A call to unity within the Reformed family

Introduction
Sources of disunity among Reformed churches
Roots of disunity in Reformed theology
How to overcome and heal divisions?
The role of the Alliance

Introduction

The Reformed churches have an ambivalent relationship to the unity of the church. On the one hand, the Reformed churches are generally deeply committed to the cause of the ecumenical movement. On the other hand, they have had and continue to have an unfortunate tendency to succumb to divisions.

From the very beginning of the Reformation the unity of the church has been a prominent theme in Reformed thinking. John Calvin had a deep concern for unity and worked indefatigably for mutual understanding among Reformed churches. Every succeeding generation continued, in its own way, the struggle for unity. The Puritans promoted the vision of a unified Christian commonwealth. The 19th century saw various attempts to counteract centripetal tendencies in the church. The rediscovery of the missionary calling in the church which took place in the revivalist movement led to a new concern for unity. Several of the pioneers of the modern ecumenical movement belonged to the Reformed tradition.

On the other hand, the Reformed family is deeply divided. In many countries today there is more than one Reformed church. Some Reformed churches live in mutual repudiation and hostility. Others coexist in an atmosphere of complete indifference, neither quarrelling with each other nor seeking fellowship. Alone in Christendom, the Reformed family has created not just one international association but two. While the majority of Reformed churches (164) belong to the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), a small group of more conservative Reformed churches (33) are united in the Reformed Ecumenical Council, and a considerable number of Reformed churches (about 100) are members of neither of these organizations.

The World Alliance of Reformed Churches was founded to strengthen the centripetal tendency to divide. The Reformed divines and church leaders who launched the Alliance in 1875 hoped that a global association would engender a deeper awareness of the indissoluble unity in Christ: the catholic roots of the Reformed tradition were to be given greater prominence and a halt called to what was perceived to be sectarian tendencies displayed by some Reformed churches. It was no accident that the first journal of the World Alliance bore the title of The Catholic Presbyterian. The general councils of the Alliance returned again and again to the question of disunity. The 1948 Geneva general council emphasized "the grave misfortune of a divided Reformed church within a single country", and six years later in Princeton the general council urged the member churches "both to begin and, where begun, to continue conversations with a view to closer fellowship and ultimate reunion".¹ The question was once again raised at the 1982 Ottawa general council, and in 1985 a consultation took place to deal specifically with this problem.²

These efforts have so far failed to change the picture to any appreciable extent. In one or two countries, separated Reformed churches have united. The most important recent example here is the reunion of the Presbyterian Church in the US and the United Presbyterian Church in the USA (1983). A similar initiative in the Netherlands is leading to closer ties between the Gereformeerde Kerken and the Hervormde Kerk. It should also be mentioned here that, in several countries, Reformed churches have been engaged in union negotiations with churches of other traditions and are today part of united churches. Among the member churches of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches there are 16 united churches. The situation of division has certainly been improved by such developments but not ended. Indeed, in many countries, it has proved impossible to avoid fresh divisions.

How is this situation to be explained and interpreted? Is this tendency toward division an enduring problem of the Reformed tradition? Can the divisions be halted? What remedies are available?

Sources of disunity among Reformed churches

What are the causes of these divisions? What factors have helped to produce them?

The Reformed tradition is composed, in the last analysis, of several ecclesiastical forms

