National Forums (49)
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National Forums (10)
The NCCA is a community living ecumenically in the Body of Christ. Forums of the NCCA are critical to the fulfillment of the NCCA's constitutional calling to "deepen [our] relationship with each other in order to express more visibly the unity willed by Christ for his Church, and to work together towards the fulfilment of [our] mission of common witness, proclamation and service ..."*
* NCCA Constitution 2.01 i and ii
6th National Forum (1)
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LIFE TOGETHER
13 - 17 July 2007: Alexandra Headlands, Queensland -
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Alexandra Park Conference Centre
Alexandra Headlands
Sunshine Coast, Queensland -
Working Documents - 140 pages
(part 1) and (part 2)
These documents are in pdf format
If you do not have Adobe Reader
click here to download free.
5th National Forum (1)
AT THE CROSS ROADS: Living in a Changing World
9 - 13 July 2004: North Adelaide, South Australia
8th National Forum (2)
"Mission Shaped Ecumenism"
What is the Call of God for the Church in Australia?
5 - 9 July 2013
Catholic Education Leadership Centre
576 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, Victoria
“Footprints and Echoes”
Bible Studies
7th Forum of the NCCA, 9-13 July 2010
by the Revd Dr John Gibaut
Introduction
Every year the Commission on Faith and Order of the WCC and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity prepare the texts of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, with an original draft prepared by a local, ecumenical group writing from one of the regions of the world. The material for 2010 was prepared in Scotland because of the 2010 Edinburgh Conference, marking the centenary of the 1910 Edinburgh Conference and with it the beginning of the modern Ecumenical Movement.
The biblical text chosen by the Action by Churches Together in Scotland team is the entire chapter of Luke 24, Luke’s account of the Resurrection. Although the text is long it holds together as a single literary unit. The words of Jesus at the end of this chapter—the theme of the 2010 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity—are addressed to the disciples of Jesus in 2010 as much as they were on that first Easter day: “You are witnesses of these things.”
Day 1: Luke 24.1-27
Luke’s account of the first Easter day is the longest of the four gospels. At the centre of Luke’s story of the Resurrection is the episode of the Road to Emmaus, from verses 13-35. The strange thing—or the wondrous thing—is that the people in this story are not the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples. There are no angels, no Peter or Mary Magdalene, all of whom appear in verses 1-12, where we hear the news of the Resurrection, but where Jesus has yet to appear. The Emmaus story is about two completely unknown people, Cleopas and his companion; was this a friend? His wife? A relative? A partner? A son or daughter? Because Luke gives us no hints about who Cleopas is, let alone his companion, we are left to our own imaginations, as the works of artists who have portrayed this story so amply demonstrate. I think that Cleopas and his companion are you and me, and all the ordinary people who have responded to Jesus in one way or another. And it is to these unknowns that the Risen One first appears in Luke’s Gospel.
The discovery of the empty tomb was the experience of relatively few people. But the news spread quickly so that by the end of the day the two disciples trudging back to their village had heard it as well. But rather than receiving the news with joy, Luke tells us that they were sad. They didn’t believe it. I think that they were so traumatized by the events in Jerusalem that they were in no position to receive anything. And they are separated from the Jerusalem community, what they call “our group,” isolated and walking away. Until they are joined by the stranger, who talks to them, listens to their feelings, listens for their questions, and then opens up the Scriptures as they walked. Upon later reflection, they recalled that their hearts were burning within them as he proclaimed/explained the Scriptures.
The theme of this conference is “Footprints.” When I hear this word today I first think of an “ecological footprint.” Or, I think of that wonderful story of footprints in the sand, the double set and the single set. It also recalls the footprints that were left on that dusty road from Jerusalem to Emmaus by Cleopas, his companion, and the Risen Jesus. And then there are the footprints on the road back to Jerusalem. Not only did they walk and leave footprints, but they also talked and left echoes of those conversations in Luke’s gospel.
At the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh 1910 a journey began, the ecumenical journey, which has left footprints and echoes in directions that people 100 years ago could never have imagined. There have been so many conversations since then, so many dialogues between Christians; in so many ways, the echoes of their conversations resonate with our own, about the Risen Lord, and with the Risen Lord.
The one decision that came out of the World Missionary Conference was to form a continuation committee to continue and to deepen cooperation between the missionary societies. It was a unanimous decision, and the delegates were so amazed, and so moved, that the rose to sing the Doxology together. A new phase of Christianity began in which they began a journey together, not in competition, not in isolation, but a journey together with the Lord and with each other that would lead all the way to this Seventh Forum of the National Councils of Churches of Australia in Canberra. We are the heirs of these things.
But at the beginning, and perhaps today as well, the ecumenical journey, like the journey to Emmaus, begins with strangers. The unrecognised Jesus was a stranger to Cleopas; Cleopas and his companion are strangers to us; his companion will always remain a stranger. They are estranged from the Jerusalem community, from who they have walked away.
But as they journeyed together, leaving their two sets of footprints on the road, something changed, because of the third set. They went from sadness to hearts burning within them; from a sense of pointless loss and unsettling news to having a sense of meaning. They saw how their own stories and the story of Jesus fit within the broader framework of the biblical narrative. There was a dialogue. There was change, and we have been caught up in the echoes and footprints of that change ever since.
The great “burning hearts” insight of Edinburgh 1910 was the churches’ mission and message of reconciliation in Christ was distorted by their divisions. The vision that was born in 1910 was not merely church-cooperation, but of Christian unity. The insight came not from the Europeans or North Americans, but from the young churches of Asia, who linked the call to Jesus’ prayer in John 17. 21, “that they may be one”.
There were some who asked what it is that keeps us apart. People like Anglican bishop Charles Brent, their hearts burning from the experience of Edinburgh, saw that the way forward was dialogue; conversation about the questions of the faith and ordering of the churches that kept them apart. And so in 1910, plans began for a world conference on Faith and Order, which after years of planning and the horrors of the First World War, took place in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1927. Around that table of Faith and Order the churches encountered each other for the first time in a new way. Leaders and theologians did not attack or justify positions, they just introduced what they believed and how their different churches were ordered or structured. In the beginning it was a dialogue of strangers, who knew really did not know one another, although caricatures, historic condemnations, memories of past conflict were alive and well. And something happened to them in Lausanne. They were no longer strangers and aliens. They saw Christ in one another. They could show that there was far more in common that united them in Christ than that which separated them from each other. And they knew themselves to be citizens together with the saints and members of the same household of God. (Ephesians 2.19)
Listen to their words to the churches in 1927:
God’s Spirit has been in the midst of us. It was He who called us hither. His presence has been manifest in our worship, our deliberations and our whole fellowship. He has discovered us to one another. He has enlarged our horizons, quickened our understanding, and enlivened our hope. We have dared and God has justified our daring. We can never be the same again. Our deep thankfulness must find expression in sustained endeavour to share the visions vouchsafed us here with those smaller home groups where our lot is cast.
This was an Emmaus experience for those who were part of Faith and Order in 1927, and the churches they represented. The dialogues between the churches have continued ever since, on varying issues, at various speeds, with varying successes. But the Faith and Order movement, a movement which seeks to reconcile separated Christians by dialogue, by talking and walking together, by learning from one another, by recognizing and being recognised by the Risen Christ, includes us all:
God’s Spirit has been in the midst of us. It was He who called us hither. His presence has been manifest in our worship, our deliberations and our whole fellowship. He has discovered us to one another. We have dared and God has justified our daring. We can never be the same again.
Questions:
- What journey has your church been on in the past one hundred years with other Christian communities? How have you journeyed with other Christians in your own lives?
- What dialogues has your church embarked upon with other churches, and how have they brought you closer to that unity for which Christ prays?
- In what ways have the insights or experiences of another or other churches been an instance of the Risen Christ opening the Scriptures to you and your community?
- With whom or what other Christian community do you need to journey on your own road to Emmaus?
Task:
- What verse from Luke 24.1-27 resonates most strongly with where you are this morning?
- What verse resonates most strongly with the dialogue within your table-group this morning? Why?
- Each group will in turn read its chosen verse in plenary.
