C. L. SMITH has been minister at Hampton since April 1958. Prior to that he was at Boronia from July 1949. Graduated from the College of the Bible, Glen Iris, in 1949, he has served on the Christian Union Committee and the Literature Committee since 1950. He is studying at the Melbourne University.

      In 1949 a student returned to the College of the Bible at Glen Iris to complete a course begun in 1945. There had been a break of eighteen months in that course for reasons often pondered but never resolved. In any case the return was something of a new beginning, a seeking to realise a vocation which had almost been lost. And in the early part of 1949 there became available the volumes of the Official Report of the FIRST ASSEMBLY OF THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES held at Amsterdam in Holland from August 22-September 4, 1948. To handle again the volumes brings back to mind the absorbed reading and the deep enthusiasm, which they first prompted. Here were men known by repute in journals and books, stepping into the task of making church history before one's eyes. Here were many of the best minds and spirits of the modern church wrestling with the central themes of that Faith given to men by the Lord Jesus Christ. They faced the questions of obedience to God in this world, in this day and age in which we lived, and they spoke words that rang with relevance, and challenged to deep commitment to the one Lord.

      Look again at the themes of the Assembly:

      1. The universal Church in God's Design

      2. The Church's Witness to God's Design

      3. The Church and the Disorder of Society

      4. The Church and the International Disorder.

      They reveal a readiness to face boldly, in faith, the troubled heart of the modern situation. They claim the world for Christ. To enter this stream of life was sufficient vocation.

      Over the years since then the conviction has grown and deepened that this concern for unity under obedience to the living Lord Jesus and the concern for the renewal of mission is only neglected at the cost of trivialising the gospel.

      Stephen Neill said: "The faith remains the same, but it can be kept in life only by the perpetual renewal of thought and conviction . . . As in other fields, so also in the field of theological thought, the task of the Church is not finished, but must be taken up again in the light of the new tasks that God lays upon each generation."¹

      And to my knowledge, in the central current of the Church's life in our times only the Ecumenical Movement showed any promise of doing that--it had begun to do it! Certainly it was not a movement evidently perfect, but it was not simply a collection of people with cranky notions. A glance at the title pages of the REPORT will show that leaders from the Protestant and Orthodox churches were toiling at setting forth the Faith, and were under an urgency to proclaim it in the contemporary world.

      In 1954 the EVANSTON ASSEMBLY continued the process of renewal in the life of the churches. Taking a theme, which needed to be lifted up before men, they made the Christian Hope in its biblical dimensions a living fact for many of us. A paragraph from the MESSAGE of the Assembly gives the flavour of the studies and affirmations made.

      "Here where we stand, Jesus

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Christ stood with us. He came to us, true God and true Man, to seek and to save. Though we were the enemies of God, Christ died for us. We crucified Him, but God raised Him from the dead. He is risen. He has over come the powers of sin and death. A new life has begun. And in His risen and ascended power, He has sent forth into the world a new community, bound together by His Spirit, sharing His divine life, and commissioned to make Him known throughout the world. He will come again as Judge and King to bring all things to their consummation. Then we shall see Him as He is and know as we are known. Together with the whole creation we wait for this with eager hope, knowing that God is faithful and even now He holds all things in His hand."²

      In 1961 in India the THIRD ASSEMBLY will be held and the studies will centre on the theme "JESUS CHRIST: THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD."

      Robert Nelson says of such an assembly, "(it) . . . makes a considerable public witness to the member churches, to other churches, and to the host nation and the world at large. It demonstrates the vitality of the Christian faith, dramatises the existing unity of the churches, and speaks with a certain inherent, though unofficial, authority on matters of common concern and patent urgency."³

      The cause of the Ecumenical Movement in Australia was furthered by the visit in 1956 of the Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches when many of us were able to observe the leaders of the Movement. It is against this development that churches in Australia, through the Australian Council, organised in February 1960 the FIRST NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF AUSTRALIAN CHURCHES.

THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE

      It was held in the University and University Colleges at Melbourne and approximately 450 delegates from the major Protestant and Orthodox groups in this country, and from some Christian organisations, attended. They represented a wide cross section of the churches in Australia. At times the strength of the various traditions became apparent not simply in formal ways but in the informal discussions and groupings of the delegates.

      Was it that it was a relief to realise one's part in a fellowship more intimate than that of the larger church represented?

