MR. G. R. STIRLING, B.A., is currently minister of our church at Canberra, where he has led the work since 1954. Prior to this he was the Youth Director for our South Australian churches.

      I was asked to write something on the World Convention for the Provocative Pamphlets. This then is a criticism, constructive I hope, of a great Convention. Any suggestions or comments made need to be seen alongside of the fact that for all of us the Convention was the experience of a lifetime. It must also be kept in mind that the opinions expressed are purely personal and may not be shared by any other delegate.

      1. Fellowship. The success of the World Convention in Edinburgh is wrapped up in one word--fellowship. Four thousand people came from thirty-three countries. They came with common interests, convictions, faith, and hopes. Introductions were not necessary; we all belonged to the same family. In buses, at meal times, between sessions, and in the smaller groups, as well as in the streets we "swapped" names, and places, and information about ourselves and our churches back home. The badge we wore was a badge of brotherhood. The meetings were a further expression of fellowship, the fellowship finding its fullest consummation in the Communion Service on the Sunday.

      The Convention was a success because it was a manifestation of a unity binding together more than three million people all round the world. We came from churches with differences in tradition and practice, but churches that are one in the desire to discover from the New Testament, the mind of Christ for His Church in this age. In private conversation and in study groups we talked frankly of our differences, but we never felt that they separated us, for we were all one in Christ. Here was unity in diversity.

      The World Convention is the one thing that expresses and witnesses to our one-ness as a world Brotherhood. By our very nature we cannot, have an authoritarian world organisation. Ultimate decisions among us are all made by and in the local congregation. Yet round the world Churches of Christ are engaged in a common task with a common: purpose. The only way to express this one-ness is in such a thing as the World Convention. Had the Spirit of God not moved men of insight and vision to begin these Conventions some thirty years ago, we may well have drifted apart from one another.

      To quote its constitution, the World Convention exists "in order to show more fully the essential one-ness of the Churches in the Lord Jesus Christ; to impart inspiration to the World Brotherhood; to cultivate the spirit of fellowship; to promote unity among the Churches; and to co-operate with Christians everywhere toward the unity of the Church upon the basis of the New Testament Scriptures.-

      The Sixth World Convention was true to its terms of reference.

      2. Witness. The Sixth World Convention made a great impact for our Brotherhood on the Scottish community, especially in Edinburgh Press, radio and television featured the Convention. The Civic Fathers recognised it in the official welcome and in the great reception and garden party at Lauriston Castle, and in the prominent floral display on the Mound. The Churches of Edinburgh welcomed the Convention, throwing open their pulpits to Convention preachers and

encouraging their members to attend the Convention services. Every bus passing the Usher Hall had a Convention badge. The man in the street, the shop girl, the waiter, the folk in the train or the bus, all wanted to know about it and showed genuine interest in hearing of who we were, where we came from and what we believed. One could almost wish that we could have such a Convention a dozen times a year in as many strategic places around the world, for the purpose of aiding the witness of local churches. Large numbers of Britons have never heard of Churches of Christ, for we are a small body in the United Kingdom. But Edinburgh knows now of our existence and something of our ideals. Likewise it will be a great lift to our growing Puerto Rican Churches to have the Convention in 1965.

      1. Buildings. The largest building in Edinburgh, Usher Hall, had been engaged for the Convention meetings, with overflows over the road in the Lothian Road, Presbyterian Church. A second building a mile away was used as a Convention office, post office, bank, travel bureau, book shop, meeting place, enquiry centre, rest room, and registration centre. It was not the fault of the organisers that this Assembly Hall had to be so far from Usher Hall, or that such facilities could not be housed at Usher Hall. The setting and organisation at the Assembly Hall were well nigh perfect.

      2. Organisation. The Convention organisation was good. It has built up over the years into a smooth well oiled machine. The genius of Dr. Jesse Bader could be seen throughout. (The Golden Wedding of the Baders was recognised during the Convention with a suitable gift.) Veteran Harry Holloway has been handling transport for 30 years. Theo Fisher and his programme committee worked hard before the Convention and harder still during it to keep speakers and others to the tightly packed time table. The Scots were splendid. There is only one Church in Edinburgh and a few in Glasgow. They did the planning at the local end and staffed the Assembly Hall with grace and charm and patience that were a model of Christian behaviour. They provided ushers at Usher Hall, which in itself was no mean task. The leadership of World Presidents, Tin and Mrs. Charles K. Green was a tribute to their own faith and ability, and did credit to our British Churches.

