An Interview With Setri Nyomi

by Nathaniel Van Denend

Setri Nyomi is the general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Christians (WARC). Nyomi was on campus this past spring and Kerux was given an opportunity to interview him. WARC is a fellowship of 75 million Reformed Christians from 214 different denominations in 107 countries. The Christian Reformed Church joined WARC in 2002 after debate in the 1980s concerning how the CRC should relate to ecumenical bodies which include a broad spectrum of theological diversity. Below Nyomi shares his views of theological diversity and discusses what seminary students should know about ecumenical organizations.

Kerux: At the 2010 conference of WARC, the Reformed Ecumenical Council will merge with WARC, what will happen?

Nyomi: We will have a better, stronger expression of the Reformed family. When REC was formed, they thought WARC was too liberal. It was also mainly linked to the Dutch heritage. I am thankful to God that by the 1980s that perception began to fall. When we began talking we discovered that those are simply perceptions. We have the most conservative churches, we also have the most liberal churches. For us this is part of what the Reformed family is, we have both and we need to listen to one another. When we are talking in most of our meetings in 2006, we affirmed that the WARC starts with what is God calling us to do in the world and then we find a Scripture [passage to support it]. The REC starts with the Scripture and then says what should we do? Are these opposites or gifts we offer one another? I suspect they are gifts. The people on the liberal side wonder if we will ever be the same. My answer is that God never asks us to be the same. We also have questions like, ‘are you growing us into something that is very liberal?’ Together we should be a stronger Reformed body.

Kerux: Will your agenda be much different? Will the two organizational structures stay the same?

Nyomi: Both are dissolving. It will become the World Communion of Reformed Churches [WCRC], more difficult to say. I think that yeah the name is good, I like it because when you talk about an alliance, it is a more political word.

Kerux: What can be done at seminaries to help us realize that we are part of a bigger body. How do we work to facilitate what you bring to the table?

Nyomi: If seminaries could see how we teach ecumenical relations … In 2007 we called a consultation with heads of Reformed seminaries. Neil [Plantinga] could not make it. But, people from all over the world did. We recommended changes in curriculum to include bodies like us in their teaching. A second, is to look at the agenda in church and society classes and discuss papers that come from us. A third is to include the papers on the dialogues we have in the curriculum. I am not sure what has happened at Calvin. Some schools, at least one school in Nigeria wrote a very warm letter they never knew that Reformed views were available, they were able to use them in their setting with those people right there. I have personally been invited to dialogue with seminary students [from around the world] and hope that by being there they have caught a little of the virus.

Kerux: how has being in the ecumenical world shaped your identity?

Nyomi: I come from a setting which is a little more on the conservative side. The first meetings I attended really were a shocker, at that time I thought, “Aren’t we laying aside the gospel?” But indeed, I was limiting the gospel This has shaped my life as a preacher, we do not limit God. We need to be open to other ways that the Spirit is moving us. And yet in the very end, as Christians, we have to test all to see if it conforms to Scripture. So it has shaped my life and it has made me more humble.

Kerux: What would you say are the three central themes to the Reformed faith that under gird the term?

Nyomi: They have not changed since the 15th century. Salvation is by grace though faith. It is only by gratitude to God that we do what we do. We are transformed by God is a very important theme. A second theme is that the basis of everything we do is in Scripture, that means today not doing the lazy job of I read the Bible and it says this, but the critical reading and rereading to ask what is God saying today? No, that is a reading of Scripture which is disagreeing with Scripture itself, being open to the way that Spirit speaks to us to use Karl Barth. “We have the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other.” God speaks to us in ways that are relevant to us today. To be able to embrace the unity in diversity we have… someone who says that we are Reformed and does not change does not understand that we are always reforming Kerux: Any advice for seminarians?

Nyomi: Be faithful to your calling, diligent studying and diligent use of the resources. I look back at my student days graduate work as great opportunities to do God’s work. I saw someone defending their dissertation today I remember being in that hot seat…

Setri Nyomi is from Ghana and a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. He currently works as the General Secretary of WARC in their worldwide offices located in Geneva.

Look for more excerpts in future issues.

Want to respond to this article? Send your letter to letters@kerux.org; see the guidelines for more information.