Page 38 - Presbyterian Connection, Spring 2024

Connection
REFLECTIONS
Reading the Signs of
38
PRESBYTERIAN
SPRING 2024
presbyterian.ca
By Kenn Stright, Presbyterian representative to CANAAC (the Caribbean and North America Area Council of the World Communion of Reformed Churches) and a member of the Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee
Matthew 16:2–3: “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy to- day, for the sky is red and threat- ening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.”
We are rapidly approaching the 20th anniversary of the Accra Confession made by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in 2004 and affirmed by the newly formed World Communion of Re- formed Churches in 2010. Hands up all who know (or remember) what the Accra Confession is all about?
From coast to coast to coast, that wasn’t a great response!
Let me try another one, this one taking us back to 1997 and a world preparing for the uncer- tainty of the approaching millen- nium. In October 1995, the South- ern African Alliance of Reformed Churches met in Kitwe, Zambia. They issued the Kitwe Declaration regarding global economic injus- tice and the careless and selfish destruction of creation. In re- sponse, the 23rd General Council (Debrecen, Hungary, 1997) invit- ed member churches of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches to create a covenantal confession to guide the work of WARC and its member churches. The Declara- tion of Debrecen encapsulated the events and direction of the Council meeting. It was written in a covenantal form and was read in the Square of the Reformers at the final worship. The Declara- tion was based upon the words of John Calvin, who repeats over and over in Institutes these words, “We are not our own.”
It was a powerful statement to take the Reformed tradition into the 21st century. I used the Declaration time and again in my preaching and teaching ministry at that time to help my congrega- tion prepare for the many chang- es awaiting us in the 21st century.
By 2004, and the 24th Gen- eral Council of WARC, the world had changed dramatically. Nine Canadian Presbyterians attended the Accra General Council, three
of which were official delegates. We joined our voice with the other member churches and helped cre- ate what is now known as the Ac- cra Confession, originally given the title “Covenanting for Justice in the Economy and the Ear th.” As with the Declaration of Debrecen, this confession was meant to guide the Reformed family through the diffi- cult days ahead. Unfortunately, it appears that few have reflected on the Accra Confession or followed its call to action.
I was invited to lead a Reflec- tion for the Steering Committee of CANAAC not long ago, focussing on the Accra Confession and es- pecially taking a closer look at the statement: “We have heard that creation continues to groan, in bondage, waiting for its liberation (Romans 8.22). We are challenged by the cries of the people who suf- fer and by the woundedness of creation itself. We see a dramatic convergence between the suffer- ingofthepeopleandthedamage done to the rest of creation.”
It will soon be 20 years since the adoption of this confession and, if anything, it is more rel- evant today than at any other time in our history. “The signs of the times have become more alarm- ing and must be interpreted. The root causes of massive threats to life are above all the product of an unjust economic system defend- ed and protected by political and military might. Economic sys- tems are a matter of life or death.”
We live in a scandalous world that denies God’s call to life for all. We recognize the enormity and complexity of the situation. We do not seek simple answers. But as a Communion of Reformed Churches, we do seek a theologi- cal and religious approach to an answer. That requires a faith com- mitment! Faith commitment may be expressed in various ways according to regional and theo- logical traditions: as confession, as confessing together, as faith stance, as being faithful to the
covenant of God.
In declaring our faith commit- ment, we are bound to two reali- ties. The first reality is what we be- lieve. The second and maybe even harder reality is in declaring what we reject. Both require a personal commitment from us corporately and individually. Both demand we change our life and lifestyle.
