The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 29

29 The Sydney Morning Herald, Wed, Juna 22, 1977 21 PROTRACTED AND TROUBLED HISTORY OF DEBATE Example of ore than Enjoy a challenge? 100 yearg Northern Church Union community Poverty, squalor, injustice, nunger, disease. ito achieve Millions of tne world's people iace inese as facts of everyday life. In Australia, we have wealth, luxuries, health. For only $15 per month you can reach out as a World Vision Aid Team member and give thousands of the world's needy a new life of dignity. Send lor this free booklet to: ifilTICG CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA World Vision of Australia 332 Pitt Street, Sydney 2000 ri uunainlifisinM W0FUDI VISION Box A770, Sydney South 2000 The formation of the United Church North Australia in 1946 provided a significant impetus towards the creation of the present Uniting Church.

Influenced by climatic conditions, the scattered nature of the population and outback "maieship," church life in the Far North has developed along very different lines to that in Eastern and Southern States. The concept of a united Church started with a conversation between Dr John Flynn "Flynn of the Inland" founder of the Australian Inland Mission and the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and Dr John Burton, General Secretary of the Methodist Overseas Missions, as they sat on a log in the outback. The United Church of North Australia came into being without complicated legal documents or doctrinal statements, and was based on mutual trust VTJEAM7 I SP49I Name Address. a3lDAMMTHr few years earlier, It had been decided to call it Uniting rather than United. Both steps were designed to show the unity movement as a continuing process with, perhaps, other union schemes to follow.

The proposed Opera House inauguration was criticised, within the denominations, on the grounds of expense and ostentation, and that the choice of site displayed "triumphalist tendencies" out of keeping with a servant Church. The venue was altered to the Horde rn Pavilion at Sydney Showground. The official explanation was that the Opera House would be "too small." The choice of the Hordern Pavilion was, in turn, criticised on the grounds that it had poor acoustics and was more appropriate as a venue for boxing matches and pop concerts than for an important religious event. It was finally determined a year later to hold the inaugural service at Sydney Town Hall, the civic heart of Sydney and the place where "things happen." A commission comprising three pro-unionists, three anti-unionists, and three non-Presbyterians was formed to consider the division of assets between Uniting and Continuing Presbyterian congregations and institutions. Mr K.

R. Handley, QC (an Anglican), was invited as impartial chairman. Pro-unionists in Victoria challenged the right of two men, who had been involved in the 1974 walk-out. to membership of the commission. In NSW, anti-unionists issued a legal challenge to the assembly's decision to enter into union, arguing, principally, that the assembly had no power to approve a basis of union which might involve a "departure from Presbyterian doctrine." The division of property (including schools) between Uniting and Continuing Presbyterian is an area of controversy which has been widely publicised in the secular media.

However, prominent anti-unionists have declared, repeatedly, that their concern lies with doctrinal issues rather than "worldly" issues of assets and property. The Rev John Boyall, of Bondi, called the Uniting Church a "pagan institution." Because of the lawsuits, which also hindered the work of the Handley commission, the formation of the Uniting Church was postponed until June 22, 1977. By ALAN GILL one can say the present union of the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational Churches is hasty the first signposts were erected more than a century ago. Some of the key dales in the progress toward union are: 1865 Adherents of four independent and occasionally competing Presbyterian groups met at the Masonic Hall, York Street, Sydney, to resolve their differences. The formation of a (united) Presbyterian Church of NSW was thus a major achievement in conciliation.

Participating bodies were those calling themselves the Synod of Australia, Synod of Eastern Australia (known as the Free Church element), Synod of NSW (com- firising followers of Dr John )unmore Lang), and the United Presbyterian Congregation. 1901 The Presbyterian Church of NSW met with similar Stale assemblies representing Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia, and promulgated a Deed of Union to form the Presbyterian Church of Australia. 1902 Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, Bible Christians, and the United Methodist Free Churches combined to form the Methodist Church of Australasia. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Australia appointed a committee to confer with committees of other denominations wo such committees, in fact, existed) on questions of Church union. I90J A similar committee was appointed by the NSW Methodist Conference.

