The report on the Alliance in the nineties submitted to the 22nd general council (Seoul 1989) noted that the work of the department of cooperation and witness was of two kinds: (a) information and publication and (b) networking, cooperation and mutual support: "As a matter of urgency, these two areas of work need to be distinguished clearly, and planned as distinctive and separate enterprises." The skills required for each were different. Together they exceeded the capacities of a single executive secretary. To do justice to both, two full-time secretaries would be required.

Seoul accepted this argument. In São Paulo (1991) the executive committee agreed "to recruit a seconded person for communication", in Stockholm (1993) the committee appointed Rev Páraic Réamonn of the Church of Scotland to the position, and in September 1993 he began work. Financing for the post was made available by the Church of Scotland and the Evangelical Reformed Church in Bavaria and Northwest Germany from 1993 to 1996. The Church of Scotland later renewed its commitment for a second three-year period (from 1996 to 1999), and the Lippische Landeskirche undertook to support the position for two years, from 1996 to 1998.

Thus recommenced a tradition that had been broken in 1970.

In 1956 an earlier Church of Scotland minister, Rev Niall Watson,was appointed associate editor of The Reformed and Presbyterian World. Watson was to work half of his time for the Scots Kirk in Geneva, and half for WARC. Unfortunately, the growing demands of the congregation later compelled him to give up the associate editorship. From 1958 to 1960 Rev James E Andrews served as jubilee secretary before returning to the USA, where he later became stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA). In 1962, he was replaced in Geneva by Rev David Lewis of the Presbyterian Church of England - WARC's first secretary for information.

Lewis took over the associate editorship of The Reformed and Presbyterian World, as well as editing the new Reformed and Presbyterian Press Service, published monthly in English, French and German and, after 1970, in Spanish. He was succeeded as secretary of information by Lewis Wilkins of the Presbyterian Church in the US (1965-1968), and Fred Kaan of the Congregational Church of England and Wales (1968-1970).

In 1970, at the uniting general council in Nairobi, the department of cooperation and witness took over the secretariat for information and the department of women's work. The permanent committee on information became part of the newly enlarged department, and Fred Kaan became its secretary (until then the general secretary had also served as secretary of the department). In the circumstances of the time, there was little alternative; but one undesirable result, as Seoul recognized, was to downgrade the communications work of the Alliance.

The years from Seoul to Debrecen, then, can be divided into two equal periods: from 1989 to 1993, when communications remained one responsibility among many of the secretaries of the department of cooperation and witness (Rev Jill Schaeffer, Rev Sarah Stephens), and from 1993 to 1997, when it became the sole responsibility of the communications secretary. In spite of this shift, there is a significant continuity in the communications work of the Alliance in this period.

Alliance publications

In November 1988, a small ad-hoc committee met to conduct a comprehensive review of WARC publications and to design a coherent publications strategy. In preparation for the meeting, Jan van Cappelleveen of the Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap drew up a detailed critique of all WARC publications. The report of the committee - a "working document", as it describes itself - was later fed into the 22nd general council in Seoul. That council also had before it the chapter on publications in From Ottawa to Seoul (pp.124-128), which looked back over the record of the previous seven years.

The ad-hoc committee identified four objectives of a publications strategy:

to present a credible image of WARC worldwide
to inform member churches and others about the activities of WARC and its member churches
to generate solidarity among member churches, and
to provide WARC with an archival memory.

These goals stand as a description of what WARC has tried to do with its publications since Seoul.

The 22nd general council agreed to stop the Reformed Press Service, which had fallen on hard times in the 1980s. From 1988 it was published only quarterly, and no longer qualified as a "press service" in the strict sense of that term. It would be replaced by press releases, issued as occasion required. The format and content of Reformed World, the oldest WARC publication, with a history stretching back to 1886, would be drastically changed to present a kind of "family portrait" of the Alliance. Articles on programmes or issues among member churches would be written for Reformed World mostly by people other than the staff, and reprinted (or translated) in newsletters, periodicals or magazines of the member churches. The book series, Studies from the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, would continue as a single series, and mainly in English.

