The Alliance's 22nd general council (Seoul, 1989) noted in its report on mission and unity that "our sense of Reformed identity seems less secure than in the past. Awareness of the diversity of the lives, structures, histories and mission contexts of our member churches requires fresh exploration of our common Reformed ethos if we are to speak with a common voice in the ecumenical world" (Proceedings, p.213).

In line with this mandate, the department of theology launched a study, inviting several individuals to reflect on this subject, and devoted an issue of Reformed World (Vol.43, nos.1-2, March-June 1993) to sharing their responses. Several regional reflections were also undertaken during the year 1992-93. All these materials were reviewed by the executive committee in Stockholm in July 1993. A further consultation was organized in April 1994, with Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America and the Pacific each represented by two participants (a man and a woman), to review the process and prepare a paper to share with Warc member churches. The findings of this consultation are given below.

Who are we?

We are a pilgrim people, people of the way, people on the way. We are linked together as a family, although our understandings and experiences are shaped by very different histories and contexts. Some of the principles that link us are:

1. Centrality of scripture

The scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, which witness to Jesus Christ are central to our faith and action. They witness to Jesus Christ. By them we are questioned and challenged. We affirm the pluriformity of the biblical voices, their diversity and ambiguity. We are challenged to accept various interpretations of the Bible stemming from different cultural and social contexts. For example, feminist/womanist exegesis points out that certain biblical texts have been used as instruments of oppression and domination. It has also enriched our understanding of scripture, and highlighted the contribution of women and other marginalized sections of society and the centrality of human relationships within the covenant. Contemporary exegetes also advocate reading and interpreting biblical texts in sociopolitical contexts. We must be faithful to scripture without being biblicists.

2. Sovereignty of God

God is revealed as reigning over all living creatures. God is a mysterious reality, but has chosen to establish a relationship with human beings who all are created equally in the image of God. All human power is dependent on God's power and all human beings have to give account to God. This points to human equality and makes no room for human domination. God alone is just. We acknowledge that prevailing images of God have been challenged and enriched by voices from different quarters and situations of our member churches. So for example, more gracious images of God are imagined in contrast to that of God as heartlessly arbitrary, distant and fearsome.

3. Priority of grace

In Christ God graciously takes us as we are and declares us justified. We affirm the gospel's critical stance against every human effort to be self-justifying. Human beings are unable to free themselves from the tendency to sin. We are freed from worrying to make ourselves a success, whole or worthwhile. In spite of ourselves we have been made to participate in the Kingdom of God.

4. Preaching

The exposition and application of the scriptures makes the word of God heard within the various contexts. The role of the preacher as the conveyor of the word of God is to proclaim Jesus Christ. Good news is brought alive to hearers in their context. Preaching is a creative activity of bringing scripture into dialogue with the contextual realities of hearers, this is what is valid within Reformed worship, not oratory or a rational intellectual discourse.

5. Ecclesia reformata est semper reformanda

The church is a creation of the Holy Spirit who continues to create. As a pilgrim people on its way to God's future we are not bound to the contents of thoughts and contexts of our ancestral history. The Reformed churches of the 16th century themselves could be seen as the result of their sensitivity to the word of God in their particular context. The church continues to meet new challenges in different contexts - cultural, social, economic and geopolitical. These encounters impact the churches' understanding of the word of God and its self-understanding as a pilgrim people. We are freed to participate in this continual recreation by the Holy Spirit as a result of our belief that ecclesia reformata est semper reformanda.

6. Christian freedom

The Reformed idea of Christian freedom is basically paradoxical. We are free from the burden of sin but at the same time have to be committed to Christ. This commitment calls us to be involved in the task of witnessing to the gospel. So freedom does not mean one is free from everything. One is free as long as life is based on faith in Christ. This freedom is lived in community. We are members of one another, responsible to God for one another and for the whole community.

7. Christian responsibility

As redeemed Christians we have responsibilities as individuals to live lives consonant with our calling. This refers to individual ethics. The emphasis on sanctification is very important for our life and action. As members of society-at-large we have responsibilities to care for our communities and to bring God's standards to bear on them. Social issues are therefore part of what we have been called to articulate and also to focus our action.

8. Priesthood of all believers

We affirm Jesus Christ as the only mediator between God and human beings. The position of privileged priesthood is therefore redundant. Everyone has access to God. It is misleading to make a hierarchical distinction between ordained clergy and laity. Ordination only symbolizes that a person, usually theologically trained, has been called to preach and administer sacraments. Ordination (whether as a teaching or ruling elder) should be open for women and men without discrimination. At the same time other ministries within the household of God should be recognized and room created for their functioning.

