WCRC delegates adopt reports from Communion leaders
Also approved was the report of the Women’s Caucus
CHIANG MAI, Thailand — Earlier this month, the 400 or so delegates to the WCRC’s 27th General Council adopted reports from WCRC President the Rev. Najla Kassab and the Communion’s interim general secretary, the Rev. Dr. Setri Nyomi. They also adopted the report of the Women’s Caucus and will consider the Youth Caucus Report later.
The Rev. Dr. George Marchinkowski, General Secretary of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, presented the reports with Nassab presiding over Saturday’s session.
President’s Report
Marchinkowski moved six items related to the President’s Report, including an increased financial commitment and resolve to communicate more fully on the WCRC’s financial position in the future, regional engagement to strengthen regional structures, a reaffirmation of the Accra Confession, an encouragement for the involvement of women leaders “at every level” and a resolve to “strengthen communication on all aspects of the Communion’s life and work so that member churches may be engaged more deeply in the witness of the Communion.”
Women’s Caucus
This report included these actions by delegates:
- Reaffirm its opposition to systems of patriarchal power
- Encourage the Communion to foster sisterhood across generations and contexts
- Request the Secretariate to develop a Gender Audit toolkit for member churches to evaluate their official documents in regard to inclusive language through a gender justice lens.
- Actively encourage the ordination of women in all member churches and their full inclusion in ministry and leadership in the life of the church
- Request the Secretariate to create educational resources for congregations — including contextual Bible studies, liturgies and sermons — that challenge heterosexist, militaristic and androcentric gender stereotypes “that are contextually relevant and specific,” to be published by the 28th General Council.
Report of the General Secretary
One proposal — to establish a 10-Euro campaign to strengthen financial support and engagement across the Communion — was referred to the Finance Committee. Another proposal saw a portion referred to the same committee, with approval for a request of the Executive Committee to explore the possibility of re-establishing the Reformed Churches’ Partnership Fund. That fund would allow the WCRC to resume granting funds for projects in the Global South and contribute to disaster relief and emergency response efforts.
Other proposals in the General Secretary’s report to receive approval included a request that the General Secretariate delegate members of the new Executive Committee to visit member churches in 2026 “with the aim of building our Communion together.” Learnings from these visits will inform the next Strategic Planning process and clarify the status of inactive members, “who may choose either to renew their membership or step back from the WCRC.” The visits will also provide “an opportunity to explore how member churches can play a more active role in the financial sustainability of the WCRC.”
The Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Executive Director of the Interim Unified Agency, led a PC(USA) delegation to the 27th General Council of the World Communion of Reformed Churches meeting Oct. 14-23 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Read additional reporting here and here.
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