WRF Consultations
One of the purposes of the World Reformed Fellowship is to advance partnerships across Reformed groups, particularly with churches. We operate as a forum to assist the Reformed church to cooperate on missions and evangelism, theological and ministerial education, and doctrinal considerations as our world changes and in order to foster deeper unity in the bride of Christ.
The WRF is global in its membership, but also regional in its emphasis. We have regional boards designed to facilitate partnerships across denominational and organizational boundaries locally as well – the kingdom of God is global in scope, yet the local church remains embodied in particular places and times. We have an eye to the global work and calling of God while remaining committed to advanced Reformed partnerships on a regional level.
To that end the WRF hosts consultations from time-to-time. Consultations are different from conferences or the WRF’s General Assembly in that instead of being broad and aimed at public attendance, they are smaller and have a specialized focus. For instance, the WRF hosted a consultation on ministering in the context of Islam, in November of 2011 (Orlando, Florida), a consultation on gender-based violence and sexual abuse in 2013 (Potchefstroom, South Africa) and a consultation on global theological education in 2014 (Sao Paulo, Brazil). In April 2025 the WRF’s North American regional board hosted a theological consultation on the future of denominationalism in a post-Christian context.
A theological consultation is aimed at stimulating conversation around God’s word and its doctrinal implications for the sake of practical partnership. In a consultation like this, leaders with experience in the field and who occupy positions to influence greater collaboration across organizations are brought together to discuss the state of the field, to consider possible shared goals, and to deliberate on practical implementations as partners.
This is one of the contributions the WRF makes to the life of Christ’s church — we exist to provide a space for members of his church, who may otherwise be isolated from each other, to collaborate for the sake of God’s mission.
WRF North American Theological Consultation on The Future of Denominationalism in a Post-Christian Context, April 2025
North America is experiencing rapid secularization and dechurching, with denominations correspondingly shrinking both in real numbers and as a share of the Christian population. Non-denominationalism is now the largest segment of Protestantism in the United States, and growing. Among Reformed churches, Jesus' prayer for unity in John 17 has been understood as something more than spiritual unity. How should Reformed churches theologically approach the question of Christian unity and denominationalism for the future?
Session 5: A Modest Proposal for Church Cooperation (Tom Gibbs)
WRF/Lausanne Global Theological Education Consultation, June 2014
From June 2 through June 6, 2014, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, seven international ministries joined together to sponsor a Consultation on Global Theological Education: 1) The Fellowship of Evangelical Seminary Presidents; 2) The International Council for Evangelical Theological Education; 3) The Langham Partnership; 4) The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization; 5) The Overseas Council; 6) The Theological Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance; and 7) The World Reformed Fellowship.
Consultation on Gender-based Violence and Sexual Abuse - Oct. 2013
The WRF seeks to mobilize the global church in support of the work of organizations and agencies seeking to eliminate gender-based violence and sexual abuse in Christian environments. This effort was highlighted at an international conference: With Hearts, Hands, and Voices in God’s Global Mission - A Conference Sponsored by Northwest University (Potchefstroom, South Africa) and The World Reformed Fellowship (October 16 – 19, 2013)
Click below to view the topics or watch the videos of the talks:
WRF Consultation: Ministering in the Context of Islam - November 2011