The nomenclature of the Reformed churches itself points to different traditions. Some churches call themselves "Reformed", others prefer the label "Presbyterian" or "Congregational" or "Evangelical". Each label represents a distinctive type. The "Reformed" are mainly churches which emerged in continental Europe under the direct influence of the Swiss Reformation. The "Presbyterian" churches have their roots in the Anglo-Saxon world. In large measure they originated in the Scottish Reformation. The strong emphasis on the Presbyterian church order in conflict with an episcopally ordered church led to the adoption of the term "Presbyterian". Whereas in the "Reformed" churches different confessions of faith stood alongside each other as authoritative, the "Presbyterian" churches for the most part recognized the 17th century Westminster Confession of Faith as their subordinate standard of doctrine and preaching. The "Congregational" churches emerged in the conflict with the established church in England. They emphasize the autonomy and authority of the gathered Christian community and adopt a rather reserved attitude to formal confessional statements. In 1879 the Congregationalists founded the International Congregational Council. In 1970, this body united with the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. The label "Evangelical" is the preferred title of churches influenced by the revivalist movement of the 19th century. For these churches, the orientation on the Reformed confessions of faith receded in to the background. They emphasized the personal and communal experience of salvation. Since the missionary movement was largely inspired by this spirituality, this type of Reformed church is found mainly among the younger churches of Africa, Asia and the Pacific.

These four types are in no way mutually exclusive. They have their common basis in the Reformation movement of the 16th century. Despite similarities between them, each has its distinctive emphasis. Where these differences occur between denominations they weigh sufficiently in the balance to prevent them from being able as a matter of course to constitute one church. In many countries today, Reformed, Presbyterian, Congregational and Evangelical churches still lead a separate existence. Where these different emphases are found within existing churches they are experienced as a threat to the internal unity and identity of these churches. Thus an evangelical emphasis within a Reformed church setting may be felt as a threat to the integrity of the Reformed confessional tradition; an emphasis on autonomy within a Presbyterian church setting may be felt to threaten the witness through common decision-making; whereas too strong an allegiance to confessional statements in a Congregational church setting may be seen as a threat to the independence of the local congregation, and so on.

Migrations and missions have led to the formation of a plurality of autonomous Reformed churches in the same country

This is true, for example, for the United States. Emigrants from Scotland, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and, in more recent times, Hungary, transplanted their own separated churches. It is understandable that immigrants should want to maintain familiar traditions in their new environment and to be able to worship God in their own language. But it is striking that, even after they had put down roots in the United States, these separate Reformed churches have not been able to unite to form a single church. They became denominations alongside other denominations. The same process is observable today in a number of countries, for example Brazil and Argentina. The Reformed churches have repeatedly found it difficult and even impossible to maintain different national traditions within one and the same church. The problem is very likely to assume still wider dimensions in the future in view of the new ethnic minorities being created by the vast movements of populations in our time. We have only to think of the Moluccas in Holland or of the growing number of Korean and Taiwanese communities in many countries throughout the world.

To an even greater degree, the missionary movement led to the formation of parallel Reformed churches. The missionary initiative came from the churches and missionary societies in the individual countries. Each national church carried the gospel "to the ends of the earth". The result in each case is the emergence of a number of churches belonging to the same national group. We have only to glance at the list of the Reformed churches to see at once that these churches constitute a family composed of a number of "missionary groups". Each of these groups tends to preserve the characteristics of the traditions of the country from which the mission originated. As a rule, these missionary "subfamilies" have relatively few contacts with each other. Communication between the Reformed churches in Asia and Africa which belong respectively to the Dutch, French or North America connection is far from being a matter of course.

The situation is even more complicated in countries where different missionary societies have worked side by side. Although in a few places comity arrangements have been established, in many instances there are different and even competing Reformed churches in one and the same country. This is well illustrated by the situation in Cameroon. The multiplicity of Reformed churches in this country is explained by the history of missions. While one originated from Scotland and Switzerland, the others are the result of initiatives in France and North America. All attempts to unite them in a single church have so far failed. In Zaire, too, the activity of different missionary societies led to the founding of several Reformed churches; today they have joined with a number of other Protestant communities to form the Church of Christ in Zaire.

Some divisions have originated in controversies over true doctrine

The history of the Reformed churches has been marked by frequent battles over the correct interpretation of the gospel. Again and again in the course of the centuries, quarrels over the true interpretation of the biblical witness have led to divisions and secessions.