The history of the subsequent two years is a history of second thoughts. It was agreed that the task of present the "family portrait' should fall to a new newsletter called Update, to be published in four languages (English, French, German and Spanish). In her report to the executive committee in Geneva (1990), Jill Shaeffer said that a year without the Reformed Press Service had "demonstrated the need for its resurrection, but focusing totally on the work of WARC as a whole, plus brief headlines about the churches." The introduction of this newsletter freed Reformed World to treat the concerns of the Alliance and its member churches in a more reflective manner, and in October 1990, it was decided that the journal should adopt a monothematic approach. The first Update newsletter appeared in 1991, and the revised Reformed World, with one theme each issue, began publication in the same year.

Sarah Stephens summed up the evolution: "The newsletter will share items of interest from member churches, report on the activities of the WARC regional councils and keep people informed about current WARC projects...RW focuses on one theme each issue with articles from authors reflecting the diversity of the WARC community. It has a more academic orientation although its audience includes lay people, pastors, church leaders and academics. It is intended to educate and stimulate discussion."

Update

Update began in the summer of 1991, with an English-language only issue. In 1992, it started to appear in English, French, German and Spanish; two issues were published. 1993 saw the beginning of the four-language quarterly with which we are now familiar.

Update fulfilled several dreams. As Jan van Cappelleveen desired, it allows the general secretary to speak directly and regularly to member churches. As Jill Shaeffer envisaged, it focuses entirely on WARC and its constituency. And as Sarah Stephens intended, it covers the whole range of WARC activities.To reflect the broad range of WARC's work, to include contributions which reflect life at the grass roots as well as in Geneva, to include at least one page of news from member churches: the editorial guidelines suggested by the executive committee at Stockholm in 1993 state succinctly what it has tried to do.

Reformed World

The new thematic Reformed World began in March 1991. There were issues devoted to faith and economics, Christian political responsibility, refugees, fundamentalism, mission in unity, the Reformed tradition and women, Reformed identity, the "first Reformation", church renewal, justice, creation and justice, and democracy and human rights. In 1995 there was a "double issue in two parts" on partnership of women and men, and a second "double issue in two parts" introducing the seven themes and subthemes of the 23rd general council. 1996 saw issues on gospel and cultures, and youth, with further issues planned for 1996 and 1997 on Reformed faith and economic justice, witnessing together in context, creation and justice, and the world after communism. The September 1997 issue will carry lectures and sermons from Debrecen, the December 1997 issue, reports and reflections on the general council.

The 1994 executive committee endorsed the following statement of objectives.

Reformed World should be "academic" in the good senses of this word. Its arguments should withstand critical scrutiny. It should be scrupulously edited for English and style, and for consistency of references and quotations.
Reformed World should not be "academic" in a detached sense, but should relate directly to the life of WARC and its member churches.
Content should reflect the whole range of WARC's work, and not just the theological aspects.

Studies from the World Alliance of Reformed Churches

Since 1989 the following volumes have been published.

The Presbyterian Church of Mizoram: The testimony of a self-supporting, self-governing and self-propagating church (1989)
Sanctuary and Asylum: A handbook for commitment (1990)
'Walk, my Sister" - The ordination of women: Reformed perspectives (1993)
Rights of Future Generations, Rights of Nature (1990)
Church Identity between Repression and Liberation: The Presbyterian Church in Guatemala (1991)
Towards a Common Understanding of the Church: Reformed/Roman Catholic dialogue, second phase (1991) - also in Spanish
Eldership in the Reformed Churches Today (1991) - also in Arabic
Christian Community in a Changing Society (1991)
Bilateral Dialogues (1993)
Farewell to Apartheid? Church relations in South Africa (1994)
Christian Fundamentalism Today (1994)
New Wine: The challenge of the emerging ecclesiologies to church renewal (1994)
Partnership in God's Mission in Africa Today (1994) - also in French
Islam in Africa
Towards a Renewed Dialogue: The first and second Reformations.
Partnership in God's Mission in Asia and the Pacific (1996)
The Palm Tree: A Symbol of Commitment to Justice (1996) - auch in deutscher Sprache (Die Palme: Symbol des Engagements für Gerechtigkeit) und ungarischer Sprache.
Break the Chains of Injustice: A Study Book for the Sections and Subsections of the 23rd general council (1996)
Stand Firm and Take Action: A Festschrift for Milan Opocensky (1996)
Gospel and Cultures: Reformed Perspectives (1996)

