In the course of its meetings during the general council of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in Ottawa, the committee on cooperation and witness examined the constitution of the Alliance as modified by the general council and declared itself satisfied with the definition there given of the function of the department of cooperation and witness.

It also examined that section of the general secretary's report which deals with the department. It accepted the substance of this section, in particular points 11, 12, 13.

The committee examined the work of the department as presented in the report of the secretary, together with the developments envisaged for the coming years. The general direction of these proposals was approved.

The committee's report will be in three parts: Part I will deal with the two sections recently created within the department. Part II will examine certain aspects of the work now being done by the department. Part III will present various proposals for the future tasks of the department.

Two new sections

Section for religious and civil liberty

The committee recommends:

1) That the section should try to help the member churches to become more familiar with the existing documents in this field, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Agreement on Civil and political Rights, the International Agreement on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Helsinki Agreement, and the American Convention on Human Rights. It should alert member churches in matters affecting their governments, where these have ratified such agreements, and as far as possible urge ratification by governments which have not yet done so.

2) The section will urge direct intervention by WARC on behalf of Reformed Christians deprived of their rights or thwarted in the exercise of them, or victims of a concealed or obvious oppression, especially when imprisoned for their stand on human rights, either for themselves or for their fellow citizens. Such intervention will take the form of public declarations, contacts with governments, and personal approaches by WARC representatives, in order to provide defence, clarifications and all other signs of support.

3) The section will work with other world bodies concerned for the defence of human rights and as far as possible take an active part in the meetings of these groups (such as the Helsinki Reviews, the Latin America Coalitions and Amnesty International).

4) The section will keep in close contact with similar groups existing in the WARC areas with a view to being able to call upon persons competent in this field to act as its authorized representatives on the spot when violations of human rights occur or at conferences dealing with such violations.

5) The section will keep in touch with the corresponding committees in the WARC areas which will pass information for collation and transmission to the member churches.

6) Aware of the importance of this work in the field of human rights, both inherently and as part of Christian witness, the committee requests the department and WARC to commit staff and resources in this field commensurate with the importance of the task.

Women's section

The women's section of the department of cooperation and witness will seek a greater commitment in the area of work among women by examining the problems and questions which concern the community of women. It will try to increase communication and the exchange of information among women and women's groups and other groups on the subject of these problems.

This will necessitate a richer exchange between individuals and groups; it may perhaps be necessary to modify existing WARC publications and to provide a new publication for the women. The section will encourage invitations to executive committee members, Alliance Staff and others from women's groups in the member churches throughout the world.

Provision will need to be made for enquiries as to the practice of Reformed churches in the matter of ordination and the various tasks assigned to women.

In light of the positions adopted by WARC in the matter of human rights, the section will seek to ensure, in respect of women's rights, that discrimination is overcome so that women may fully participate in the life of the member churches as well as in that of the Alliance and its staff. This includes sharing in the making of decisions in the whole community of the church.

The section, in conjunction with the department of theology, will study the theology developed by the feminist movement and its relationship to Reformed theology.

The section will work as much as possible in an ecumenical spirit and especially in cooperation with the subunit on women and society of the World Council of Churches.

The programme and activities of the section will be organized on a regional and local basis. women's groups and organizations should be encouraged to meet regionally every three years and every two years at the local level, so as to ensure the implementation and continuation of programmes. This will be within the framework of the area structures of WARC.

Aspects of the current work

Publications

Reformed Press Service and Reformed World

1) The committee recorded its satisfaction with the excellent quality of the publications of WARC, the Reformed Press Service and Reformed World and the role of these publications in the life of the member churches.

2) The committee declares its agreement with the proposal

made by the secretary of the department for modifications in the character of the magazine, the Reformed World: it would be helpful if it could take current debates into account and publish some articles calculated to be of interest to those church leaders who may not have had a theological education.

3) Distribution and subscriptions: A wide distribution of WARC publications is essential. While recognizing that only professionals could furnish really competent directives in this matter, the committee requests the department to give close attention to the proposals made in the course of the discussions, a summary of which is given below.

