Late last week it was announced from the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) meeting in Trinidad and Tobago that their recommendation to The Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) for the new name of the combined body after they merge is the World Communion of Reformed Churches. The proposed name is the topic of a WARC news story. However, to make things clear a definition of “communion” was included:
calling by the Spirit of God in Jesus Christ.
The proposed name first goes to REC for approval and then to the WARC member churches according to the story.
WARC, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, is clearly the larger body with 214 member churches in 107 countries. These include the major Reformed churches worldwide such as the Church of Scotland and the Presbyterian Church (USA). In the US it also includes the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, the Reformed Church in America, the Christian Reformed Church in North America, and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America.
The REC, headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is roughly one quarter the size of WARC with 39 member churches in 25 countries. In North America the only member is the Christian Reformed Church in North America.
The proposal is for a uniting convention in Grand Rapids in 2010.