Other books

Other books published in the period from Seoul to Debrecen were:

Herbert Ehnes, Die Beziehungen zwischen Staat und Kirche in Europa (1991)
Edmond Perret, ed., General Index: World Alliance of Reformed Churches, 1875-1992 (1994)
The Church in the Reformed Tradition (for the European area committee) (1995).

The internet

The internet is a global network of email networks, which enables you to talk by email with anyone possessing a computer, a modem, and a network account. Since March 1994, thanks to the WCC's computer section (CIS), the whole of the Ecumenical Centre has been hooked into the internet. The possibilities this offers are threefold:

to send messages to anyone whose email number we know, and to receive messages from anyone who knows ours.
to receive a wide range of church electronic news service (PresbyNews, for example)
to put WARC material out electronically as well as by fax or letter. Update in English, French, German and Spanish is available on Ecunet.

For reasons primarily of network security, the Ecumenical Centre has been slower in developing use of the worldwide web. At the time of writing, plans for a WARC website are still at an early stage.

Ecumenical News International (ENI)

A long-standing ecumenical dream was realized in September 1994, with the launch of Ecumenical News International (ENI). With these words, Milan Opocensky welcomed its birth: "The essential point about ENI is that it is a news service. It's not its job to do public relations on behalf of the sponsoring organisations, but to provide the media, above all the secular media, with an independent and critical view of what of importance is happening in the church worldwide. Naturally, we hope that a lot of the stories will be about the Reformed family. But that depends on what Reformed churches are doing, on how effectively we are responding to God's demands for justice and for faithful witness."

History

In 1990, WARC, together with the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), and the Conference of European Churches (CEC), approved the formation of a new ecumenical news service.

The proposal aimed to create greater understanding of the work of the church and the ecumenical movement by timely distribution of news about issues, events and trends on the agenda of the global church. Behind the idea lay the conviction that collaborating in an ecumenical news service would increase efficiency and broaden the scope of and sources for ecumenical news and information. An ecumenical news service would place far greater emphasis on computer and electronic dissemination of news.

Following further discussions in the four organizations, it became clear that the original plans for staffing could not immediately be implemented, due to lack of finance. It was agreed as an initial step to reorganize the WCC's longstanding news service (EPS and SOEPI) to meet, as far as possible, the goals set out for the ecumenical news service. Two editors were appointed by the WCC, in consultation with the other partner organizations. These began work in early 1994. The ecumenical news service - Ecumenical News International - formally started operations in September 1994.

Progress

At the time of writing, ENI is well on the way to establishing itself as the leading non-denominational source of religious news. It is extensively used by church press and media across the globe; the take-up by secular media is, not surprisingly, less developed, but will grow. There has been a good response also from church leaders and others in positions of responsibility where indications suggest that ENI is used as a key source of information about developments in the wider world.

ENI has had to build up practically from scratch a network of stringers (part-time correspondents), who fulfil the following criteria: writing ability, some knowledge of church and religious affairs, willingness to write on an irregular basis, and speed of writing. It has now developed a reasonable pool: about 30 stringers, on all continents, about half of whom file regularly. Most articles are filed in English, but ENI also uses texts filed in French, and translate articles filed in Italian, Spanish and German. Copy from stringers often requires substantial rewriting before it can be sent out. ENI encourages correspondents to file using electronic mail, and increasingly it receives copy electronically.