The two committees met and according to the minutes of the 1904 General Methodist Conference, "carried unanimously a scries of resolutions in regard to the desirability of union between the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches." 1919. A scheme of cooperative training of theological students was agreed upon. Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian students came together for lectures at St Andrew's College, Sydney University. 1920. A vote by members of the three denominations in dicated that 91.3 per cent of Methodists, 85.1 per cent of Congregationalism, and 9.4 per cent of Presbyterians were in favour of a United Evangelical Union.

Some State assemblies of the Presbyterians disapproved of the basis of union. This "divided state of feeling and opinion" led the Presbyterian General Assembly to hold back negotiations. 1922. The Joint Board of Christian Education was established to provide educational materials for Sunday schools for the three denominations, plus the Churches of Christ. 1924.

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Australia resolved: "That the-communion of fellow-Christians in worship and service is a duty wherever it is not forbidden by conscience and declare that, to far as is revealed in these negotiations, there is no bar in principle to union between the three negotiating Churches." 1926. The National Missionary Council, with representatives of all the major Reformed Churches, was formed. The new body worked out spheres of missionary work and acted as a forum for consultation. 1938. The minutes of the General Conference of the Methodist Church of Australasia recorded: "In response to greetings from the Presbyterian General Assembly, the Methodist General Conference invited the Presbyterian Church of Australia to join in negotiations with a view to the union of the three Churches." 1942.

A conference of the three Federal committees was held in Sydney and recommended that, "at the earliest possible date, conferences in every State should be instituted to discover how much agreeement already exists as to the form of union to be sought and as to the steps to be taken to secure a further measure of unity." 1946. The United Church of North Australia was established in Darwin. 1957. A joint commission on Church union was appointed by the Methodist, Congrcga-t i a 1 and Presbyterian Churches. The commission agreed unanimously on the content of a report entitled The Faith of the Church.

1959. A Basis of Union was drawn up by the three participating denominations. 1963. Seven members of the joint commission declared a All 546 branches throughout Australia unite in congratulating the "Recognising the difficulty of interpreting the communicants' vote," the Presbyterian General Assembly declared the previous year's ballot null and void. In a second ballot, 916 congregations were deemed in favour of union and 521 against.

In NSW. there were 20,971 individual votes in favour of union and 12,584 against, a pro-union majority of 62.6 per cent. Voting by congregations (the determining factor) showed a different pattern, with 186 congregations deemed against union and 156 for union. Thus, in NSW, unlike other States, more Presbyterian congregations will be outside the Uniting Church than within it. 1974 The General Conference of the Methodist Church of Australasia voted 160 in favour and 11 against (a pro-union majority of 93.5 per cent) joining the Uniting Church.

A similar decision was made hy the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. Voting was 236 in favour and 133 against a pro-union majority of 63.96 per cent. A small group of continuing Presbyterians, claiming the assembly has usurped its powers, walked out of the meeting. They established a rival assembly in a nearby hall and appointed the retiring NSW Moderator, the Right Rev Neil MacLeod, as Moderator-General. However, the majority of anti-unionists were content to bide their time until the expected formation of the Uniting Church and the establishment of a separate, continuing Church.

At the end of the Methodist and Presbyterian assemblies, which had been held on the same day, representatives of the uniting denominations announced that the Uniting Church of Australia would be formed on June 2, 1976, with a service at Sydney Opera House considered an appropriate, "neutral" ground. 1975. The Joint Constitution Commission of the Uniting Church of Australia decided to change the word of in the new Church's title to in, just as, a reservation, directed mainly at a plan to introduce the office of bishops in the Uniting Church. Meanwhile, joint parishes had. been formed in many regions of Australia.

