WARC exists because our 180 member churches claim a common identity as Christians in the Reformed tradition. Well over half the members of these churches are women. Do the beliefs and practices of the Reformed tradition help or hinder women in their experience and worship of God?

Three women from very different backgrounds reflect on this question in this issue of Reformed World.

Dr Jana Opocenska was born and raised in Czechoslovakia. She is a daughter of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren. Currently, she resides in Geneva, Switzerland and travels extensively as a lecturer. Having received her doctorate from the Protestant Theological Faculty of the Charles University last year, she is the first academically recognized feminist theologian in Czechoslovakia.

Dr Nyambura Njoroge was born in Kenya. Raised in the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, Kenya, she is an ordained minister and recently received her doctorate from Princeton Theological Seminary. She arrived in Geneva last September to assume responsibility as the executive secretary for the programme to affirm, challenge and transform: women and men in partnership in church and society (Pact).

Dr Johanna WH van Wijk-Bos was born in the Netherlands, living the first five years of her life under Nazi occupation. She was raised in the Netherlands Reformed Church, emigrating as a young adult to the United States. Ordained to the ministry in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Dr Box is Professor of Old Testament at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary and an author. Her article is excerpted from her 1991 book Reformed and Feminist: A Challenge to the Church.

Despite such varied histories, many threads weave a common fabric among these women. Each is a theologian, mother and wife. Each has struggled to find her place in a church which has resisted women's leadership and teaching. Each defines herself as a feminist, a Christian and Reformed. These three authors particularly share in common their perceptions that the Bible is central to their faith and carries a liberating message for women.

Do these authors believe that the Reformed tradition enables women? Yes and no. These articles reveal practice which falls short of the teachings. But hope echoes throughout this issue as our authors grasp hold of that which is liberating and empowering for women and all humanity in our Reformed understanding of the faith.

Sarah Stephens