Day 2: Luke 24.28-35
As they reached their home in Emmaus, hospitality demanded that they invite the stranger to stay with them, because it was almost evening and the day was now over. But at the meal, the guest becomes the host, as he takes the bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to them. Then, their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight.
When they see him, they don’t recognise him; when they recognise him, they don’t see him. What is going on here? The answer is in the fourfold action of Jesus in the meal: taking, blessing/giving thanks, breaking, and giving the bread. These are exactly the actions of Jesus in the Last Supper narratives in Matthew, Mark, Luke and Paul. They are the same four actions in all the feeding miracles in all four gospels. They are also the four-fold action of the Eucharist in the ancient church, and in the celebration of the Eucharist in many liturgical traditions today: the preparation of the gifts, the Eucharistic prayer, the breaking of the bread and Holy Communion. The entire story is liturgical: the community gathers on Sunday, the day of resurrection; the Scriptures are proclaimed; the table is prepared, the blessing said, the bread broken, and the community of Cleopas and his companion are fed by Christ.
This is where the ordinariness and obscurity of Cleopas and his companion give such power to the story. They are like you and me who did not visit the empty tomb, who missed the angels, missed Mary Magdalene and Peter. It is as if Luke is telling those of us who were not there that the Risen Christ meets us as well as Cleopas and his companion, as we encounter the Risen One as he gathers us with him on Sunday, the day of Resurrection, to proclaim the biblical word of hope, and to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
The flash of intuition that the Lord is risen indeed was not the result of their careful planning or well-thought out theology, but it is the Lord’s doing in the context of time, community, story, meal, and prayer. It was not an idea, but an experience of the Risen Christ that led them to the basic foundation of Christian belief: “The Lord is risen; he is truly risen!”
If this is the point of Luke’s Emmaus story—and most biblical commentators suggest that this is precisely what is going on—then there are implications for the unity of the Church, or rather, for its disunity. For, here, gathered around its Risen Lord, the Church, the Christian community is most authentically itself. It is from here that its life and mission flows and returns.
The most scandalous way that Christian division has been expressed from earliest times has been breaking Eucharistic communion with one another. Equally scandalous in the long history of Christian disunity has been naming the other’s Eucharistic theologies and practices as heretical. In the event that Luke’s Gospel identifies as the privileged place of encounter with the Risen Lord, we all told others Christians that that they got it wrong.
Faith and Order was born in the Eucharist at Edinburgh 1910, when the Anglican delegates who celebrated the Eucharist every day became increasingly aware of the discrepancy between the growing Emmaus experience of unity at the conference, and the Anglican practice at the time that made it impossible to celebrate and receive the Eucharist together. That sense of “wrongness” impelled them to seek to remove whatever issues of faith and order that kept believer apart in the Eucharist.
Ever since, Faith and Order has provided a space where the divided churches have shared with each other what they believe and experience in the Eucharist. The mandate of Faith and Order is to “proclaim the oneness of the Church of Jesus Christ, and to call the churches to the goal of visible unity in one faith and in one Eucharistic fellowship.” One of the gentle but at the same time disturbing surprises has been just how much we already have in common in the Eucharist, and how much we owe to one another in terms of liturgical renewal. They could show that there was far more in common that united them in Christ than that which separated them from each other. This was most poignantly achieved in the 1982 convergence text called Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry, known simply by its abbreviation, BEM”.
People don’t read BEM very much anymore. It’s even hard to find a copy, even after a million were produced in over 39 printings and in 40 languages! But without knowing it, many people receive BEM every Sunday. Because so many of those involved in the BEM process were also engaged in liturgical renewal in their churches, our service books were being revised as BEM was being prepared. There was an order of celebration based on BEM called the Lima Liturgy. It was seldom used, but it became the model for a whole series of Eucharistic liturgies and service books from 1982 to the present. It is no wonder that there is a family resemblance in the way that churches celebrate the Eucharist, in terms of shape of the liturgy, music and hymns, common lectionary, and common Eucharistic prayers.
Before, during, and after the publication of BEM, an extraordinary thing happened: when Christians visited each other’s churches, especially at celebrations of the Eucharist, they felt “at home.” It was not identical, but it was familiar, giving rise to a deep desire to receive Christ in Holy Communion with and from another. That is a different kind of ecumenism, not of theologians or church leaders, but of ordinary people like Cleopas and his companion, a grassroots ecumenism of those who encounter the presence of Christ in the other, who hear the echoes of themselves, their prayers, their songs, their stories, in the prayer of the other and desire to feed on that presence as did Cleopas and his companion. And they knew themselves to be citizens together and members of the same household of God.
For the vast majority of Christians—Catholic, Orthodox, and some Protestant churches—receiving communion is seen as the goal of Christian unity. For others, it is seen as the means to unity, or as a pastoral measure of hospitality in the interim. Some Christians will not receive in another church, for the sake of unity. Others will receive, also for the sake of unity. Both positions place being in Eucharistic communion at the heart of the ecumenical movement—not just receiving communion from one another, which is relatively easy, but receiving one another, being in communion with another community, and encountering with the other what Cleopas and his companion found with the stranger: the presence of the Risen Christ.
“Then their eyes were opened, and they recognised him, and he vanished from their sight.”
Questions:
- What are some of your experiences of the prayer of other Christian traditions?
- What is your church’s position on Eucharistic hospitality, and why? How do you experience churches that follow a practice different to your own?
- In what ways have the insights or experiences of another or other churches helped you to recognise the Risen Christ in the breaking of the Bread?
Task:
- What verse from Luke 24.28-35 resonates most strongly with where you are this morning?
- What verse resonates most strongly with the dialogue within your table-group this morning?
- Each group will in turn read its chosen verse in plenary.
Day 3: Luke 24.33-51
Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry acknowledges the many names given to the sacramental meal in bread and wine in which we meet Jesus. In chapter 24 of Luke’s Gospel and throughout the Acts of the Apostles it is called the “breaking of the bread.” St Paul calls it “The Lord’s Supper.” The early church called it Eucharist, from the Greek eucharistia meaning “thanksgiving”, recalling the third of Jesus’ actions in the Last Supper, the feeding miracles, and the Emmaus story, when Jesus gave thanks. Eastern Christians call it the Divine Liturgy, from the Greek leitourgia, meaning “work of the people.” In the early Western tradition, it was simply called “Mass”, from the Latin missa meaning “sent”, from the dismissal by the deacon at the very end of the Eucharist: ite, missa est, meaning “go, you are sent.” And from this we get the word “mission” and words like “commission”, “transmission”, “dismissal” and “Mass”.
We often forget, especially those who come from traditions shaped by the Reformation, that the word “Mass” points to the deep connection between Eucharist and mission, between the Resurrection and mission. In his account of Emmaus, Luke tells us that after Cleopas and his companion recognised Jesus in the breaking of the bread, they did not complain about the sermon and turn in for the night. Rather, their experience of the Risen Lord sent them on mission, back to Jerusalem. Their experience of the Risen Christ was such that they were impelled to witness to what they had heard and seen and tasted. They return to Jerusalem, and to the community of the Lord gathered there, and are again in communion with them, for they too had news: “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon.”
Then Jesus appears to them all, and says to them words that we know from our experience of worship: “Peace be with you.” Luke tells us that after showing himself to them, he shares a meal with them as well, and then in reverse order begins to proclaim the scriptures, opening their minds to the message “that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise again from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
“You are witnesses of these things.” This is Luke’s version of the Great Commission at the end of Matthew’s Gospel. The commission in Luke’s Gospel is located after the proclaimed biblical word Supper with the Lord, just like the deacon’s ite, missa est. Like the language around the word Mass, mission in the story of Emmaus is intrinsically linked with the Eucharist. The Orthodox tradition speaks of the Liturgy after the Liturgy.
Edinburgh 1910 had as one of its goals increased cooperation amongst the Western missionary societies. What actually happened was a vision of so much more, a vision of a united Church. It was a moment of conversion for the delegates. Charles Brent, who would lead the Faith and Order movement, said of Edinburgh 1910:
I was converted. I learned that something was working that was not of man in that conference; that the Spirit of God... was preparing a new era in the history of Christianity.
