BIRMINGHAM — Setri Nyomi repeated several themes in his remarks to the Assembly’s Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee during its deliberations here.
Economic justice. Engagement with the world. Spiritual renewal.
Nyomi, the general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), was drawing from a list of concerns raised by that body during its 24th conference two years ago in Accra, Ghana, where delegates from its 218-member churches committed to challenge the economic order that is further dividing the world’s rich and poor and squelches “fullness of life” as proclaimed in the gospels.
“We continue to endorse what we can do together — worldwide, as Presbyterians. And do it with an understanding of our calling,” he told commissioners, stressing that each church needs to find ways to impact the global market, seek spiritual renewal and cry for justice on behalf of the two-thirds of WARC’s members who find themselves “commodified.”
The committee voted to recommend several of WARC’s papers to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for study, including its Confession of Faith in the Face of Economic and Ecological Destruction, as well as documents on mission and spiritual renewal.
It also recommends that the Office of Theology and Worship consider drafting a paper on Reformed theology and economic justice and that the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) write a document re-examining the policies that govern the global market.
The spirituality paper proposes theologies of the open road — where Jesus headed after resurrection — and the upper room, where koinonia is found in community. The mission document challenges churches to start proclaiming “fullness of life” at home and then reach out to confront the death-dealing powers of the AIDS pandemic, religious conflict and war.
Questions are posed at the ends of the papers to stimulate local thought.
Regarding economic justice, WARC’s statements — beginning in Seoul, Korea, in 1989 — have gotten harder hitting, drawing on the experiences of its member-churches. In Seoul, delegates questioned the morality of the global market. In Debrecen, Hungary, in 1997, it said that the question of economic justice challenges the “the integrity of faith” as Christians and churches.
The confession drafted in Accra calls the WARC’s member-churches to “stand against all that denies life,” including economic policy that reinforces the divisions between rich and poor and mutilation of the environment.
“The Christian life is about hearing new ways that God challenges us,” Nyomi told the Presbyterian Outlook in an interview after the committee work was done.
He said North American and European Christians are often fearful of being blamed in the report for benefiting from the global market, but many say it is a helpful document once they’ve gotten their hands on it. “Many of us face those challenges. I live in Switzerland,” Nyomi said. “That says a lot of things.”
WARC is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the stated clerk of the PC(USA), is currently WARC’s elected president.
“The question of what to do comes out of study,” he said, acknowledging that members of churches are often overwhelmed by the enormity of problems like global poverty and often feel helpless to do much. “The more people share ideas, the more appropriate the responses will be in the community. The Accra Confession does not proscribe pre-determined actions … It doesn’t say, ‘Do A, B or C. And you will be saved.’ Study it. Share together. See what you come up with.”
Nyomi said that Reformed churches need to strive to do more unified mission. It is not unusual, he said, for three or four different Reformed denominations to work in mission abroad and not relate to each other.
Unity is not only a strategic benefit, he said. Genuine community also brings shared joy, concern and influence.
“Some churches with dwindling numbers are dwelling on their past glory. But that is not the case everywhere. And we need to celebrate that,” Nyomi said, adding that church vitality is most visible nowadays in the southern hemisphere. “This is not about numbers or doubling your membership.
“The question is whether the church is making an impact in its own community — whether or not what its members hear on Sunday equips them to face the challenges of Monday through Saturday.”
Speaking as an outsider looking in, Nyomi said that U.S. churches — like the PC(USA) often fall victim to a perspective-problem, often failing to understand the good work they do. “Take an Assembly like that. Ninety percent of the decisions that are made are non-controversial and do lead to greater impact in communities. But, my impression is that people focus on the 10 percent where people have differing opinions.
“And that hampers the effectiveness of mission, both local and global.”
People here in Alabama have told him how local people felt the church’s reach when Hurricane Katrina hit last summer. WARC’s member-churches in Indonesia and other parts of Asia rave about the good work done by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance there, he said.
“But what you hear here is controversy. You hear what you disagree on.”
Nyomi said that WARC often speaks with isolated Reformed churches across the globe so that they are less alone in their witness. “That’s why we belong together in the wider family … so they are conscious when they speak (that) they are not alone, “ he said, citing the experience of the 28 churches in Indonesia that are members of WARC who are marginalized by the Muslim community.
Nyomi said Reformed witness is distinctive in that it innately links the community’s worship life and action. “They go together. We cannot proport to worship God without engaging in actions that bring fullness of life to all people in community. Out of that we seek to raise questions and face societal challenges: What is God calling us to do out of what we believe?”
Nyomi was named WARC’s general secretary in 2000. A native of Ghana, he is a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana. He is a graduate of the University of Ghana, Trinity Theological Seminary in Ghana, Yale University, and he holds the Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary.