There is no room here even for a brief history of these controversies. A few pointers must suffice. Among the most important doctrinal questions which occasioned controversies was the question of the authority of holy scripture. What, for example, is the relationship between the word of God and the written testimony of holy scripture? In what sense can it be said that God speaks through the scriptures? In what sense is holy scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit? In several instances, these questions and others have provided the occasion for a division. Today the unity of the Reformed churches is especially threatened to a large extent by the controversies over fundamentalism, millenarianism, and Pentecostalism.

No less important is the question of the role of the confessions of faith. Countless Reformed churches have disintegrated over this question. To what extent are the confessions of the 16th and 17th centuries still binding on us today? Despite the shared conviction of all Reformed churches that the witness of holy scripture takes precedence over the authority of the confessions and that the church can learn from scriptural insights previously unrecognized, they nevertheless differ in their respect for the confessions. While some think that the scriptural witness is summarized in the confessions of the 16th and 17th centuries in a way which is still valid today, others take in view that the present generation must go beyond those texts and bear witness to the biblical testimony in contemporary terms by producing new confessions of faith. Since the end of the 18th century, controversies over the validity of the confessions of faith have repeatedly led to secessions (eg in Switzerland, Scotland and the United States).

In addition to these tensions over the authority of holy scripture and the confessions of the 16th and 17th centuries, there is a similar tension which arises from the importance given to certain doctrinal issues that were central to the early Reformation churches, in particular the doctrines of double predestination and of the decrees of the sovereignty of God. While these are not as divisive now as they have been in the past, it is nevertheless still the case that some, in the light of modern biblical and theological reflection, think that the church should explicitly distance itself from these doctrines, while others wish to hold into them as being essential to the Reformed identity.

Revivalist movements have often been the occasion of divisions

It often proves impossible to integrate newly upsurging revival movements into the existing church. The scenario is almost always the same. Adherents of the new spirituality tend to criticize what they consider to be a lack of spirituality in the established church, which in turn develops an attitude of distrust towards the new movement. This block in the normal flow of communication may then lead to extreme positions: on the one hand traditional doctrine and practice is called in question, and on the other hand the experiments are rejected and condemned. What is often at stake in the escalation of the quarrel is the nature of the true church and the meaning of fellowship with Christ and missionary vocation. There have been several revival movements in history which have resulted in the formation of new churches or at least separate associations within the existing churches.

Most recently the same problem has become manifest in many places in the growth of Pentecostal and charismatic influence. In some cases like in Latin America this leads to the severing of connections between Reformed churches and the Pentecostal movement. In other cases a general charismatic influence penetrates churches at several levels, causing controversies which threaten the given unity.

Challenge of truth sometimes coincides with the challenge of class

The preceding example of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements draws our attention to yet another aspect of diversity and division. Sociologically speaking, most Reformed churches are middle-class. Many revivalist movements, especially Pentecostalism, strike root among the poor. In other words: there is a class challenge involved in these particular examples of disunity. This is also the case in the rise of many "base communities" in Latin America and elsewhere. Often these communities - which arise both within and outside institutional churches - challenge the church because it is implicitly committed to a political and economic establishment which, according to the communities concerned, needs to be criticized from the "underside of history".

The ways have often divided over political and social issues

The responsibility for social and political life has formed an integral part of the Reformed tradition from the beginning. In the course of history, this has given rise to various creative involvements in public issues, but also to conflict and disunity, in which we can distinguish two types.

In the first place, deep differences of opinion could and can arise over certain political and social options. In the 19th century, the Presbyterian Church in the US divided on account of the civil war, in which the question of slavery played a prominent part. Today the question arises as to how far a Christian community which theologically or morally justifies the apartheid system can still claim to be part of the church of Jesus Christ. The rift between the "white" and the black and coloured Reformed churches in South Africa today is so radical as to amount in practice to a division. In the same way, anti-communism has become a powerful motive of disunity. In some countries, the church is divided because certain groups make the battle against communism a central tenet of the faith.

