The study texts that follow are some of the most important working tools of the 23rd general council of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, which took place in Debrecen, Hungary from August 8 to 19 1997.

They are important tools, but they are not authoritative texts, handed down from on high. They are servant texts, intended to aid you. We hope that they distill something of the collective wisdom of our family, but they are meant to open the debate, not to close it.

We publish these texts anonymously, because they are the work of many hands. They emerge from study within WARC, in some cases over several years, on the issues in question; they reflect the work of many consultations; they have gone through many revisions both by individuals and by groups. By God's grace, may they help us all as we seek to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Jane Dempsey Douglass, WARC president (1990-1997)
Milan Opocensky, general secretary (1989-2000)