Department of theology

Major studies and consultations
Bilateral dialogues
Relationship with Islam
Seoul worship book
Scholarship programme and directory of theological schools

We are living in an exciting period of theologizing around the globe. Christians belonging to different sections (gender, class, caste, race, ethnic/tribal, profession) are contributing to theological reflection, challenging the monopoly of doing theology by the theologically trained experts. This has also affected the way theologies are presented. Theologies are presented today not only in the dominant traditional mode of systematic discourse but also in the form of dialogues, narrations, case studies involving stories, songs, poems and art of various kinds. This is one of the key realities that shaped the work of the department of theology in the period 1989-1997. The department in planning its programmes tried its utmost to solicit inputs from different regions and sections of the Christian communities. The participatory and dialogical method in theological reflections guided its work, trying to be critically faithful to the Reformed traditions and simultaneously being open to the contextual challenges of the time. This can act as a model for the future theological engagement of the department.

Major studies and consultations

Who are we called to be? Reformed self-understanding

The 22nd general council in Seoul in 1989 noted that "our sense of Reformed identity seems less secure than in the past. Awareness of the diversity of the lives, structures, histories and mission contexts of our member churches requires fresh exploration of our common Reformed ethos if we are to speak with a common voice in the ecumenical world." (Proceedings p.213) Besides this mandate, the consultation on bilateral dialogues (see B1 below) also called for a fresh look at the Reformed heritage and identity today. It observed that in bilateral theological dialogues, the Reformed delegations have dealt with different theological issues. The question is whether there are a few key theological affirmations which are crucial for the Reformed self-understanding and which need to be part of the theological conversation regardless of the Christian partners with whom the bilateral dialogues are held. This question cannot be easily answered, as the WARC family has increased to 208 member churches spread out in 102 different countries. In spite of this diversity, are there still certain binding theological convictions and emphases?

This enquiry was carried out in a series of regional consultations, a day's seminar with the executive committee members in 1993, and interregional consultations (Boston 1994, Belfast 1995, Leeds, Maine 1996) before a common working paper was prepared (by a small representative group at Louisville in 1996) for use in the general council in a subsection with the same title. Any findings in such an enquiry will be tentative, depending upon the number of churches and individuals that are involved in the reflections. Hopefully, this study will generate interest and will involve several others in such reflection.¹

Witnessing together in context

In its first meeting in August 1990, the department had a thorough discussion about the follow-up plans to carry out the proposals made at the general council 1989 on "Mission and unity". As a large number of WARC member churches were seriously considering relating their ministry and mission to the context they find themselves in, it was proposed that the study be focused on "What does mission mean in view of contextualization?" It was recognized that serious discussion on mission today is not possible without also considering the issues of "gospel and cultures" and "gospel and economics". These two related issues eventually became two separate studies and were picked up as subthemes for the 23rd general council. Mission in context was taken up at a small consultation at Dakar, Senegal in 1991.² Further reflections in the department and by a subgroup of the department resulted in a document. "Witnessing together in context" has become a separate subtheme for the general council 1997 as well. Meanwhile, the study focusing on the issue of institutional disunity among Reformed Christians was pursued by the John Knox International Reformed Centre and is reported on elsewhere in this publication.

Gospel and cultures

"Gospel and cultures" is not a new theological concern for WARC. But a renewed interest in this issue in Christian circles, including many of the WARC member churches, and a need for a follow-up study on "Mission and unity" (see A.1 above) motivated the department to devote considerable time on the study on "gospel and cultures". The nature of the subject itself demanded that this reflection be carried out at local, regional and international levels.

Several regional reflections which were facilitated by WARC from 1993 to 1996 were brought together at an international consultation at Toraja, Sulawesi, Indonesia in February 1996. The findings of the consultation were organized around the following four foci in order to facilitate the churches to enter this debate with some ease: authentic witness within each culture (mission); local congregations in pluralistic societies (education); empowerment of identities in community by the gospel (liberation); and one gospel - many expressions (cross-cultural sharing).

From the beginning this study was carried out in collaboration with the World Council of Churches' programme on "gospel and cultures", both as a contribution to ecumenical cooperation and also in order to ensure Reformed input into the global discussion.³

Christian faith and economics

As a sequence to the study on "Mission and unity" (see A.2 above) a small consultation on "Christian faith and economics" took place in June 1992. The theological basis for this study was that one cannot think of mission today without considering the involvement of Christians and churches in the area of economics which has a strong impact on human wellbeing and global health. Since the scope of this study was wider than just theological reflection, even this initial consultation was planned interdepartmentally. Since then the study has been lodged in the department of cooperation and witness and has emerged as the major thrust of the general council.