Secondly, relationships between church and state - traditionally a matter of concern in the Reformed tradition - have often occasioned serious conflicts. Basically, there have always been two models: the model of the common responsibility of church and state, and the free church model. In the first model, church and state support each other as partners in obedience to the covenant; in the second model the church is free to develop a basic sense of responsibility for social and political life; but the transition from one model to the other has often taken the form of conflict and secession (Church of Scotland; Free Churches in Switzerland).

The ecumenical movement has not only resulted in convergence and union but also in divisions

Sometimes unions which have been achieved between several churches in recent times have themselves been "divisive" for the Presbyterian churches. While the majority decided to enter the united church, a minority declined to do so and founded a separate church. When the United Church of Canada was founded in 1925, the Presbyterian Church of Canada continued. A similar process was repeated in the unions in Pakistan (1970) and Australia (1977). Also, the question of membership of the World Council of Churches and cooperation with that body has occasioned division. This question played an important part in church relations in Korea. It is one factor that has kept separated the Reformed and Christian Reformed churches in America.

Roots of disunity in reformed theology

Called to bear witness to God's reconciliation in Jesus Christ, the Reformed churches betray that witness by their brokenness. Moreover, with a few notable exceptions there seems to be little effort to overcome the present state of division, even among Reformed churches within a specific region. On the whole, the Reformed churches tend to perpetuate the status quo. Why is this so? In the preceding chapter we have pointed to a variety of causes and factors which, individually or in varying combinations, have led to a split. We have given a list of external reasons. But this list does not yet provide the full explanation. Other confessional traditions in similar circumstances have been able to resist the tendency towards division much more successfully than our own. It is therefore within the Reformed tradition itself that we must look for a fuller explanation.

1. The Reformers emphasized the role of the living and liberating word of God in the renewal of the church. They fought tenaciously to ensure that the witness of scripture was primary in the life of the church. The sole purpose even of the confessions of faith of Reformation times was to recover the primacy of God's word in the church. However, this emphasis has in fact often been distorted into an impulse which has made idols of the bible or the confessions, and such an impulse has led to divisions in the church.

For the Reformers it was axiomatic that Jesus Christ is the basis and source of unity. It is Christ alone who "gathers, defends and upholds" his church. "The only true bond of ecclesiastical unity", said John Calvin at the end of his Reply to Cardinal Sadolet, "consists in this, that Christ the Lord who has reconciled us to God the Father gathers us out of our present dispersion into the fellowship of his body so that through his one word and Spirit we may join together with one heart and one soul".³ Faced with the failure of the church, the Reformers appealed to the testimony of scripture to find a clearer witness to the gospel and the original testimony given to accompany the church on its journey. They believed God's World would be revealed to the church when it turned to this testimony with a receptive heart and mind.

But this subtle relationship between God's word and holy scripture is subject to misinterpretations. Reference to the witness of scripture as a source of knowledge can be turned into a "principle". A confession of faith whose sole purpose was to highlight the proclamation of the living word can be elevated to the status of "binding doctrine". At a stroke, the unity of the church is no longer established by God's living and liberating word but by the inspired text of scripture or by a confession of faith. We are tempted to develop a coherent system out of scripture and confession and to use this system as a test of unity. But once a particular interpretation of scripture or a confessional document is turned into a rigid formula, it generates enormous problems.

The Reformed tradition's treatment of scripture and confessions of faith as foundations of the church's life often made it a pray to intellectualism and sometimes rationalism. The contribution of the Reformed churches to theological scholarship has certainly been considerable, but the churches have occasionally succumbed to an arid and austere intellectualism. This is why they have also had a recurring tendency to define the truth exclusively in theological terms and to test and judge new developments in the church exclusively by a comparison with established theological formulations.

2. The Reformers emphasized that Jesus Christ becomes present anew by his living word and by the power of the Holy Spirit. "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in your midst." It is through God's self-revelation that the church becomes a reality. However, this Reformation insight can easily be turned inside out and lead to disdain both for the fellowship of the church and for the continuity of the tradition through the centuries. The Reformed churches have repeatedly fallen into this error.

