In coming to participate in our opening worship service this morning, we processed symbolically from Seoul to Debrecen. Led by the Korean delegation and then the Hungarian delegation, together we officially entered our meeting place, the Great Church of Debrecen.

The journey through history

This procession symbolizes first of all the passage of time: eight years charged with historical events which have transformed our world. Eight years in which the Cold War ended, eight years in which apartheid was overturned in South Africa and a multiracial democracy inaugurated, eight years in which ceasefires were declared in the longstanding wars in El Salvador, Guatemala, Ireland, Lebanon, and the former Yugoslavia, and eight years in which dictators were deprived of their power in Malawi and Congo. Of course, each of these accomplishments represents only the beginning of a long process of social reconstruction needed to allow justice to flourish.

These eight years also represent the period in which many of the democracies of the North began to shrink or to unravel the safety nets of their societies which had protected the poor, and especially the children of the poor, the period in which globalization of the economy has sharpened, even brutalized competition and widened the gap between the rich and the poor around the world, the period in which finally it became clear beyond doubt that disruption of the world's climate as the result of human activity is real. It is a time when all over the world we see pressures towards individualism and privatization, away from the values of community and the public good. It is a time when violence of one ethnic group against another has devastated communities on several continents. In our journey from Seoul to Debrecen we have come to a new world situation in which our churches are called to make their witness to Jesus Christ.

The journey with the Alliance

The procession from Seoul to Debrecen takes us symbolically through eight years of the Alliance's work. The executive committee is accountable to you for our stewardship in carrying out the clear and ambitious mandates of the general council in Seoul for the Alliance in the nineties. The delegates in Seoul had a powerful vision which seemed at that time nearly impossible to fulfill but which challenged us to work with energy. I hope you have been able to read the summary of our work in the report, From Seoul to Debrecen, work which continues in the historic tradition of the Alliance: collaborative work, both theological and practical, by the churches of the Reformed family towards greater unity in the Reformed family and in the whole Christian church, towards a stronger common witness to the gospel, and towards firmer support for human rights, also including the more recent concern for justice for all creation. These eight years have been a time of unprecedented growth in the number of staff persons and programmes based in the Geneva office. We have added an assistant to the general secretary, who among his responsibilities includes the partnership fund and the central and eastern European fund, and executive staff members in the areas of publications, partnership of women and men (PACT), and youth work. It has been a time of stabilization of finances, broadening and deepening of contacts with the member churches through more systematic visits as well as mailings, and development of additional regional arms of the Alliance in Latin America and northeast Asia as well as closer cooperation with the Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches.

The journey from south to north

This procession from Seoul to Debrecen symbolizes much more, however: it is also a movement from the churches of the south to the churches of the north. No longer do the activities of the Alliance usually move from the countries of the north to those of the south, but rather there is also a reciprocal movement from the south to the north, as we process from Seoul to Debrecen. The number of member churches in the south continues to rise, as does the proportion of those churches, now about three-quarters of the membership of the Alliance. We welcome this reciprocity of initiative in the life of the Alliance and seek to strengthen it. We should note that a similar change of direction is taking place in churches quite beyond the work of the Alliance. Whereas a century ago missionary activity by churches moved from north to south, today churches in the south are also sending missionaries to the north as well as to the south.

The theological journey

There is also a theological movement symbolized by the procession from Seoul to Debrecen. In Seoul we focused on the confession of faith in Jesus Christ with our theme: "Who do you say that I am?" (Mk 8.29). Reformed Christians know that confessing Christ as Lord means acknowledging Christ's rule over all of life, personal and corporate, sacred and secular. In Debrecen we will be exploring one of the ways we live out that confession faithfully through our theme: "Break the chains of injustice" (Is 58.6).

How can we dare to take up such a theme when we ourselves are all so deeply implicated in injustice? Reformed Christians understand that our obedience to God's moral law is an act of gratitude for Christ's reconciling of us to God. Sinners we are, but forgiven sinners who know we can only be saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. In gratitude we work to make Christ's reign visible on earth, a reign of peace and justice, where all human barriers fall. This work is an integral part of our confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and of our worship of God. Our common teacher, John Calvin, in a sermon on the angels' song at the birth of Christ, described this response of gratitude:

"...let us learn not to have at all a dead and idle faith, but let us be encouraged to bless the name of God - to be grateful - when we see that God has thus displayed the great treasures of God's mercy towards us; and let the mouth do its duty on the one hand and then let our whole life respond. For there is the true hymn, that all dedicate themselves to the service of God, knowing that, since God has bought us so dearly, it is indeed right that all our thoughts and our works should be applied to that service, so that God's name be blessed."

