A handbook of councils and churches profiles of ecumenical relationships

Church Family: Disciples

Membership: 2,000*

Congregations: 33

Pastors: 28

Member of: WCC (1948) – CCA – DECC

Periodical: NZ Christian (quarterly, online)

Website: http://www.churchesofchrist.org.nz/

The first Church of Christ congregation in the southern hemisphere was estab­lished in 1844 in Nelson by an immigrant from Scotland. Congregations were founded in other centres of the new colony. All the early members had their ori­gins in Great Britain, where many had been members of Churches of Christ. In 1901, the first dominion conference was held. Others followed at irregular inter­vals, and from 1921 the conferences were held annually. In 1906, overseas mis­sion work was begun in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). In 1934, R.S. Garfield Todd began service there. Todd was elected to the parliament of South­ern Rhodesia and later became prime minister. More recently, New Zealand churches have supported missionary work in Vanuatu as well. Throughout their existence the Associated Churches of Christ in New Zealand have maintained a close connection with churches in Great Britain, USA and Australia, and more recently with those of Zimbabwe and Vanuatu. These links are maintained through the World Convention of Churches of Christ.

In 1955, the Associated Churches of Christ in New Zealand joined in union negotiations with the Congregational Union, the Presbyterian Church and the Methodist Church. In 1964, the Church of the Province of New Zealand (Angli­can) joined the negotiations. One third of the 33 congregations affiliated to the ACCNZ are now part of union parishes (Uniting Congregations). Reciprocal membership arrangements provide the opportunity for many members of Churches of Christ to contribute to the life and witness of congregations of the other negotiating churches. With declining numbers the national conference of the ACCNZ is now held bi-annually and the main business of the church is under­taken by an administration team. The conferences are conducted by delegates appointed by affiliated churches in numbers proportionate to membership. Inspi­rational, promotional and devotional sessions play a large role in conventions which are now held annually.

Prior to 1927, ministers were trained for the ministry of the New Zealand Churches of Christ mainly in USA and Australia. In 1927, a theological college was set up in Dunedin and eventually provided the major part of the ministerial force of the churches. Women as well as men have been ordained to the ministry of the word. Since the college closed in 1971, candidates for ministry have been trained in one of the Australian Churches of Christ colleges or one of the inter­denominational colleges recently established in New Zealand.

*plus those in Union Churches

Church Family: Baptist

Membership: 42,800

Local churches: 256

Pastors: 385

Member of: WCC (1948) – BWA – ABF

Periodical: The New Zealand Baptist

Website www.baptist.org.nz

The first Baptist church in New Zealand was established in 1851. The Baptist Union was formed in 1882. In the early stages many of the ministers – as well as members – came from Great Britain. At that time the Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist and Roman Catholic churches were already well established in the country. Growth has therefore been moderately slow. Baptists make up less than two percent of the population. Most of the members of the church are active and very supportive of the work through church attendance, giving and service. The Baptist Church in New Zealand has developed mainly amongst people of Euro­pean descent, and a mission to Maori people was begun in the 1950s. With the recent growth of many ethnic groups in New Zealand there are corresponding congregations developing.

Asia

Because of the congregational structure, most of the church’s activities are built into the life of local congregations. These include work amongst children and youth, religious education at all levels, house groups for fellowship, prayer and Bible study, programmes extending into the community, care of the elderly, and other social outreach programmes. The union’s role is to assist in the development of the above primarily through advice. The National Resource Centre serves the churches by providing all manner of administrative, legal, employment, property, and financial advice and services.

Carey Baptist College is an accredited pastoral and Bible training facility owned by the Baptist Union of New Zealand with a wide range of courses at various levels up to a Bachelors degree in Applied Theology.