During these past days a new vision has been unfolded to us. But whenever God gives a vision He also points to some new responsibility, and you and I, when we leave this assembly, will go away with some fresh duties to perform.
The vision of Church unity, not missionary cooperation, did not emerge from the Western professors of ecclesiology, but from the younger churches of India, Japan, and China. One of the most famous speeches at Edinburgh 1910 came from one of the few delegates from China, Cheng Ching Yi:
You have sent to us missionaries who have made Jesus Christ known to us, and we thank you for this. But, you have also brought to us your divisions; we ask you to preach the Gospel and to let Jesus Christ himself rise up in the hearts of our people by the action of his Holy Spirit adapted to their needs, adapted also to the dispositions of our peoples, so that there will be a Church of Christ in Japan, the Church in China, in India, etc. Deliver us from all “isms” by which you have affected the preaching of the Gospel amongst us.
The vision of Christian unity in Edinburgh 1910, and the ecumenical movement which sprang from it, has been related solely to mission. In 1910 they saw with striking clarity that Christian disunity, competition, parallelism, isolation and hostility was the greatest obstacle to mission. How was it possible to proclaim a gospel of reconciliation—a gospel of repentance and forgiveness to all the nations—when the bearers of that gospel were un-reconciled amongst themselves? The hypocrisy around Christian disunity continues to block the mission of the church today because disunited Christianity distorts the Gospel.
The operative word is disunity, not diversity. God loves diversity. The diversity amongst Christians speaks of the health and vitality of Christianity, and the freedom of the Spirit to blow in different cultures and languages and experiences as the Spirit wills. The vision of Edinburgh 1910 was never a uniform Church, but a united one, one that preserved, safeguarded, and celebrated diversity in one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
When Jesus says “You are witnesses of these things” in Jerusalem or Edinburgh or Canberra, it is always in the plural, to a communion of wondrously different people.
In Matthew’s gospel, the great commission is to make “disciples of all the nations.” In Luke it is subtly but significantly different: it is to proclaim to the nations repentance and forgiveness in Jesus’ name, and to be witnesses that the Messiah suffered and rose from the dead on the third day.
Being a witness to the things of Jesus today is understood in wondrously diverse ways, from evangelism, to giving a reason for the hope that is within us, to caring for justice and peace, healing and reconciliation, and stewardship of creation. The word for Martyr is from the Greek word for “witness”. In Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry Faith and Order says:
Through the eucharist the all-renewing grace of God penetrates and restores human personality and dignity. The eucharist involves the believer in the central event of the world’s history. As participants in the eucharist, therefore, we prove inconsistent if we are not actively participating in this ongoing restoration of the world’s situation and the human condition (Eucharist 20, BEM).
All of these things bear witness to the death and resurrection of Christ, and proclaim the message of forgiveness to all the nations. I think of wise words from Francis of Assisi to the early Franciscans: “Preach the Gospel; use words only when necessary.”
Questions:
- What are the areas of mission for your local worshipping community?
- In what ways is (or could) your experience of Sunday worship be linked with mission?
- In what ways can you imagine that mission would be changed by the diverse local communities engaging in mission together?
- What are the differences in mission between a social service organization, a philanthropic society, and worshipping Christian communities?
Task:
- What verse from Luke 24.33-51 resonates most strongly with where you are this morning?
- What verse resonates most strongly with the dialogue within your table-group this morning?
- Each group will in turn read its chosen verse in plenary.
Click on the links below to upload photos of the 7th Forum of the NCCA
If you wish to reproduce either of these photos, please,
- identify them as '7th Forum of the National Council of Churches in Australia'
- credit them to the photographer, Gabrielle Russell-Mundine
as at 10 June 2010
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Day One |
Day Two |
Day Three |
Day Four |
Day Five |
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Time:.......... |
Friday July 9 |
Saturday July 10 |
Sunday July 11 |
Monday July 12 |
Tuesday July 13 |
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8.30-8.45 |
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Worship
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Worship in |
Worship |
Worship |
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8.45-9.30 |
Bible Study |
Bible Study |
Bible Study |
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9.30-10.00 |
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Civic Greetings |
Local Churches |
Business |
Future Directions |
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10.00-10.30 |
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President's Address |
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Business |
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10.30-11.00 |
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Morning Tea |
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Morning Tea |
Morning Tea |
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11.00-11.30 |
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General Secretary's Address |
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Future Directions |
Business/Decision |
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11.30-12.00 |
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Business + Presentation of President's Search Committee |
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Business/Decision |
Closing Worship New Executive Meet |
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12.00-1.00 |
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Lunch |
Lunch |
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1.00-3.30 |
Arrival and Registration
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Challenges of our Culture
Panel/Input/Conversation /Table Groups
Faith & Unity Commission (F&U)
NATSIEC
Christian World Service (CWS)
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Programme Reporting 3x45 Mins 2x10 to move |
Focus Sessions + The Churches on the Road |
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Business/Decision |
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3.30-4.00 |
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Afternoon Tea |
Afternoon Tea |
Afternoon Tea |
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4.00-5.30 |
4.45 - 6.00 |
Report Finance Discussion
5.00 Prayer
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Future Directions |
Beginning to Shape |
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5.10 Denominational |
5.10 Denominational |
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6.00 |
Dinner |
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Dinner |
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7.30-9.00 |
Church/State Relations |
Free Evening |
Ecumenical Worship |
Public Lecture |
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9.00-9.10 |
Evening Prayer |
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Evening Prayer |
The Faith and Unity Commission Presents
100 Years of the Ecumenical Movement: Opening Horizons for the 21st Century
In conjunction with a course offered by the Centre for Ecumenical Studies that runs prior to the forum, the Faith and Unity pre-forum day event will focus on models of ecumenical engagement. The event will include The WCC Faith and Unity Commission representative, John Gibaut, as the main speaker, amongst a panel of other representatives from the ecumenical field.