9. Unity in diversity

We affirm our differences as gifts we offer one another. Each of us is shaped by our cultural contexts and our history and sociopolitical situations. The acceptance of these differences as characteristic of our Reformed self-understanding is a strength rather than a weakness. In this sense we affirm that raising the Reformed tradition as a flag for exclusion is anti-Reformed. We are not called to uniformity. We are called to bring our different gifts, experiences, and understanding together in enriching encounters.

From where have we come?

We come from many different regions, and we bring together different styles of Christian life.

Generations of people whose ancestry stem from the reflections and actions from such people as John Calvin, John Knox and other representatives of the Reformation in Europe, including the early Reformers (Peter Valdes and John Hus)
Others are descendants of people who received the gospel from foreign missionaries
Others brought their Reformed heritage with them when they migrated to new homes
Some of us are the dominant faith community in our nations, while others of us are minorities among other faith communities.

Throughout the major missionary and migratory activities of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, Reformed missionaries and settlers brought the gospel to many lands. There were sometimes negative aspects to this movement, such as domination by a settler culture over an indigenous culture, and even destruction or total marginalization of native populations. Missionaries often imposed authoritarian rule and discouraged local initiatives to interpret and organize Christian community in ways fitting to local contexts. Examples could be cited of discrimination against and silencing of those missionaries who wanted to encourage and facilitate local initiatives. But there were also positive elements. The pioneers of the Reformed faith exhibited courage, perseverance and great love as they laboured in other lands.

The stories of many male missionaries from Europe and America have been recorded; however many women and indigenous co-workers also gave outstanding service which has not been recorded. In the Pacific and elsewhere during the last century, indigenous missionaries outnumbered the European missionaries.

From this mission activity Reformed churches have emerged in different contexts around the world. We belong together in the Reformed family and are in process of affirming, questioning, and challenging aspects of Reformed self-understanding.

Several examples illustrate this. The scriptures have had crucial liberating power in peoples' lives. One of the first priorities of Reformed missionaries was to give the people the Bible in their own language. Accompanying this was the strong emphasis on education with schools often established early. Empowerment thus took place through equipping people to read the Bible in their own language. This in itself was a more liberating process than could have been imagined.

The content of the Christian message was also liberating. People experienced release from bondage and they became a new creation in Christ. As the laos - the people of God - they then went for the wellbeing of people, working in agriculture, health and education.

Christian faith is expressed not primarily through written formulas or creeds, but also by sharing in experiences and difficulties. For many among us, to be together in actions of liberation is more important than to subscribe to an agreement or a doctrinal statement.

Heritage is an integral part of self-understanding; something to be treasured and passed on. However, communication is not simply a process. The message given and the message received are often not identical. A dynamic interaction between speaker, listener and context constantly takes place.

In the Reformed heritage much stress has been laid on the equality of all human beings, who all have been created in the image of God. This challenges patterns of dominance and submission in contexts where minorities, ethnic, racial groups, women and young people have suffered inequality. The word of God continues and must continue to challenge the misuse of power and inherited institutionalism.

Another legacy of the Reformed tradition is the strong emphasis on the sanctification of the personal life and of that of the society as a whole. In personal life this manifests itself as the discipline of prayer and Bible study, but it is not limited to this. We recognize that social and political life also fall under the dominion of God and we express sanctification by staying involved in social issues as part of the mission of the church.

Reformed churches have inherited a strong tradition of service. Societies which promote individualistic values resist and question this call to serve. However where the value for service exists, a distinction between service and servility needs to be made. Servility has a connotation of disempowerment. On the other hand true service is gifted to another in love. It has dignity. Biblically there is mutuality in service. Jesus both served and was served.

Our Reformed heritage is being shaped and changed by global mobility. As cultural groups change context we wish to encourage them not to get stuck in a particular style of inherited worship, tradition practices, etc. from an old context, but instead to affirm their heritage and remain open to the winds of the Spirit, so that the church may continue to be the church reformed and being reformed.

Who are we called to be?

We are called to be engaged in the mission of God which involves proclaiming as well as actively promoting wholeness of life as God intends for all of creation. In situations of injustice, discrimination and oppression against large sections of human community, prophetic engagement is an imperative, locally, nationally and internationally.

For a long time in many circumstances, the other-worldly emphasis and the close bonds between church and state kept Reformed Christians away from involvement in the prophetic task. Constantly hearing the gospel and listening to voices previously not heard, and being opened by ecumenical encounters, Reformed Christians are increasingly engaged in justice. Such engagements challenge us to narrow the gap between theological affirmation and praxis. One way to solve this problem is through education at every level of the church.

We need to be engaged in the challenging issues of our time in church and society. We list some of these here.