1968. The three Churches combined in a local union to form the United Church in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, 1972, In a straightforward ballot, individuals and congregations within the Methodist and Congregational Churches expressed a desire to form the Uniting Church. The polls were held to help the respective national and State assemblies in their deliberations. In the Methodist Church, where voting was by individuals, there was a majority of 84.97 per cent in favour of union. Unlike the Presbyterian or Congregational Churches, no provision was made for a "continuing" Methodist Church.

In the case of the Congregational Church, where voting was by congregations, 250 of them were deemed to be in favour of union and 57 against. Twenty of the "no" congregations subsequently changed their minds, as a result of which 270 congregations will join the Uniting Church and 37 of them in NSW will remain "continuing" Congregational Churches. The result of the Presbyterian poll was confusing. While 75.4 per cent of individual Presbyterians voted for union, because of the voting system (requiring a two-thirds majority within a congregation, for that congregation to enter into union) it was announced that 694 congregations a minority would enter into union and 728 would not. Despite the high individual vote in favour of union, 39.4 per cent of those who participated in the poll answered "yes" to a second question asking if they would like to remain members of a Continuing Presbyterian Church.

1973. The General Assembly of the Congregational Union of Australia voted 123 for and three against (a pro-union majority of 97.6 per cent) joining the Uniting Church. Uipi mssm and a gentleman's agreement to "work together in friendly co-operation." Inter-Church co-operation in the North has a long and fascinating history. A Congregational missionary arrived in Darwin in 1871, with some building materials for a chapel. He contracted malaria and returned to Adelaide without the work being done.

In 1873, a Methodist clergyman used the materials and built the chapel which was later blown down in a cyclone. Methodists from South Australia supported the mission in the North up to 1900 when for a short time the Queensland conference took over. Eventually the Methodist Overseas Missions and (Presbyterian) Australian Inland Mission accepted responsibility. The work of the Presbyterian Church advanced after the appointment of Dr Flynn, the minister whose vision and ability brought hospitals to the outback. Through the Flying Doctor service, started in Cloncurry in 1928, he reduced the isolation and danger of the remote areas an isolation lessened further with the help of Mr Alf Traeger and the pedal wireless.

The hospitals, Flying Doctor service and pedal wireless were the essential ingredients in Dr Flynn's famous "mantle of safety" over the outback. In 1973, the Australian Inland Mission inserted an advertisement in the paper, Australian Presbyterian Life, urging support for church union. Under a cartoon sketch of three white men and two Aborigines around a camp fire, the advertisement invites readers to "pick out the Presbyterian." The advertisement pointed out that in the United Church of North Australia members of the AIM had been "sharing a common cup" and working and worshipping with their partners in faith for many years. Inter-Church co-operation in Australia's Far North has not been confined to participants in the present scheme of union. In the late nineteenth century Pres.

byterians in the Carpentaria region unsuccessfully sought permission to adopt the Anglican Cathedral on Thursday Island as their own. Today, in spite of a strong High Church tradition, the Anglican dioceses of north Queensland and Carpentaria share many facilities with Presbyterians, including the widely renowned Carpentaria Aerial Mission. Presbyterian outback ministers also have tended to the spiritual needs of Roman Catholics. The Rev Fred McKay, when superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission, was invited with approval by radio of the diocesan bishop several hundred miles away to baptise the many children in an outback Catholic family. When this was completed the parents asked him, somewhat sheepishly, if he would marry them.

As of today the United Church of North Australia becomes the Northern Australia synod of the Uniting Church. Wesley, Knox in the wings mm 1 1 protection! wish each of your Members all the benef its that unity can bring. rnmtPANY OF SYDNEY LIMITED THE COMMERCIAL bmhimii- GBCSAVINGS BANK LIMITED CB1020243 lite Rev John Flynn A spontaneous gesture says more than a thousand words. Mr Mathias (right) wean the Presbyterian Moderator's cap after the decision to unite was announced. I 5 i To: Ansvar Australia Insurance 18-20 Collins Street, Melbourne, Vic.

