In 2004, at the fifth National Forum of the NCCA, in Adelaide, a very significant step was taken when a Multi-dimensional Covenanting Document was endorsed, signed and celebrated. It was the product of eight years of reflection and consultation. It was a renewed expression of the commitment churches had made to one another through their membership of the NCCA, specifying that commitment in particular undertakings. It has also been very well received internationally as a gift and model to the world.
Yet the event in Adelaide, momentous though it was, was always understood to be part of a process that would continue. This Commission has played a motivating role in that process, and during the years since 2004 has sought to remind the churches of the consequences of the commitment made. The purpose of this role has also been articulated in the WCC Assembly statement, “Called to be the One Church”, in which each church is reminded of the call to ‘mutual accountability’.
pdf Australian Churches Covenanting Together (70 KB)
pdf A5 pamphlet of Australian Churches Covenanting Together (177 KB)
pdf Commission reflections on the Covenanting process 2009 (25 KB)
Examples of Covenanting in Australia
Covenants have been agreed in many places and at several levels of church life in Australia (including between parishes & congregations and between different member Church dioceses). Contact your local State or Territory Ecumenical Body for details of local covenanting. From local experiences practical assistance may also be possible.
pdf Click here for a helpful introduction to Covenanting Locally (44 KB)
The following are just a few examples of local and diocesan covenants in operation in Australia:
pdf Wollombi Covenant (193 KB)
pdf Gresford-Paterson Covenant (57 KB)
pdf Some other examples of Covenants in ACT and NSW (311 KB)
pdf Maitland-Newcastle-Broken Bay Tri-Diocesan Covenant (5 KB)
pdf Covenanting Congregations in Victoria (25 KB)
pdf Bathurst Anglican - Catholic Diocesan Covenant (1.19 MB)