Mutual caring

Visits

The committee recognizes the importance of visits to churches and visits exchanged between churches. It hopes that the opportunities of travel normally given to the WARC staff and the members of the executive committee will be used to pay visits to member churches but also that special visits will continue to be made whenever the situation of a member church calls for such a visit. It hopes that this visitation work will. as far as possible. help to promote the desired regionalization of the work of WARC.

It therefore recommends that the general council should make provision in the budget of the department of cooperation and witness for an item to be earmarked for visits to churches. this work being one of the tasks of the department.

Exchanges

Apart from the different types of exchanges which are mentioned in the secretary's report and those which could be devised by the department, the committee emphasises the importance of exchanging liturgical material, and it urges the department to give active attention to the suggestions set out below.

The special services fund

a) The committee has examined the criteria used for the making of grants and considers that they are sound.

b) It recommends that member churches be provided with more definite information as to how to apply for a grant from the fund. It also recommends that the present practice be continued whereby individuals submitting an application for a grant for their personal use do so through a member church. In cases where the resources of the special services fund may be insufficient to provide financial support for worthwhile projects, applications should be passed on to other possible grant-giving organizations.

Staff

I) Because of the increased responsibilities of the department (women's section and Civil and Religious Liberties section), the department recommends that when finances permit there be an increase in the staff of the department of cooperation and witness, it being understood that strong consideration be given to the employment of a woman for the staff of the department of cooperation and witness, and moreover that consideration of such appointments should be given only after sufficient increased funds are available and consideration has been given by the executive committee to the department of cooperation and witness and to the department of theology. The committee request the department, when the staff is at full strength so to organize its work that one third of its resources be devoted to the Religious and Civil Liberty section and one third to the women's section.

2) The committee is of the opinion that the division of time should be regularly reviewed in the light of the relative importance of the various tasks being undertaken at any particular moment.

Proposals for the future

Statements presented to the department for study

During the general council the committee has had documents on the following subjects submitted to it:
a) Youth
b) Women's Issues
c) Tourism and Prostitution
d) Human Rights Issues

These documents are to be found below.

Procedures to be followed

1) It is the responsibility of the elected members of the department to lay down general guidelines for the work of the department and to set specific goals.

2) A part of the departmental secretary's annual report should take the form of a response to the specific referrals laid down by the department.

3) The committee and department members should receive preparatory documentation to support agenda items giving pointers as to possible solutions, so that they are in a position to take full part in the meetings and to playa useful and critical role in their deliberations.

4) In order to foster the development of the department's work programme, fuller reports should in future be given, by the staff to the department, by the department to the executive committee, and by the executive committee to the general council.

Distribution of publications

1) The mailing list should include as wide a spectrum as possible of persons, both clergy and laity, within the member churches and related organizations. Member churches should assume responsibility for sending the names of interested subscribers to the attention of the secretary.

2) A wider circulation should not necessarily entail a financial deficit. The voluntary subscription functioning at the moment should remain, but for those outside the WARC membership who want the publications, a subscription should be charged.

3) Member churches should be encouraged to publicize and make available the WARC publications, eg discussions could be organized around relevant topics.

4) Member churches should be encouraged to send better and more information of activities and reflections on current issues to the secretary. Specifically, we recommend that member churches utilize the services of free-lance journalists within the membership, to contribute articles on a regular basis together with pictures when possible.

5) The department should be provided with the human and material reserves essential for the proper execution of its functions.

6) In order to facilitate information communication as a link between the geographically and culturally scattered members of the Reformed family, this subcommittee recommends the setting-up of 5 geographic areas and nominating one, responsible person, other than the moderator of any church, to collect, collate and forward information of topical interest to the secretary.

7) Keeping in mind budgetary limitations, every effort should be made to produce Reformed World in at least two languages.

8) The budget should provide for occasional workshops, consultations, seminars for the correspondents of WARC and those involved in communicating, to create bonds of friendship and to improve the general quality of the publications by their fuller participation.

9) The committee endorses the suggestion that an exchange of ideas on questions such as, peace, disarmament, sexual ethics and family problems, ministry of women, etc. between churches be encouraged.