The Reformers' criticism was essential to disrupt the complacency of the church of their day. The claim of a church to be the true church of Jesus Christ cannot be demonstrated by criteria derived from its own life. The living word is, in the final analysis, the only valid criterion on which we can rely. But at the same time the church is the community of word and sacrament which God has called into being. It is God's people, the body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is the place which Jesus Christ has chosen for his self-impartation. God's faithfulness is shown by his accompanying this community of faith from generation to generation and by his assurance that he will never abandon it to complete error and destruction. Even though the unbroken continuity through the ages is no guarantee of the truth, it does nevertheless constitute a sign of God's promise and trustworthiness. As Calvin said, "The church is the society of all the saints which, spread over the whole world and existing in all ages yet bound together by doctrine and the one Spirit of Christ, cultivates and observes unity of faith and brotherly concord. With this church we deny that we have any disagreement. Rather as we revere her as our mother, so we desire to remain in her bosom".⁴

Over wide stretches of the Reformed tradition, this profound respect for the continuity of the church through the ages has been eroded. It is true that if the church is to remain in the truth it is in need of constant reform. But this truth has repeatedly been misused to justify a breach with the existing church at a given time: In Reformed circles there is something of a "reformation reflex", ie an unconscious urge to repeat today the breach which the Reformers in the 16th century were forced to make against their inclinations. A destructive role is played here by the too facile and often unconsidered use of the splendid dictum "ecclesia reformata semper reformanda". It becomes too easy to assume that a church can only lay claim to the truth if it has first disowned the existing church.

3. The Reformers paved the way for a new appreciation of the personal aspect of hearing and receiving the good news. The gospel of the forgiveness of sins, of acceptance by God, can be proclaimed and received in a direct personal way without the mediation of the church. This emphasis has led to lasting renewal in both church and society. But very often it also caused an underestimation of the equally important insight that God's grace leads into the communion of the church. Full of their own experience, individuals have frequently disregarded the fellowship of the church.

Karl Barth speaks ironically of the attempt of many Reformed Christians to escape from the visibility of the divided church and to find refuge in the unity of an invisible believer church: "It is a movement of flight of this kind when the individual believer withdraws in disgust or superiority from his own church and therefore from all other churches, shuts himself off with his own God and Christ and Holy Spirit in some hermit's retreat or ivory tower, enjoying his own private faith, being happy in his own fashion, and possibly with the contemplation of the una sancta which for the movement has its only representative in his own person!"⁵

Aloofness from the church as the fellowship which claims as of right the service of every individual member can only lead individual Christians with exceptional gifts of leadership to conclude too hastily that they are entitled or constrained to break away from the existing church and form groups with like-minded followers. In many cases pioneers of private spiritual adventure have become the sponsors of Reformed divisions.

4. Experience of God's completely undeserved grace led the Reformers to reflect on God's election in Christ. They came to the conclusion that this divine favour in Christ cannot be explained in terms of human merit but is rooted solely in God's decision and initiative. Seen in this light, the church is the fellowship of those whom God in his unfathomable mercy and love has chosen for salvation. The Reformers interpreted this in the first place as a call to praise God for his love in the sight of all the world. However, the idea of election is easily misunderstood. The Reformed churches have repeatedly yielded to the temptation to exalt themselves as an elect company superior to the world and especially to other churches. In every case this has had devastating consequences for the unity of the church and humanity. In politics the idea of election has also been used to give religious sanction to nationalist and oppressive ideologies.

The doctrine of election is an inescapable consequence of the doctrine of God's grace in Jesus Christ and of justification by faith in Christ. The Reformers were aware of the danger of this doctrine. It can produce an unhealthy self-assurance or on the contrary plunge the Christian into the depths of despair. Am I really among those whom God elected before the foundation of the world? The Reformers warned against letting ourselves be drawn in either direction by the rational logic of this doctrine. As we are confronted with Christ's message we know ourselves to be dependent in every respect on God's love. We are to be content with that and make it the basis of our lives. To respect the mystery of election is an integral part of Christian faith. But in the course of the centuries the Reformed churches have tended to dissolve this mystery. The doctrine of election was all too easily misused to furnish the basis of a sense of messianic mission. Whether in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church or as the exponents of a particular experience or a certain missionary mandate, certain Reformed churches have seen themselves as the elect and contribute to zealous nationalism and ideologies that have oppressed people.

