Rev. Tara Curlewis,
General Secretary, NCCA.
Photo by QCT
Brisbane (Anne Hulbert), 13 November 2009:
Reverend Tara Curlewis flew into Brisbane from Sydney on 6 November to be a guest speaker at the Queensland Churches Together General Council meeting the following day. Some of the QCT Executive were delighted to meet informally with her on Friday afternoon. (Tara is the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, NCCA.)
Tara recognises the importance of relational ecumenism – in other words, building friendships and exploring the wonderful possibilities from three spoken words, “Let’s be friends,” or even through asking, “Why haven’t we explored friendship before?”
In a spirit of friendship across the churches, we can be there for each other. We can offer prayer and care support. We can share in mission by working together in our local community. We can share resources, and here Tara made mention of the Queensland initiative of “Living Church in Rural Queensland”. Ecumenical commissions and councils could liaise with various networks and make available resources on such common church issues such as safe churches, or accreditation [in areas such as chaplaincy – Ed.].
Tara said that for a long time the way we have worked towards unity has been to focus upon theological and doctrinal issues. Now we are more aware of each other, lets move on to sharing in a spirit of friendship and unity, building more and more relationships as we go. (Some representatives and friends of QCT recently visited the Coptic Orthodox Church with this very point in mind.)
Relational ecumenism and building friendships is a good way to focus our energies in Australia today. It speaks volumes to the wider community, and highlights the importance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives, through our unity.
QCT in Toowoomba
Toowoomba was the location of the Queensland Churches Together General Council meeting held on 7 November. I am sure those who regularly make the trek to Brisbane [from Toowoomba – Ed.] were most appreciative of not having to arise so early to travel, and the city folk enjoyed a pleasant drive, as well as the hospitality offered at the Cathedral Centre.
Worship
The Council meeting began with worship in the chapel of St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, led by the Anglican representatives on the Executive. Reverend Noel Noack, the new Qld District President of the Lutheran Church, gave the homily.
Guest Speaker
Reverend Tara Curlewis, a Uniting Church minister, recently appointed as the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in Australia, spoke during the morning session. Tara is firmly committed to ecumenism and especially covenanting. She led the Council through the National Covenant, first introduced in 1996 as a tool towards more visible unity of the churches. Currently there are 17 member churches in the NCCA.
National Covenant
Its title, Australian Churches Covenanting Together, indicates a continuing commitment by various churches in growing towards more visible unity of Christian people in Australia. There are three sections of the Covenant, signed by a varying number of the committed churches.
All NCCA members have signed Part A, The Declaration of Intent. Key words and phrases in this section are:- commitment, believe, blessed, witness the action of the Spirit, rejoice, thanks, richness, recognise hindrance of disunity, engage in an ongoing process of growing together, God’s will, led more deeply into unity.
Part B, The Proposed Commitment, shows how churches are indicating the extent to which they agree to join in common prayer, care for each other, explore Christian convictions and their applications, sharing of resources, strategies for common mission, promote common recognition of Baptism, share in the Eucharist according to pastoral need, work towards the goal of mutually recognised ordained ministry.
Part C, the Future Pledge, is a commitment to continuing the process to articulate and explore possibilities.
Tara urged us to “Look for the possibilities!”
Georgia Corowa, CTIPP.
Photo by QCT
CTIPP
Georgia Corowa, recently appointed to take up the work of Churches Together Indigenous People’s Partnership, spoke about her role so far and her work in formulating planning for 2010. Georgia is a talented musician and songwriter, so she summed up her activities with a song that she wrote, “Thank you”. The song expresses the hopes and fears about her generation and her people, and about both black and white people coming together. She is a real inspiration to many, and we look forward to what Georgia will bring to the Partnership.
Reports
Some of the highlights of the year were expressed. The General Secretary, Glenine Hamlyn, has been in the role now for 5 years and has been offered an extension for a further 3 years. QCT currently has no Treasurer, and the Council members were asked to identify people who may be interested in taking up this important role.
The Constitution has been under review, and the draft of a revised constitution will be presented to the Annual General Meeting next year. The Executive has also undertaken steps toward a strategic planning process to help QCT clarify its future vision and focus.
Christian World Service, now known as Act for Peace, has been restructured. It has always been a national programme, but in future the work of Act for Peace in each state will fall under the direct responsibility of NCCA, rather than being organized out of the state ecumenical council (i.e. QCT in Queensland). Rev. Tanya Richards, who was previously the Act for Peace representative in Queensland, decided to move back to ministry placement within the Uniting Church, and Hazel Smart has been appointed by NCCA as the new “Development Officer” of Act for Peace for Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Buzz Groups
The Council moved to small group discussions to highlight directions for 2010 and beyond, and the Executive will prioritise the suggestions.
The closing hymn, “Now Thank we all our God” was a fitting prayer for a very informative day, when we put into practice some more relational ecumenism!
