New Global Protestant Body to Seek to Overcome Past Separation

According to a report posted on the Presbyterian Outlook, plans to form a new global grouping representing 80 million Reformed Christians worldwide in 2010 took a step forward following discussions at a meeting in the Dutch city of Utrecht that ended yesterday, October 10.

Clifton Kirkpatrick, president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, is quoted as stating that the new group will be the result of a union between his group and the Reformed Ecumenical Council.  The October 6-10 meeting in Utrecht was the first joint session of the governing bodies of the two organizations.

The Utrecht meeting finalized a draft constitution and by-laws for the new organization. The draft texts will be presented to the member churches of both organizations, which will have twelve months in which to comment. Approval of the final draft is scheduled for the new body’s inaugural general council in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in June 2010.

VEJ