World Alliance of Reformed Churches

The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) is the largest and oldest of the four international groupings of Reformed churches. Its earliest predecessor was “The Alliance of the Reformed Churches throughout the World holding the Presbyterian System”, which was founded in London in 1875 by 21 Reformed and Presbyterian churches, mainly from Europe and North America. In 1949 the International Congregational Council was formally established. At Nairobi, Kenya, in 1970, the two organizations, Reformed and Congregational, came together in the new World Alliance of Reformed Churches. The constitution underlines that the Alliance is much more a family of churches than a confessional institution. Subscription to “any narrow and exclusive definition of faith and order” is not listed among the conditions for membership. Churches belong to the Alliance because they see in it an instrument of common witness and service. One of its purposes reads as follows: “To facilitate the contribution to the ecumenical movement of the experiences and insights which churches within this Alliance have been given in their history, and to share with churches of other traditions within that movement, and particularly in the World Council of Churches, in the discovery of forms of church life and practice which will enable the people of God more fully to understand and express God’s will for his people.” Leaders of member churches of the Alliance were among the pioneers of the WCC.

The recent history of WARC is characterized by some key public statements and initiatives on justice issues. In 1976 the Alliance published a study on the theological foundation of human rights and in 1982 it declared that apartheid is a sin and its moral and theological justification a heresy. In 1983 it asked the World Council of Churches to call on its members for a covenant on issues of justice, peace and the integrity of creation. The 23rd General Council at Debrecen, Hungary, in 1997, called for a process of recognition, education and confession concerning economic injustice and ecological destruction. In 2000 the Executive Committee of WARC made a declaration stating that homosexual persons ought not to be deprived of their human rights. In 2004 the 24th General Council at Accra, Ghana, adopted a confession of faith based on the conviction that “the integrity of our faith is at stake if we remain silent or refuse to act in the face of the current system of neoliberal economic globalization.”

Regional needs and growing membership have given rise to area organizations within the Alliance. Area Councils include WARC Europe, the Caribbean and North American Area (CANAAC), the Alliance of Presbyterian Churches in Latin America (AIPRAL), the Alliance of Reformed Churches in Africa (ARCA), the North East Asia Area (NEAAC). The central offices of the WARC are located in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva. Programmes which emphasize theology, ecumenical relations, justice, partnership of women and men, cooperation and witness, youth, communication and finance are carried out from the general secretariat in Geneva.

In 2006 the leaders of WARC and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) proposed the merger of the two organizations into a new global Reformed body. The Executive Committees of WARC and REC agreed with the proposal at their 2007 meetings. The WARC Executive called for a uniting General Council in 2010 and would like to call the new body the World Communion of Reformed Churches. The Christian Reformed Church in North America, which is a member of WARC and REC has accepted to host the uniting General Council in 2010 in Grand Rapids, USA.

The governing bodies of the WARC and the Lutheran World Federation are in discussion about the need for a new type of assemblies in which the broad, multilateral nature of the ecumenical movement is expressed more substantially. They have recommended that the first such new assembly be considered to take place in 2013. If the development is satisfactory the WARC and the LWF would no longer hold assemblies of their own after 2010.

The WARC has a total of 218 member churches with more than 76 million members; 121 of its member churches belong also to the WCC. Its office is located in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva.

Periodicals: WARC Update; Reformed World.