Introduction

Jet den Hollander

What was it that made Peter realize that "God makes no distinction" (Acts 10.34) and that the good news is for Jews and Gentiles alike? Was it his exposure to people of many tongues and races in the everyday life of a cosmopolitan city? Was it his memories of Jesus bringing healing and wholeness to many who, according to regular norms, did not even qualify to be spoken to; Jesus who constantly crossed the lines and even learned to redraw his own in his encounter with the Samaritan women? Likewise, what was it that persuaded the evangelicals in the late 18th century to establish missionary societies and cross the seven seas? Was it the deep sense of crisis in revolutionary Europe that forced them to come to grips with their world and their faith anew? Was it the fever of expansion and discovery that gripped the church as it did the trading companies? How did mundane factors and the Spirit mix to give people the sense that their eyes had been opened, that they suddenly understood their calling in a new way and perceived new frontiers to be crossed? And we today, what is opening our eyes? What walls of separation need to be broken down, and what are the changing realities today that enable us to perceive with new eyes the walls of separation and the "them" separated from "us" on the other side? As part of Christ's church, we have a vision of God reconciling humanity, in all its diversity, to himself in Christ. Implied in this vision is the need to identify and address all that separates people from one another, from God and from creation; to name the frontiers and break down the walls, also within the church.

In 1999, WARC and the John Knox International Reformed Centre established the Mission in Unity project, recently extended until 2005, as a catalyst: a helping hand to assist Reformed churches to rethink their mission and the barriers existing within the Reformed family which hinder that mission.

This issue of Reformed World focuses on initiatives aimed at breaking down some of these inner walls. Carlos Emilio Ham describes the fascinating journey of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba over the past five decades, and how it has sought to maintain a credible and united witness in the face of multiple challenges and threats. Jeong-Hee Ryu analyses a group of small Presbyterian churches in Korea that combine a conservative theology with a commitment to the ordination of women. Lukas Vischer looks at the role of theological colleges and how their ethos, curriculum and ministerial formation foster or hinder the future pastors' development of a commitment to the church universal. Jet den Hollander reports on a mission in unity process in Uganda, where reflection on mission has highlighted the need to not only work closer together as different Reformed groups, but also to break down the walls of separation between women and men, and consider the possibility of God using people of other traditions. The latter insight is developed even further by Peter Cruchley-Jones and a group of congregations in Wales, as they explore the exile theme and come to the disconcerting conclusion that there may be times when the church is "not God's people".

Are there indeed instances where our ecclesiology has become so narrow that it creates walls rather than breaking them down? What exodus is needed to start walking again as "people of God in the midst of all God's peoples"?¹

Contributors

Peter Cruchley-Jones, a United Reformed Church minister, serves in a team ministry in Cardiff, Wales, teaches missiology in St Michael's Training College (Church in Wales), and is an honorary research associate in the department of theology & religious studies at Cardiff University.

Carlos Emilio Ham, a pastor of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba, served as its general secretary from 1993 to 2001. His father is also a Cuban Presbyterian pastor and his mother is an American missionary who served in Cuba for almost thirty years. In March 2001, he joined the World Council of Churches' staff as Programme Executive for Evangelism.

Jet den Hollander of the Uniting Protestant Churches in the Netherlands is executive secretary of the Mission in Unity Project (1992-2005).

Jeong-Hee Ryu of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (TongHap), is currently a student at the PCK Theological Seminary.

Lukas Vischer of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches has served as co-chair of the Mission in Unity Project advisory committee since 1999. He is a former moderator of the Alliance's department of theology, and directs the programme commission of the John Knox International Reformed Centre, Geneva.

Notes