WARC Leader Congratulates Rwandan Church on 100 years of Service

Be a "healed and healing church", the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda was urged at a joyful and colourful service where thousands celebrated its centenary in a Kigali stadium last Sunday.

Setri Nyomi, General Secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), congratulated the Church on coming through many challenges during the past 100 years, including the horrific genocide of 1994 that killed almost a million people, divided churches and left many scars.

"As a result, this Church could have simply recoiled into a spiritual ghetto of self-preservation or protection of its own tribes. But no, with confidence in God, you have pulled through each challenge and committed yourself to prophetic witness as partners with Christ in transforming Rwandan society."

Nyomi said there was still much to be done in Rwanda and throughout Africa and while many churches are reluctant to speak and act boldly, he called on the Rwandan church to rededicate itself to serving God by seeking justice over the next 100 years.

"As a church we need to be at the forefront of bringing healing in every way - healing between peoples, healing of memories, healing in families, healing in the lives of our children who have been forced to grow up without parents, caring for and walking alongside persons with HIV/AIDS and other diseases.

"We need to be a healed and healing church," Nyomi said.

In his address, Elisée Musemakweli, president of the Church and a member of the WARC Executive Committee, said the jubilee celebrations offered an opportunity for the Church to transform itself for a new era.

"As we end 100 years of witness and we are starting another 100 years, it is important we should take strategies that will help us remain Christians whose actions are consistent with what we say," Musemakweli added.

Nyomi called on the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda to foster communities where the gifts of women are valued as much as those of men, where the wealth is shared more widely and where people are treated equally regardless of their tribe.

"We need to expose evil in every form without being afraid," Nyomi added. "We need to be the prophetic voice, speaking out against every form of injustice - because we are partners with Christ, the light of the world whose coming exposes all the works of darkness."

The theme of the Church's centenary celebrations was "We hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first", from the Book of Hebrews. Nyomi lamented the fact that many churches in Africa shy away from their original call to do justice in the world.

"But the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda and all partners witnessing this centennial celebrations today are called to be different. The church in Africa is called to be different. God's people in this world are called to be different.

"Today, as we celebrate the centenary of the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda, let us commit ourselves to holding firmly to the end the confidence we once had," Nyomi concluded.