The President of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) has called on Reformed Christians across the globe to act as a counter-culture, by speaking out for life amidst the overflowing cultures of secularism and fundamentalism that has engulfed the modern era.

|TOP|Clifton Fitzpatrick was making an address to the Waldensian Evangelical Church in Rome, Italy, in which he said, “As we enter the 21st century, not just Waldensians, but all of us will increasingly find ourselves as resident aliens in our various cultures, especially as we move forward with a model of globalisation where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and poorer.”

He continued, “The patterns of our societies are changing dramatically in our post-modern world and the patterns of church life must change radically as well if we are to share our ancient – and eternal – gospel in a new age.

“We are fast moving into a globalised world where there is no established religion but where dangerous forms of religious fundamentalism are on the rise, where media dominate our lives, where generational differences are growing, where there is no majority racial ethnic group, where social injustice is as great as at the time of the prophets and where we have deep struggles to find unity in our great diversity in the Christian community.”

A WARC delegation was led by Kirkpatrick that visited both the Vatican and the Waldesian church in Rome from Jan. 6-9th. In addition, the delegation also made official visits to the Waldensian Faculty of Theology in Rome and had discussions with the moderator of the Waldensian church Maria Bonafede and other leaders.

|AD|In his address Kirkpatrick said that the feeling of being a resident alien is a new one for the Church, but that there was much to learn from the experiences of minority churches such as the Waldesian. In particular, as it seeks to engage with the present secular and extreme cultures, in bringing the values of the gospel into the forefront of society.

The WARC President praised the passion and drive that the Waldensian church had for mission, prayer and spiritual renewal, as well as the high emphasis it places on inclusion and bringing about peace, justice and the courage to stand for the gospel when it is not popular to do so in the present climate.

Kirkpatrick stated, “Although a small church numerically, the Waldensian church is a large church in terms of its witness and its contribution to the global Reformed movement.”

Setri Nyomi, the General Secretary for WARC commented that the Waldensian faculty had played a great role in the process of forming church leaders.

WARC expressed its gratitude for the unique role the church played within the global WARC community, and revealed that the church proved an inspiration for all of the Reformed family of churches.

WARC is a fellowship of 75 million Reformed Christians in more than 200 churches in 107 countries.