Methodist Church of New Zealand

Church Family: Methodist

Membership: 18,548

Parishes: 158

Pastors: 353

Member of: WCC (1948) – CCA – WMC

Periodical: Touchstone

Wesleyan (Methodist) missionary work in New Zealand began in 1822. Mis­sionaries from Britain initially ministered to the largely Maori population, and later to the new migrants. The first New Zealand annual conference of the Aus­tralasian (Australia and New Zealand) Wesleyan Methodist Conference was held in 1874. Also active in New Zealand were the United Methodist, the Free Church, and the Bible Christian Church. These groups came together with the Wesleyans to form the first Australasian Methodist Conference in 1897. Separation from the General Conference of Australasia came in 1913 and in the same year the Primi­tive Methodist Church in New Zealand and the existing Methodist Church joined to form one Methodist Church. In the 1960s the Methodist Church played an active role in negotiating a plan for union by five churches: the Anglican, Pres­byterian, Congregational churches and the Associated Churches of Christ. The plan failed. Nevertheless the Methodist Church of New Zealand remains com­mitted to ecumenism. In 2005, 85 of its 158 parishes were in active cooperation with one or more of the four former negotiating churches. It has always been a member of the national ecumenical bodies.

In its urban and rural settings, the church, through its parishes and social ser­vice agencies, is seeking to relate the gospel to human need. It is also responding to newly emerging social situations such as the impacts of globalization, breaking the cycle of poverty, caring for creation, and overcoming violence. As the church looks to the future, the roles of women, laity and the ordained ministry continue to be reassessed. In 1983 the church decided to move towards becoming a bi-cul-tural church. This recognizes the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi which was entered into by two parties representing the original people of the land and the later immigrant populations. In the following years the church has worked at ways of developing equality in decision-making, stronger partnerships with, and sharing of resources with the Maori section of the church, which now has its own autonomy within the life of the Methodist Church.

As migration from other Pacific countries has continued (beginning in the 1970s), ethnic groupings of Samoan, Fijian and Tongan members have assumed a greater and a stronger identity within the life of the church and are making a significant contribution to its diversity and richness. More recently Asian migra­tion, particularly of Koreans, Sri Lankans, and Chinese, has added to this diversity.

Church Family: Reformed

Membership: 44,000

Presbyteries: 23

Congregations: 434

Pastors: 400

Member of: WCC (1948) – CCA – PCC – WARC – CWM

Periodical: sPanz (quarterly, in English)

Website: www.presbyterian.org.nz

The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa dates back to 1840 when a group of Scot­tish immigrants and their pastors landed at the place where the city of Wellington now stands. In 1848, the Otago Presbyterian Church settlement was founded. It embraced the southern part of the colony and was administered by its own synod. The rest of the country was cared for by the northern church’s general assembly. In 1901, an act of union merged them in what is now the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand. The church’s 23 presbyteries cover the whole country and include a growing number of Pacific island parishes, and a Maori synod which cares for Maori people. The PCANZ is the third largest denomination in New Zealand. Despite a decline in membership, it maintains a well-trained parish ministry, overseas mission in partnership with various indigenous churches, and a very active programme of social service. The church is involved in around 118 union and cooperating parishes, with the Anglican Church, Associated Churches of Christ, the Congregational Union and Methodist churches.

Through the late nineties the Presbyterian Church clarified its direction. It adopted a mission statement and the goal of developing and sustaining healthy congregations. The statement emphasizes the importance of structures to support congregations. The focus is on leadership development, serving the needs of youth and families, enhancing structures and processes to respond to a changing envi­ronment, contributing to debate on spiritual, cultural and ethical matters and communicating the church’s identity. Alongside presbyteries and parishes, achieving these goals is the work of the council of the assembly, the assembly ser­vice team and policy groups. Groups including resourcing for mission policy, administration and finance, equipping the leadership, connecting with society and overseas mission and partnership policy, all exist to support the church in its work.

Asia

Population: 20,088,024 Surface area: 7,7 million sq.km Capital: Canberra GNI per capita: 21,950 US$ Classification: Developed economy Languages: English; over 260 Aboriginal languages Religions: Christian 79%; Buddhist 2%; Muslim 1%; Jewish 1%; other 1% Christianity: Catholics 5,400,000; Anglicans 3,800,000; Protestants 2,897,760;