Christian community in a changing society

As the new Department elected at the 22nd general council began its work, it was faced with the revolutionary political changes that were taking place in central and eastern Europe. These raised the question about the appropriate Christian participation in political change, not only in eastern and central Europe but also in other situations of struggle. An international consultation was organized in Pensier, Switzerland from November 14-17 1990. It looked into the biblical and Reformed views on church-state relationships and tried to understand different models of such relationships through case studies on Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Northern Ireland, Republic of Korea and South Africa. The consultation issued a "working paper" to engage the churches in further reflection on this matter.⁴

Ethnicity and nationalism: A challenge to the churches

In the follow-up discussion on the results of the consultation on "Christian community in a changing society" (see A.5) it became clear that one of the emerging issues in the political realm was the rise of ethnic and national consciousness and the determination of the communities concerned to internationalize their struggle. The struggles in the former Yugoslavia and Soviet Union have shown some strong expression of this. The ongoing struggles in Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland have adopted different strategies from time to time to cope with it. Ethnic and national aspirations are gaining force in many parts of the world and challenging the human community to respond appropriately. Taking up this issue, the department organized a joint consultation along with the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation in November 1994 at Colombo, Sri Lanka. (The pontifical council for promoting Christian unity shared in planning the programme for this consultation but could not take part in the consultation itself because of the unsuitability of the dates.) Case studies and personal reports on ethnic tension or strife in Fiji, Hungary, Malaysia, Nagorno-Karabagh, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Taiwan and the former Yugoslavia formed the major part of the input to the consultation.⁵ This concern will be with the human community for a long time to come. As the general council deals with it as one of the subthemes it will certainly provide guidelines for the future engagements of WARC and the department. A small representative group of people further worked on the statement at Louisville in 1996 to incorporate the specifically Reformed perspective on this matter and prepared a document for the use of a subsection at the general council.

The ministry of the elders in the Reformed tradition

In the Reformed churches the ministry of elders has always played an important role. WARC has undertaken periodic evaluation of the office of elders in order to strengthen this ministry among its member churches. The report by Robert W Henderson entitled Profile of the eldership (1974) is one of the more recent attempts to summarize the discussion and was able to demonstrate the diversity that exists in the member churches of the Alliance.

However, since 1974 the WARC family has become even more diverse with several churches from Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific joining it. Therefore, on the mandate given by the 22nd general council (Seoul 1989), the Swiss Federation of Protestant Churches organized a consultation on the ministry of elders in August 1990 in Geneva. We are grateful to Prof Lukas Vischer, the former moderator of the department, for organizing this consultation. The report will certainly be of great assistance in the ongoing discussion about the relevant and appropriate exercise of this ministry in the churches today.⁶

Christian and religious fundamentalism

To probe into the rising phenomenon of Christian and religious fundamentalism in various parts of the world, the department organized two consultations in collaboration with other Christian world communions and Christian organizations.

(a) In September 1992 a consultation on "Religious fundamentalism: An Asian perspective" was held in Bangalore, India in collaboration with the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) and the Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College (SATHRI). The consultation said: "The spectre of religious fundamentalism hovers over the modern world like the sword of Damocles. In post-colonial Asia which is in the throes of modernizing, it threatens the basic plurality of the socio-cultural fabric. Religious fundamentalism has both crucial socio-political and socio-economic connotations. Because religion is susceptible to easy and expedient politicization its ideational core sometimes becomes the basis for a closed ideological system, even leading to the establishment of theocratic states."