To be sure, the doctrine of election can also lead, on the contrary, to a more open attitude towards the world and especially towards the other churches, rather than to separatism. For the doctrine of election surely reminds us that we are forbidden to pass final judgments on other human beings. It surely makes us recognize the possibility that the Holy Spirit can always act in ways which are beyond the reach of our own understanding and judgements. To be too quick to mark ourselves off from other churches is always in basic contradiction to the whole spirit of the Reformation. The church is a fellowship which lives in the constant expectation of God's unexpected action even beyond its own borders.

5. The Reformers attached great importance to the church as local community. The whole body of Christ is fully present in each particular place which is the living or primary locus of fellowship with Jesus Christ. This fellowship becomes a reality where men and women are gathered together to hear the word and to break bread together. The universal church is understood as a fellowship of local churches which must constantly be rediscovering their unity. This emphasis, however, can easily be turned into an over-emphasis. The local or national church can become closed to the universal fellowship of the church. The absence of a commitment on the part of the Reformed churches to make visible and to take seriously the universal fellowship encourages and perpetuates many divisions.

The Reformed view is that the church of each region is responsible for doctrinal purity, the ordering of worship, missionary proclamation and the training of ministers in its region. It is under no obligation to submit its decisions to the common judgement of its sister churches or to align them with that judgement. It is a striking fact that the Reformed churches have never yet formulated a common confession of faith. They appeal to a plurality of confessions of faith each of which has been produced by an individual church.

This firm insistence on the autonomy of local, regional and national churches has its advantages, of course. It has encouraged a keen sense of responsibility in the individual churches. When new questions arose, the church in a particular region could not look for answers from elsewhere but had to deal with them by making use of its own received gifts and insights. This strong emphasis on the local church meant that churches born of missionary work achieved autonomy fairly quickly and soon accepted responsibility for evangelism in their own territory.

No less undeniable, however, are the risks accompanying this regional autonomy. The churches can very soon become complacent and content with their own limited insights. The correction which ought to result as a matter of course from exchanges with other churches begins to become conspicuous by its absence. Churches can succumb to a spirit of self-sufficiency. Confinement within a national territory can make a church restrict its interests exclusively to the furtherance of its own particular nation. Above all, this view of the church is in large measure responsible for the way the missionary movement produced separated nationally oriented churches side by side in one and the same country. Calvin realized that exchanges between the churches were essential if the latter were to fulfil their mission effectively. He was tireless in his efforts to establish links between the churches. The Reformed churches have erred by paying too little heed to this aspect of the Reformed heritage.

6. From the beginning, the Reformed tradition has strongly emphasized that the gospel lays claim to all areas of human life, including public life and personal decisions and relationships. The church is called to champion justice in human society by its preaching and faithful obedience. For the Reformed churches, controversies over the church's public and personal witness are in many cases a question of debates over confessing the faith aright. They can easily lead to divisions which often outlive the historical occasion which produced them.

In the finest moments of their history, the Reformed churches have borne clear witness to Christ's lordship over the church and the world. They have generally resisted attempts, either from within or from without, to restrict the church's proclamation to the "spiritual" sphere. Even when they have been only a minority, they have generally refused to let themselves be driven into a spiritual ghetto. Their fundamental assumption has been the conviction that political choices must be subjected to the scrutiny of the gospel. However often they may have failed in concrete historical circumstances, the statement of the Barmen Declaration of 1934 remains a faithful definition of their attitude: "We reject the false doctrine that there are areas of our life in which we belong not to Jesus Christ but to other masters, realms where we do not need to be justified and sanctified by him."