      And yet as the days passed busily and contacts were made and deepened, the realisation that these people of strange dress and outlook were in intention and in fact servants of Jesus Christ, was enlarged, and the gift by the Lord of a unity not ours but His gave cause for thankfulness. A Japanese Christian knew what it was to live under a pietistic Christianity in the hope that legalism would one-day die into Christ. Some of the men on the inside of the traditions were often privately irreverent about the persons who embodied them. In the small Bible study groups it was sensed that obedience to Christ in any of the traditions had many of the same features as those known to oneself.

      In essentials, when strangeness was past, we could talk about common faith and common problems. This process must be widened until Christians can be plastic to the moulding of the Holy Spirit without the blinkers of a single tradition to narrow their faith and love. God has been using dedicated individuals to speak his word concerning unity to the churches. But now there must be a widening personal and institutional participation in this concern. More and more Christians of every tradition must know what it is to meet Christ in brethren of strange words and ways.

      The FIRST NATIONAL CONFERENCE has committed a very wide section of the church in Australia to that dialogue . . . "which must remove the 'spectres', which stand in the way of real encounter . . . not . . . a disputation between adversaries, but the form of a constructive encounter between partners."⁴

      That the concern for unity has not yet captured the interest and concern of the majority of church members seems clear from the relatively small numbers attending the public meetings of the Conference. It was at such meetings that the addresses of our visitors, mainly of Asian experience, gave a sustained lead to the Conference. But the long lists of delegates, and the knowledge that they were simply representative of a great number, makes gratitude rise in me that so many are in fact costingly involved in this obedience to Christ. The interest of individuals, and the progress of planning, since the Conference indicates that this movement is gathering momentum and can be expected to produce in the next decade startling changes in the long accepted patterns of division within the Australian church.

WORSHIP

was a feature of the Conference. Indeed it was here that the Conference realised its unity and was given such effectiveness as it came to possess, and that not by men, though men served the Conference well in this regard. The wonderful use of the Bible and prepared prayers, morning by morning, by the Archbishop of Melbourne set the whole Conference in the context of prayer. First Peter came vividly alive through the lucid, incisive preaching of Bishop Newbigin day by day, so that God moved often upon the congregation in Melba Hall. For many of us some of the most treasured memories of the Conference will be of what he said and of what he is. John Lawrence paid him a fine tribute recently, saying: "Bishop Lesslie Newbigin is himself a symbol of the way in which many streams flow together in the living elements of church life. He is a Presbyterian, yet a Bishop in the apostolic succession; he is a theologian of unity who is admired by many Roman Catholics, yet he has done more than anyone in the 'historic churches' to gain recognition for Pentecostal values. A missionary bishop, he is known for his imaginative understanding of the laity. He knows at first hand something of all the spiritual issues which constitute the substance of the difficult practical decisions that now lie before the ecumenical movement."⁵

      His introductions to Bible study of First Peter, and the booklet prepared by Dr. F. W. Nichol on First Peter titled, "God's People in This World," undergirded the many hours spent in study groups on the text. Make no mistake about the biblical motivation of the ecumenical movement. As in the past, it is out of the Scriptures that God is calling men and movements to do His will now. On the last Wednesday morning of the Conference Trinity Chapel was packed for a Church of South India communion service conducted by Bishop Lipp. That service witnessed to a hunger for deeper fellowship still denied by our divisions.

      This context of prayer and worship surely explains the absence of heat and bitterness in the discussion of serious matters in the Conference. On many far reaching proposals there was an amazing unanimity. Differences there were, but there was also a deep charity.

THE COMMISSIONS

      A summary introduction is attempted to each of the five Commissions. Where it is possible the text of the reports will be left to speak for themselves, but the final editorial polishing had not been given to the text used. This method makes distortion likely, and the full text of the reports in the final form as published, should be studied when they come to hand. On occasion the reports themselves do not have the coherence which a single author could give them. Delegates were divided into groups of about eighty to ninety persons and it was in these groups that detailed consideration was given to the topic and the draft reports were produced. In the second week of the Conference these reports were submitted to the plenary sessions and as they stand now have the substantial endorsement of the whole Conference. In some details they were amended and in one case a considerable section was excised by the plenary session. A word should he said concerning Section A of Report III, which concerns missionary strategy. It would seem that in the planning of the Conference it was determined to avoid considering a topic properly the field of the National Missionary Council. However, a strong group had come to the Conference, many from mission boards, anxious to discuss missionary strategy. The steering committee of the Conference then decided that the matter should be dealt with in the Commission III. Section B of that report entitled "Economic Aid--A New Task" deals more closely with the topic planned. The preparatory documents for the Commissions will be listed under the names of same. These documents are available from the AC/WCC, 472 Kent St., Sydney, N.S.W. My knowledge of the work of Commissions (other than III) is from a reading of the preliminary documents, the discussion in plenary sessions, and from the reports, and private discussion. Extended discussion of reports will no doubt be carried on in the future.

