I am about to do a new thing;
    now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19 

Looking ahead and envisioning the future is a bit complex. The rate of change we all experience means that we now expect a level of unpredictability rather the assumed certainty we had in the past.  

Last weekend, the Victorian Council of Churches celebrated (one year late) their 75th Anniversary. The guest speaker was Dr Victoria Turner, Lecturer in Theology and Mission at Ripon College Cuddesdon, UK. On Saturday night the theme was: Emerging Ecumenism: Is there Space for Visions from the New Generations Today? 

This rhetorical question was answered with an enthusiastic yes, by Victoria, and with a challenge for all who were present. Dr Turner described some of the beginnings of the Ecumenical Movement; that it was a people movement with a desire to see unity in overseas mission settings. She noted that much of this energy came from young people and through the Student Christian Movement (SCM) and that the first leaders were young and shaped by the student movements. 

In the decades since, various ecumenical bodies have been established, and in some ways are institutionalised (including SCM). Young people, she commented, feel a level of hopelessness as to the future of the Christian community and the ecumenical enterprise and look for hope. 

Her challenge was this; "to open spaces in the Ecumenical Movement for new thinking and new ideas and include young people at all levels". This step of inclusion is not about having a balance of involvement, rather it is to give younger people the real opportunity to influence and shape the future. 

This input was timely! The NCCA is in the process of looking to the future and is seeking to do so in ways that create open space for new ideas and ways of working. To do this with energy and hope is critical.   

Victoria described the ‘Kairos moment – when God breaks through’ and asked us to be attentive to new activity in and around and beyond us. Her point was that God is still at work and we need to be sensitive to the Kairos moment.

Isaiah invites us to do just that!    

Rev John Gilmore

NCCA President 

^{[Above right: The Darling River in flood, far west NSW]}