Reflection from the President: persevere in our witness
President Rev Charissa Suli reflects on the World Communion of Reformed Churches General Council, which closed on Thursday after 10 days in Chiang Mai
October 28, 2025
written by Rev Charissa Suli, President of the Uniting Church in Australia
It has been almost a week since the 27th General Council of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) concluded in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and I continue to sit with all that I saw, heard, and felt. The theme “Persevere in Your Witness “continues to resonate deeply within me. Over those ten days, I listened, prayed, and discerned alongside sisters and brothers from across the global Reformed family. We came from every corner of the world — more than a hundred nations — to seek how our communion might live faithfully in this moment of crisis, hope, and transformation.
The conversations were not easy. They stretched our theology, tested our imagination and patience, and revealed the cost of our commitments. Yet within every dialogue there was life — the Spirit moving among God’s people, weaving stories of suffering, resilience, and faith into a tapestry of hope. I was reminded that perseverance is not simply about endurance, but about faithfulness to the gospel amid uncertainty and change.
The Uniting Church in Australia delegation played an active and deeply faithful role. Each delegate contributed in a significant way — through worship, Bible study, discernment, and the shaping of theological and justice statements. Our people served in leadership roles across committees and listening sessions, bringing the gift of our intercultural identity and our Pacific, Asian, and First Peoples partnerships into the heart of the global communion. I give thanks for their wisdom, humility, and courage to speak truth in love.
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Being at the General Council reminded me how remarkably fortunate we are in the Uniting Church in Australia, and how far we have come as a pilgrim people. We are not perfect, yet we have grown in how we hold space for difficult conversations, honour women’s leadership and ordination, deepen our covenantal relationship with the First Peoples of this land, and continue to wrestle faithfully with questions of justice and renewal in our common life. We have cultivated consensus decision-making as a spiritual discipline of listening and discernment, and we have worked to amplify the voices of young people, recognising them as vital witnesses to Christ’s future among us. We have come a long way, yet our journey continues — shaped by the Spirit who calls us to deeper faith, courage, and grace.
Through it all, I was reminded again of our calling to weave threads of love across cultures and boundaries — to see in our diversity the beauty of God’s communion. I am deeply grateful for the formation I have received through the life of the Uniting Church, which has prepared me to listen, learn, and lead in such spaces with humility and hope.
Serving on the Public Issues Committee gave me a front-row seat to the cries for justice across the world — from Madagascar to Palestine, from the Pacific to the Caribbean. Together we wrestled with ecological and climate justice, self-determination, and gender equity. What emerged was clear: to be the Church is to be public — to stand where Christ stands, among the poor, the displaced, and the earth itself, groaning for renewal.
In one of the Bible studies, Palestinian pastor Munther Isaac reminded us:
“The One who transformed Saul into Paul is still transforming lives today. We need Christ today more than ever — the Christ who meets us on the road and confronts our blindness, who transforms our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.”
His words still echo in me. They call the Church — including our own — to face where we have grown blind: to the suffering of others, to the pain within our own community, and to the threads of love we sometimes unravel through pride, apathy, or ideology. Transformation begins not in power, but in repentance; not in maintaining the past, but in trusting the Spirit who makes all things new.
At the closing worship, the newly elected WCRC President, Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson, reminded us that the call to prophetic witness is not easy: “The call to follow Jesus is the way of costly discipleship.” That truth resonates deeply with me as President of the Uniting Church. To lead in such a time is to walk the costly path of love — to speak when silence feels safer, to stand with those the world overlooks, and to trust that God’s future will emerge even through our imperfections.
Now that we are home, may the witness of the global Church continue to stir our hearts and renew our hope. And may we persevere — not in weariness, but in faith, humility, and grace.
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