Orthodox 773,100; Independent 964,210

Aboriginal people settled in Australia more than 40,000 years before the first white exploration began in the early 17th century. In 1788 Britain established a penal colony there. In 1901, Australia became independent of Britain. In the 20th century many Europeans and Asians migrated to Australia. Today the country has a prosperous capitalist economy, although its previously generous policies towards immigrants and refugees have hardened considerably in recent years. Australia struggles with the effects of years of injustices suffered by the Aborig­ines, who continue to be marginalized, poor and victims of racism. The churches are challenged to relate in new ways to the aboriginal communities in their midst. The two largest Christian bodies are the Catholic Church, transported from cen­tral Europe and the Philippines, and the Anglican Church, with its roots in Eng­land. The Uniting Church in Australia, made up of former Congregationalists, Methodists and Presbyterians, is one of the pioneering church unions in the ecu­menical movement worldwide. Of more recent origin are the sizeable Orthodox churches and the Pacific Islander communities. The National Council of Churches was re-organized several years ago to include the Catholic Church. There is also an Australian Evangelical Alliance. Evangelicals, Pentecostals and Charismatics represented in 2000 some 27 percent of the Christian population. In their external relations, Australian churches are primarily turned toward the Pacific and Asia.

Founded in 1994 (forerunner: the Australian Council of Churches, founded in 1960, which sprang from the Australian Committee for the World Council of Churches, formed in or about 1948).

Basis: 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 to deepen their 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 their mission of common witness, proclamation and service, to the glory of the One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Member churches:

Congregational Federation of Australia

Lutheran Church of Australia

Religious Society of Friends
Roman Catholic Church

Romanian Orthodox Church

Salvation Army

Observer Churches: Baptist Union of Australia Presbyterian Church of Australia

Australian Ecumenical Partner Councils: Council of Churches of Western Australia New South Wales Ecumenical Council Northern Territory Council of Churches Queensland Churches Together South Australian Council of Churches Tasmanian Council of Churches Victorian Council of Churches

Website: http://www.ncca.org.au

The National Council of Churches in Australia is affiliated with the Commis­sion on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches.

Anglican Church of Australia

Church Family: Anglican

In 1962 the constitution of the Church of England in Australia came into force, having first been approved by each diocesan synod and given legal force and effect by suitable acts passed by the six state parliaments. The general synod is required to meet at least once every four years. The primate is elected from among the diocesan bishops by an electoral college of bishops, clergy and laity. The name was changed to the Anglican Church of Australia in 1981 to better reflect the national identity. Women entered the diaconate in 1985 and the priesthood in 1992. Four

Asia

dioceses do not ordain women to the priesthood while two of them do not ordain women to the diaconate either.

Ecumenical cooperation is developed through fruitful bilateral dialogues as well as in a range of new initiatives: from the training of those doing spiritual direc­tion, through theological education to lobbying and advocacy work on behalf of those more vulnerable.

There are still many big issues facing the church: re-imagining our English her­itage in an increasingly multi-cultural society, better support for indigenous people, how to evangelize in a rather secular society, good relations with other faith communities both in Australia and in the Asia/Pacific region. Meanwhile, there is a good flow of young, talented clergy and laity preparing to take leader­ship of our church. Anglican Christian artists, musicians and writers are becom­ing more prominent. Overall, Anglicans are learning a little better how to be Christian in this “great Southland of the Holy Spirit”.

Churches of Christ in Australia

Church Family : Disciples

Membership: 33,000

Congregations: 430

Ministers: 720

Member of: WCC (1948) – CCA – NCCA – DECC

Periodical: The Australian Christian

Churches of Christ in Australia belong to the Stone-Campbell family of churches, which include the Christian Church (Disciples), Christian Churches and Churches of Christ in the USA, and churches in over 160 countries through­out the world. They are members of the Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Coun­cil. The history of the Churches of Christ in Australia goes back to 1845, when a young immigrant from Britain who had been converted in Nelson, New Zealand in the first Church of Christ congregation there, joined a Scottish Baptist group in Adelaide who had abandoned their denominational name. His convincing testi­mony won many to an appreciation of the example of the New Testament Church. The next year a chapel was put up. By 1865 there were five Christian churches in southern Australia, with a membership of 253. The first annual conference was held in 1866. There was a division of opinion over the nature of the conference, but in 1872 the principle of congregational independence prevailed. In 1889 evan­gelistic work was extended to the colony of Western Australia.