      The preparatory document, "The Authority of the Word of God" was prepared by a Commission set up by the Division of Studies, the Chairman of which was Father Gabriel Hebert S.S.M.

      The short report is in three sections:

1. The Authority of the Word of God.

      "We affirm that the Lord God has spoken His word, in which He has revealed Himself to man; the Word which He has spoken is the person of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . We affirm that the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Life-giver spoke through the Scriptures of the Old Testament and the New; and that it is only through Him that we men can have eyes to see and cars to hear the Word of God there spoken . . . The Bible is God's book, and at the same time a human book or collection of books . . . Thus the authority of the Word of God, mediated through Holy Scripture, is an absolute authority; and all Christians acknowledge it as their duty to render entire obedience to Him, in their faith, in their worship, and in their life in this world."

2. The Interpretation of the Bible.

      "We have difficulty in agreeing on many points of biblical interpretation, and there are differences within the various churches as well as between them. But we all alike acknowledge the authority of the holy Scriptures., and we believe that because they are normative in matters of faith and doctrine, all our divisions should be brought under the judgment of the Scriptures . . .

      "In spite of great changes in the last three centuries, we affirm that the authority

of the Word of God mediated through Holy Scripture remains ever unshaken . . . The intensive study of the course of biblical history and the literary criticism of the books cannot rightly be evaded, any more than it is right for the Christian today to 'contract out' of political and economic problems and the duty of dealing with them in the light of the authority of Christ over all life."

3. The Bible in the Church's Life and Mission.

      "The Bible is God's gift to His church as an instrument both to win an obedient and understanding response in faith from her members and to proclaim His word to all mankind." The reading and exposition of the Scriptures "are essential for the building up of the Body of Christ . . . The spiritual growth of every Christian demands a knowledge of the Bible and a constant recourse to it, with the constant endeavour to relate Its words to the situation of the modern world."

      It was recommended that the following matters required further study:

      a. The meaning of the term "history", and its interpretation in relation to the truth of the Bible.

      b. The implications for the doctrine of Scripture of the view of the Old Testament held by our Lord and the writers of the New Testament.

      c. "Tradition" as it is understood by the various Christian communions in relation to the Bible.

      d. Principles of biblical interpretation and their relation to the practical acceptance of the Bible's message in the life of the local congregation and of the individual believer; and the possibility of the use of a common lectionary.

      e. The relationship of "word" and "deed" in God's revelation to man.

      The preparatory document was a booklet with the title as above, prepared by the Rev. Prof. Colin Williams.

      This is the longest of the reports and details many of its statements. There is an acknowledgment that the words "IN THEIR WORLD SETTING" of the title received little attention because of the limits of time. There are four sections:

1. The Basis of Evangelism.

      This lies in "the eternal purpose of God revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." It is in the will of God, the work of Christ, and the need of man that evangelism is based.

2. The Setting of Evangelism.

      "The Church in this land, divided and rent asunder, does not permeate with her influence the common life today, but the great moments of life are in large measure still recognised as hers . . . a missionary situation now exists in Australia, and the Church will need to take every advantage of the evangelistic opportunities offered by this continuing desire for its blessings in the great moments of personal life." The Church must survey accurately the swift changes which are making the situation a new sort of evangelistic task. The influx of migrants, the urbanisation of our community, industrialisation and technological development, are all causing the nature of the Church's mission to be re-appraised. It is difficult to communicate with this new Australia, "The difficulty many have when they listen to the Gospel being preached and taught is due to a failure to grasp the meaning of words and images used rather than a conscious rejection of the good news."