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The Theme
................................................................ The Working PapersThe Working Papers are attached in an easily downloadable PDF form. If you have any difficulty with the download please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (02) 9299 2215. |
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OFFICERS
President: [interim] The Revd Ian Allsop
General Secretary: [interim] The Revd David Gill
Treasurer: [interim] Mr Ron BrownHEADS OF CHURCHES
Archbishop Keith Rayner - Anglican Church of Australia
Archbishop Gibran - Antiochian Orthodox church
Archbishop Baliozian - Armenian Apostolic Church
Bishop Mar Meelis Zaia - Assyrian Church of the East
Mr Robert Leane - Churches of Christ in Australia
The Revd Daniel El-Antouny - Coptic Orthodox Church
Archbishop Stylianos (Represented by Bishop Seraphim) - Greek Orthodox Church
David Purnell - Religious Society of Friends
Cardinal Edward Clancy - Roman Catholic Church
The Revd Dr Gabriel Popescu - Romanian Orthodox Church
Commissioner John Gowans - The Salvation Army - Eastern Territory
Commissioner John Clinch - The Salvation Army - Southern Territory
Archbishop Mar T Aphrem Aboodi - Syrian Orthodox Church
The Revd Dr D'Arcy Wood - Uniting Church in AustraliaDELEGATES OF MEMBER CHURCHES
Anglican Church of Australia
Bishop Richard Appleby
Archdeacon Philip Newman
Miss Elizabeth Britten
Mr Brian Norris
The Revd Dr Bruce Kaye
Deaconess Margaret Rodgers
Miss Emma Leslie
The Revd Dr Rowan Strong
Bishop Arthur Malcolm
Miss Judy Williamson
Ms Jan Malpas
Bishop Bruce WilsonAntiochian Orthodox Church
Ms Victoria Jabbour
Mr Andrew Jabbour
Ms Danielle SaadiArmenian Apostolic Church
Ms Isabella Semsarian
Mr Avo Vardanian
Mrs Suzy VardanianAssyrian Church of the East
Deacon Genard Lazar
Deacon Emmanuel YousifChurches of Christ in Australia
Ms Thelma Leach
Ms Linda Gordon
Ms Flo Grant [Apology]
The Revd Jonathan MooreCoptic Orthodox Church
The Revd Marcos Tawfik
The Revd Shenouda Mansour
Mr Maged AttiaGreek Orthodox Church
Mr Philip KariatlisReligious Society of Friends
Sabine Erika
Patricia Firkin
Jenny StockRoman Catholic Church
Sister Beryl Amedee
The Revd Terry Southerwood
The Revd Peter Cross
Bishop Peter Stasiuk
Mr Scott Fenwick
Sister Beverley Stott
Mrs Elizabeth Harrington
Miss Denise Sullivan
Bishop Bede Heather
The Revd Dr David Walker
Mrs Anne Paul
Miss Vicki WalkerRomanian Orthodox Church
___The Salvation Army
Major Gerben Stelstra
Major Richard Guy
Major Donald Woodland
Lieut-Colonel Beth WebbSyrian Orthodox Church
Deacon Abdulmasih Bessi
Mr Zacharia GabrielUniting Church in Australia
Ms Rowena Allen
The Revd Prof. James Haire
The Revd Anne Amos
The Revd Gregor Henderson
Mr Richard Chapman
The Revd David Ingleton
Mrs Hilary Christie-Johnston
The Revd Chris Mostert
Ms Pauline Clague [Apology]
Ms Wendie Wilkie
The Revd Wali Fejo
Ms Seongya Yoo
DELEGATES OF STATE ECUMENICAL BODIES
Conference of Churches of WA - The Revd. Kevin Long
NSW Ecumenical Council - Sister Lynne Green
Queensland Churches Together - The Revd Prof. Han Spykerboer
South Australian Council of Churches - The Revd. Peter Whittington
Tasmanian Council of Churches - Mr Greg Foot
Victorian Council of Churches - Mrs Joan PyeGUESTS
Bishop John Victor Samuel - Christian Conference of Asia
Bishop David Coles - Conference of Churches in Aotearoa New Zealand
The Revd Dr. Sularso Sopater - Communion of Churches in Indonesia
The Revd Puafitu Faaalo - Pacific Conference of Churches
Mr Demas Tongogo - Papua New Guinea Council of Churches
The Revd Dr. Wesley Ariarajah - World Council of ChurchesOBSERVERS FROM NON-MEMBER CHURCHES
Baptist Union of Australia - The Revd Ken Jarvis
Lutheran Church of Australia - The Revd Dr. Lance Steicke and the Revd Dr Erich Renner
Presbyterian Church of Australia - Mr Hector MacFarlane
Seventh-Day Adventist Church - Pastor Ray CoombeOBSERVERS FROM ECUMENICAL ORGANISATIONS
Australian Churches Media Association - Mr Paul Potter
Australian Church Women - Mrs Eunice Reidy
Australian Religious Press Association - The Revd Robert Weibusch
Australian Student Christian Movement - Ms Edwina Hunter
Inter-Church Trade and Industry Mission - The Revd Dr Peter Marshall
Urban Rural Mission - The Revd John M Rickard
World Day of Prayer, Australia - Ms Barbara GrealyOBSERVER/EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF STATE ECUMENICAL BODIES
Conference of Churches of WA - The Revd Wes Hartley
NSW Ecumenical Council - The Revd Dr Ray Williamson
Queensland Churches Together - The Revd Helen Mills
South Australian Council of Churches - Ms Moira Deslandes [acting]
Tasmanian Council of Churches - The Revd Robert Faser
Victorian Council of Churches - The Revd Robert GribbenOTHER OBSERVERS
Ms Eira Clapp - ACC's Commission on the Status of Women
The Revd Austin Cooper - Retreat leader
The Revd Peter Kenny - NCCA Working Group
The Revd Michael McKenna - General Secretary, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
The Revd Graham Paulson - ACC's Aboriginal and Islander Commission
Sister Lenore Sharry - NCCA Working Group
Mr David Shinnick - NCCA Working Group
Mrs Jill Tabart - President-elect, Uniting Church in AustraliaSTAFF
Ms Christine Ledger - assisting with programme, plenary sessions, nominations
Mr Malcolm Dodd - finance; assisting with registration
Mr Caesar D'Mello - liaison with overseas guests
Ms Anne Pattel-Gray - liaison with Aboriginal and Islander participants
Ms Wilma Viswanathan - registration, administration and secretarial
The Revd Peter Rees - video filming, displays, promotion
Ms Nancy Bloxsom - literature sales
Ms Kirsty Davis - assistance with press and displays
Mr Simon Moglia - liaison with young participants, assistance with administration
Ms Maureen Postma - Force 10 display and literature; assistance with literature salesCOOPTED STAFF
Mr David Busch - Press Officer
Ms Gillian Hunt - Local arrangements
NCCA EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS
President Archbishop: Aghan Baliozian
General Secretary: The Revd David Gill
Treasurer: Mr Ron Brown
HEADS OF CHURCHES AND ALTERNATES
Anglican Church of Australia: Archbishop Keith Rayner and Bishop Bruce Wilson
Antiochian Orthodox Church: Archbishop Gabriel Gibran and Ms Victoria Jabbour
Armenian Apostolic Church: Archbishop Baliozian and the Revd Norayr Patanian
Assyrian Church of the East Bishop: Mar Meelis Zaia and Deacon Emmanuel Yousif
Churches of Christ in Australia: Mr Robert Leane and the Revd Ian Allsop
Coptic Orthodox Church: The Revd Marcos Tawfik and the Revd Shenouda Mansour
Greek Orthodox Church: Archbishop Stylianos and Bishop Seraphim
Religious Society of Friends: David Purnell and David Thomas
Roman Catholic Church: Cardinal Edward Clancy and Bishop Bede Heather
Romanian Orthodox Church: The Rev Dr Gabriel Popescu
The Salvation Army - Eastern Territory: Commissioner John Gowans and Major Gerben Stelstra
The Salvation Army - Southern Territory: Commissioner John Clinch and Major Richard Guy
Syrian Orthodox Church: Archbishop Mar T Aboodi and Fr Zeki Zitoun
Uniting Church in Australia: The Revd Dr D’Arcy Wood [to 9 July 94] Mrs Jill Tabart [from 9 July 94] and the Revd Gregor Henderson
DESIGNATED MEMBERS [appointed by churches]
Anglican Church of Australia: Deaconess Margaret Rodgers
Antiochian Orthodox Church: Ms Danielle Saadi
Armenian Apostolic Church: Mr Avo Vardanian
Assyrian Church of the East: ----
Churches of Christ in Australia: Ms Thelma Leach
Coptic Orthodox Church: The Revd Daniel El-Antouny
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia: The Revd Peter Photakis
Religious Society of Friends: Sabine Erika
Roman Catholic Church: Miss Denise Sullivan
Romanian Orthodox Church: ----
Salvation Army - Eastern Territory: ----
Salvation Army - Southern Territory: ----
Syrian Orthodox Church: Mr Zacharia Gabriel
Uniting Church in Australia: Mrs Hilary Christie-Johnston
ELECTED MEMBERS [appointed by the National Forum]
Ms Emma Leslie: Anglican Church
Mr Jonathan Moore: Churches of Christ
Ms Kay Mundine: Roman Catholic Church
Ms Elizabeth Harrington: Roman Catholic Church
The Revd Wali Fejo: Uniting Church
Ms Wendie Wilkie: Uniting Church
PRIORITIES AND ISSUES RAISED WITHIN SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS ON THE NCCA’s VISION AND OBJECTIVES
[NOTE: Specific strategies suggested by the small groups are inserted in italics.]
1. Specific on-going priorities from the ACC
* Faith and Unity
* Christian World Service
* Aboriginal and Islander people
a] Objective [b] iv) was highlighted: “acting in solidarity with Aboriginal and Islander people”. Specific issues raised were:
* What do we do with the Aboriginal and Islander vision statement?
* That two positions on the Executive be reserved for representatives of the Aboriginal and Islander people.
It was recognised that fresh approaches ought to be adopted in respect of these three priorities.
2. Evangelism/evangelisation
* A total commitment in proclaiming the gospel is called for. This should involve supporting one another personally, in family life, in our society and world. This involves Christ being at the centre of all we do, as well as approaching them in an holistic way.