(b) An international consultation on "Christian fundamentalism" was held in Mülheim/Ruhr, Germany in February 1993 in collaboration with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the pontifical council for promoting Christian unity (PCPCU). This was a new venture in cooperation with other Christian world communions, going beyond the established pattern of international bilateral dialogues. The consultation said: "Our pastoral concern in the face of fundamentalism is to assist Christians to be mature in their faith and to move from narrow exclusive attitudes to inclusive love. We take orientation from God himself, who loves all of humanity since it is created in his image and likeness."⁷

Emerging ecclesiologies

The consultation on "Challenges from the emerging ecclesiologies to ecclesial renewal" was held in Kampen, The Netherlands in October 1993. The consultation was an attempt to look at the question of church renewal from the perspective of those the established institutional churches so often exclude. The challenges to renewal from the experiences of base Christian communities, house churches, African indigenous churches, experimental interreligious communities, and Dalit, Minjung and other marginalized groups were considered. Attention was also given to Christian communities outside the institutional church which coalesce around such issues as the environment, racial justice, physical addiction, etc. Joint sponsorship of the consultation by the Programme to affirm, challenge and transform (PACT) meant that ample time was devoted to the plea for wholeness voiced by the women's movement. This consultation was one small step in the long journey towards just and participatory church structures called for by Christians around the world.⁸

Issues in pastoral theology: A case study approach

Keeping in mind the need of younger faculty members teaching pastoral theology as well as younger clergy, especially in metropolitan situations, the department co-sponsored a seminar on pastoral theology with the WCC Programme on ecumenical theological education at the Ecumenical Institute, Bossey in August 1994. The case study method which was used for this seminar enabled the participants to share their experiences (pastoral and others) through writing case studies and learning pedagogical methods for engaging people in analysing and interpreting cases in order to arrive at appropriate pastoral action.⁹

Bilateral dialogues

Consultation on bilateral dialogues

Bilateral dialogues formed an important aspect of the work of the department and one major event was the international consultation to evaluate the results and to plan the future involvement of WARC in bilateral dialogues.

Prior to 1992, the Alliance was involved in bilateral dialogues with the following Christian world communions and churches: the Baptists, the Anglicans, the Mennonites, the Methodists, the Disciples of Christ, the Lutherans, eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church. Different theological issues, those which were held as common or those which have historically divided the communions, were discussed in these dialogues and results were published to engage member churches in discussion and seeking ways for further cooperation and future unity.

On the recommendation of the executive committee an international consultation on bilateral dialogues took place at Princeton Theological Seminary, USA in April 1992 to evaluate how those who belong to the Reformed tradition have represented themselves in bilateral dialogues, how the theological consensus arrived upon in various dialogues coheres with the theological positions which emerged at the various consultations and conferences of the Alliance (regional councils, general councils, etc.), and what opportunities these dialogues offer to churches of the Reformed tradition for self-examination and for meeting contextual challenges.

While the consultation reaffirmed the significance, place and role of bilateral dialogues, it also pointed out that Reformed dialogue teams should be more representative (women, people from the southern hemisphere) in order to ensure the input and reflect the concerns of the wider Reformed family. For greater effectiveness, promotion of regional and local dialogues was also stressed.¹⁰

Reformed-Roman Catholic Dialogue

The second phase of this dialogue which commenced in 1984 concluded in March 1990 with an agreed statement on ecclesiology, Towards a common understanding of the church. This statement was well received, not only by many of the WARC member churches, but also by several of those churches which are in bilateral conversation with the Reformed churches.

As a preparation for future dialogues with the Roman Catholic Church the executive committee has called for an analysis of the state of Roman Catholic-Reformed relations from several of the member churches of WARC. On the basis of these analyses and the theological issues and concerns for future dialogue sessions which were identified in the second phase of the dialogue, a third phase of dialogue is planned to take place in May 1998 in Venice, Italy.

The consensus is that the third phase of dialogue will build on what has been accomplished in the first two dialogue phases. Since the issues of difficulty in the areas of ecclesiology between Reformed and Roman Catholic have been already identified, the theme of the third phase would be "Continuing exploration of ecclesiology."¹¹

Reformed-Orthodox Dialogue

The second official theological consultation in the Orthodox-Reformed international bilateral dialogue took place in Minsk, Belarus in March 1990,¹² and was able to produce an agreed statement on the Holy Trinity. It is a significant step in the relationship between the Orthodox Church and the Reformed churches represented by WARC. The agreed statement and the papers presented during this dialogue have been published, together with a historical note. Prof TF Torrance, one of the key architects of this dialogue from the Reformed side, edited this volume.¹³

Further dialogue sessions held in Kappel-am-Albis near Zürich, Switzerland in March 1992 and in Limassol, Cyprus in January 1994 were able to produce an agreed statement on Christology. The agreed statements both on Holy Trinity and Christology have been sent out to WARC member churches for study and comment. In order to enable churches to engage seriously with these two statements a volume with a few commentaries on both statements and an introduction on the significance of these dialogues will be published in the WARC Studies series.¹⁴