Democratic structures within the church

The theological affirmation of the priesthood of all believers should lead to genuine democratic and participatory practices in ecclesiastical institutions. Citing of cultural excuses for continuing undemocratic practices should be challenged.

Theological education

Theological education has largely focused on classical disciplines. There is now a clear need to ensure understanding of the context of the churches in the education of future church leaders, and to bring doctrine and praxis together in an appropriate balance.

Evangelism

The Reformed church has a strong commitment to evangelism, based on the concept of the sovereignty of God and God's grace which prompts the church to evangelism. We look toward renewed efforts in this area.

Race, ethnicity and nationalism

The mission of the church directs our lives to the reign of God which transcends all boundaries among human beings. We believe in one, holy, catholic church. Therefore the church should not be divided along the lines of race, nation, ethnic groups, gender or class.

As human beings we value belonging to different cultures and nationalities, but our calling as Christians always challenges us to transcend the constraints of culture and nation. This challenges existing ethnic and national churches to constantly review their ecclesial relations.

A Christian community rejects the idea that one nation has the right to live in a particular area and not tolerate the presence of other groups. Any form of such intolerance (eg, "ethnic cleansing") is against God's will for humankind.

Gender

God created women and men equally, therefore their role in life should be equal. We acknowledge the efforts of Reformed women and others of placing the gender issue on the agenda of the churches. We admit that we still have a long way to go.

Some Reformed churches, mostly on cultural grounds, still question the inclusion in leadership positions and ordination of women. Such churches need to be challenged with our biblical mandate. Education of the younger generation and the use of inclusive language are vital in correcting the gender imbalance.

Human rights

The discussion on human rights has received worldwide attention, especially during and after the UN world conference on human rights (Vienna, 1993), which demonstrated the sharply divergent views on this issue. Representatives of the Reformed churches were involved in this conference as NGO participants. They are faced with similar dilemmas and seek to address human rights issues by being sensitive to cultural particularities of each community, nation and region and not imposing the views of one group on others.

Reformed theology affirms human dignity of every community and every individual as a child of God. We need to attend to abuse in human rights situations and address abuse with sensitivity to the cultural particularities of each situation. This may require cooperation with governments and non-governmental organizations for greater effectiveness. The emphasis on individual rights and community/peoples' rights must go hand in hand.

Economic justice

Privileged minorities, individuals and nations everywhere benefit disproportionately from unjust power arrangements in the political economy. As a result many people suffer from deprivations. To add insult to injury, it is on the backs of the deprived people that the few rich build up their wealth.

For political economy to serve the majority, we need to remove abusive power at the top and bring in consensual, participatory democratic practices and structures from below. A more just distribution of wealth is called for within and among nations. The Reformed churches could and should work with the poor against the predominant market powers to bring about economic justice.

Environment

God has created human beings as part of the world, and we are one with nature. Abuse against nature is also abuse against humankind, as damage against one part of creation affects in many ways the life of other parts.

Our call to be engaged in the challenging issues of our time in church and society is the Reformed principle by which we live. The issues identified here are only a part of the list. How these and other issues are handled will differ from place to place, depending on our different cultural and contextual realities. We cannot afford to neglect the issues that affect our communities.

The process of affirming who we are called to be gathers together Reformed Christians from around the globe. We can rejoice in meeting with people with whom we can share our deepest faith. We are thankful for opportunities to encounter a broad spectrum of the riches of the many different cultures among which the Reformed tradition has found homes. Many different perspectives and understandings can at times cause tension in our human communities. Yet the freedom to encounter different viewpoints as a challenge to growth in faith is a sign and an experience of God's grace for which we can give thanks. All these point to the new community into which God has called us to participate as a Reformed family.

Participants:

Mrs Amie Jorokian Apelian (Syria)
Rev Margrethe Brown (USA)
Ms Anne Hadfield (Aotearoa New Zeland)
Prof. Dr Pieter N Holtrop (The Netherlands)
Rev Dr Abdehl-Masih Istafanous (Egypt)
Rev Guidoberto Mahecha (Bolivia)
Rev Dr Setri Kobla Nyomi (Ghana)
Rev Mary Ann Plaatjies (Republic of South Africa)
Prof. Dr Mija Sa (Korea)
Rev Karin Sporre (Sweden)
Dr Eugene Turner (USA)
Dr Faitala Talapusi, Principal (Fiji)
Prof. Henk Vroom (The Netherlands)
Dr Yeow, Choo Lak, Director (Republic of Singapore)

Warc staff

Dr Milan Opocensky
Dr HS Wilson

World Council of Churches staff

Dr Christopher Duraisingh