The Dutch Reformed Church – suspended from the World Council of Churches in 1962 because of its support of apartheid – has again become a member of the world churches body.
The move was announced at a meeting of the WCC’s central committee in Norway this month. Other new members of the WCC announced at the meeting include the Blantyre Synod, part of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian and located in the southern region on Malawi, and the Council of Baptist Churches in North East India.
The new churches take the WCC’s membership to 348 churches. Two other churches – the Africa Brotherhood Church and the Community of Baptist Churches in Central Africa – have entered an interim period for churches becoming members.
Dr Agnes Abuom, central committee moderator, said she was delighted to welcome the churches to the ecumenical fellowship. “And it is a special joy to welcome back to the fellowship the Dutch Reformed Church, one of our founding member churches and now, a generation after the end of apartheid, a partner in building a future of justice for all peoples.”
The Dutch Reformed Church, which was founded in the 17th century and now has more than a million members, rejected all forms of racism and opened its membership to all believers in 1986.
The Blantyre Synod, established by Scottish missionaries in the 19th century, now has more than 1.8 million members in 800 congregations, while the Council of Baptist Churches in North East India, which was founded by American Baptist Missionaries in 1836, has 1.2 million members in more than 7,000 congregations.