      The theme of the Convention was THE CHURCH COMMITTED TO CHRIST--CONCERNED FOR MAN. Three main addresses covering various aspects of this theme were planned for each morning. There was one main speaker each evening. There was a missionary rally on Wednesday afternoon wish three speakers. Thursday and Friday afternoons were given to study groups. As well as this a missionary talk and panel discussion that turned out to be seven short addresses were included on Wednesday morning. A missionary address and a symposium of three speakers was added to Thursday morning. On Friday morning the programme also carried an extra missionary talk, along with committee reports. Each evening programme also included what was supposed to be a brief missionary talk. In all there were 511 speaker, for the five days plus a goodly number of speeches. Daily the list of announcements grew like Topsy.

      Perhaps these could be roneoed at future Conventions and issued daily as a Convention news sheet. The impression one got was that there

were too many speakers. This writer who wished to be faithful to his commission and be at all sessions ended up feeling "punch drunk."

      1. Critique of Speakers. Some speakers were outstanding. Dr. George McLeod of Iona held a packed house with his great utterance calling us to a full orbed evangelism that brought the Saviour not only to the individual but to every phase of life. Rev. Murdo E. McDonald spoke to the preachers and called us to experience ourselves the grace of God, the power of the Spirit and the reality of the living Christ, that we preach about. This was great and impassioned preaching. Dr. Perry Gresham of U.S.A. perhaps forgot his planned subject but gave a great utterance on a subject in which he is an expert, that is the great contribution of Alexander Campbell to the Christian world, and our own need to do the same kind of thing in this generation. W. A. Welsh of Dallas, Texas, in a moving and worshipful communion service spoke simply and aptly on the text "You proclaim the Lord's death until He come."

      Some speakers were too heavy and dry for a Convention setting. In spite of the written instructions given to speakers, some read their sermons, and a couple read them very poorly. Many speakers went beyond their time and disorganised the programme. On two occasions addresses had to be deferred to later occasions only adding to the timing problem in these sessions. This spoiled the Sunday night service. A number of speakers wanted to start off with jokes and introductions but didn't seem to expect these to be included in their time. It would seem to be essential in future Conventions for the President to rise and announce that the preacher's time has expired. Pulling coat tails and other hints were disregarded by the worst offenders.

      2. Need For More Careful Selection of Speakers. Future programme committees will need to take a little more thought for the kind of audiences that attend World Conventions. It is true that about 300 American Churches paid for their ministers and wives to attend the Convention. However some 3,000 delegate were not ministers. Most of them were very ordinary folk from all walks of life and unaccustomed to listening to one heavy discourse after another. They came for inspiration as well as information. It would seem wise to have men and women who in simple language can inform the mind, stir the emotions and motivate the will. Attendances, particularly in the day time began to fall off. We questioned many people about this. They were of one accord that they were getting more than they could understand and digest.

      Some of the Americans told us that we did not hear their best preachers at the Convention. They said that the American brotherhood committees were prepared to pay for their executives to go to the Convention if they were given a place on the programme. We do not know if this is true, but nine out of eleven U.S. speakers were executives. Some of them gave, good addresses. But sometimes a man becomes an executive because he is a far better organiser than preacher. It would seem that the only standard of selection should be ability to preach the Word with simplicity, humble scholarship, power and conviction, and the ability to hold the interest of a congregation that has been sitting for six to eight hours a day for five days.

