute of Theology (GIT) - is being held from July 22nd to August 15th in close cooperation with Trinity Theological Seminary. WARC theology secretary Odair Pedroso Mateus said GIT aims to prepare a new generation of Reformed leaders who are ecumenically minded and committed to mission. Trinity Theological Seminary is one of the oldest seminaries in West Africa, and is a leading training centre for English-speaking churches in the region.

WARC is formed from the merger of two bodies - the Presbyterian Church and Congregational Church. “The Alliance of the Reformed Churches throughout the World holding the Presbyterian System” was founded in 1875. The International Congregational Council first met in 1891. These two bodies merged in 1970.

The 24th General Council of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches will take place from 30th July and continue for two weeks until 13th August 2004.