"This is the time to rise above differences and concentrate energies on the mission to which we have been called," WARC general secretary Setri Nyomi told a mission in unity consultation in South Africa in October. He challenged delegates from 19 member churches in the region to form again the united front with which many of them had confronted apartheid in the 1970s and 1980s.

"We need the same kind of united front and commitment to action today," Nyomi said. Unity between Reformed churches was indispensable if they were to focus on the life-and-death issues confronting Southern Africa and to provide the right kind of leadership.

The consultation in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, was jointly organized by the Southern African Alliance of Reformed Churches (SAARC), WARC's area structure in the region, and the mission in unity project, which WARC co-sponsors with the Geneva-based John Knox International Reformed Centre. Its purpose was to reflect on Reformed mission in unity in Southern Africa "as it has been and as present times demand".

"We are grateful for the manifold ministries carried out by Reformed churches, including evangelism, health work, education and the promotion of social justice," the consultation said. "We give thanks for the role churches have played in processes of political liberation in Southern Africa during recent decades."

But Christ's mission in Southern Africa was far from complete. The effects of apartheid in South Africa were still deeply felt; civil war continued in Angola; unresolved land issues in Zimbabwe were leading to division and death; economic injustice went hand in hand with ecological degradation; and political instability and the pandemic of HIV/Aids were devastating the lives of millions. In many churches, women were still denied a place as equal partners and young people were not yet taken seriously as the church of today.

"These realities challenge us to reclaim our heritage, both African and Reformed, which affirms that God intends abundant life for all and invites us to share in God's mission as demonstrated in Jesus Christ, especially to those who are impoverished, marginalized, and denied full humanity," the consultation said.

Delegates acknowledged their failure to overcome existing Reformed divisions in Southern Africa and affirmed that Christ calls Reformed churches "to form one confessing and witnessing communion". They committed themselves to give fuller expression to their unity at local, national and regional levels. They undertook to reshape and strengthen their churches' critical engagement with state structures and civil society. And they agreed to work together in transforming and contextualizing the style and content of their worship, the ways in which they train and employ women, men and young people in ministry and mission, and the ways in which they respond prophetically to the needs of their societies.

Participants identified SAARC, under its current executive committee and its coordinator, Rev Majaha Nhliziyo, as the appropriate body to lead and unite their churches in mission. They asked it to monitor the implementation of project proposals for common mission action at the national level which were developed during the consultation.

The meeting was led by Rev Japhet Ndhlovu of the Reformed Church in Zambia and Dr Bukelwa Hans of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (moderator and vice-moderator of SAARC respectively) and Prof. Maake Masango. Speakers in the consultation included one of Africa's most experienced Reformed leaders, Very Rev Dr John Gatu of Kenya, and the two co-chairs of the mission in unity project, Prof. David Mosoma and Prof. Lukas Vischer.

Prior to the consultation, the Alliance general secretary spent three days in meetings with three member churches in the region.

In the head offices of the Dutch Reformed Church in Pretoria, Nyomi affirmed the commitment of the Alliance to accompany the Dutch Reformed Church in reshaping itself in the new South Africa, with a special focus on the reunification of the Dutch Reformed family of churches.

Nyomi also met the leadership of the Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa, with its new moderator, Rev Diane Vorster, and its general secretary, Rev Alistair Rodger, and expressed his joy at the uniting process which led to the birth of the UPCSA in 1999. Discussion focused on consolidating the unity of the church and its participation in the life and work of the Alliance.

In Braamfontein, Nyomi met the leadership of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and discussed ways in which WARC can accompany the church in facing its current challenges.