Exchange of liturgical material

From time to time through correspondence and its publications, WARC should encourage member churches to produce orders for worship on particular themes (eg peace, Easter, creation, justice, the generation gap, etc.) or for family worship, and to send them to the secretariat in Genera.

It might be possible for the orders to be published. On the occasion of regional council meetings these orders could be discussed and tried out. By means of this exchange of material, which could include hymns and prayers as well as other liturgical material, it would be possible for WARC member churches to share in one another's lives. This flow of material could prove particularly useful for certain WARC member churches which are united churches.

Received documents

Youth

Recommendations put forward by a group of young members of the general council:

That youth issues should be recognized as being an integral part of the responsibilities of the department of cooperation and witness.
That WARC member churches share information, engage in joint work and together discuss issues in the field of youth.
That a youth representative be elected to the executive committee.
That the number of youth delegates to WARC be clearly laid down particularly for churches whose delegations consist of three or more delegates.

Women's issues

At a meeting of the women participants in the WARC council meetings held on the 19th of August, it was agreed that the following recommendations be forwarded to the Business committee.

The good news to all God's people should be reflected in both the image and work of the Alliance. God's gifts to his children should be made visible thus affirming his variety, diversity and complexity. "For as the Body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one Body, being many are one Body, so it is with Christ." (1 Cor 12.12).

The council shows by its theme its concern for the powerless and the graceless yet the present structures show a different picture.

The biblical record indicates that in the early church and in the time of Christ, women had a significant part to play. We believe that at the present time women continue to have significant gifts to offer.

It was agreed to request the committee on nominations to ensure the representation of women on all committees of the Alliance, particularly on the executive, comparable with the participation of women in the work, worship and witness in the local churches of the Reformed faith.

The women agreed to the recommendations of a women's section under the department of cooperation and witness with the following terms of reference:

the continuation of the bulletin of women's affairs;
the listing of names of women with particular skills (ie a skills bank);
a contact person to be appointed in each region to facilitate dialogue among women's groups at "grass roots" level;
the emphasis on leadership identification and training, particularly in third-world countries;
request that funds be found for this above purpose.

We request that vacancies for staff for the Alliance should be widely advertised among the Reformed churches and competent women and men be considered for these positions.

Tourism and prostitution

We are deeply concerned with the problems of human rights which are often associated with tourism. These problems include sexism, classism and such examples of human exploitation as drug and alcohol addiction, crime, male and female prostitution. Prostituted, battered and exploited women are symbols of the anguish which touches the whole family of persons created in the image of God. We condemn all forms of sexual exploitation: seduction, rape, prostitution, all supported by the sexually arousing environment promoted by mass media.

Essential elements in the creation of these problems are poverty, lack of education, naivete in decision-making, low estimates of self worth and destructive value patterns. We call on church-related groups and others to increase opportunities for increased self-awareness and a sense of value in people, as well as training in job-skills to undercut these destructive elements.

We encourage churches to vitalize programmes on "The community of women and Men in church and Society," Through these programmes young people may learn to nurture, respect and mutually support one another.

We recommend to churches that they search for the economic and social factors supporting sex tourism in their cultures and seek to develop programmes to counteract these destructive forces.

Human rights issues

(The paper on Human Rights Issues, forwarded by the Caribbean and North American area council, appears in the area council documentation and is not reproduced here.)

Appreciation from the chair

Mrs Wesley Mattonen,

it is my happy responsibility to thank you for your leadership of the department of cooperation and witness from St Andrews to Ottawa, and also to express our gratitude for your fresh and inspiring representation of the Alliance to its member churches throughout the world. You have been described to me as perpetual motion, for one day you are in America, the next in Geneva, the next in France, and the next in Saudi Arabia. In fact, many feel that TWA is a subsidiary of the Alliance! Seriously, in all your travels you have had the interest of the Alliance foremost in your heart. We are all richer for the strong contribution which you have made to our world family of churches, and your leadership will be sorely missed. However, the Alliance knows that it will be able to count on you for assistance on many occasions in the years ahead.

James I McCord