Merger of Reformed Church groups

CRCNA to host inaugural meeting of combined world bodies

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan – The campus of Calvin College has been selected for the first international meeting of two merging groups of Reformed Churches. The Christian Reformed Church in North America will host the meeting scheduled for June 18-28, 2010.

The newly formed World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the continuation of the Reformed Ecumenical Council and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. After the World Alliance of Reformed Churches approved the merger, the two bodies requested the CRCNA to host the inaugural meeting of the new body.

The WARC wanted to meet in the USA, where they had not met since 1958, and because the CRCNA is a member of both organizations in the USA. Other current members of WARC in the USA will be invited to help with the organization.

Next month, executives of the REC and the WARC will meet in Grand Rapids to lay the groundwork for the historic event.

The World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the larger group, with roots in the 16th Reformation, has a broad membership of 214 denominations in 107 countries, representing 75 million people. The more confessional REC has 39 members in 25 countries, including a number with roots in the Netherlands through immigration and foreign mission. The CRC is member of both, the Reformed Church in America of the WARC only.