It is in this spirit of grateful worship and service as the praise of God that we take up the prophet Isaiah's word from God, seeking to know God's will for human life. God declares in our theme passage from Isaiah 58 that false piety which relies on superficial observance of ceremonies related to worship while ignoring God's desire for serious work to break the chains of injustice is absolutely unacceptable in God's eyes. We see all around us the chains of injustice in the world where we must witness today, chains of racism, gender discrimination, economic exploitation, ethnic hostility, unequal access to such necessities as adequate nutrition, education, safe housing, and medical care, lack of protection for the most vulnerable in our societies, lack of religious freedom or the freedom to dissent, the despoiling of the planet which is our common home. God's word from Isaiah lays its claim upon us: we are called to struggle against injustice as Christian people who know that the church's mission must be patterned after the mission of Jesus Christ to overcome every form of evil, injustice, and suffering.

For this mission, the church itself must strive to model for the world God's new community of reconciliation where in defiance of humanly created barriers, all who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and are by baptism made members of Christ's body are received as brothers and sisters to live together in love and justice and Christian freedom. Yet despite serious efforts, our witness remains marred by injustice within the church's own life. We who believe that the church is always in need of reformation must pray for the grace to allow the Holy Spirit to break our own chains and lead us towards God's future.

Our work together in Debrecen

In our days together, through common worship and Bible study, we will seek to understand the implications of this call from God to break the chains of injustice, both in the church and in the world; and we will ask from God the strength, courage, and wisdom to respond. By faith we are able to trust, to hope in a way that only believers can hope, that God is already at work in our world, overcoming injustice, sin and death, like the leaven working in the bread or the growing of the mustard seed into a large plant; but we need the eyes of faith to see the signs of God's reign and to envision our own task. We also need the burning flame of love for God and for one another to warm our hearts and wills for joyful service in Christ's name.

To our worship and to our study of the Bible and of the other preparatory documents, we will bring different perspectives from our varied contexts of life and work. It will be the responsibility of us all to ensure that all the voices here present can be heard and heard with respect. God has so spread gifts and graces among the people of God that we need one another. Reformed people have tried to embody that insight in our polity. Our gathering here is a remarkable opportunity to share the experience and insight of lay people, elders, deacons, and ministers, women and men, youth and older adults, Christians from every geographical region and many cultures. We also have with us ecumenical delegates to keep us conscious of our ties to the wider Christian family and to Judaism. There will often be passionate speaking. But we must also have compassionate and patient listening if we are to understand each other well. Out of these conversations will come the shared commitments which will help us to covenant together to set priorities for the work of our member churches and which will shape the work of the Alliance till the next general council.

From Debrecen to the twenty-first century

The staff and elected members of the executive committee have worked together to produce a document to stimulate your thinking about priorities for the future work of the Alliance, "The Alliance Beyond 1997". I would like to highlight several of these priorities by focusing on the theme of partnership.

Issues of the magnitude and global character which confront us in Debrecen - Reformed identity, Christian mission, Christian unity, justice for humanity and for creation, cooperation between women and men - cannot be dealt with by individual Christians alone or our particular churches alone. We need the solidarity of the whole Christian family to build increasingly strong partnerships to strengthen our common witness. Where human rights and justice for the creation are concerned, we must be prepared to work with all people of good will who share our concerns.

When I use the term "partnership," I do not merely refer to the fact of our interdependence. Within the framework of interdependence there can be many types of relationships, some healthy, some unhealthy. I use the term "partnership" to refer to relationships in common work marked by mutual respect, by justice, by reciprocity, where each has something to give and something to receive, relationships which can be signs of the new creation in Jesus Christ. These are the sorts of relationships we need to continue to nurture in the Alliance as a reflection of our concern for justice, so that we can strengthen one another's witness.

Partnership of the member churches with each other and with the Alliance

WARC exists only as a voluntary partnership of churches with Reformed roots who know that they need one another. It has flourished in these 120 years since the first general council because God by divine grace has been at work among us, creating and recreating a vision of the unity of the church and the solidarity of humankind that has continually drawn us together as partners in a common task, however fractious our disagreements may have been at times. The steady growth in the number of member churches, year by year, as churches of the family which have been separated renew their family ties, reminds us sadly of our history of separations but also testifies to God's continual work of reconciliation and brings us great joy. It is a theological vision of the church, not merely practical necessity, which draws our churches into partnership in the Alliance.

