May 28, 2009

The actions of a group of German church members in 1934 to resist the Nazi regime still serve as a powerful model for churches today according to the General Secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC).

Sunday, 31 May marks the 75th anniversary of the publication of a statement by the group that has come to be known as the "Barmen Declaration."

Clergy, theologians and church members who disagreed with the leadership of the German church which was willing to follow the orders of the Reich government, gathered in the city of Barmen to prepare a declaration that said only the scriptures have authority over the church.

"That at a critical and dangerous time in history, the Confessing churches in Germany took a courageous stand for justice and life has left its mark on the world forever," Setri Nyomi says from Geneva where WARC's executive committee is meeting.

Some of the founding members of the group paid for their adherence to its principles with their lives. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and theologian, was executed for his role in plotting to overthrow the Reich. Others met clandestinely to study and pray at great risk.

Nyomi celebrates the impact on the Reformed church movement of the group of Reformed, United and Lutheran churches who called themselves the Confessing Churches.

"We in WARC are grateful for the theologians and churches who offered this gift to the world. The Barmen Declaration has inspired WARC in the stands it has taken against apartheid and against the dominant world economic order which harms vulnerable people and the environment."

The Barmen Declaration, drafted by the Swiss Reformed church theologian Karl Barth, calls upon Christians to accept a list of six "confessions" in opposition to the growing influence of the government over senior church leaders.

"A ‘confession' fixes what counts for a church in a particular context," says theologian Peter Bukowski of the German Reformed Alliance.

"It declares what the church believes, not individuals. By adopting a ‘confession' of beliefs in reaction to a concrete situation the Confessing churches in Germany were saying in effect that if you couldn't agree to this confession then you didn't belong in that church."

In 1986 members of WARC were inspired by the model of the Barmen Declaration in issuing the Belhar Confession in reaction to the apartheid regime in South Africa. In it the churches declare that apartheid is not just a political or social question but that it contradicts the fundamentals of Christian belief and as such is a sin.

"This means," says Bukowski, "that it is not possible to belong to WARC and say apartheid is alright."

There is still one church in South Africa unable to accept the Belhar Confession. Recent negotiations between church leaders and senior WARC leaders failed to resolve the issue. For now the church's membership in WARC has been suspended.

In 2004 at meetings in Ghana, WARC's global general assembly endorsed the "Accra Confession" which declares that economic and social systems that condemn people to poverty and marginalization and imperil the earth's natural environment are a sin.

Member churches continue to debate whether this is in fact a "confession" and thus a pre-requisite to membership in the organization or whether it is a "faith stance" in which beliefs are articulated that are not binding.

Bukowski believes that there are elements of the Accra Confession which state fundamental beliefs and are not open to discussion.

"Social justice has substantially to do with our Christian faith," he states. "But how to fight against what some call ‘neo-liberalism,' this is open to discussion."

For now Bukowski says it is good that these discussions continue. "Confessing didn't just happen in the 16th century," the theologian says. "Confessing challenges us at all times."

World Alliance of Reformed Churches