3000. would lik (pi.Mi tick boci) leaOets on Houuholdtrt' Protection Plan nd guid to axatimg ulua ol possession to arrange for an Ansvar representative to call After the result of the voting became known, the Presbyterian Moderator General, the Right Rev G. A. "Pat" Wood, and the then Methodist President General, the Rev Rex Mathias, exchanged greetings. Mr Wood removed his three-cornered moderator's cap and placed it on the head of Mr Mathias.

1 had the feeling that the ghosts of John Wesley and John Knox were watching from the wings at that moment. ALAN GILL. May 1, 1974, was a red letter day for the Australian ecumenical movement. At special meetings in Melbourne, the General Conference of the Methodist Church and General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church voted to proceed to form the Uniting Church. The Congregational Church had already made a similar decision a year earlier, and the union of the three denominations was able to proceed.

I NAME ADDRESS -TEL. -POSTCODE- I I I Melbourne 639711 Sydney 4124644 Brisbane 2218449 Adelaide 873564 Perth 21 6291 It began, we believe, through the influence of the Hoty.Splrlt And it showed itself through a few ordinary people who, Injury 1967, joined a fledgling overseas aid movement called Force Ten. Now the revolutionary thing was that they "joined" it Until then, you didn't "join" overseas aid bodies. You gave them a handout once a year, or when there was a disaster. So, In overseas aid and development, Force Ten was Australia's first step away from the charity handoutdisaster mentality.

Memberssupported 1 0 projects a year, by giving at (now $3) to each, and learned the background to each project, through monthly members' bulletins. In 1967, such on-going commitment to world developmentwas revolutionary. And in 1977, for most Christians, it still Is. For tragically enough, most Christians understanding of world development is stuck at the charity handout stage. To see It as a matter of justice, as an inescapable part of the Gospel, as a God given imperative toshare His riches equally among His children, demands a mental revolution.

Which Force Ten can help spark off. Today, Force Ten is a joint programme of the Australian Council of Churches and Australian Catholic Relief. Its steadily growing membership has passed 6000. It has sent more than a million dollars overseas. And it's still a revolutionary force for good, quietly providing positive, practical answers to some of the world's basic problems.

Join our quiet revolution now. Just complete and mall the coupon, today. As part of the UNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA the CENTRAL METHODIST MISSION ll -1 Pledges to serve Sydney Renamed: I mm 10 PROJECTS A YEAR THAT FIGHT THE CAUSES OF SUFFERING Box C199, Clarence Street P.O., NSW 2000 (2nd floor, 199 Clarence Street, Sydney). Please enrol me as a member of Force Ten. I understand that members contribute at least $30ayear, and enclose DS30 OS50 as my first monthly contribution: as an annual half-yearly contribution (tick relevant squares).

It offers: i Worship in the Lyceum Church in a Theatre and Wesley Chapel Residential care for over 1,000 in 23 Homes and Hospitals Life Line help.as close as the telephone call 334141 i Vision Valley, Sydney's unique Christian Country Centre Wesley Centre friendship groups such as the Singles Society and the School for Seniors THE MISSION CELEBRATES UNION ON SUNDAY 26TH JUNE AT 11 A.M., 3 P.M., 7 P.M. AT SPECIAL LYCEUM THEATRE SERVICES ALL ARE INVITED ALL ARE INVITED Ministers: Rev. Alan Walker, O.B.E.,M.A.,D.D., Rev.Alan Jackson, Rev.Jlonl Langl, Rev. Arthur Oakley, Rev. Peter Whltaker.

Mission Headquarters: Wesley Centre, 210 Pitt Street, Sydney. Telephone 61 8741. I I NAME I I ADDRESS. STATE. Force Ten is a joint programme of the Australian Council of Churches and Australian Catholic Relief.

Recent projects include Vocational training In Bangladesh Aboriginal Women's Centre In Darwin pamiiy service centres in the Middle East. i-amuy service centres in tne Miaaie tasu I TG.1207.