3. The Manifold Nature of Evangelism.

      "Jesus Christ took upon Himself the form of a servant and reached out to us in our need through the service of word, deed, worship, and fellowship. The unbreakable unity of this total service must be constantly remembered for we are tempted to tear them apart, give one priority over another, or even set them against each other. By preaching and teaching, by that fellowship which entails "personal identification with those whose way of life is different", by service that is not prevented even by a lack of opportunity to speak, by worship that offers up to God "the concrete concerns of daily life" and seeks God's blessing on behalf of the world, and by holy living which recognises that "our evangelism is essentially related to the continuing process of our own sanctification and our own growth in the life of prayer" we offer highways along which God can enter our world.

4. Restoring Communication.

      Chiefly by that identification which can think and feel as others do, and be so aware of the Gospel that the right word and deed seems to happen involuntarily. By the expert use of all those agencies which are called "mass media" today. The nature of the task is such that the best available talent and the combined resources of the communions are necessary if it is to be effectively attempted.

      Included in the recommendations of the commission were:

      a. That a national ecumenical institute be established to continue study of the issues raised and to bring together people of particular vocations to discuss their Christian responsibility, and to provide a point of meeting between Christians and non-Christians.

      b. Examination of ways in which stewardship campaigns can be used to promote deeper Christian commitment and evangelism.

      A compilation of documents titled "Serving the Word" was the preparatory document for this group. The reasons behind the report being broken into two sections have already been mentioned. That section on economic aid, while it has some reference to the "ethical problems" entailed in giving and receiving "aid" is substantially a plea for increased Australian contributions to aid programmes of various sorts. This is related to the missionary concern of the churches in the opening paragraph of the report: "The churches in Australia today are faced with compelling and increasing opportunities for missionary endeavour overseas. There are some changes in the patterns of this missionary work, but the objectives remain the same. They are the proclamation of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and the nurture of the churches thus established. Because God is concerned with the whole life of man, programmes of social, economic and technical assistance on the widest possible scale are an integral part of the church's present missionary task."

Section A. Missionary Strategy.

      The following points were stressed:

      1. A real partnership was required between Australian and Asian churches. Any sort of paternalism is impertinence. "As members of the East Asia Christian Conference we welcome the opportunities now open to us for increased multilateral and ecumenical fellowship and planning." The E.A.C.C. must become a reality for every member of the member churches of the Conference.

      2. "We urge members of our churches with commercial, professional,

and technical and administrative qualifications to seek employment in secular occupations outside Australia as an avenue of Christian service. We counsel them to identify themselves as fully and as humbly as possible with the church in the areas where they work." It was requested that the N.M.C.A. should take steps to make such opportunities known in Australia, and organise orientation courses for those going to such posts.

      3. The work of Inter-Church Aid was warmly commended and encouragement was given it to expand its publicity among the member churches. Its precise relationship to "missions" with bases in Australia seemed to require clarification.

Section B. Economic Aid--A New Task.

      1. "There are at present great inequalities between national economies, and dire poverty is common in those that are less developed . . It now becomes our duty to seek the reduction of inequalities between nations, the development of underdeveloped economies, and the abolition of that gross poverty which characterises them . . . We believe that Australia's present aid programmes are insufficient and should be increased . . . Christians do not fully discharge their responsibility for action in this regard by asking the Australian Council to approach governments. We recognise that it is the duty of all Christians:

      a. To use to the full their rights as citizens to urge effectively upon the government a more generous implementation of policies of international aid, fully recognising that this may involve an increase of taxation;

      b. To supplement this by generous support of voluntary projects of international aid. Increased aid would require careful thought about the direction and motivation behind it but the Government was urged to give not simply out of policy considerations but also because of the need of peoples and nations.

      2. There is need for a growth of mutuality in considering "aid", i. e., awareness of Asian "culture, history, languages, art and religions" would enrich our national life. The Conference endorsed a statement made in December 1959, by the Executive Committee of the A.C./ W.C.C. concerning the immigration of "persons of non-European origin." "In the interests of world understanding and of amicable relations with Asian neighbours the Council urges its member churches to persuade its own congregations, and the public generally, that Australia can safely and happily admit more Asians than at present.

      Recommendations included:

      a. An approach to the Federal Government urging that our contribution to international aid programmes should be quickly increased to at least 1 per cent of our national income, (i. e., approximately £50 million per annum.)

      b. Continuing study of the ethical and cultural problems associated with aid.

      c. Urged abandonment of Australia's "discriminatory policy whereby non-European missionaries are denied entry to Papua and New Guinea.

      d. That Inter-Church Aid asked to examine the possibility of arranging "church-to-church" aid between Australia and Asia.

