The first Pentecost of the Christian era, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, is the time when the disciples filled with the Holy Spirit cast off their fears and go out boldly to proclaim the good news.

Peter builds his message on Joel's prophesy of a new era when the Spirit would be poured out on all flesh, and sons and daughters would prophesy, young people see visions, and the old dream dreams. Nobody was excluded from this promised outpouring - even slaves would receive the Spirit and prophesy. This Pentecost is the fulfilment of God's intention to break down barriers - barriers of age, class, gender or language - and to include all.

It is interesting to note that even in those ancient patriarchal cultures, both the original Joel prophecy and Peter's use of it in Acts emphasize that the promise is to women and men. It is to sons and daughters and for slaves. It is to young and old. Nobody is left out.

The followers of Jesus who experienced this first Christian Pentecost were frightened people. The fourth Gospel has them hiding behind locked doors. They could not preach the good news which breaks down barriers. The experience of Pentecost changed all that for them.

Today, as we celebrate Pentecost 2001, it appears that many in the Reformed family are still afraid to go out and proclaim the good news that our Lord Jesus Christ came so that all may have life in fullness. We see the lives of so many people compromised spiritually, socially, economically, culturally and in other ways, but many of us remain silent. Some of us live as if unaware that the outpouring of the Spirit breaks down barriers and prejudices, demanding that we recognise the gifts of all God's children.

It is time to pause, take stock and see where we fall short. It is time to affirm that God's Spirit has been poured out indiscriminately, on women and men, young and old, slave and free. It is time to engage fearlessly in actions to bring fullness of life to all. It is time to expose all areas of our church life in which the gifts of all God's people are denied or not used fully. It is time to engage prophetically with the forces of injustice which contradict the life we proclaim. God's Spirit comes to empower us. In the spirit of Pentecost, we cannot allow ourselves to be crippled by fear. We are called to break the chains of fear and to break the chains of injustice.

Pentecost reminds us that this is first and foremost a spiritual exercise. This is why in listening to all in the Reformed family, we in the World Alliance are paying renewed attention to spirituality. It is our hope that all within the Alliance would allow ourselves to be examined by God. This is not a matter of retreating into a pietism which does not engage with the real-life challenges that face us. It is a profound sense of walking with God, and listening to God, in which we are empowered to be different and to make a difference in a world which often forgets that we are accountable to God.

This entails constantly searching ourselves to find out how we measure up. We invite you to do this in your own churches and communities - and to share your responses with the rest of the Reformed family through this newsletter. The "new look" Update on which we have embarked this year is not for the sake of appearances: it is a visible sign of our commitment to make Update a forum through which we all share and challenge one another. No one is excluded from this forum. This new format is created for us to have that opportunity to share together.

This Pentecost, let us go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit, breaking down the barriers caused by fear and prejudice. Let us build communities within the Reformed family in which young and old, women and men, lay and ordained are free to utilise the gifts conferred by the Holy Spirit to prophesy, see visions and dream dreams.

The good news is that God makes it possible for all of us to be effective prophets through the Holy Spirit given at Pentecost.

Setri Nyomi