Ecumenical Worship at the 24th WARC General Council
The 24th General Council of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches began with a powerful worship led by an array of singers, dancers, drummers and musicians on July 30, 2004. Over 2,000 members attended the service, some 400 of which were international delegates of the WARC, which was held at the International Conference Center in Accra, Ghana.
The highlight of the worship was a choir of over 100 singers from the two host churches. The choir sang the general council theme song, composed by Ghanaian musician Walter Blege, that calls on everyone to “celebrate, celebrate.”
In addition to the choral devotion, ethnic dancers clad in colorful cloaks built a giant jigsaw in the council’s egg shaped logo, to represent the council’s theme “Life in Fullness.”
Meanwhile, on August 1, some 10,000 mostly local Reformed Christians gathered under a giant multi-colored terrain for a massive worship service. The service was planned to bring together the local Ghanaian worshippers with the international delegates in a common act of worship.
The main focus of the two-hour worship service was the message delivered by the WARC’s general secretary Setri Nyomi.
“No matter who you are, no matter how small, you are called today to be a prophet,” Nyomi challenged the attendees. “You, prophesy to them.”
The Accra conference, the 24th of its kind, will end on August 13. Throughout the conference, international delegates will discuss pertinent issues to the WARC and will inaugurate new board members. The General Council, which meets every seven years, is the representative council of the WARC.