Our Calvinist ethic shapes our lifestyle as an Alliance: we live modestly and non-bureaucratically. Our Geneva staff of thirteen, including both executive and support staff, is smaller than that of many large congregations. Most of our regional staff members are part-time, and some work on a voluntary basis. Such a simple institutional lifestyle depends heavily on the commitment of all its members.

When the present officers met for the first time with the Geneva staff in the spring of 1990 to plan for the work ahead, we committed ourselves to try to work from the grassroots up, to listen first to the needs of the member churches. To live out this commitment has not been easy. Communication by mail with the member churches is not always effective.

Because there were many churches we did not know well, the executive committee has met on five continents over these eight years in an effort to come to know the various contexts in which our churches live, to know their leaders, their styles of life and work, their needs and their joys. Usually the staff and elected members have fanned out in teams to visit member churches in the area or on their travel routes before or after the meetings. Elected members along with staff members have also taken part in special pastoral visits when needed at other times. We have found these efforts very enriching for our understanding and essential for our work.

This executive committee has also supported development of the regional associations of Reformed churches which have been emerging at the initiative of the regions, parallel to the regional bodies which have existed in Europe and North America from the beginning of the Alliance. We believe they can be beneficial as a means of bringing the Alliance closer to the member churches and strengthening the partnership among neighbouring churches set in a similar context for ministry. They could be especially helpful in nurturing new member churches of the Alliance from their regions. Nonetheless great care needs to be exercised to keep the regional bodies closely related to the executive committee so that communication and cooperation among and across the regions will not be weakened?

We hope the member churches in turn will increasingly take the initiative to communicate to the Alliance their proposals for common work, their response to proposals of the executive committee, news of their work and concerns, and the various kinds of support which they are able to offer for the common work. We are aware that in these difficult days many churches find it impossible to make the expected financial contributions, but some are creative in finding additional ways to offer support. The executive committee has asked the staff to record "in-kind contributions," like hosting consultations or translating publications for the use of other churches, as well as monetary contributions to the regular budget as a way of documenting this wider partnership.

You who are members of this general council bear the important responsibility to find creative and effective ways to strengthen the partnership between your churches and the Alliance. This task begins in earnest when you depart from Debrecen to return to your home church. We count on your collaboration.

Partnership of WARC staff and elected leaders

On behalf of the executive committee I would like to express deep gratitude for the faithful and capable work of the general secretary and his staff, both in Geneva and in the regions. The executive staff all carry very heavy loads of administrative work, theological work, speaking and writing, travel to accompany the member churches and work with consultations, and pastoral care in all its forms: in person and by phone and mail. They care deeply about the people of the member churches as part of their Christian family. The support staff members also carry heavy responsibility, often travelling to meetings of the executive committee or consultations and working long hours under difficult conditions. They, too, have an important ministry. All of them, and the special Coordinator of the 23rd general council and his assistant, have gone not just the second but the hundredth mile to make this Council meeting possible. The more closely we as elected leaders work with the staff, the more we understand how demanding, challenging, and yet rewarding their work is. We must express our appreciation also to the families of our staff members who in many different ways also share in the joys and the difficulties of the work.

Recognizing that new or expanded programme areas did not have the support of a department in the executive committee (like those of Theology, Cooperation and Witness, and Finance), the executive committee appointed special committees in the areas of communications, youth work, and partnership of women and men (PACT) to develop the programmes and to accompany staff members in these areas as they were added. Special committees were also added to work with the Assistant to the general secretary on the partnership fund and the central and eastern European fund.

As the staff has expanded since Seoul, the ministry of the Alliance has correspondingly expanded. It is very clear that this expanded ministry is needed and productive; it is also clear that if funding cannot be found to continue the present level of staffing, the work of the Alliance will be seriously curtailed. The financial stability that has been achieved in these years through the remarkable work of the Finance Department has made this broadened ministry possible. The current level of financial support cannot under present circumstances be taken for granted for the future but must be vigorously pursued by the new executive committee if this basic and necessary level of staffing is to be maintained.