Again, Accra tells us: “We be- lieve that the integrity of our faith is at stake if we remain silent or refuse to act in the face of the cur- rent system...” And no, it doesn’t stop there. Then come those most difficult of words: “We com- mit ourselves...” The last words of Accra continue that call to commitment: “Now we proclaim with passion that we will commit ourselves, our time and our en- ergy to changing, renewing, and restoring the economy and the earth, choosing life, so that we and our descendants might live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
Back in 2019, the Rev. Dr. Rich-
ard Topping, principal of the Van- couver School of Theology, wrote a bulletin reflection that captures the spirit of the Accra Confession:
“We wait for a world on the way. Living Faith tells us that Christians are people who hope, not in their own potential, not in progress, but in God whose will for the world will get full traction on earth one day. God has prepared a future and will usher it in, and it will blow our minds. The planet will flourish and life brimming over will come to all. Lions and lambs will lie down to- gether, swords will get hammered into plowshares, and the whole planet will be detoxified. God will do it. Finally, God will triumph over all opposition and everything that disrupts creation. Salvation full on. While we wait for God to act decisively, we pray. We pray the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples: ‘thy kingdom come.’ Prayer is doing something. Prayer is an act of defiance at the way the world is—say ‘thy kingdom come’ and you start holding out for better arrangements in the world than those currently on tap... Prayer for God’s Kingdom is a subversive act, as Karl Barth
said, ‘to clasp one’s hands in prayer is the beginning of an up- rising against the disorder of the world.’ In a class H. Richard Nie- buhr taught on the Lord’s Prayer, he said that praying ‘thy kingdom come’ is like yelling at the bottom of a snow-laden mountain. You’re asking for an avalanche! Hope in the form of prayer for God’s Kingdom is asking for an intru- sion into the world that changes everything. Praying Christians participate in the coming of the Kingdom by divine invitation.”
The Accra Confession states that matters of economic and en- vironmental justice are not only social, political and moral issues: they are integral to faith in Jesus Christ and affect the integrity of the church. Maybe it’s not too late to embrace the insights of the Ac- cra Confession as we seek to be a faithful church, Reformed and Reforming, in this 21st century. The signs of the times have be- come more alarming and must be interpreted.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us in- terpret not only the signs before us but the appropriate response of faith. Amen.
Toronto, York Memorial
(half-time minister)
Vaughan, Vaughan Community
(full-time youth minister)
Southwestern Ontario Ailsa Craig, Beechwood
(part-time minister)
Amherstburg, St. Andrew’s
(full-time minister)
Arthur, St. Andrew’s and St. Andrew’s, Gordonville (full-time minister)
Burlington, Brant Hills
(full-time minister)
Burlington, St. Paul’s
(2/3-time minister)
Brussels, Melville & Molesworth, St. Andrew’s (full-time minister)
Innerkip, Ont.
(full-time interim minister)
London, Trinity Community
(half-time stated supply minister)
London, Korean Christian (part- time children and youth minister)
the Times
PULPIT VACANCIES
To see all pulpit vacancies, visit presbyterian.ca/vacancies
Atlantic Provinces Alliston, WellSpring
(full-time minister)
Charlottetown, Zion
(full-time lead minister)
Dartmouth, Iona
(half-time minister)
Halifax, Church of Saint David
(full-time minister)
St. John’s, St. Andrew’s
(full-time minister)
Quebec & Eastern Ontario Inverness, Que. (full-time
ecumenical shared ministry)
McDonald’s Corners, Knox, Elphin & Snow Road (part-time or stated supply)
Montreal, Snowdon Korean
(full-time minister)
Pembroke, First (part-time or stated supply minister)
St. Lambert, St. Andrew’s
(full-time minister)
Central, Northeastern
Ontario & Bermuda
Bramalea, North Bramalea
(60%-time minister)
Harriston, Knox-Calvin
(half-time minister)
Guelph, Kortright
(full-time minister)
Markham, St. Andrew’s
(full-time minister)
Milton, Boston (full-time minister)
Orangeville, Tweedsmuir Memorial (full-time minister)
Penetanguishene, First
(full-time minister)
Richmond Hill, Ont.
(full-time minister)
Toronto, Glenview
(full-time senior minister)
Toronto, Mimico
(full-time minister)
Toronto, St. Andrew’s
(full-time associate minister)
Read or download the Accra Confession at wcrc.ch/accra/the-accra-confession