* Objective [a] ii) is central to the NCCA’s role in taking up an evangelising role: “coming to know each other better in all respects, including the areas of spirituality, liturgy, theology, history, sociology and culture”. This includes the NCCA sponsoring spiritual activities.
3. NCCA’s advocacy role
* This was raised as an important one for the NCCA particularly on behalf of oppressed people, and especially women.
4. Relationships with people of other living faiths
* There is a lack of clarity of what this means. NCCA should enter into discussions within itself to clarify what is meant before entering into dialogue.
5. Deeper understanding
* The NCCA needs to be clearer about what objective [a] means: “to encourage and enable member churches to develop their existing relationship by...” It requires clarification about matters like faith, our relationship with the oppressed in Australia, and world-wide issues like the Middle East situation.
Courses in ecumenical theology, liturgy, ecumenism and spirituality should be mandatory in houses of formation and theological education.
The Society of Friends sponsors the Backhouse lecture on ecumenism.
Hold joint retreats and days of spiritual reflection.
6. Promoting the NCCA
* This involves three aspects: public relations, the media and fund-raising.
* Promotion of NCCA is critical at this stage among the decision-makers in each denomination, among the denominations themselves in terms of their vision, story, culture, ethos, etc., and with the public.
Through church radio broadcasts and newsletters.
Public liturgical expressions of (lie Australian Church for screening on television.
NCCA to advocate as a single voice with parliamentarians, for example, the Native Title experience.
7. Young people
* Several referred to the importance of the place of young people in the NCCA and in their role within the wider ecumenical movement.
Help young people come closer to the Lord, and to prepare themselves to be future Australians.
Encourage the Inter-Orthodox Youth Network to have greater fellowship with young people across denominations.
Promote youth forums through the NCCA.
8. Relationships between State Councils of Churches and the NCCA
* State councils have been in existence for up to 25 years, and have a lot of experience, expertise and wisdom to offer the NCCA.
* How can state councils work cooperatively wit the NCCA in terms of resourcing, networking, sharing wisdom, etc.
* Disappointment was expressed concerning the position state council staff are in at NCCA meetings, that is, in a non-speaking role [see constitution 9.07].
* State councils should be able to raise issues with and offer motions to the NCCA.
9. Upgrading of staff
* Raised in respect of Faith and Unity and Youth affairs.
10. NCCA meetings
* Official guests and observers be given the opportunity to speak.
* Time for greater reflection be allowed for in NCCA meetings.
11. Grassroots
Encourage our own people to experience and engage in ecumenical encounters.
Learn from parish-based rural ecumenical collaboration.
NCCA sponsor grassroots people involved in social and moral issues, sharing with each other, and feeding into the NCCA.
Personal contributions through meeting people amid getting to know each other.
Opportunities for church leaders amid people to attend each other’s services and social functions, to preach and share fellowship.
NCCA foster and resource local grassroots activity through state ecumenical bodies.
Encourage people in mixed marriages to come together to talk.
12. NCCA and Commissions
That the NCCA be a model of church unity.
Use specific commissions of the NCCA to take up specific aspects of NCCA work.
Faith and Unity questions to be raised openly amid honestly and with integrity at all levels of church life.
Christian World Service and Australian Catholic Relief to work closely together to form a single entity with two appeals PROJECT COMPASSION in Lent and CHRISTMAS BOWL in Advent.
13. Specific concerns
Allow time for reflection in decision-making.
NCCA tint to lose its freedom to maintain a prophetic voice amid wisdom.
Encourage governing bodies of our churches to maintain financial commitment to NCCA.
More...
Participants at the 1st National Forum
OFFICERS
President: [interim] The Revd Ian Allsop
General Secretary: [interim] The Revd David Gill
Treasurer: [interim] Mr Ron BrownHEADS OF CHURCHES
Archbishop Keith Rayner - Anglican Church of Australia
Archbishop Gibran - Antiochian Orthodox church
Archbishop Baliozian - Armenian Apostolic Church
Bishop Mar Meelis Zaia - Assyrian Church of the East
Mr Robert Leane - Churches of Christ in Australia
The Revd Daniel El-Antouny - Coptic Orthodox Church
Archbishop Stylianos (Represented by Bishop Seraphim) - Greek Orthodox Church
David Purnell - Religious Society of Friends
Cardinal Edward Clancy - Roman Catholic Church
The Revd Dr Gabriel Popescu - Romanian Orthodox Church
Commissioner John Gowans - The Salvation Army - Eastern Territory
Commissioner John Clinch - The Salvation Army - Southern Territory
Archbishop Mar T Aphrem Aboodi - Syrian Orthodox Church
The Revd Dr D'Arcy Wood - Uniting Church in AustraliaDELEGATES OF MEMBER CHURCHES
Anglican Church of Australia
Bishop Richard Appleby
Archdeacon Philip Newman
Miss Elizabeth Britten
Mr Brian Norris
The Revd Dr Bruce Kaye
Deaconess Margaret Rodgers
Miss Emma Leslie
The Revd Dr Rowan Strong
Bishop Arthur Malcolm
Miss Judy Williamson
Ms Jan Malpas
Bishop Bruce WilsonAntiochian Orthodox Church
Ms Victoria Jabbour
Mr Andrew Jabbour
Ms Danielle SaadiArmenian Apostolic Church
Ms Isabella Semsarian
Mr Avo Vardanian
Mrs Suzy VardanianAssyrian Church of the East
Deacon Genard Lazar
Deacon Emmanuel YousifChurches of Christ in Australia
Ms Thelma Leach
Ms Linda Gordon
Ms Flo Grant [Apology]
The Revd Jonathan MooreCoptic Orthodox Church
The Revd Marcos Tawfik
The Revd Shenouda Mansour
Mr Maged AttiaGreek Orthodox Church
Mr Philip KariatlisReligious Society of Friends
Sabine Erika
Patricia Firkin
Jenny StockRoman Catholic Church
Sister Beryl Amedee
The Revd Terry Southerwood
The Revd Peter Cross
Bishop Peter Stasiuk
Mr Scott Fenwick
Sister Beverley Stott
Mrs Elizabeth Harrington
Miss Denise Sullivan
Bishop Bede Heather
The Revd Dr David Walker
Mrs Anne Paul
Miss Vicki WalkerRomanian Orthodox Church
___The Salvation Army
Major Gerben Stelstra
Major Richard Guy
Major Donald Woodland
Lieut-Colonel Beth WebbSyrian Orthodox Church
Deacon Abdulmasih Bessi
Mr Zacharia GabrielUniting Church in Australia
Ms Rowena Allen
The Revd Prof. James Haire
The Revd Anne Amos
The Revd Gregor Henderson
Mr Richard Chapman
The Revd David Ingleton
Mrs Hilary Christie-Johnston
The Revd Chris Mostert
Ms Pauline Clague [Apology]
Ms Wendie Wilkie
The Revd Wali Fejo
Ms Seongya Yoo
DELEGATES OF STATE ECUMENICAL BODIES
Conference of Churches of WA - The Revd. Kevin Long
NSW Ecumenical Council - Sister Lynne Green
Queensland Churches Together - The Revd Prof. Han Spykerboer
South Australian Council of Churches - The Revd. Peter Whittington
Tasmanian Council of Churches - Mr Greg Foot
Victorian Council of Churches - Mrs Joan PyeGUESTS
Bishop John Victor Samuel - Christian Conference of Asia
Bishop David Coles - Conference of Churches in Aotearoa New Zealand
The Revd Dr. Sularso Sopater - Communion of Churches in Indonesia
The Revd Puafitu Faaalo - Pacific Conference of Churches
Mr Demas Tongogo - Papua New Guinea Council of Churches
The Revd Dr. Wesley Ariarajah - World Council of ChurchesOBSERVERS FROM NON-MEMBER CHURCHES
Baptist Union of Australia - The Revd Ken Jarvis
Lutheran Church of Australia - The Revd Dr. Lance Steicke and the Revd Dr Erich Renner
Presbyterian Church of Australia - Mr Hector MacFarlane
Seventh-Day Adventist Church - Pastor Ray CoombeOBSERVERS FROM ECUMENICAL ORGANISATIONS
Australian Churches Media Association - Mr Paul Potter
Australian Church Women - Mrs Eunice Reidy
Australian Religious Press Association - The Revd Robert Weibusch
Australian Student Christian Movement - Ms Edwina Hunter
Inter-Church Trade and Industry Mission - The Revd Dr Peter Marshall
Urban Rural Mission - The Revd John M Rickard
World Day of Prayer, Australia - Ms Barbara GrealyOBSERVER/EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF STATE ECUMENICAL BODIES
Conference of Churches of WA - The Revd Wes Hartley
NSW Ecumenical Council - The Revd Dr Ray Williamson
Queensland Churches Together - The Revd Helen Mills
South Australian Council of Churches - Ms Moira Deslandes [acting]
Tasmanian Council of Churches - The Revd Robert Faser
Victorian Council of Churches - The Revd Robert GribbenOTHER OBSERVERS
Ms Eira Clapp - ACC's Commission on the Status of Women
The Revd Austin Cooper - Retreat leader
The Revd Peter Kenny - NCCA Working Group
The Revd Michael McKenna - General Secretary, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
