"Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them" (Lk 24.10-11, NRSV).

Dialogue in context between women and men on women's concerns is the approach we initiated through the Programme to Affirm, Challenge, Transform: Women and Men in Partnership in Church and Society (PACT). Dialogue requires speaking out the truth, listening and taking one another seriously. Only then can people make the necessary commitments to change the unjust relationships between women and men which necessitated the creation of PACT and the call for the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women (1988-98) by the World Council of Churches. In her opening address, Prof. Jane Dempsey Douglass, at the time president of WARC and moderator of PACT, gives us a glimpse of the journey women in the Alliance have travelled in search of equal partnership with men in God's mission. We still have a long way to go!

Over the years, women have learned that it is important to engage in dialogue with men, to tell their individual and collective stories of struggle for dignity and to reclaim their God-given identity. Women have longed for the time when they would sit across the table with men and be listened to without intimidation and prejudice. Women have also longed for the time when men could speak out freely about their experiences and perspectives on women's concerns. The regional consultations facilitated by the PACT office have attempted to provide space where women and men could listen to one another and seek fresh understanding of God's will for an inclusive community of women and men in the church and society.

At the Well of Roses, a Christian leadership training centre, about forty kilometres from Caracas in Venezuela, the participants affirmed the need to address the issue of partnership of women and men in the congregations. Some said that they had never before been able to talk about women's concerns with women and men together. On the other hand, both women and men, young and senior male church leaders alike, boldly expressed their concern with respect to the prevailing practice of some of the larger churches in the region of not allowing women to participate in the ordained ministry of eldership and of word and sacrament.

However, there was great excitement about the possibility of AIPRAL becoming the official area council of Latin American churches within WARC. This enthusiasm was provoked by the memories of some of the male participants who recalled the challenges AIPRAL has faced over the years to stay alive and functional. As a silent listener in the room, I heard as if they were saying, "We have come this far in promoting cooperation and ecumenism among the Reformed churches in Latin America; in this renewed spirit, we are determined to promote cooperation and partnership of women and men within AIPRAL." With frankness and in an empowering spirit, the participants recognized the need to explore new ways of strengthening the ecumenical imperative in the region and intentionally including women and young people in the process.

The assassination of a Colombian theological student, just as our meeting was being convened, confirmed the urgent need for us to reexamine what it means to be church in Latin America today. Likewise, the ongoing violence and economic injustice and the pain of discrimination against indigenous people and women in the region clearly affirmed the need for us to seek fresh understanding of God's mission in the Reformed heritage. Bible studies, worship and talking together on how chains of unjust relationships are perpetuated in the church and society encouraged us to go out and work on new ways of creating a new resurrection community where women and men are sent to tell the good news. In our different contexts and settings, we are challenged to do whatever is within our means to break the chains of unjust relationships between women and men.

We extend our gratitude to AIPRAL, its moderator, Rev. Abel Clemente Vázquez of Mexico, and its Secretary, Elder Epifanio Márquez Bordón of Venezuela, for invaluable assistance in setting up this consultation. We are also grateful to the two congregations in Caracas who extended their hospitality to us and invited us to worship with them. A special word of thanks goes to the moderator of PACT, Prof. Jane Dempsey Douglass, for her commitment in the process of planning these regional consultations and her solidarity with PACT beyond her responsibilities as moderator and presidentof WARC.

At the time of writing this introduction, Prof. Douglass sent me a copy of Women, Gender, and Christian Community (Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 1997) which she has coedited with Prof. James F. Kay, her colleague at Princeton Theological Seminary, USA. The authors of the articles in this book are all on the faculty at Princeton Theological Seminary. The book encourages conversation between women and men about gender issues facing the church today. In the preface, the editors write:

Our concerns for the full partnership of women and men extend far beyond our local context, however. We are mindful that the programme of the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women (1988-98) is challenging all churches around the world to support women's struggle for an equal place in the church and society, to affirm women's contributions to the church's life across the ages, and to open themselves to the gifts and special perspectives of women for the mission of the church and a more just society. We have in mind also the PACT programme of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in support of the goals of the Ecumenical Decade: ...In support of such efforts, therefore, we offer these chapters as an expression of solidarity with women around the world (p.xi).

Finally, this is the last report from a regional consultation organized by the PACT office. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all who have been part of the process. Especially we would like to acknowledge the churches and church-related bodies who have generously funded the consultations, once or more than once. These are: the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, the Netherlands Reformed Church, the German Churches Development Service, the International Committee of the Fellowship of the Least Coin, the Fondation pour l'aide au protestantisme réformé (FAP), Geneva, SMU/Youth, Sweden, and the WARC partnership fund. We also thank the general secretary, Prof. Milan Opocenský and his Assistant, Mr Gerhard Dilschneider, who have facilitated the fund-raising, and Rev. Páraic Réamonn, my Communications colleague, for his assistance in the publication process.

As we go to press, we learn with great sadness that our sister, Rev. Carmen Elena Reyes, passed away on 24 January 1998 after a short illness. Carmen was a youth delegate to our consultation from the Presbyterian Church in Venezuela. She leaves behind a husband and a four-months-old baby. Please remember them in your prayers.

Rev. Dr Nyambura J Njoroge is the executive secretary of the department of partnership of women and men, formerly the PACT programme