The fifth session of the dialogue took place at King's College, University of Aberdeen, Scotland from June 10-14, 1996. The main theme of the dialogue was "The identity and unity of the church" in the context of the relevant article of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed and in the light of the patristic tradition of the ancient church. A brief summary issued at the end of the session stated that: "The discussions made clear that there are important differences in the understanding and interpretation of the nature of the church in the two traditions, which derive from historical and theological developments and make difficult a common description of the nature and mission of the church. Nevertheless, the necessity of reaching convergence on the question of the unity of the church was recognized, because it became apparent in the discussions that this unity is a matter of faith on which no compromise is possible. On this basis, the discussions examined existing divergences in the ecclesiologies of the two traditions.

It was agreed that the next session of the dialogue in 1998 will deal with the subject of "church and sacraments". The joint commission is hopeful that future dialogue sessions will be able to move towards producing an agreed statement of convergence on ecclesiology.

Reformed and Oriental Orthodox churches

Oriental Orthodox churches are the only major Christian family with whom WARC was not engaged in bilateral conversations prior to the Princeton consultation in 1992. After some initial contacts, WARC took advantage of the presence of the leaders of the several Oriental Orthodox churches in Geneva for the WCC central committee to have an exploratory meeting in August 1992. At this meeting agreement was reached to pursue bilateral dialogue, and two dialogue sessions subsequently took place in Egypt in 1993 and in The Netherlands in 1994.

At the session in The Netherlands an agreed statement on Christology was adopted, and suggestions for theological issues for future sessions were accepted.

The third session took place in India in January 1997 hosted by the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church. The subjects "Understanding of Holy Scripture, its authority and its inspiration" and "The function of theological reflection and work of theologians" were discussed. Throughout the session it was clear that differences regarding the understanding, approach and use of scripture are not easily solvable and need further discussion. In order to build on what has been achieved so far the delegates decided to continue the dialogue at least for the two further meetings. The fourth session is planned to take place in the USA in January 1998. The subject for discussion will be the "Nature and mission of the church."

Reformed-Pentecostal dialogue

The 22nd general council suggested that WARC engage in dialogue at regional and local levels with Christians belonging to the Pentecostal tradition. In order to facilitate such dialogue, the names and addresses of the members of the advisory committee of the Pentecostal World Conference were provided to the area councils. But contacts with the Pentecostal leadership also resulted in an international bilateral dialogue with the Pentecostals. A planning meeting with a few Pentecostal representatives took place at Mattersey Hall, near Doncaster, England in July 1995. The first international theological dialogue between WARC and members from several different branches of the Pentecostal movement took place at Torre Pellice in Italy from May 15-20 1996. The purpose of the dialogue was to increase mutual understanding and respect; to identify areas of theological agreement, convergence, or disagreement; and to explore possibilities for common witness. The dialogue at this first session centred around "Spirituality and challenges today." It was agreed that the dialogue will continue for the next five years, with an annual meeting hosted alternately by the Reformed and the Pentecostals. The next session will take place in Chicago, USA in May 1997 and the theme will be "The role and place of the Holy Spirit in the church."¹⁵

Anglican-Reformed dialogue

A consultation of the representatives of Anglican and Reformed representatives took place in March 1995 to evaluate the implementation of some of the recommendations made in God's reign and our unity (the report of the Anglican-Reformed International Commission 1981-1984). The consultation recommended that a small joint working group be appointed to monitor the developments of Reformed-Anglican relations around the world and take up pertinent questions and suggestions made in God's reign and our unity, collect for publication some case studies of Anglican-Reformed sharing in congregational life and make an interim report to the WARC general council in 1997 and the Lambeth Conference in 1998.

A meeting of the joint working group on Anglican-Reformed relationships was held in Toronto from June 27-29 1996. The group reviewed Anglican-Reformed relationships in Scotland, the USA and Canada. The Anglican participants reported on the Meissen agreement between the Church of England and the Evangelical Church in Germany, the Porvoo Agreement between the British Anglican churches and the Scandinavian and Baltic Lutheran churches, and the proposed concordat between the Lutheran and Episcopal churches in the USA. A further meeting to assess the relationship between Anglican and Reformed churches in southern Africa has been recommended by the executive committee.