The intense controversies over the proper relationship between church and State become intelligible only against this background. It is for the sake of the church's faithful witness in public life that its freedom from the State must be maintained.

But how is Christ's summons to unity to be respected in these controversies over political questions of public life? How is it to be made quite clear that a unity in Christ already exists which can survive the necessary rejection of error and apostasy? How are we to avoid the emergence of a plurality of Reformed churches all testifying to past controversies? Where the integrity of the church's message is at stake, of course, ways must inevitably divide. The Reformed churches have in many cases recognized this. On the other hand, they have not as often recognized the kairos of making a new start together.

How to overcome and heal divisions?

The brokenness and fragmentation of the Reformed churches are not merely due to historical accidents. The tendency towards division has its roots also in certain aspects of Reformed teaching and spirituality. Insights which originated in the time of the Reformation and which represent the strength of the Reformed tradition have, in practice, turned out to be liable to distortion. The strong emphasis of the living word of God and the witness of holy scripture could lead to divorcing the concern for proclamation from the concern for community; it could result in a purely intellectual approach to the message of Christ. The passion for the renewal of the church in harmony with Christ's will could entail a neglect of the visible continuity of the church throughout the centuries. The discovery of the infinite value of each person in the eyes of God could become the basis for an individualistic understanding of the Christian faith and the church. Meditation on the central theme of God's election could give rise to narrow visions of messianic vocation. Emphasis on the significance of the local community as the place where the gospel is heard and witness borne in word and deed could become a hindrance to the common witness of the church as a universal community. The strong concern of Christian witness in the social and political realms could become the source of controversies jeopardizing the unity of succeeding generations.

What is then required to overcome this situation? Obviously, there is need to reflect afresh on these distortions of the Reformed tradition. A new balance needs to be achieved. The basic insights of the Reformers have not lost anything of their relevance. There is no reason for calling them into question altogether. But the disunity the Reformed churches are facing today forces them to rethink their heritage in the perspective of God's call to unity. How can the insights of the Reformation be taught and practised today without the risk of new ruptures and divisions?

As we seek this new balance we need to be aware of the fact that a new approach to unity is called for in each generation. The requirements today are not the same as in the 16th century. A new situation has arisen which calls for new emphases. In particular, the churches need to live up to the fact that they have to bear their witness in a global society whose survival is threatened by injustice, by ideological and military conflicts and the gradual destruction of the natural environment. The biblical teaching on the church as a living sign of God's love and reconciliation acquires therefore particular urgency.

Three considerations may be offered as illustrations.

1. Unanimously, all Reformers placed central emphasis on the message of "justification by grace alone". Salvation cannot be obtained by human qualities or efforts. It is God's gift. As we proclaim this message today we have to reflect carefully on its implications for the unity of the church. Justification can easily be considered too exclusively in the perspective of the relationship between God and the individual human being. But, rightly understood, justification establishes at the same time a new relationship with God and with the people in whose midst we are living. Justification by grace alone takes always place in the community. Through justification I am made a member of Christ's body. While in the 16th century the primary emphasis could legitimately be placed on freedom from all attempts at self-justification we have to stress today with equal force the freedom freeing human beings for each other. I have been justified in the community of those who have been justified with me. There is deep truth in the phrase that, in baptism, we die as individuals but rise to new life as members of Christ's body.
2. Unanimously, all Reformers spoke of God's living word as the ultimate source of life. God accomplishes his purposes through the power of the word and the Spirit. The word brings forth new life. Through the word, God calls into being the church, the community of believers. On the basis of this conviction the Reformers were bound to stress the importance of proclaiming the word in the church. The church gains renewed life by turning to the liberating word and accepting the gift of life which it brings. As we repeat this teaching today we need to pay special attention to the role of the community in receiving the word. Yes, the word is sovereign and capable of transforming the life of the church in unexpected ways. The word acting on the church through the power of the Spirit was the ultimate cause of the Reformation. But the word acts not only on the church but in and through the church. The church is the place where, through the centuries, the believing community has sought to respond to the gospel through its faith and its life. Faithfulness to that community is essential for understanding and receiving the word. Joining in the praise of the church is the precondition for the individual's being and remaining a living member of the body. In this perspective the celebration of the Lord's supper is of crucial importance. While the proclamation of the word seeks to show the relevance of the gospel for the particular situation in which we live today, the Lord's supper recalls the message which was proclaimed from the very beginning and will be proclaimed until the end of times. The Lord's supper reminds the community of the communion of faith both in time and in space. It is the sign of the church's catholicity.
3. Unanimously, all Reformers were concerned with the integrity of the local community. In speaking of the church they directed their attention primarily to the community in each place. They defined the church as the community where the word is purely preached and the sacraments are rightly administered. In speaking about the church today this emphasis needs to be supplemented by an equally strong emphasis on the church as a worldwide fellowship. The people of God in many places is one and needs to become manifest as one. The churches are called to proclaim God's word to the whole world. They are to bear witness together. If they get imprisoned in their local situation they deny the fullness of their calling. They need to seek ways of making visible their fundamental oneness across national boundaries. While in the 16th century the dignity of each congregation was legitimately considered to be the overriding concern, today the need for an effective solidarity within the universal church needs to be emphasized with equal force.

