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NCCA FAITH AND UNITY COMMISSION
BROADENING THE THEOLOGICAL DIALOGUE: ISSUES AND PRINCIPLES
At the request of the then General Secretary, the Revd John Henderson, this paper is offered as an initial response to the perceived need for the NCCA and its members to
engage with Christian people and organisations that are active in Australian society but not members of the NCCA.
Issues
There is a dynamic, growing, public expression of Christianity beyond the NCCA
membership. For example: the Australian Prayer Network, the Australian
Christian Lobby, the Evangelical Alliance. The Faith and Unity Commission has
welcomed the Assemblies of God in Australia as an observer to its meetings, thus
bringing us into dialogue with the Pentecostal movement. Internationally, we
recognise the important connections being made as part of the Global Christian
Forum.
These groups are often suspicious of the NCCA and many of its members, and
consider traditional ecumenism to be too church focused, with only weak public
Christian commitment.
For their part, the NCCA and many of its members are suspicious of the methods
used in these groups, and of the theological foundations underpinning their
activities.
Despite these mutual suspicions bridges are being built between these two broad
groups. There are important instances of cooperation and mutual engagement on
specific projects (rather than the traditional workings of the NCCA’s
commissions), such as the Safe as Churches project.
Within each of the member churches of the NCCA it is possible to discern
different streams of theology, ranging from the more systematic to the more
practical. Furthermore, members of our own churches may also participate in
these new expressions of Christianity.
The new form of Christian engagement evident in these new movements may
suggest to the NCCA and its member churches that we are witnessing the birth of
a new or alternative “ecumenical” paradigm (although these movements would
not call their engagement ecumenical). This new paradigm takes as a starting
point personal testimony about experiences of faith rather than dialogue about
doctrines and creeds; it is less formal and less academic; it often challenges the
Enlightenment paradigm regarding faith and reason; and it proposes a different
understanding of mission, more forthright in its proclamation of moral values.
Principles
The NCCA should be a participant in this new multilateral conversation, willing
to bring its own gifts to the table and to receive the gifts of others.
Such participation becomes possible where the NCCA can discern that there is
sufficient common purpose existing between itself and any one of these new
movements. For example, they “confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and
Saviour according to the Scriptures” and are committed “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” (Basis of NCCA).
The NCCA should be willing to enter into broader partnerships on particular
issues of national or shared interest.
Building trust among all participants should be a priority. Without this trust
Christians of different persuasions will remain suspicious of each other and
continue to deliver contrary messages to the Australian public.
The NCCA and its commissions should be ready to engage with other Christian
groups using new and different methodologies, with spiritual/religious experience
as a starting point. This need not diminish the traditional work of the
commissions.
Encounter with other Christians is always an opportunity to renew and purify our
ecumenical commitment. Engagement with these newer Christian movements
may be an occasion to develop our understanding and practice of spiritual
ecumenism, with a strong focus on Christ and the Spirit.
Prepared by NCCA Faith and Unity Commission - June, 2009