The World Reformed Fellowship: A Brief Case Statement
Why a World Reformed Fellowship?
The World Reformed Fellowship is a growing network of church denominations, associations, local congregations, institutions, agencies and individual leaders working together to complete Christ's Great Commission. It seeks to link those in the historic evangelical Reformed tradition of Christ's church in order to facilitate communication, collaboration and cooperation for mutual encouragement, support and advancement of Kingdom concerns.
The WRF is not a council, but rather, as our very name affirms, a fellowship. Leaders and groups within the evangelical, Reformed tradition of Christ's church get to know and trust one another within this fluid network of relationships, developing mutually beneficial partnerships and assisting local believers with their vision of reaching their regions or nations for Christ. In many ways, the WRF fulfills the dream cherished by John Calvin in the 1500s, the Westminster Divines in the 1600s, and George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards in the 1700s, of truly worldwide cooperation among the Reformed branches of the Church.
The goal of the WRF is simple - That the strengths of some might become the strengths of all in the service of Jesus Christ.
The Biblical and Confessional Foundation of the World Reformed Fellowship
The WRF vision is to live out one of the clearly stated but often neglected themes of the great Reformed confessions of the church. The Westminster Confession of Faith (XXV, 2) affirms that there is "a visible universal church which consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion." The Belgic Confession (Article 27) emphasizes that "the one single catholic or universal church . . . is not confined, bound, or limited to a certain place or certain persons. But it is spread and dispersed throughout the entire world."
While specific regional or national expressions of the universal church do, in many ways, embody characteristics of the Body of Christ, there are other characteristics of that Body which transcend those expressions. It is those other characteristics that the WRF seeks to set forth in its commitments and in its activities.
The Affirmations of the World Reformed Fellowship
- The essence of the true religion (and of Reformed theology) is adoration and worship of the Triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
- This Triune God is worthy of the praise and service of all of creation
- Christians in many places and many denominations who share these first two commitments will find their worship and service of the Lord God enhanced by contact with others of like mind
The Formal Doctrinal Basis of the World Reformed Fellowship
- We affirm the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the God-breathed Word of God, without error in all that it affirms.
- We stand in the mainstream of the historic Christian Faith in affirming the following catholic creeds of the Early Church: The Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Chalcedonian Definition.
- More specifically, every voting member of the WRF affirms one of the following historic expressions of the Reformed Faith: The Gallican Confession, The Belgic Confession, The Heidelberg Catechism, The Thirty-Nine Articles, The Second Helvetic Confession, The Canons of Dort, The Westminster Confession of Faith, the London Confession of 1689, or the Savoy Declaration.
The Services of the World Reformed Fellowship
For those who share our affirmations and our doctrinal base, the World Reformed Fellowship seeks to provide:
- A network for communication and sharing of ministry resources among such Christians
- A forum for dialogue among such Christians on current issues
- The opportunity for such Christians from one region of the world to share their unique spiritual and theological perspectives with such Christians from other regions of the world, all within the framework of the evangelical Reformed faith
- Regular occasions, some for such Christians in specific regions of the world and some for such Christians world-wide, to come together for worship and dialogue and resource-sharing
The Structure of the World Reformed Fellowship
The WRF holds General Assemblies once every four years. The most recent General Assembly met in Johannesburg, South Africa, in March of 2006. The next General Assembly will be held in Scotland in 2010. At General Assemblies, all WRF members vote on major policy issues and elect the members of the WRF Executive Committee. Also at General Assemblies, issues of importance for the evangelical Reformed church world-wide are addressed.
The papers delivered at the 2006 General Assembly were published on August 13, 2007, by Crossway Books, under the title: Confronting Kingdom Challenges: A Call to Global Christians to Carry the Burden Together. This is the Table of Contents for that volume:
Introduction - Samuel Logan
Theological Foundations
1. The Evangelistic Context of Burden Sharing - Peter Jensen
2. The Biblical Mandate of Unity in Burden Sharing - Ric Cannada
3. The Danger of Disunity in Burden Sharing - In Whan Kim
Practical Applications - Sharing Challenges
4. Sharing the Burden of Ethnic Conflict in the Middle East - Charles Clayton
5. Sharing the Burden of Global Sex Trafficking - Diane Langberg
6. Sharing the Burden of Modern Paganism - Peter Jones
7. Sharing the Burden of Defending the Gospel - Yusufu Turaki
8. Sharing the Burden of HIV/AIDS - David Haburchak
Practical Applications - Sharing Opportunities
9. Sharing the Opportunity of Missions - John Nicholls
10. Sharing the Opportunity of Ministry to the Urban Poor - Manuel Ortiz
11. Sharing the Opportunity of Ministerial Spiritual Formation - Victor Cole
12. Sharing the Opportunity of Theological Education - Wilson Chow
13. Sharing the Opportunity of Radio Ministry - Jimmy Lin
A Final Challenge
14. Sharing Kingdom Burdens and Opportunities with "Mainline" and "Separated" Brothers and Sisters - Ron Scates
The WRF Executive Committee handles the business of the organization between meetings of the General Assembly. Normally, the Executive Committee meets annually. In March of 2007, the Executive Committee met in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and in March of 2008, it will meet in Seoul, South Korea.
Much of the work of the WRF is carried out by its three Commissions and its six Regional Boards.
The Commissions of the World Reformed Fellowship
- The Commission on Theological Education is chaired by Dr. Wilson Chow, President Emeritus of the China Graduate School of Theology in Hong Kong. The responsibility of this Commission is to identify theological education resources among WRF members and to develop channels of communication and cooperation among WRF members so that those resources can be shared and the cause of evangelical Reformed theological education advanced around the world.
- The Commission on Theology is chaired by Dr. Andrew McGowan, Principal of the Highland Theological College in Dingwall, Scotland. The primary responsibility of this Commission is to develop a consistently Reformed and thoroughly evangelical Statement of Faith for the 21st century which will remain absolutely faithful to Scripture and to the theological traditions affirmed in the confessional documents listed under "The Formal Doctrinal Basis of the World Reformed Fellowship" while, at the same time, bringing those central theological truths to bear directly on such modern issues as secularism, poverty, globalization, the challenge of Islam and other non-Christian religious traditions, and various forms of abuse in the contemporary world. This Statement of Faith will be presented for consideration to the 2010 WRF General Assembly.
- The Commission on Missions and Evangelism is chaired by Dr. John Nicholls, General Secretary of the London City Mission. This Commission is working to develop a strong and effective network of evangelical Reformed missionaries and evangelists around the world. Initially, this network will be web-based and the WRF is building an entirely new and password-protected website which will allow such missionaries and evangelists to train and assist and encourage one another in the work of spreading the Gospel worldwide.
The Regional Boards of the World Reformed Fellowship
