Member Church News: Vatican Visit, Refugees, New Saints

In celebration of the 35th anniversary of its founding in 1981, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church is releasing Liberty in Non-Essentials: The Story of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The book was written by EPC teaching elder Don Fortson, Professor of Church History and Practical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, N.C.

The Reformed Church in America has just completed its annual General Synod while the Christian Reformed Church in North America General Synod continues until Friday.

Rev. Dr. K. C. Abraham (Kuruvilla Cherukara Abraham), well-known leader, globally acclaimed as a brilliant theologian and educator, ecumenist and scholar, passed away on 12 June.

Elisabeth Moltmann-Wendel, a pioneer of feminist theology in Germany, passed away on the 7 June. She was the wife of Jürgen Moltmann.

The Reformed Church in Hungary and the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland sponsored the latest consultation on the challenges presented by the refugee crisis, as well as the responsibility and opportunities of churches.

More than a thousand people attending the Tongan National Conference (TNC) have come away nourished in fellowship, development and faith. The conference is an important event in the Uniting Church year as the single largest gathering of Uniting Church members.

Representatives of several Asian churches gathered for the fifth inter-religious conference to oppose the Japanese government’s attempts to revise Article 9 of Japan’s peace Constitution. Japan adopted its war-renouncing constitution following World War II, with Article 9 as a promise to itself and a pledge to the world, particularly neighboring countries that suffered under Japanese invasions and colonial rule, to never repeat its mistakes.

The WCRC’s visit to the Vatican has generated a variety of news reports:

• Common commitments to witness and action emerge with Catholic Church
• Reformed Churches stress common commitment to justice
• Entre la Confesión de Accra y la Encíclica Laudato si’: El Papa recibe a delegación de la Comunión de Iglesias Reformadas
• La presidente de AIPRAL visita al Papa
• Papa a Chiese riformate: uniti nel testimoniare la misericordia di Dio
• Gereformeerden bezoeken paus
• Papst trifft Vertreter der Weltgemeinschaft Reformierter Kirchen: Gemeinsam gegen Missstände
• Papst würdigt Dialog mit Weltgemeinschaft Reformierter Kirchen
• Weltgemeinschaft Reformierter Kirchen beim Papst

Image at top copyright © L’Osservatore Romano; used with permission.