11th National Forum    

21 - 24 June 2024

"Messages of HOPE in a complex world" 

‘Let us hold on unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.’

HEBREWS 10:23

U CITY, 43 Franklin Street, ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Registration is by invitation only.

A code is required to register online. Payment is made by credit card however a tax invoice can be raised upon request. Please contact the NCCA secretariat for details. E :This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.     

11th National Forum Documents

BACKGROUND READING 

Will be posted on a dedicated document web page and will be password protected. 

The Forum is where Member Churches gather to engage as a Council.  Through prayer, reflection, discussion, and discernment to renew the Council's purpose, activities, and focus for the next three years.  An exploration of the Forum theme, in the Australian context:		THE 11th National Forum is an opportunity to reaffirm the purpose of the NCCA to ensure that it continues to be a living and relevant expression of Ecumenism.
*Theme Exploration: If the life of churches in Australia lies together, then in word and deed we must be carriers of ‘Messages of Hope’. What is the role of the NCCA in this? What is it that the NCCA can uniquely undertake with the churches in Australia?  *Strategy Development: How do we live out our ecumenical life so that we are working together as churches to inspire positive change?  *Collaborative Efforts: How can we collaborate as churches to address challenges in spreading hope and foster innovative solutions to cultivate hope in our communities?		‘MESSAGES OF HOPE IN A COMPLEX WORLD' In the digital age, with an increasingly secular and individualistic society, how can churches together proclaim anew Jesus’ message of faith, hope and love?  How can churches build up communities by witnessing to unity through working together to create space for dialogue and engagement, collaboration and cooperation?
REV PROF DR JERRY PILLAY, WCC GENERAL SECRETARY   Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, 9th General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), is an Eminent Ecumenical guest at the NCCA Forum.  Rev. Pillay is a Reformed pastor, member of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa and former Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Pretoria.   Practical Details -  NCCA Forum 3pm Friday 21 June to 1pm Monday 24 June 2024   U-CITY  43 Franklin Street, ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA		THE BASIS OF THE NCCA 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 and commit themselves  i) to deepen their relationship with each other in order to express more visibly the unity willed by Christ for his Church, and  ii) to work together toward the fulfillment of their mission of common witness, proclamation and service to the glory of the One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. NCCA Constitution, 2016
BOOK: Please note that bookings are restricted to nominated representatives and a code is required to access the registration portal. Papers for the Forum: Will be available through the NCCA website and registrants will be advised how to access these. Accommodation: Should be booked separately. There are a number of hotels and apartments within walking distance to the U-CITY meeting.  For further information contact the NCCA Secretariat Office  02 9299 2215  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing."

Matthew 23:37 

Last week we entered into the season of Lent. This time of discipline and reflection is practiced across our differing church traditions in a variety of ways.

RELEASED 22 February 2024

Act for Peace and the National Council of Churches in Australia support call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza

“The situation in Gaza is catastrophic with millions of people without a place to call home or food for their families,” says CEO of Act for Peace, Elijah Buol OAM.

Latest News 

As the three Abrahamic faiths prepare to observe Ramadan, Easter and Pesach, the World Council of Churches General Secretary, Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, has visited Palestine and Israel to advocate for a ceasefire and promote a just peace.

2024 Dinner Series

An Evening with Asuntha Charles - Australian Tour

You are invited to a special evening hosted by the Micah Women Leaders Network with Global Women’s Rights Advocate Asuntha Charles.

When:  Tuesday 12, March to Thursday 21 March 2024

Where: Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart, Adelaide, Sydney

Thank you

Thank you for being a part of the Christmas Bowl. Together, you are helping to create a world where everyone has a safe place to belong.

Closing the Gap

The Australian Productivity Commission recently released its Closing the Gap Report and Implementation Plan.

Bishop Charles Gauci, chair of the Australian Catholic Bishops Commission for Relations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders responded to the report, referring to it as 'the starting point for renewed action'.

In Conversation with Pacific voices on climate

Registration is now open for the Edmund Rice Centre's upcoming webinars in March-April 2024.

• H.E Anote Tong- Pacific climate advocacy - emerging priorities: Friday 15 March, 1:30 pm (AEST)

• Reverend James Bhagwan- climate and faith in the Pacific: Tuesday 2 April, 6:30 pm (AEST)

Sunday 24 March 2024 

Justice marches for peace and refugees are being held in most capital cities on Palm Sunday.
Details are outlined over.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

I Corinthians 13:12

Listening is not always easy. It is even harder to suspend our preconceived ideas...to be different and maybe even to have greater insight into a particular matter of faith than we do.