Have you ever met Christians from other parts of the world and thought, “We should stay in touch and support each other”? Staying connected across the whole world can seem impossible, but what if we started in our own corner? Around the South Pacific, including here in Australia, there are churches and ministry leaders who share a love for Reformed theology and a similar approach to ministry. Often, though, we don’t really know each other. That’s the gap a new venture, WRF South Pacific, hopes to help fill.
What is the WRF?
The World Reformed Fellowship (WRF) is a global family of Reformed denominations, congregations, agencies and individual leaders in more than sixty countries. Its guiding vision comes from Ephesians 4: “that the strengths of some might become the strengths of all” in the service of Jesus Christ. I have been involved with WRF for over a decade, and it has broadened my understanding of God’s global work and connected me to believers around the world. I am thankful for many ways I have learned and been encouraged, and for opportunities to share and serve.
The WRF isn’t a council of churches. It’s a fellowship of people who share a common confession and a common purpose. WRF members affirm one of the classical Reformed confessions, such as the Westminster Confession, the Three Forms of Unity, the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles, the Baptist London Confession of 1689, or the WRF Statement of Faith. That shared theological foundation makes real partnership possible across very different cultures. It’s a simple way to belong to something bigger than our own context.
The WRF was formed in October 2000, when two networks came together. The World Fellowship of Reformed Churches started in 1994 and was based in North and South America. The International Reformed Fellowship was founded in the early 1990s by Asian churches. Together as they WRF, they set out to encourage understanding and cooperation among evangelical Presbyterian and Reformed churches worldwide. Since then, the WRF has held general assemblies around the world, including Edinburgh, São Paulo and Jakarta. It has also produced a Statement of Faith (2010), a Statement of Reformed Theological Identity (2019) and a Statement on Ecclesiology (2022). Today its members include more than seventy denominations and over 100 organisations, along with congregations and individual leaders.
The WRF already has regional boards in North America and Africa. Now the WRF Board has asked us to start one in the South Pacific.
Why the South Pacific?
Our region is tied together by travel, education, migration and trade. Lots of churches in Australia and New Zealand have members and connections to Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands. In many parts of the Pacific, and in parts of Australia and New Zealand, Reformed Christianity is a small presence within the wider church. Pastors and churches in those places often minister without much encouragement or easy access to resources. A little connection can go a long way.
Many of us are already blessed by resources and gospel partnership through TGCA and other local Reformed evangelical networks. WRF South Pacific’s focus is on linking churches, denominations and their leaders across the wider region, especially those in smaller or more isolated settings, and connecting them into the WRF’s global network.
What Will WRF South Pacific Look Like?
We’re starting simply: two online gatherings each year, comprising a few short presentations on ministry around the region and plenty of time to talk; a quarterly email newsletter featuring news and resources; occasional updates on issues facing churches in the region. Down the track, we’d love to see training events, shared resources, joint projects and visits from international leaders. We want to grow at a pace that serves the churches.
WRF South Pacific will run under a charter approved by the WRF Board, with a Regional Board of five to seven people. I’ve been asked to serve as Regional Chair, and I’m working with a small planning group. We’re holding an online launch meeting on Monday 19 October.[1]
In Ephesians 4:16, Paul pictures the church as a body that “grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” The strengths of some become the strengths of all because Christ has joined us together. That’s true of the worldwide church, but we live it out in particular places, with particular people. WRF South Pacific is a modest attempt to do that in our own corner of the world: Australians, New Zealanders, Papua New Guineans and Pacific Islanders sharing what God has given each of us, so that all of us are strengthened for the work of the gospel.
[1] At this meeting we will present the full proposal, take questions, and discuss the shape of the founding Regional Board. Denominational leaders, pastors and interested individuals are all welcome.
