WARC Pledges to bring hope of "Fullness of Life"

The 24th General Council of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) in Ghana, Africa, ended last week. The alliance issued a letter to worldwide reformed churches yesterday as a final report of the General Council.

400 delegates gathered in this council from July 30 to August 12 2004. Worshipping, studying the Bible, deliberating on urgent issues facing God’s world and participating in the rich life of local churches in Ghana were the main programmes in the conference.

Echoeing the theme “That All Life May Live in Fullness” (John 10: 10), the letter inspires all the reformed churches to stand firm in their confession of faith. It stated that “the world problem is not just another ‘issue’ to be ‘addressed’. Rather, it goes to the heart of our confession of faith.” It lamented, “How can we say that we believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord over all life, and not stand against all that denies the promise of fullness of life to the world?”

The Alliance addressed the challenges faced by churches in this era, for example, economic neo-liberalism, arrogance of imperial power, wars and poverty. To solve all of these problems, Christians require new depths of spirituality but it is not mere political activism. They need a life that is deeply rooted in the power of God’s Spirit.

“Deepening our spirituality can connect us with God’s power for the healing of personal wounds, social scars, and political divisions,” the letter suggested.

At the end, the Alliance invited reformed churches worldwide to “stand against the powers of evil that threaten life, and live in mission with the hope of fullness of life,” which is the confession and covenant with one another the delegates made in Accra.