The Revd Graham Paulson - ACC's Aboriginal and Islander Commission
Sister Lenore Sharry - NCCA Working Group
Mr David Shinnick - NCCA Working Group
Mrs Jill Tabart - President-elect, Uniting Church in AustraliaSTAFF
Ms Christine Ledger - assisting with programme, plenary sessions, nominations
Mr Malcolm Dodd - finance; assisting with registration
Mr Caesar D'Mello - liaison with overseas guests
Ms Anne Pattel-Gray - liaison with Aboriginal and Islander participants
Ms Wilma Viswanathan - registration, administration and secretarial
The Revd Peter Rees - video filming, displays, promotion
Ms Nancy Bloxsom - literature sales
Ms Kirsty Davis - assistance with press and displays
Mr Simon Moglia - liaison with young participants, assistance with administration
Ms Maureen Postma - Force 10 display and literature; assistance with literature salesCOOPTED STAFF
Mr David Busch - Press Officer
Ms Gillian Hunt - Local arrangements
GOD’S PROMISE
A VISION OF JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION IN AUSTRALIA - Anne Pattel-Gray
On behalf of the Aboriginal and Islander People
1st National Forum
Canberra - July 1994
A Vision Of God’s Promise
We have a vision, of God calling the church to lead this country towards justice and reconciliation. As God did with the people who were enslaved in Egypt, so let the church today reflect the image of God’s justice and liberation to the oppressed peoples in Australia.
We have a vision of black and white Christians locking hands and raising them to the world as a symbol of commitment, of justice, of freedom. Where we no longer will be bound by racism, denied our human rights, or suffer injustice. Where we will bear fruit on the vine of life, towards establishing God’s Kingdom here in Australia.
We have a vision where our People no longer thirst because they have no running water; no longer die because they have no houses; no longer are broken because their land was taken from them. We have a vision where non-Aboriginal people no longer feel the need to call us names, no longer feel the need to hide the truth of this country. Where black and white can walk tall and proud together, sharing all that God has given us, in abundance, to have prosperity for all.
God is calling all of us. Are we prepared to rise up to meet that call, to lead this country towards justice and reconciliation? Where the church is the cradle of truth? Where the spirit of truth flows free? Where the rivers of justice are cut throughout this country by the church? Where our babies don’t die of malnutrition? Where our sisters are not raped any longer by those who are to enforce the laws? Where our People, our brothers and sisters, aren’t incarcerated every day because their skin is black? Where education is seen as an opportunity, not as denial of our identity?
Where the walls of racial hatred divide us, let the church rise up and march to break the walls down.
As the prophets dared to dream dreams and see visions, is the church ready to do the same?
Let the church be the voice of truth. Let the church be the light of truth. Let the church be the embodiment of truth. To the secrets of this country, of invasion, of massacres, of denial of humanity - let the church bring the truth.
The church needs to be the prophetic witness to all of Australia; to have the courage given by God to lead this country; to have the faith that God is with us in the struggle; to have strength in knowing that God sends the Holy Spirit to travel with us.
If we believe in a God who is the Giver of life, of justice, of reconciliation, the God who is always with us and whose promises never change - how can we ourselves truly be reconciled? How can we the church witness to such a God, in a country that denies the Indigenous People their rights -the simple rights of running water, of housing, of education?
Why is justice so hard to deliver? One would consider it so easy. What gets in the way? Is it humanity’s greed? Its desire for power? The lust to want to have it all? That’s what denies our brothers and sisters in Christ their rights. It’s not God.
Where the government and its reconciliation process can only deal with the legal ramifications or instruments, or documents - the church is called to change hearts, to renew creation, to be prophetic, to be the conscience, to lead the nation. True justice and reconciliation can happen only if the church rises up to meet the call of God and lead this country.
How do we reach out to people? We are tired of seeing the shattered lives and brokenness of our People. If their eyes are the windows to their souls, they show the depth of pain and sadness that runs so deep. A race of People have suffered horrible crimes against them.
Does anyone shed a tear for them? Does anyone cry for the broken-hearted Indigenous People? Does anyone feel pain for what this country has done to them? Does anyone shed a tear for the mothers who have many children and live in the bush, with no running water, no houses, no schools, no rights? Or for that child, who goes to school - does anyone cry for her when they call her names? When they tell her that her People are animals? When they tell her that she is nothing but a burden to society - that she has no worth? Does anyone cry for her?
How is the suffering Christ made relevant to the suffering of the Indigenous People? And, how is His death on the cross made real amongst them? How is the promise of life and renewal brought to reality amongst the Indigenous People? How is the church witnessing and fulfilling this promise in their midst? We all have to kneel before God in confession, in repentance, in commitment to our God-given vision for a new Australia.
That vision is the one, true and full ‘humanity of all peoples in our land - whether black, white, yellow, brown; men or women; young or old - all peoples, who stand as a symbol of unity, justice, liberation and reconciliation for all people everywhere.
Do we dare to dream of a new beginning? Do we dare dream of a country where there is no denial of humanity, no racism, no hunger, no poverty, no sickness? Do we dare dream of the rights of all peoples to have a just economic base? Do we dare dream that all people can prosper in this ‘Lucky Country’? Do we dare dream of a place where the Indigenous People have a belonging - of a place where there no longer needs to be confrontation? Where we don’t have to struggle to survive? Where to be black doesn’t mean we are less than a non-Aboriginal person? Where we will be encouraged to achieve like anyone else, regardless of race? Where our identity is no longer a threat, no longer an issue? Where to be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is to be respected as the Indigenous People? Where we are judged by our character, not by our race?
We dream of a world where, because we are the Indigenous, we are no longer marginalised because of who we are, and what our identity is. A world where we can have a feeling of belonging, not a struggle to belong. A world where life is no longer a fight for survival, but a life of fulfilment, options, achievements, goals, endless possibilities - a future for our children, and their children, and all the generations that are yet to come.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People welcome the birth of the National Council of Churches in Australia. We take our place within it with dignity and hope. We look forward to the new beginning of a just partnership, where the fruits of justice will bear witness to our yearning for a true unity within the body of Christ.
Service of Inauguration - Sermon by Archbishop Keith Rayner, Primate - Anglican Church in Australia - at St Christopher's Cathedral, Canberra on 3 July 1994
Let me paint for you in words two pictures. The first is taken from the New Testament, in the Epistle to the Ephesians. It is a picture of the church as God intends it to be:
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all and in all”. (Ephesians 4: 4-6).
Whether that picture was ever realised may be a matter of question; but the ideal is clear.
The second picture is from the 1950’s. As a young clergyman I was serving in a small country town in southern Queensland. There were two or three clergy of other churches, but we barely made contact with one another. Our people constantly met and interacted in all kinds of community activities - sport, social clubs, civic affairs. The one area in which they separated was religion. Their Christian allegiance actually divided them. I remember to my shame an occasion when one of the other clergy was in hospital. I was visiting my people and - somewhat hesitantly - decided I should call on him. I paused at the door of his room, he saw me coming, and deliberately raised his newspaper as a symbolic barrier. Without a word I turned and left the room. I still shudder when I think of it.