      Preparatory document of that title, a compilation. "This is God's world and people in this world are Cod's people. We all live in an industrial era, the greater proportion

being gathered together into industrial communities. Has the Church an effective voice and part in these communities? Plainly it has not. Since the commencement of the Industrial Revolution, a gulf has stretched between the Church and a large part of those who make up the industrial community. In penitence the Church must accept major responsibility for this gulf. Out of our penitence can come a due humility and a more effective love for God's world."

      The report is in four sections:

1. The Welfare State.

      "The Welfare State with its many provisions for the material needs of its citizens has removed the occasion of much critical judgment made by the churches in the past. Notwithstanding this welfare development, there is still a need for continuing Christian judgment on aspects of modern society lest men and women be treated as cogs rather than as souls in the biblical understanding of the word."

      There is need of sociological study of our society for the church's use, and participation by Christians "by taking independent action in accordance with Christian principles." Christians should fill more service posts in the community.

2. Industrial Chaplaincy.

      'The instituting of such chaplaincies does not in itself provide for the radical assessment of the industrial structure which is so important a part of the Church's task. The Church must examine the motives of all parties in industry, challenge assumptions that are incompatible with the dignity of man and the purpose of God, and through its individual members be involved in the right ordering of industry by political, legal and economic means . . . However the possibilities of industrial chaplaincies must be explored. In this work it is imperative that there should be complete co-operation between the denominations in the preliminary negotiations, in the appointment of chaplains, and in dealing with the results of the enterprise . . . Where chaplains are used, industry should not pay for their maintenance."

3. The Training of Clergy and Laity.

      Much work remains to be done in relating theology and the world of industry and every means must be used to widen both the scope of theological training, and to create a laity conscious that they are in the front line of the Church's life in their places of work.

4. Social Questions and Social Problems.

      The Church must rethink the whole of its "home" mission responsibilities, using the word "mission" as defined by Bishop Newbigin: "Mission includes the task of prophetic witness in the case of wrong, of declaring the will of God in regard to the life of men both in their personal and domestic affairs and also no less clearly in their corporate life as nations, in business, in politics, in culture, in religion."

      In conclusion the report acknowledges of itself that, "Its main value must not be in its answers to problems, but in the evidence that the Church at last is concerned about its role in society, and in particular with reference to the effects of industry in that society."

      It recommended the creation of an Ecumenical Commission to continue research and discussion of the problems raised.

Preparatory document of that title, prepared by the Rev. Harvey L. Perkins, LL.M., B.D., B.Com.

      There is a glance at the problem of "separated congregations within

the same local community in the introduction of the report and the necessary attitude of penitence for that sin, of "love for one another within and beyond our differences", and willingness to "listen to and accept the truths of Holy Scripture." Then in four sections the report discusses:

1. The Fundamental Rhythm of the Church's Life.

      "Therefore the local congregation, convened as the people of God, is to gather an ever-growing number of people into its membership so that they may go out to interpenetrate, as suffering servants, all the areas of the world's life, in order that these areas may be redeemed. This should be the basic rhythm of each living congregation."

      "This rhythmic pattern should be developed by:

      "a. The renewal and deepening of worship, relating it to the work of the laity in the world.

      "b. A total programme of Christian education, including biblical and doctrinal teaching for the whole fellowship.

      "c. The establishment of an inner core, motivated and trained by . . . personal groups."

2. The Role of the Ordained and Lay Ministries of the Church.

      This section is a setting out of a "traditional" pattern. There is however a stress on "responsible partnership" between them, which points in the direction of recent thinking.

3. The Church in Work, Leisure, and Neighbourhood Relationships.

      "The local congregation is the basic unit of Christian fellowship and training for the mission of the church in the world. Each member needs to know, as the local congregation itself needs to know, that he is the church wherever he is . . . Many congregations are dominated by a concept of Church life expressed as far as buildings are concerned, by a place of worship and a Sunday School hall, which determine their activities. A real need is for a congregational family in which people meet at a deep level, accept each other, and are accepted by each other, as members in Christ. From this would come the provision of a variety of service, educational, cultural, and physical activities, in which persons are seeking to be at once fully Christian and fully human."