      3. Some Suggestions for Future Conventions.

      A. Optional Interest Sessions Each Morning. On Saturday, men, women and youth had their own Convention sessions along the lines of their particular interests. The three sessions were held concurrently during the whole morning. It is suggested that something like this could be planned each morning from 9 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. This would give the opportunity for many speakers to be heard on the themes in which they are experts, by those wishing to hear them, without crowding the rest of the programme. For example we heard eight nationals speaking on the theme "Christ at Work Among My People." They were good, but they were included in sessions where there were already too many addresses. They could well be grouped together in the suggested morning sessions under the heading of "International Round-Up" or same such title. Other morning interest sessions could have as their themes "Missionary Strategy". "Evangelism", "Local Church Programmes", "Christian Social Action", and so on. There could be an optional session on the great theological subjects for those with mental equipment and background to take it. These concurrent interest sessions would take the excessive load of speakers away from the inspirational full sessions of the Convention. They would also help the Programme Committee to solve its major problem, that of giving a place on the programme to all those whose national committees expected to have such a place. Such sessions would also make it possible to arrange the main full sessions of Convention as great services instead of meetings with a string of speakers.

      B. Three Main Inspirational Full Sessions a Day. It is suggested that at say 11 a.m., 4 p.m., and 7.30 p.m., the full sessions of the Convention be held as services with only one speaker at each. These should aim at giving those who attend, an experience of worship, inspiration, and great preaching. If we have round the world, great preachers, who can inspire, it would be well to get them to the place of the Convention. One, two, or three might do all the sessions--or there could be a different speaker at each. Speeches, presentations, announcements, and other similar items should be given, if necessary, before or after such sessions.

      C. Bible Study. It is suggested that at the morning inspirational sessions, the addresses take the form of Bible Studies, with all attending taking and using their Bibles. We have claimed to be a Bible people and such an opportunity of fellowship in Bible study would be welcomed by most delegates.

      D. A Slightly Longer Convention. There were only four full days of Convention apart from the opening night and the Sunday. A fuller and more leisurely Convention could be enjoyed if Sunday became the central day, with the Convention running say from Wednesday eight to Wednesday night. This would also give much more time for informal fellowship, with perhaps an extra sight seeing outing. The early afternoon should be kept quite free because people from round the world expect to be able to "do the shops", yarn, meet folk, write letters and rest a little.

      E. One Full Day for Study Groups. We will refer to study groups later. At this stage it is suggested that these occupy one full day from 9 a.m. till 5 p.m. with a break from 12.30 p.m. until 3 p.m.

      There were study groups, each of a hundred or more people meeting on two afternoons for an hour and a half. They were at work on six themes:--

      1. The Nature of the Unity We Seek.

      2. The Congregation and the Body of Christ.

      3. Who Is Jesus Christ?

      4. The Authority in Revelation.

      5. The Theology of Evangelism.

      6. The Ethical Demands of the Christian Gospel.

      Keen minds round the world had been at work on these themes, and the result was six full sets of studies, each running to about a dozen foolscap sheets. These came into the hands of delegates either just before or during Convention. Thus most delegates had not read them, or had not read them well. This was a pity. Some studies had questions that could have stimulated lively discussion, had delegates been able to do some real work on the subjects beforehand.

      Group leaders and their assistants seemed somewhat uncertain of what was expected of groups. The instruction was to let the groups amend the written studies so that the amended versions could go to churches around the world for further study. It was soon seen that this was impossible. However there were plenty of people willing to get up and have a say. No group arrived at findings, no group kept to the beaten track, no group made a real job of amendment, and red herrings were as plentiful as Scottish kippered herrings. Nevertheless the over-all result was good, even if unintended. These sessions gave opportunity to Hiram P. Sykes from Texas, and Bill Smith from Gundagai, and William Walters from Wigan, and Tumburumbu Paul from Africa get up and express themselves on their favourite theme at a World Convention, and this was splendid.

      The Study Group idea is new in World Conventions, and has only been used at two so it has been experimental. The present writer has these suggestions to make.

      1. Groups should be much smaller. Twenty should be the maximum size for groups and they could easily accommodated all over the Convention Assembly Hall and rooms.

      2. Delegates should be invited but not urged to join a group. Group discussion day could be free day for those not desiring to take part.

      3. Discussion material should be in the hands of delegates three months ahead of Convention. This would give opportunity not only for a thorough grasp of the material but also some discussion of it in the local church in which the delegate is a member. This would involve large numbers of non-attenders in the World Convention.

      4. Each group should be expected to work on four or five selected propositions or questions arising out of the material. This would make the discussion purposeful by keeping it on the track.

      5. Findings should be expected from each group. This would also encourage discussion that gets somewhere. Group findings need not be unanimous. Points of unanimity and difference could be faithfully recorded. These findings could then be added to the original material and circulated round the world to Churches for further discussion.