If today we fall far short of the first picture, we may thank God that we have journeyed a long way from the second. Christians are on a pilgrimage, a journey of faith; and the inauguration of the National Council of Churches in Australia is a sign that we have travelled a good distance. It is also a sign that we still have quite a way to go. Constitutions are not usually exciting or evocative documents, but it is good to find that the constitution of this new National Council uses the language of pilgrimage:
“The NCCA gathers together in pilgrimage those churches and Christian communities which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the Scriptures...
We are then on a journey together, a journey from God and to God, a journey undertaken to the glory of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Let us be quite clear. This is a Council of Churches, not a church. The formation of this council does not mean that there are no differences among us. But it does mean that we recognise that the things that bind us together are much more significant than the things that divide us. There is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all”; there is one kingdom of God which we are called to serve; there is one gospel and a common mission to proclaim it and live it; we do live in one world whose people we seek to serve for Christ’s sake.
But you might well ask, “what is new?” It was as long ago as 1946 that the body which was eventually named the Australian Council of Churches, was formed. And as the mantle of Elijah was taken up by Elisha, so this new body assumes the mantle of the old. But there are two major differences.
One is a significantly enlarged membership. The Roman Catholic Church, numerically the largest church in Australia and throughout the world, is welcomed as a member for the first time. This means that the new Council is far more representative of the spectrum of Christianity in Australia than was its predecessor. Indeed of all the national councils of churches in the world this one, with its blend of Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant, has an almost unequalled representation of world Christianity. Such is the reality of multicultural Australia. Yet, sadly, our representation is still not complete. There are some significant Christian bodies that are not members of this council, and our prayer and our hope is that they too may join us.
The other difference is that the constitution of the new council ties it much more to the constituent churches than the old. It is to serve the common purposes of the member churches, not to be a separate body over and against them. When it speaks it will speak more authoritatively in the name of the member churches.
That is good; but there is a tension and a danger here that we need to recognise. There is need for the prophetic word which by its very nature will sometimes stand over against the church as it will against the powers that be in the nation. That prophetic word speaks of God’s truth and of God’s justice in the face of the deceits and the injustice which can so readily corrupt the life of church and nation. Will there be space for the prophetic word in a Council so tied to the formal structures of the churches? That is a question with which we shall have to wrestle in the days and years ahead.
There will be times when this prophetic word will criticise, even condemn. That was certainly true of the great prophets of the Old Testament, for evil in whatever form it exists is to be opposed and condemned. But we Christians must not be negative. There is much good that needs affirming and encouraging in the life of the nation. Our national leaders need encouragement, for leadership is no easy task in the midst of a public life that is riddled with ambiguities.
So when this council speaks on some matter of social concern or justice, as it is bound to do from time to time, it must not be as a lobby group supporting some fashionable concern. Our task is to be so immersed in the faith of the gospel and the values of the kingdom of God that we may be able to bring the mind of Christ to bear upon the concerns of the world. That calls for earnest prayer, for deep study and reflection, for patient wrestling with the questions that confront the individual and the nation alike.
Behind our proper concern, then, for the issues of justice, and peace, and the integrity of God’s creation, there must be the readiness to grapple with the fundamental questions of faith and order in the church. Here we shall find differences, and we must not evade them. As someone has recently remarked, we must avoid the ecumenical politeness which prevents theologians from speaking their minds, for by this reserve they actually hinder the ecumenical process. If we are to show to the world the unity which Christ wills for us, we cannot evade the issues of faith and order.
Not that this is a matter for church leaders and academic theologians alone. The promise of our Lord that the Holy Spirit would guide his disciples into all the truth was a promise to the whole church. It is as Christians of various traditions come to know one another at the grass-roots level, to share so far as possible in one another’s worship and to co-operate in common witness and service in the community that the reality of our unity in Christ becomes plain. This National Council of Churches will fail if it is simply a discussion group for church leaders. It will be as we inspire and enable the members of our churches to do together all that they can in conscience do together that we shall grow in Christian unity. As Cardinal Basil Hume has said, our task is “to move quite deliberately from a situation of cooperation to one of commitment to each other”.
Apart from our aboriginal and islander people we Australians are a nation of immigrants, and our churches are immigrant churches. Some have been here from the early days of European settlement, others from more recent waves of immigration. All of us have to face the challenge of identification with the life of Australia, not simply of one ethnic group. For we all began as ethnic churches - the Anglicans and Methodists as ethnic churches of the English, the Roman Catholics of the Irish, the Presbyterians of the Scots, the Greek Orthodox of the Greeks, and so on. Some of us have had longer to identify with this country than others; some have done it better than others. But there is much we can all learn from one another.
One thing we must recognise as we seek to grow together: the differences between us are as much cultural as theological. We shall not successfully grapple with the theological issues which divide us if we cannot disentangle them from the cultural patterns in which they find expression. The cultural differences in our churches can enrich our Australian Christianity as they have enriched our national life. But if we are to fulfil the ultimate goal of the ecumenical movement, which is the unity not simply of the church but of all God’s creation, we must be clear about the unity we have in Christ which transcends our cultural diversity.
Our second reading tonight, from that great seventeenth chapter of St. John’s Gospel, began in this way:
“After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come: glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you”’. (John 17:1)
He had just foreshadowed the scattering of his disciples. He would soon be alone, staring crucifixion in the face, for it was the eve of Good Friday. He looked up to heaven and prayed, for this was a moment of deep communion of the Son with the Father. “The hour has come”. What hour? Earlier in his ministry John records him as saying more than once that his hour had not yet come. But now it has come: for the obedience to the Father that had marked his life was now at its climax with the final obedience of the cross ... .the crowning act of obedience that would turn around the disobedience of our human race and inaugurate a new humanity.
“Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you”. In that selfless act of love on the cross, the Son was glorified and he glorified the Father.
“The hour has come”. In another age and in another way the hour has come for the church in Australia. We are being invited to glorify God, not by some display of earthly pomp and power, but in the spirit of Christ himself...
* by the reality of our communion with God and with one another
* by the simplicity of our way of life
* by the genuineness of our concern for truth and justice
* by the readiness to die to self that others may have life.
May this hour not pass us by. Amen.
SUNDAY, JULY 3 - Service of Inauguration at St Christopher's Cathedral - Canberra
Archbishop Keith Rayner, Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia preached the sermon (see Appendix I)
Delegates of the following churches affirmed their willingness to become members of the NCCA -
The Anglican Church of Australia
The Antiochian Orthodox Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church
The Assyrian Church of the East
The Churches of Christ in Australia
The Coptic Orthodox Church
The Greek Orthodox Church
The Religious Society of Friends
The Roman Catholic Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church
The Salvation Army
The Syrian Orthodox Church
The Uniting Church in Australia
The opening prayer of the meeting was offered by the Revd Graham Paulson and a painting was presented to the NCCA by Aboriginal and Islander participants, and Ms Anne-Pattel Gray on their behalf spoke of the hopes of indigenous Christians for the Council. [See "A Vision of God's Promise" - Appendix II]
The interim President, the Revd Ian Allsop, welcomed participants and the interim General Secretary, the Revd David Gill, drew attention to the list of participants [Appendix III].
NCCA'S VISION, OBJECTIVES, MACHINERY
In deliberative sessions, small groups and denominational meetings, participants discussed "Owning the Vision - the NCCA's Inauguration," "Implementing the Vision - the NCCA's Objectives," and "Structuring for the Vision - the NCCA's Priorities and Machinery".
A detailed collation of written comments from the small groups is appended [Appendix IV].
Feedback from the denominational groups revealed the following priorities, which with several associated issues were referred to the Steering Committee to consider and to bring back the following day in the form of recommendations.
* Faith and Unity
* Christian World Service
* Aboriginal and Islander people
* NCCA's advocacy role on behalf of oppressed people
* Evangelism/evangelisation
* Relationships with people of other `living faiths'
* Deeper understanding of social and cultural makeup of our society
* Spiritual activities
* Promoting the NCCA
* Young people as a priority
* Relationship between State Councils of Churches and the NCCA
* Upgrading of staff.