A College of the Bible was established in Melbourne in 1907, and another Bible college at Woolwich, a Sydney suburb, in 1942. A year earlier the federal confer­ence had authorized the start of organized work among the Aborigines. Today Churches of Christ are found in all states and territories of Australia. Churches of Christ in Australia have a history which parallels the national history as it has been involved in the movements of people first to the rural areas and in recent years to the cities. The churches are alive as local congregations, which place an emphasis on lay participation in worship and government. This means that the ethos of theology, liturgy, church programming and evangelism reflects the con­cerns of the lay membership. The care of congregational life based on the Christ­ian gospel is seen as vital. Since the mid-1990s a significant focus has been on re­engaging missionally with post-modern western culture. Among the major issues faced by Churches of Christ in Australia are: (a) to enable church growth with a theology that is biblical and authentic to Australians; (b) to help members towards an understanding of the unity of the church on the basis of rediscovering a New Testament understanding of the church itself; (c) to witness to the renewal of human community based on the gospel imperatives.

Churches of Christ in Australia have good relations with sister churches in New Zealand, Western India, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, the United Kingdom, Poland, Albania, Zimbabwe, Indonesia and the United States.

Church Family: United and Uniting

Membership: 350,000

Congregations: 1,600

Synods: 6

Pastors: 2,900 (including 1,400 retired)

Member of WCC (1948/1977) – CCA – NCCA – WARC – WMC

Website: http://nat.uca.org.au

Periodicals: Six Synod newspapers

The Uniting Church is the third largest denomination in Australia, behind the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. According to census figures almost seven percent of the population claims an association with the Uniting Church – approx­imately 1,400,000 people – but the church itself has only 350,000 on its mem­bership rolls. The Uniting Church was formed in 1977, bringing into one church the Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches throughout Australia. Minorities of Congregationalists and Presbyterians stayed out of the union. The church has a strong ecumenical commitment, with national dialogues with nine other Australian churches. As declared by its name, it seeks close cooperation and further union with other churches. The closest relationships and greatest coop­eration are with the Anglican and Lutheran churches and the Churches of Christ (Disciples).

While the origins of this church lie in Europe, particularly in the United King­dom, its present and future lie very much with Asia and the Pacific. The Uniting Church declared itself to be a multicultural church in 1985, and now includes in its membership over 150 congregations of Asian and Pacific migrants. This means that along with other communities, members of the UCA worship in more than 35 different languages (including indigenous languages). The UCA has formal partnership agreements with 32 churches in Asia and the Pacific, representing longstanding mission relationships and newer partnerships of solidarity and joint action.

Another initiative taken in the 1980s was the establishment of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, the semi-autonomous indigenous arm of the church. The Congress leads the church’s ministry and mission with indigenous Australians, and is one of the largest indigenous organizations in the country.

Asia

The largest national agency of the church is Frontier Services, with its well-known network of patrol ministries (some undertaken by plane) and community services in the remote “outback” areas of Australia. Much of this work is done in cooperation with the Aboriginal Congress. These ministries receive government and public support and make the Uniting Church a most visible presence in the outback.

The Uniting Church follows a largely Presbyterian polity, with local elders and church councils, 50 presbyteries, six synods and one national assembly. It is com­mitted to the best of Christian scholarship, with six theological colleges and a dis­tance education facility. The church has been instrumental in pioneering inter­faith relationships in Australia. In the early 1990s the church moved to a consensus form of decision-making in the councils of the church, a system which has been adapted since by several other denominations and ecumenical bodies.

The largest issue facing the Uniting Church is how to combat the increasing secularism of Australia and a continuing decline in church membership. Homo­sexuality has been a controversial issue within the church for more than 20 years and the church’s recent decision to leave decisions on suitability for ministry to local councils remains contentious. Other issues facing the church include ongo­ing tensions between the more liberal and the more evangelical streams within the church, difficult relationships with the conservative national government since 1996, maintaining connection between UnitingCare agencies and congre­gational life, the further development of inter-faith relationships, and reducing financial support for the ministries of synods and assembly.