ENI has made a very convincing start in using computer and electronic technology. The decision taken to emphasise the electronic transmission of news have proved to be extremely far-sighted. When ENI was launched, recipients able to receive ENI via electronic mail tended to be small-scale operations. In the course of eighteen months, however, mainstream media are increasingly using electronic communications. The launch of ENI coincided with an explosion of interest in, and use of, electronic communications, the internet and the worldwide web for dissemination of news (including church news and ecumenical news). With a computer, a modem, and an internet connection, anyone can now start their own one-person press agency - This strengthens the case for ENI, as a reliable and comprehensive source for communicators and church leaders (thus avoiding the need for them to trawl hundreds of electronic sources).

ENI produces the following products:

A daily news service (in English and French) aimed at secular and church-related media, church communication professionals and others in church organizations;
A printed news bulletin (in English and French), published every two weeks, including the articles of the daily news service, as well as additional documentation, background and feature articles;
A daily news summary, produced for the time being in English only, distributed free by electronic mail.

In addition, ENI has a basic promotional presence on the worldwide web.

An Advisory Board with representatives from the four partner organizations meets once or twice a year and reports to the general secretaries of the four organizations. A steering committee comprised of the communications secretaries of the four organizations meets on a more frequent basis.

Issues

The 1991 report of the Interim Board stated that the absolute minimum staffing for the proposed ecumenical news service was four journalists and two support staff; this was not seen as ideal. ENI currently has a staff of four: two editors, Stephen Brown (UK) and Edmund Doogue (Australia), an editorial assistant, Danielle Chaperon, who is responsible for the French-language service, and an administrative assistant, Desirée de Rycke. This is considerably smaller than originally envisaged. It places an enormous workload on staff, who are faced with the dual challenge of maintaining the current ENI service, while consolidating, developing and expanding it. Given the financial constraints at present faced by all sponsoring bodies, increasing the staff is obviously difficult; but it remains an urgent priority. (The WARC commitment to ENI is 1.5% of the WARC operating budget.)

ENI hopes to start a limited news digest service in German in the course of 1996. It will be aimed in the first instance at church-related media in the German language area, or where German is used as a working language; this includes church media in parts of central and eastern Europe as well as parts of Latin America. This will test the demand for such a service.

There have been expressions of interest in ENI from a number of Christian World Communions (CWCs). It is hoped to approach CWCs in a more systematic way during 1996 with a view to encouraging further CWCs to become partner organizations. (New partners may join the group of sponsors provided at least 75 per cent of existing sponsors approve the application.)

The present status of ENI, as a joint project of the sponsoring organizations located, for the time being, within the WCC Office of Communication, is deliberately interim - although the "interim" may last for some time. The ultimate aim still is to create a news agency that, although, sponsored by ecumenical and confessional organizations, is institutionally as well as editorially independent, with its own governing board. When and how this aim can be realized remains to be seen.

Service d'Information des Églises d'Afrique (SIEA)

ENI was never seen as an isolated enterprise. From the beginning it was envisaged as a key component in a larger undertaking: the creation of an ecumenical news network (ENN), which would enable the whole church to talk to itself and to the world, and help to redress the communications imbalances so evident in the world.

In the period from Seoul to Debrecen, WARC helped to create one other building block of that ENN. The dream of a francophone news service for African churches became reality at the beginning of 1994, when SIEA began publication of its Mensuel d'information or monthly bulletin. The bulletin later became twice-monthly.

The new francophone arm of the Africa Church Information Service (ACIS), SIEA is based in the AACC/CETA office in Lomé, Togo. WARC contributed Sfr. 16,000 to SIEA's budget in 1994, and Sfr. 8,000 annually in 1995 and 1996.