4. Community Life Among Local Congregations in the Local Area.

      "The basic requirement is an awareness by all that the Body of Christ is greater than any local congregation. As far as possible local congregations should share with one another, within the local community, for the purpose of:

      a. Increasing their knowledge of one another.

      b. Deepening and expressing their basic unity in Christ.

      c. Serving the wider community.

      d. Manifesting their love for Christ and their love for people."

      There is a long list, at the end of the report, of suggestions for implementing the latter section.

      The chief recommendation asks the Australian Council to set up a Commission to examine:

      a."The fundamental theological issues of the life and structure of the local congregation" and

      b."The total ministry of the total congregation."

      Out of the National Conference have come some "points of distinct emphasis" which seem to me worth noticing.

1. UNDERSTANDING MISSION.

      There has been in recent years a growth in awareness of the obligation resting upon the whole Church to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, and to claim for Christ every aspect of human life. The traditional understanding of the "missionary" task has been of individuals interested in "that sort of thing." They organised, largely beyond the historic churches, their societies (while of course drawing sustenance from within the Church) and now while the churches are drawing together, the proliferation of these societies goes on apace. In many areas of mission activity they are a complicating factor with little power to commend the wholeness of the Gospel. Now the "mission" of the Church, i. e. "its total task in the world", and "missions" i. e., "to go outside the existing areas of Christian belief in order to bear witness to Christ", are seen to be facets of the one obedience; and the original church apathy which made "missions" the work of agencies outside the church proper is being faced with the fruit of its sin. The realisation of unity is beyond the range of the church's effective action, by its earlier failure.

      Bishop Newbigin said: "There can be no true ecumenical movement except that which is missionary through and through, for there can be no true doctrine of the Church which is not held, so to say in the tension of urgent obedience between the Saviour and the world He came to save."

2. WALKING BY FAITH.

      We do not see the end of this rising concern for unity. It is not given us to know what God will bring forth out of the obedience that we must render.

      It is worth quoting from a recent study of the Abbe Paul Couturier who has done so much to foster prayer for unity:

      "In fact the popular attitude towards the whole question (of unity) may be said to swing between two extremes. On the one side an attitude of over-easy optimism, 'All Christians can easily unite, once they get together and remember all the things they have in common,' and on the other hand an attitude of over-easy despair. 'These divisions have lasted for hundreds of years, what earthly hope is there of doing anything about them.'

      "It is only when we see the truth in both these points of view, and begin to hold them together, that we are able to see the depth and seriousness of the problem. For the things that divide them are real and profound, and there is no earthly hope of overcoming them. It is only God who will be able to bring unity and reconciliation out of the chaos of divisions that man has made. And so the work of Christian unity must be inspired and sustained at every step by constant recourse to Him who is the source of unity. It must be rooted in prayer."⁶

      There is upon us today a pressure to take the fact of the present work of the Holy Spirit seriously. An openness to the leading of the Spirit through word and circumstance was a New Testament characteristic. We forget it to our peril.

      If we deny God's calling today to mission and unity, then we will speedily be brought to judgment. Indeed our present impotence in witness, and the scandal of our divisions is God's judgment. It was a mark of the faithful men in all ages of the Scripture that they went forth trusting in God; they were not disappointed. Our Lord has spoken too plainly about

unity for us to quibble about it being in fact the will of God.

3. WHAT IS THE "WORLD"?

      There was a sustained call throughout the Conference to take the "world" seriously. For too long we have been content with facile and heretical notions of what the Bible instructs us concerning the world. Almost every speaker at the Conference made some attempt to draw into focus that God "owns the world as well as the church." Those passages which are quoted so glibly to excuse separatism are not the whole story by any means We must recover the full biblical doctrine of creation, and of new creation in Jesus Christ. Bishop Newbigin, said in his opening address:

      "The truth is that the movement of which the Gospel speaks is that within which world history is enclosed; that Jesus Christ is not one of the figures of world history. He is Alpha and Omega; He from whom world history begins and in whom it is to be summed up and brought to its conclusion. If that remains mere theological talk and is not embodied in a steady resolute insistence that the banner of Christ's Lordship is to be planted in every place among every people in every circumstance, then the heart goes out of the Church's faith."⁷

      Professor Takenaka suggested that some have in fact interpreted John 3:16 as "God so feared the world that he gave the Church to save some out of the world."