      In the Convention Handbook there were prepared orders of worship

that were read by various national representatives at the commencement of each session. During these we worshipped briefly. But whatever atmosphere was created was soon lost in what one might call preliminaries. After that the choir, the soloists and the addresses were items on a programme. There was little atmosphere and without atmosphere there is no inspiration. There was much coming and going. Even the worship session was another item in a meeting. This writer has no objection to printed prayers and responses, but these were often long and not well read.

      The great exception was the Communion Service. This was the only occasion when we really worshipped together in the full sense of worship. The Sunday night session should have been, as the final gathering of the Convention, the glorious climax. Here again there was little sense of worship or atmosphere. There were installations, recognitions and citations. There was an address crowded out of the Saturday's programme. All these were virtually preliminaries, but the audience was tired by the time Dale Fiers of the U.S.A. was able to bring the final convention challenge. To those of us who are used to the atmosphere and unity of purpose and sense of expectation of the Australian gospel service, this one had more of the atmosphere of a Sunday School prize giving.

      SOME SUGGESTIONS. Here are some suggestions concerning the worship of the World Convention.

      1. Preliminaries such as announcements, presentations of gavels and Bibles, speeches and recognitions, committee reports, and the like should all be in a short business session by themselves, prior to each main session.

      2. Each main session should be a service rather than a meeting. It should be a unity in theme and purpose. Each hymn, reading, prayer and anthem should be leading, with the one address, to the great climax of commitment to Christ. Each moment, it should not be hard to sense the presence of God, closer than our nearest neighbour. People cannot carry away a lot from a large number of sermons, but they can carry away newness of life and purpose from the total impact of great and inspiring worship.

      3. Each worship programme could be printed in the Convention handbook and could proceed with a minimum of announcement. There could be full use of great music.

      The above comments and suggestions have been made with the full knowledge that it is no easy task for a committee to weld together personalities from 33 nations into a Convention programme that could please perfectly every one of 4,000 delegates. That the Sixth World Convention was such a great success is a tribute to every one who had a hand in it, especially the American and British planning committees. Let me repeat again, the World Convention was a remarkable demonstration of unity.

      Here were Disciples who cooperate with the American unified promotion programme, along with Disciples from independent churches. Open-membership churches from the States were represented along with Britishers, many of whose churches still practice a carefully closed communion.

      There were representatives of Churches of Christ or Disciples who have already entered into union with other bodies in the Philippines, Japan and Russia. American preachers were there who

not only wear the title "Reverend" as the normal thing at home, but also had it on their tags, placed there by British officials whose churches are only beginning to give some recognition to the need of paid permanent ministers.

      Every shade of theological view point was represented and expressed itself in discussion groups. Americans told proudly of their great and successful new schemes to involve laymen in the full life of the Church. Britishers told how for 150 years their whole life had been one of lay activity.

      Every land came with experience of applying the New Testament message as they understood it to the circumstances and life of that land, and all were different.

      Yet here was true unity in diversity. None thought of suggesting that any other had no right to be there, or to be in full fellowship. HERE WAS AS MUCH ORGANIC UNITY AS WE CAN EXPECT OR DESIRE FOR THE CHURCH.

      When we have talked of pleading for Christian unity we have not desired world or national authoritative bodies determining the life of the whole church. Surely we have desired Christian congregations, each responsible for its own life and faith and worship, but all co-operating together in service and evangelism on local, national and world levels.

      The World Convention showed us this kind of organic union at work, and it could well be a pointer of the direction in which we can work towards the organic union of the whole body of Christ.

      The main ingredients of this unity at the World Convention were:

      1. A realisation of the truth preached by our fathers, that the church is already one, and the need to demonstrate that one-ness instead of demonstrating our differences.

      2. An appreciation of the honesty and genuineness of the convictions of those who differed from us in practice and ideas.

      3. An appreciation of the fact that in spite of differences we were engaged happily together in service of the one Lord, in one Brotherhood.

      4. A genuine spirit of love and good will.

      Perhaps it is in these directions that we can look for the fulfilment of our plea for Christian unity.

      The Sixth World Convention in Edinburgh was a great success.