Participants at the 1st National Forum

OFFICERS
President:   [interim] The Revd Ian Allsop
General Secretary:  [interim] The Revd David Gill
Treasurer:   [interim] Mr Ron Brown

HEADS 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 Australia

DELEGATES 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 Wilson

Antiochian Orthodox Church
Ms Victoria Jabbour
Mr Andrew Jabbour
Ms Danielle Saadi

Armenian Apostolic Church
Ms Isabella Semsarian
Mr Avo Vardanian
Mrs Suzy Vardanian

Assyrian Church of the East
Deacon Genard Lazar
Deacon Emmanuel Yousif

Churches of Christ in Australia 
Ms Thelma Leach
Ms Linda Gordon
Ms Flo Grant [Apology]
The Revd Jonathan Moore

Coptic Orthodox Church
The Revd Marcos Tawfik
The Revd Shenouda Mansour
Mr Maged Attia

Greek Orthodox Church
Mr Philip Kariatlis

Religious Society of Friends
Sabine Erika
Patricia Firkin
Jenny Stock

Roman 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 Walker

Romanian Orthodox Church
___

The Salvation Army
Major Gerben Stelstra 
Major Richard Guy
Major Donald Woodland 
Lieut-Colonel Beth Webb

Syrian Orthodox Church
Deacon Abdulmasih Bessi
Mr Zacharia Gabriel

Uniting 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 Pye

GUESTS
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 Churches

OBSERVERS 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 Coombe

OBSERVERS 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 Grealy

OBSERVER/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 Gribben

OTHER 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 Australia

STAFF
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 sales

COOPTED STAFF
Mr David Busch  -  Press Officer
Ms Gillian Hunt - Local arrangements

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.