Plans for the historic merger of the two largest Reformed church bodies in the world will be consolidated this week during a high-level, five-day meeting that opened Monday.
Members of the governing bodies of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) are meeting this week for the first time together in Utrecht, Netherlands, to work on finalising a draft constitution, shaping the structure and vision of the soon-to-be-official World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), and dealing with "numerous practical considerations".
"This important joint meeting demonstrates the commitment of these two Reformed bodies to grow together in the coming months," stated WARC general secretary Setri Nyomi in a public announcement last week. "It is a great opportunity to meet our sisters and brothers in REC and to make concrete our dream of a new truly vital Reformed communion that will meet the challenge of God's call to justice and unity in the 21st century."
Following the merger, WCRC will be the largest association of Reformed Churches in the world, representing 80 million Reformed Christians around the world. The new body brings together members of the 75-million-strong WARC and the 12 million-strong REC, including the 27 common member churches already affiliated with both groups.
"When the two organisations dare to journey together in God's mission, our member churches will be served better and, in fact, our witness as Reformed churches will be stronger," stated Nyomi when the REC initiated the invitation to merge in July 2005 after seven years of bilateral talks.
Under the proposed agreement that the REC General Council passed three years ago, the REC had initially planned to become a subsidiary organisation within the WARC while still maintaining its autonomous identity. This would open doors to joint projects and joint staffing, cutting costs for both groups and fostering a stronger spirit of ecumenism among the world's reformed churches.