      Rev. Hans-Ruedi Weber caricatured some sorts of evangelism as "extractive evangelism" with the Church conceived as the safe place where hands and conscience can be cleaned and a costly identification with the world in witness and service can be shirked. In Christ we are only free from the world to serve the world. This is the arena of our struggle, it is here that we have a cross to bear, Christian hope is not suspended animation until the End, and in Dr. F. W. Nichol's words, ". . . we need our faces pushed into the complexity of human existence" if we are to be servants of a Servant.

4. THE CHURCH-COMMUNITY

      We had to take the fact of the church-community with a new seriousness. M. M. Thomas, at a point of discussion on a draft of the report of the first Commission, drew attention to its tone of individualism that had quite escaped our Australian notice. The men from Asia knew what it was that Bishop Newbigin meant when he said: "It is surely a fact, of inexhaustible significance that what our Lord left behind him was not a book, nor a creed, nor a system of thought, nor a rule of life, but a visible community".^7a

      Albert Outler highlights this fact of a recovered sense of the community when he speaks of the recovery of "Christian community over the principle of 'pure doctrine' making possible the mutual recognition of Christians as Christians the precondition of ecumenical work rather than the goal".^7b

      It is only as we recognise others as sharing in the grace of God by faith, that there will grow up a common mind and understanding of the faith which sets all our "traditions" under the primary Tradition. We must beware of pressing our own understanding too fiercely upon others; we are often wrong!

      How often have men sought a 'truth' that is not truth because it has no trace of charity in it. Exactly here seems to be one of the great tasks of the ecumenical movement today. To so dispel arrogance and pride that there grows into existence the possibility of there being "one flock." Bishop Newbigin puts his finger on this point in the words: "Everyone who has concerned himself in the practical issues of Christian reunion knows the fearful strength of the corporate pride of a

denominational group, the terrifying power of group egotism when it has taken into its service memories of great and godly men, scholars, saints, and martyrs of the faith. Only one thing can subdue it, and that is the word of the Cross, before which no flesh can glory. The word of the Cross to the Church is a summons to return in penitence and faith to Him who alone is our righteousness, to abandon confidence in everything save His mercy, and to accept and embody in our institutional life that unity with one another which is given to us in Him."⁸

5. THE LAITY.

      One of the points which was made in many ways and to much effect was the new role which is being given to the whole church in today's thinking. Dr. F. W. Nichol made a comma tell the gist of the story like this: "The work of ministry is not confined to the regular clergy. If we consult Ephesians 4:11, 12, and remove a comma which appears in most of our versions but is not original in the Greek text, we read, "And His gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipment of the saints for the work of ministry . . . "

      The work of ministry is not an office reserved for certain selected persons, but belongs to the whole community of "the saints" . . . so strong has the clerical tradition been in the Western Church that we find it very difficult to discern this New Testament pattern and recognise it for what it is."⁹

      An excellent recent study by Hendrik Kraemer, A THEOLOGY OF THE LAITY, is an example of that fresh thinking about ministry which is slowly corroding the clericalism mentioned above. Kraemer puts it concisely when he says: "Our point is not to look at the laity as objects, but as subjects and agents."¹⁰

      One word of warning. We can not simply feel that this is saying what our fathers said in Churches of Christ. For the plain fact is that there is a range and vitality in this thinking that is absent among us. We had some basic ideas, but we have never really used them.

6. THE EAST ASIA CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE

      Australian churches are involved in this Conference because geographically we are an appendage of Asia. But we have never lived with our neighbours culturally or even economically, as we should have. Can the Christian Church pioneer into real relationship and partnership with Asian people?

      They have much to give us. Bishops Newbigin and Sobrepena in a press interview in the Conference spoke of the contribution of the Asian churches to the world church as being "concern for unity and evangelism." They are not small contributions! From observation of those Asian leaders who have visited Australia in recent years I would hazard the opinion that despite the weight of their tasks at home, they evidence a clarity of faith and a devotion of life which makes us all feel half-hearted in the service of Christ. One of the urgent tasks of education in the Australian churches is that the membership should be made aware of the changes and prospects not simply of the Churches in Asia but of Asian nations. There is opportunity for the development of that acquaintance through the above Conference.

WHY BE BOTHERED ABOUT UNITY?

1. The Cross Demands It.

      The reformation that is going on before our eyes in the church is God's gift. And it is directly related to that Life given on the Cross and received at the Resurrection,

for here is the heart of our faith.

