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The NCCA gathers together Churches and Christian communities which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the Scriptures. We commit to deepen our relationship with each other and to work together towards the fulfilment of common witness, proclamation and service, to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

That all may be one” – Stepping stones on the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation and Unity

Rev Dr Mikie Roberts

Rev Dr Mikie Roberts, WCC Program Executive for Spiritual Life and Program Executive for Faith and Order was an engaging keynote speaker at the NCCA Webinar on Friday 21 March 2025 at the Catholic Institute of Sydney (CIS).

“I have chosen the imagery of stepping stones as a way of stirring our imaginations and facilitating our reflections and re-examination of our collective pathway on a pilgrimage”, Rev Mikie said.

“This imagery of stepping stones might be an appropriate lens through which to assess the current pilgrimage [of justice, reconciliation and unity] which the [World Council of Churches] has invited its member churches and ecumenical partners to be engaged.”

Rev Dr Mikie Roberts (right) pictured with Rev Dr Gerard Kelly, CIS

“Engaging with the pilgrimage is a hopeful prospect. Our sense of vibrancy requires us a willingness to question the ecumenical legacy which has been bequeathed to us by the previous generations of ecumenists.”

Watch the webinar at this link: CIS_Zoom share  Please use the passcode: G&U3w2EP

Stepping stones discussed in this webinar by the panel added some more for further discussion: Stepping Stone of Prayer – praying for parts of the world such as Sudan and South Sudan and the fact that the Stepping Stone of Solidarity comes with a cost – acting courageously with conviction rather than weighing up the personal/institutional cost.

L-R: Rev Dr Gerard Kelly,(CIS), Sr Elizabeth Delaney, (former NCCA General Secretary), Liz Stone, NCCA General Secretary, Rev John Gilmore, NCCA President, Rev Dr Mikie Roberts, Rev Dr Seforosa Carroll

The ‘stepping stones’ allegory was discussed in closing comments as being important because it implies a direction and purposeful future that all Churches need to keep discussing for the flourishing of our peoples and communities today.

Rev Mikie’s keynote was followed by panel discussion on current developments in contextual ecumenical theology and spirituality.

Panel:

  • Rev John Gilmore, NCCA President
  • Rev Charissa Suli, President, Uniting Church in Australia (UCA)
  • His Grace Bishop Daniel, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Sydney and Affiliated Regions
  • Very Rev Fr Dr Gerard Kelly, DD, Catholic Institute of Sydney
L-R: Bishop Daniel, Coptic Orthodox Church, Sydney and Affiliated Regions, with Rev John Gilmore, NCCA President.
In-person and online participants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Background 

Rev Dr Mikie Roberts 

Since February 2019, the Rev. Dr Mikie Roberts has been serving as the Programme Executive for Spiritual Life and Faith and Order at the World Council of Churches (WCC), Geneva, Switzerland. In this capacity, he coordinates the daily prayers at the Ecumenical Center and also gives leadership to the musical and spiritual life for the WCC, the largest global fellowship of Christian denominations.

Mikie was born on the island of Antigua and is from the village of Sea View Farm. He was ordained as a pastor within the Moravian Church, Eastern West Indies Province in 1993. His undergraduate theological studies were done in Jamaica at the United Theological College of the West Indies & University of the West Indies. He holds a Master in Music from Westminster Choir College, (Princeton, New Jersey) and a PhD in Theological Studies from the University of Birmingham (United Kingdom). Before joining the WCC, he served as the Provincial Director of Music for his church and has served congregations throughout the Eastern Caribbean (Trinidad, Barbados and St. Thomas – US Virgin Islands). He is married to the Rev. Dr. Winelle Kirton-Roberts, who currently serves as the pastor of the Geneva Moravian Fellowship. Together they have three adult daughters, Tsedek, Tsamara and Tsalom.