WCC general secretary offers keynote on 40th anniversary of Belhar Confession

WCC general secretary offers keynote on 40th anniversary of Belhar Confession

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Thu, 10/22/2026 - 13:22

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay offered a keynote address during a World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) conference on “ Standing Where God Stands: 40th Anniversary of the Belhar Confession,” underway from 19–23 October, in Pretoria, South Africa.

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Photo: WCRC

The Belhar Confession is one of the most significant confessional documents to emerge from the global Reformed tradition in the 20th century and a foundational document for the WCRC's ongoing work of discerning, confessing, witnessing, and ever-reforming in response to the signs of the times.

Pillay ’ s keynote reflects on how the Belhar Confession emerged from the crucible of apartheid South Africa as a theological response to a church and society fractured by racial segregation, injustice, and enforced division.

“ Few ecclesial documents have emerged from such a context of suffering and yet achieved such global resonance as the Belhar Confession,” he said. “ The confession was not merely a…