      ". . . we take seriously the issue of Christian unity. Here it is no use mincing words. The plain fact is that our divisions make a mockery of our missions,. How can we face the world with the claim that in Christ we have the secret of the world's healing when we have evidently not found the secret of healing ourselves? How can we go into all the world and say that the name of Jesus is the one name given under heaven whereby all men must be saved--if at the same time we confess that for ourselves that one name is not enough, and that we must call ourselves not just Christians but a whole series of other names in order to make clear where we stand? How can we pretend there is a fellowship in Christ big enough and deep enough to hold together all the races and peoples of the earth in all their colossal variety, if we confess that we don't have a fellowship big enough and deep enough to hold us Christians together in one family? Our divisions are a public denial of the sufficiency of Calvary. No task is more urgent than the task of penitent and patient wrestling with these divisions, till Christ Himself restores to us the unity which is His will."¹¹

      Can you in good conscience evade that challenge?

2. Evangelism demands it.

      Evangelism, the task of witness, at home and abroad, has been at the centre of the concern for unity. It is strangely only when we are witnessing that the Faith comes alive to our own hearts in all its thrilling fullness. Unity could mean obedient witness to those who do not know Christ, with no hindrance from us greater than is necessary. There would be less room for that evasion which so often rebuffs the evangelist, "I belong to someone else" which simply masks a desire to have done with any conversation about Christ.

3. Justice Demands It.

      I think that it is quite unlikely that a divided church can ever raise an effective voice about many of the great social questions of today. We have great resources in those who are members of our churches, placed in positions of responsibility where they can be witnesses. But we have not really begun to explore the possibilities of members as citizens setting their faces towards the democratic realisation of desirable ends. To take only one instance, though it is to my mind one of the most important, it can not be seriously argued that Australia does not have the resources to expand its Aid programmes in assistance of our neighbours in Asia (and in Africa). It is not the capacity to help that we lack, it is the effective will to help that we are lacking. Could a Government resist a plea to increase Aid if all those who were Christians were prepared to use their rights as citizens to achieve that end?

4. Spiritual Health Requires It.

      A church turned in upon itself has a predictable future: death. And little will be lost by its demise. How many churches are there in Australia which have run into prosperous days through new approaches to stewardship and yet this prosperity is largely used for their own benefit. We build bigger "barns" (churches?). I have heard ministers ask, "But what real difference would unity make in a local church?" The difference between being absorbed with oneself and absorbed in tasks of witness across the earth seems to me to be the difference between life and death. How many churches have a budget loaded towards local needs? Would it be 98 per cent in Australia? How many churches budget as a matter of course for the work of Inter-Church Aid? What is the proportion of our giving

which is for "others"? It is as "members one of another" that we live in Christ. When we stand with Christ we stand with our brethren. When we will not stand with those whom Christ has made our brethren, do we stand with Christ? Can we be spiritually mature and ignore the half (and more) of the world's population which can not ever expect to reach a full humanity through lack of basic necessities?

      Unity and mission are not optional interests for the Christian. They are of the heart of the Faith.

      1. Stephen Neill, THE UNFINISHED TASK, 1957, pages 8-9.
      2. W. A. Visser't Hooft, Editor. THE EVANSTON REPORT, 1955, page 1.
      3. J. Robert Nelson, "The Third Assembly in Perspective", ENCOUNTER, Vol. 21, No. 1, 1960, page 36.
      4. W. A. Visser't Hooft, THE PRESSURE OF OUR COMMON CALLING, 1959, pages 74-75.
      5. John Lawrence, Editor. FRONTIER, Autumn 1959, page 158.
      6. A. M. Allchin, THE ABBE PAUL COUTURIER, 1960, page 12.
      7. Lesslie Newbigin, Opening Address at the Conference.
      7a. Lesslie Newbigin, THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD, 1953, page 27.
      7b. Albert Outler, THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION AND THE UNITY WE SEEK, 1958, page 10.
      8. Lesslie Newbigin, THE REUNION OF THE CHURCH, Revised Ed., 1960, page 102.
      9. F. W. R. Nichol, GOD'S PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD, 1960, page 33.
      10. Hendrik Kraemer, A THEOLOGY OF THE LAITY, 1958, pages 18, 19.
      11. Lesslie Newbigin, Opening Address at the Conference.