Relationship with Islam

The 22nd general council recommended that "WARC encourage member churches to engage fearlessly in dialogue with people of other faiths with a view to better mutual understanding, and for the renewal of society".¹⁶ Since 1989 the department of theology has been able to carry out only two modest programmes. These were consultations in Asia and Africa on "Christian-Muslim Relations."

In some of the WARC member churches dialogue with people of other living faiths is an established programme. To those member churches looking for materials on interfaith dialogues we were able to provide materials produced by the WCC and regional ecumenical councils and put them in contact with programmes and resources available in their localities and regions.

Islam in Asia

This consultation was held in June 1991 in collaboration with the LWF in Bangkok, Thailand. Christian-Muslim relations have been generally peaceful and harmonious in most parts of Asia. There are quite a number of Christian institutes in Asia which are encouraging the study of Islam and promoting better relations between the followers of Christianity and Islam. Such relationships need to be further strengthened for mutual benefit. Most of the countries in Asia are being freed now from decades of colonial rule and are rebuilding their communities for the future. There are countries in Asia where relations are rather tense as anti-western feelings are sometimes translated into anti-Christian attitudes. The consultation gave an opportunity to learn about the variety of Christian Muslim relations that exist in different parts of Asia and suggested various possibilities for churches' involvements with their Muslim neighbours.¹⁷

Islam in Africa

This consultation took place in Blantyre, Malawi in June 1994. The general adviser of the Project for Christian-Muslim relations in Africa (PROCMURA) and the theology secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) assisted in organizing this consultation as advisers. The consultation noted that both Christianity and Islam were "foreign imports" into sub-Saharan Africa, and were too often used in an unhealthy competition to westernize or arabize the continent. Africans must be themselves. Their common heritage is their "Africanness",their spirituality, their culture, their attitude to creation and vision of the world. African Christians and Muslims should sift their faith, retaining only those elements which promote life. Anything in religion which alienates Africans from their heritage or distracts them from the struggle for reconstruction and development should be vehemently opposed.

The need to have a similar consultation for the Middle East area was expressed and should be pursued in the future.¹⁸

Seoul worship book

As per the decision of the general council of 1989, an ad hoc worship committee was formed involving knowledgeable and interested people in Geneva to promote the use of the worship book prepared for the Seoul general council and to add new materials to it. But the ad hoc committee and the staff concerned found it an enormous task to solicit and share worship materials from member churches without knowing the possibilities within each church to incorporate new worship materials. A modest plan of utilizing new worship materials at each of the executive committee meetings and exposing the executive committee members to local and regional worship resources through the worship teams organized by the host churches was implemented. This was found helpful in enriching the worship life of the meetings.

For the 23rd general council a different strategy for daily worship has been adopted, with the production of orders of service for each day.

Scholarship programme and directory of theological schools

Scholarships

The scholarship programme primarily for post-graduate theological studies has been in operation now for a number of years. In the last several years additional theological faculties and seminaries have joined in this programme, offering study facilities for candidates from outside their regions. This is one of the most popular programmes of the department and contributed much to leadership development and ecumenical exchange among our member churches.

Plans to organize consultations involving presidents, principals and deans of seminaries, along with the representatives of world ecumenical bodies and mission boards who support theological education, to discuss long-range plans for faculty and library development and interseminary cooperation in the regions of Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific could not materialize during this period. However, from time to time the department could assist several individual requests from the churches and theological seminaries for faculty and library developments by approaching mission boards and other ecumenical organizations.

Directory of theological schools related to WARC member churches

Theological education or formation is an important ministry of the church which helps to shape its future leadership and theological direction. In order to provide information to member churches and theological faculties, to help students learn more about theological formation that is taking place in different parts of the world, and to assist in planning exchange programmes and initiating partnership links, a "Directory of theological schools related to WARC member churches" was prepared in 1990. Since this Directory was found helpful to member churches and other related ecumenical organizations, a revised and updated Directory was prepared in May 1996 on the basis of information provided by the member churches. The listing in the Directory is not complete but will be updated as information is received from member churches.

The libraries of all the theological schools listed in the Directory receive publications in the WARC Studies series free of charge. This practice not only enables the department to make theological materials produced at the Geneva office available to a large section of the community but also occasionally to receive feedback which is of importance in the evaluation of its theological engagements and reflections.

Notes