The role of the Alliance

How can this worldwide solidarity be achieved? If the existing divisions are to be healed and fresh divisions avoided, it is essential that the Reformed churches throughout the world develop a deeper sense of fellowship. They need to feel responsible for one another and share with one another both their gifts and their problems. The World Alliance of Reformed Churches could render decisive services in this process. What steps are to be envisaged?

1. More exchange is needed between the Reformed churches on fundamental issues of their witness today.

If unity is to be preserved it is important that the Reformed churches reach mutual understanding on the main issues raised by the proclamation of the gospel in the world today. This does not mean that they need to formulate a common confession of faith. The variety of confessions which have been produced in recent years are a sign of vitality which is to be highly valued. But it is essential that the churches stay in touch with one another as they respond to the challenges of their own situation. They need to discuss with each other the issues confronting them. As much as the confession of faith is ultimately a matter for each individual church it is at the same time a concern of all churches. They need to listen to each other.

2. In particular, common reflection is required between the Reformed churches on their participation in the ecumenical movement.

Participation in the ecumenical movement has many implications for the Reformed churches. Agreements reached with churches of other traditions call into question certain traditional assertions. If unity is to be preserved among Reformed churches a common understanding of the role of Reformed churches in the ecumenical movement needs gradually to be developed.

3. In times of crisis, whether internal or external, Reformed churches should be able, as a matter of course, to rely on the solidarity of all their sister churches.

Some divisions have occurred in recent decades without the Reformed family having stirred itself in any way. Most churches were content with simply noting the event with regret. But should not every rift within a Reformed church automatically draw a response from all Reformed churches? In order to be prepared for mutual solidarity in time of crisis the churches need to develop ways of regular exchange.

4. There is need for people who commit themselves to the service of unity among the Reformed churches.

Unity is not simply an idea. Unity is the result of a common commitment to the body of Christ. There is therefore need for people who make God's call to unity their primary concern. In the early period of Christianity people travelling from place to place and visiting the congregation played a significant role in establishing bonds of unity. At this present moment, the Reformed churches may be in special need of such a ministry.

5. A real sense of belonging to one worldwide family can grow only on the basis of a network of multilateral relationships.

Today, many Reformed churches are only insufficiently aware of the total Reformed family. In particular churches which originated from the missionary work of the last two centuries have often contact with only a small number of Reformed sister churches. Multilateral relations, based on real partnership and genuine reciprocity, could deliver Reformed churches from some of their parochialism.

6. In order to fulfil these objectives the Reformed churches should be able to make fuller use of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.

Relationships can only be established with the help of an instrument at the universal level which on the one hand symbolizes the communion among the individual churches and, on the other hand, provides the opportunity for the encounter and the exchange which are required for expressing effectively the solidarity among them.

Notes