I would also like to express my deep gratitude for the work of the executive committee, made up of the officers and twenty-five members elected by the general council. This committee is responsible to set the strategy and policy to carry out the mandates of the general council, to oversee the Alliance's work, to hire new staff persons, and to speak for the Alliance between meetings of the general councils. As we have mentioned, the world and the churches have changed enormously since the last general council, requiring fresh strategies for our work. Members of the executive committee have been extremely faithful in attending meetings, bringing their varied gifts and skills, representing the concerns of the diverse churches of our constituency, working with great intensity and a positive spirit, educating each other. They have cheerfully responded to requests to take on additional tasks such as representing the Alliance at ecumenical meetings, visiting member churches, helping to organize consultations or meetings of the executive committee in their home countries, writing and speaking to interpret the work of WARC, preparing for the general council meeting. They are deeply committed to the ministry of the Alliance, adding its responsibilities to their already heavily-loaded professional lives. Many serve the Alliance at the cost of some real personal sacrifice. Strong bonds of friendship have been created through our work together in partnership with the staff?

So conscious have we become of the need for continuing to strengthen this partnership of the executive committee with the staff for the future that we have proposed some guidelines for the nominating committee to use in their work. I hope you have seen these in "The Alliance Beyond 1997" and will consider them carefully as you select new leadership.

Partnership of the churches of the north and south

One important function of the Alliance has been to bring together as partners churches of the north and south which once were "mother" and "daughter" churches. WARC needs to continue to work with mission-sending churches, from whatever region, to overcome any remnants of "paternalism' which interfere with development of partnerships based on justice and mutual respect. Increasingly we hear that problems of unjust relationships are the result of independent congregational missions not under the control of national church leadership. We must ask our member churches to take responsibility for educating their congregations in the nature of partnership.

In the task before us in Debrecen of confronting global problems such as the chains of economic injustice, it is important that churches of the north and south have this opportunity to sit together as partners to understand each other's situation and how those situations are interconnected, to analyse together the problems of economic injustice which enchain them both, and to strategize together on how the chains can be broken.

Reformed churches have a responsibility to be advocates for those across the world who are being exploited by the process of globalization and whose societies are suffering from the effects of this process. In a climate of globalization, workers who cannot move, both in the industrialized countries of the north and in the south, lose their bargaining power to achieve a living wage and healthy working conditions. Globalization undercuts the efforts of governments both in the north and the south to provide social insurance as a "safety net' for the most vulnerable of their people. Furthermore, for example, globalization confronts the consumers in some churches of the North with the morally abhorrent situation that much of the clothing made available to them, even by recognized manufacturers, often at luxury prices, has been manufactured in countries in the south by workers who cannot earn enough to feed their families and whose health is compromised by conditions in the workplace. Though all of us are affected by globalization, the suffering is greatest in the south where the poor are becoming steadily poorer.

Here in Debrecen these problems of the north and of the south become common problems to be tackled together. How can we devise together a witness to God's call to justice which will strengthen the hands of all our churches as we each accept our own particular responsibility for bringing about necessary changes in our contexts? The church by its very nature is one of the few institutions in which such a partnership can presently be created across lines of nationality, economic class, race, age, and gender. We give thanks to God for this gift and for this task.

Partnership of women and men in God's mission in church and society

This executive committee took up with enthusiasm the mandate from Seoul to develop a programme in this area. I hope that you have read the report of the PACT programme we developed: the programme to affirm, challenge, and transform the relations of women and men in the life of the church and society. I was asked to moderate the committee of women and men appointed to work with the staff on this programme, and I have done so with great pleasure.

We made a decision early to begin our work at the regional level, because our churches were reporting that the chief impediments to full partnership of women with men were not so much theological as cultural and practical. Men and women from the various regions needed an opportunity to analyze their own situations in the light of the gospel, strategize for change, and build networks for ongoing collaboration. The consultations organized for Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean and North America by the PACT executive secretary to provide this opportunity have been warmly received by the participants, both women and men. I have participated in each one. On every continent there are injustices in the relationships of women and men which the church must challenge; and on every continent there are women and men who are committed to transforming those relationships in the light of the gospel. Theological work grounded in study of the Bible is fundamental to this programme, energizing the participants. We are learning that we must first focus broadly on the church as a whole, asking how the churches can create a climate fostering just and mutually respectful relationships for all the women and men of the church, regardless of whether women are presently ordained. Only in this context can further progress be made towards the ordination of women to church office.

