The general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Rev Setri Nyomi, has joined events marking the centenary of the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda by urging it to speak out more boldly against injustice over the next 100 years.
Nyomi congratulated Rwanda’s Presbyterian Church for “coming through” the 1994 genocide that killed almost a million people and that divided churches, WARC reports.
He said the church had avoided retreating into a “spiritual ghetto of self-preservation or the protection of its own tribes,” and had instead committed itself to “prophetic witness” as it sought to transform Rwandan society.
Nyomi also told his audience at a celebration for the Presbyterian centenary in a Kigali stadium on 19 August, that there was still much to be done in Rwanda and throughout Africa.
He claimed that many churches were still reluctant to speak and act boldly, and called on the Rwandan church to rededicate itself to serving God by seeking justice in its next 100 years.
“We need to expose evil in every form without being afraid,” Nyomi declared.
All major sectors of Rwanda society, including the churches, faced condemnation for allowing the events of 1994 to occur.
Protestants make up about a quarter of Rwanda’s population of 10 million, which is mostly Roman Catholic.
Nyomi also urged the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda to foster communities in which women are valued as much as men, wealth is shared more widely and people are treated equally regardless of their tribe.