APPOINTMENTS
The interim President reported that the Executive (Appendix V), meeting the previous evening, had appointed Archbishop Aghan Baliozian as President of the National Council of Churches in Australia.
The Revd David Gill was appointed General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in Australia, to 31 December 1998.
It was also noted that the Executive had appointed Mr Ron Brown as Treasurer of the National Council of Churches in Australia.
RELATIONSHIPS
IT WAS RESOLVED that the NCCA seek membership of the Christian Conference of Asia and "associate council" relationship with the World Council of Churches.
GREETINGS
At different points in the agenda, greetings were received from guests representing related ecumenical bodies: the Christian Conference of Asia, the World Council of Churches, the Pacific Conference of Churches, the Papua New Guinea Council of Churches, the Communion of Churches in Indonesia and the Conference of Churches in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Written messages of support were received from the Prime Minister, Senator John Woodley, Senator Christabel Chamarette, the Anglican Diocese of Bunbury, the Ecumenical Network of Youth and Student Movements in Australia, the Australian Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes, the Dominican Sisters of Eastern Australia, the Victorian Council of Christian Education, the Melbourne College of Divinity, The Corporation of the Diocesan Synod of North Queensland, the World Day of Prayer - Australia, the Young Women's Christian Association of Australia, the National Council of Churches in India, the Bishops' Committee for Justice, Development and Peace and the Australian Church Women.
It was noted that the following resolution had been passed by the Senate -
That the Senate -
a] notes that the leaders of twelve Australian churches representing Anglican, Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholic Christians will be present at the inauguration of the National Council of Churches in Australia in St Christopher's Cathedral, Manuka at 7.30 pm on 3 July 1994;
b] acknowledges the contribution made by Bishops Bede Heather and Richard Appleby, co-convenors of the working group, and the Reverend David Gill, General Secretary of the Australian Council of Churches, towards the formation of the National Council of Churches in Australia;
c] congratulates the ABC for televising of the event for broadcast on Sunday 3 July 1994 at 10.30 pm and Sunday 10 July 1994 at 11 am;
d] urges all Australians to enter into the spirit of reconciliation and hope which this new body symbolises.
The following commissions, committees were established:
FAITH AND UNITY
IT WAS RESOLVED that the National Forum establish a commission, to be known as Faith and Unity, to assist the churches as they reflect theologically on the issues which hinder the goal of visible unity in one faith and one fellowship expressed in worship and common life in Christ.
CHRISTIAN WORLD SERVICE
IT WAS RESOLVED that the National Forum establish a commission, to be known as Christian World Service [CWS], to operate under the following mandate until the next ordinary meeting of the National Forum:
1. The Commission's principal responsibility will be to consult with member churches, related denominational agencies, state ecumenical bodies and other appropriate entities, with a view to bringing recommendations to the next meeting of the National Forum regarding a mandate, programme and structure for CHRISTIAN WORLD SERVICE that will enable the churches to act together in partnership with churches elsewhere in response to human need.
2. CWS will appoint a working group, for this interim period, to carry forward the programmes of the former Commission for World Christian Action. Specifically, the working group will foster partnerships with overseas churches and communities, be informed by and stand with indigenous people in Australia, develop church support for refugees and migrants, encourage member churches and the Australian community generally to become more aware of issues of justice and human development, and promote such initiatives as the Christmas Bowl appeal and Force 10.
3. Pending appointment of this working group by CWS, the responsibilities in 2 [above] will be exercised by the Standing Committee of the former ACC/CWCA advised by the former ACC/CWCA sub-committees, with such additional membership as the General Secretary may determine.
ABORIGINAL AND ISLANDER COMMISSION
a] express its warm appreciation and gratitude to the Aboriginal and Islander people at the Forum for their gift to the NCCA of the painting "Invasion";
b] affirm a high priority for the NCCA objective "acting in solidarity with Aboriginal and Islander people" [NCCA Constitution - Objectives 4.01 (b) iv];
c] refer the statement from Aboriginal and Islander people "A Vision of God's Promise" to member churches with the request that, following consultation where applicable with Aboriginal and Islander members of the church, comment on the statement be made to the Executive and the Executive then respond on behalf of the NCCA to the Aboriginal and Islander Commission Steering Committee.
MISSION
IT WAS RESOLVED that the former Commission on Mission of the ACC be asked to continue ad interim as an agency of the NCCA.
IT WAS RESOLVED that member churches plus those non-member churches that were represented on the ACC's Commission on Mission be invited to appoint representatives under the provisions of the Commission's constitution, with the Commission to recommend a chairperson for appointment by the Executive.
IT WAS RESOLVED that the Executive be asked to review the constitution of the Commission on Mission in the light of the NCCA's objectives and membership, and to bring recommendations for constitutional change to the next ordinary meeting of the National Forum.
FINANCE
IT WAS RESOLVED that the National Forum establish a Sydney-based Finance Committee to oversee financial and administrative matters pertaining to the NCCA and associated bodies, particularly the processes of budget development and control.
SOME OF THE MATTERS RAISED BY MEMBER CHURCHES
YOUTH
In response to a concern raised by the Anglican Church, with the support of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, IT WAS RESOLVED that the National Forum :
a] make youth participation and development a matter of high priority during the next four year period [ie. 1994-98];
b] establish the Ecumenical Internship Programme, as developed by member churches of the NCCA;
c] affirm and provide for the continuation of the vital work of liaison and networking already begun in the following areas -
i] networking of member church youth agencies;
ii] liaison with non-member church youth networks;
iii] support of recently formed inter-Orthodox youth networks;
iv] cooperation with other Australian and international ecumenical youth bodies;
d] request the General Secretary, in consultation with member churches, to explore the possibilities of staff support to resource the Internship Programme and the continuing task of networking.
NATIONAL ANGLICAN SITE
In response to a concern raised by the Anglican Church, with the support of the Uniting Church, IT WAS RESOLVED that the National Forum -
a] note the initial proposals to develop what is presently the National Anglican Church site at Barton in the ACT as an ecumenical centre for Australian Christian life, witness and pilgrimage;
b] encourage member churches to give consideration to the proposal as it is further developed.
Other matters raised by member churches:
IT WAS RESOLVED to request the Executive to give consideration to the following matters raised by member churches:
1. objective 4.01 [a] ii] in the NCCA Constitution - especially in the light of the hopes and concerns raised by the Orthodox churches;
2. the NCCA's role in evangelism/evangelisation;
3. the proposals for the way in which the NCCA responds to the concerns of women and of gender relationship concerns;
4. a staffed function within the NCCA on media relations and promotion;
5. the nature of the relationships the NCCA seeks with people of other living faiths (NCCA Constitution 4.01 [c] ii]),
and report to the next meeting of the National Forum.
THANKS
The National Forum recorded its gratitude to all who had contributed to its success, and specifically: Ms Gillian Hunt - for the local arrangements, the Revd Dr D'Arcy Wood, the Revd Ken Heffernan, Mr Ken Hutchings and other helpers from Canberra for the service and other local arrangements; Sister Elizabeth and Ms Therese May and staff and students of Ursula College for the excellent facilities; the medical staff of Ursula College; Mr Cliff Hicks for the electronic equipment; Mr Brian Norris for arranging the photocopier from Canon; the Retreat leaders - the Revds Helen Mills and Austin Cooper; Sabine Erika for the Friday evening programme and Ms Janet Wood for the Saturday evening programme; the facilitators - Mr David Shinnick and Ms Moira Deslandes; Ms Elizabeth Harrington and the Revd Robert Gribben for the closing worship; the Steering and Nominations Committees, including the Revds Peter Cross and Gregor Henderson; the Press Officer, Mr David Busch; Bishops Bede Heather and Richard Appleby and the NCCA Working Group; ACC/NCCA staff and particularly Ms Wilma Viswanathan; the General Secretary and the President.
CONCLUSION:
The gathering closed with worship, including prayers for NCCA officers and members of the Executive and an act of mutual commissioning to ecumenical witness and service.