The Alliance has been officially supportive of women's ordination since 1954. At the time of the Seoul meeting, only somewhat more than half the churches ordained women. Today probably more than two thirds of the churches do so. Steady progress is being made. Nonetheless we have learned that the task is even greater than we had anticipated. The PACT programme which has shown so much promise in its beginning needs to be firmly supported by the new executive committee.

Partnership of ministers, elders, deacons, and lay people

In confronting the task of breaking chains of injustice, it is especially evident that we need to foster partnerships among theologically trained people and church men and women with training and experience in economics, law, social work, farming, and other fields. Each has something important to teach the other. This is the occasion to reaffirm our Reformed tradition of the doctrine of vocation for all members of the church and mobilize lay people as well as ministers in the struggle against injustice.

Ecumenical partnerships, within the Reformed family and across lines of tradition

New efforts have been made since Seoul, both in our pastoral visits to churches and through the Mission in Unity programme, to draw the scattered parts of the Reformed family into a more united witness. Gratifying progress has been made by some of our member churches, for example, in Chile, Brazil, South Africa, and Korea, and these efforts must continue. This is the moment to press ahead also with serious conversations with Reformed groups presently outside WARC membership and with the Reformed Ecumenical Council in the hope of new partnerships. Research for a new handbook of all known Reformed churches done by the John Knox International Reformed Centre documents the immense challenge before us.

We must also reaffirm our commitment to work for the unity of Christ's church through partnerships with churches of other traditions. We believe there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Though certain bilateral conversations will need to continue, new opportunities for multilateral conversations are developing, some in which communions like WARC rather than individual churches will be participants. We must continue to offer leadership in these ecumenical endeavours, bringing as our gift the riches of our Reformed heritage, opening ourselves to the rich gifts of others, approaching our partners with frankness and honesty but also with hopeful expectation of Christ's reconciling power.

Some personal words of appreciation for your partnership

Finally I would like to express my gratitude for the call which came to me so unexpectedly in 1990 to serve as your president and for the remarkable opportunities it has offered me to learn to know the Reformed churches. There was a time when the president could hope to visit every member church. Unfortunately that is no longer possible, especially for a president who is also a seminary professor. Nonetheless I have visited member churches in twenty-six countries: six countries of Latin America, seven countries in Europe, five in Africa, four in Asia, two in North America, and two in the Pacific. Most of these visits to a country involved more than one member church, and some countries have been visited more than once because of special needs. I have also attended meetings of three of our regional bodies: the Caribbean and North American area council, AIPRAL in Latin America, and the European area council. Through country visits, the regional meetings, and the six PACT regional consultations, I have met representatives of nearly all our member churches.

It is part of the miracle of the life of the church of Jesus Christ that everywhere I have been received with warm hospitality as a member of the family. It was an honour to be trusted - simply because I came as a sister in Christ on behalf of the Alliance - to sit at the table with your leaders as you struggled to find the way to witness to the gospel in a time of severe repression, or to heal painful old wounds and to be reconciled with your neighbours so as to move towards greater Christian unity. It was an honour to be trusted to accompany you to visit your government leaders when there was trouble, a joy to celebrate with you when peace finally came and when divided churches united. Even if your church does not yet ordain women, you opened to me your pulpits and your seminary lecture halls, you gathered your men and women leaders to talk with me about the place of women in the church, and you invited me to share with your elders in serving the Lord's supper. Afterwards I was embraced by women beaming or weeping who declared that they hoped they could one day serve as elders and pastors. You wrote at Christmas and Easter to offer your prayers for my ministry, or to bring me up to date on progress. In all these things you showed your generous faith in the Christ who unites us, your solidarity with the Alliance and your love for the Reformed family. I have been honoured to represent this family.

It has been a great joy to hear the word preached faithfully and the sacraments celebrated under all sorts of circumstances, reflecting so many cultures and contexts, to see our churches act courageously when it is difficult, to see the moral strength of small churches with influence disproportionate to their size, to feel the power of the church's faith in the living Christ where the world sees only death, to meet remarkably gracious Christians with profound faith and commitment, to know the reality of the worldwide community of the church where all human barriers fall. You have taught me a whole new meaning of hope, so that I have returned home from every visit with renewed faith and renewed commitment to our work.

I thank you for your partnership in the work of the Alliance, and I ask you to continue to offer that partnership to the staff, the new president , and the new executive committee which you will choose here in Debrecen.