May 13, 2011

A visit by representatives of Swiss regional churches to governing board members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) has opened new perspectives on the challenges for Christians in a secular, prosperous country in Europe.

"The number of Reformed Christians in Switzerland is declining," Federation President, Gottfried Locher told the gathering. "At the same time, the number of people who declare they have no faith or who belong to other faith traditions is growing."

In a presentation Wednesday at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, church leaders from regional (or Cantonal) churches belonging to the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches welcomed WCRC's Executive Committee to Switzerland and shared stories of church programmes in several areas of the country.

The session was designed to give the 36 members, advisors, consultants and staff participating in the WCRC meeting an overview of the context in which Reformed church Christians live and work. The WCRC executive group includes people from 20 countries.

Locher, who also serves as WCRC's General Treasurer, noted that 33% of the Swiss population is Protestant, 41% Roman Catholic, 4.3% Muslim, 0.2% Jewish and 11% claim no religious affiliation.

Andreas Zeller, president of the regional church council serving the area around the Swiss capital Bern, told the group, "The question for pastors in many parts of Switzerland today is what will attract people to churches?" Churches in Zeller's area are responding with diaconal and educational programmes. "In our work with children and teenagers, we are fostering the general human right to education," Zeller told the group. "One important focus is on working with mentally challenged children and teenagers. We are building bridges so that they may participate in the life of the religious community as equals."

Gabriel Bader, a pastor and president of the church council in Neuchâtel, in the western region of the country, engaged the attention of the WCRC Executive Committee with a presentation of ad campaigns designed to make the church visible in secular society.

The church in Neuchâtel has been experiencing a decline in active members. In an effort to promote what the church has to offer secular society, it has created a series of public relations campaigns over the past few years.

"The entire population needs to know and remember that the church is at work for them," says Bader. "We are labouring to maintain spiritual support in prisons, schools and hospitals. It is important that the church gets talked about everywhere."

The church campaigns have featured signs on the back of buses promoting "green spirituality"; road signs about declining values; and ads replacing pastors with robots at hospital bedsides.

Results are hard to measure directly, says Bader. But there is a noticeable decline in church activity in the years between campaigns.

In a tribute to the impact of WCRC on the lives of Swiss Christians, Claudia Bandixen of Aargau in the German-speaking eastern region of the country, pointed to the Executive Secretary of WCRC's Gender Justice Programme.

"From the beginning of our research about our tradition of female leadership, Patricia Sheerattan- Bisnauth became very important to all of us. She encouraged us, she helped us with her knowledge," Bandixen said.

Sheerattan-Bisnauth, who is leaving WCRC following 11 years working on gender, economic and environmental issues, worked with Bandixen to identify winners of the biennial Sylvia Michel Award offered to women from around the world who prepare women for leadership in church and society. The award was created in honour of Europe's first female church president who was elected to the senior post of the Cantonal Church of Aargau in 1980.

In remarks following the presentation, Locher echoed Bandixen's assessment of the importance of WCRC for Swiss Christians. "You are our window on the world," Locher said during a reception for the WCRC hosted by the Federation. "We are a small country and at risk of focusing on ourselves. Through WCRC, we are connected to churches around the world. It opens us up to what is happening outside Switzerland."

WCRC was created in June 2010 through a merger of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC). Its 230 member churches representing 80 million Christians are active worldwide in initiatives supporting economic, climate and gender justice, mission, and cooperation among Christians of different traditions.

World Communion of Reformed Churches