despite old loyalties

Advances in Church unity despite old loyalties

Prom a Port Moresby correspondent There is a great deal of talk all over the world these days about Christian unity, and in many places an impressive number of different churches manage to work happily together within the increasingly powerful ecumenical movement. But compara tively few Christian communities anywhere have so far demon strated a complete committment to the ideal by merging into one church.

At the beginning of this year three South Pacific churches became one of that small band of dedicated pioneers—the Methodist Church in Melanesia, the Papua Ekalesia and the United Church of Port Moresby joined forces to become the United Church of Papua-New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Their gesture represents only a small effort, even in the South Pacific ecumenical scheme of things, but it is a significant advance, none theless.

How is this young church getting on in Papua-New Guinea after its first few months of union?

The people appear to be slipping easily enough into their new identity, and general opinion is that such changes as are being effected are so slight as to be relatively painless.

Dissension

There is some dissension, though -—chiefly among Europeans. One occasionally hears murmurings that, “We are being taken over by the Methodists,” or “Why should we have this way of doing things foisted on us?”

Also, as one church leader pointed out, there are some members (again, mostly Europeans with their more deeply rooted denominational dif ferences) who have been “agin it all from the beginning”, and are still grumbling a good deal.

Strangely, there has been no notice able outcry against what might reason ably have been regarded as a major cause of contention: the introduction of bishops, which none of the unit ing churches has had in the terri tory before.

These bishops will not be bishops in the full sense that Anglicans and Roman Catholics think of them; but they are a big step in that direction; and the calm acceptance of them is remarkable, since there are still plenty of Christians around who display a

startling readiness to fling furniture about at the mere mention of the episcopacy.

This move reflects a world-wide trend towards reinstating the office of bishop among denominations which for centuries have rejected it; and it was this trend which formed one of the main influences on United Church leaders in their decision to have bishops.

Progress

If the prevailing charity and co operation of its members is anything to go by, then the young church would seem to have before it a prospect of steady progress in an atmosphere of goodwill.

All this has been, and is being, made possible by the cordial relation ships which exist between territory churches generally. What progress

owards unity is being made here?

A good example of the spirit was o be found in the joint services held n Port Moresby during March and Vpril. In these, Christians from all >ver the town came together to vorship and to hear a series of iddresses given by Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Salvation Army, fongan Methodist and United Church speakers.

And shortly afterwards, for the first ime in Port Moresby, the Roman Catholics put a member of another lenomination in one of their pulpits, nviting Canon lan Stuart, Anglican ector of the town, to preach in St.

Gary’s cathedral.

Another example: the Anglican nd United Churches hope jointly to taff a primary school at an out tation which, under the comity f missions arrangement, is close to le Anglican and former Methodist order in the Milne Bay District.

Good work is done, too, by the felanesian Council of Churches, r hich rather gingerly maintains a ightly tense but nevertheless suc :ssful working relationship between le smaller, more fiercely Protestant lurches and those of the other de ominations.

The Roman Catholic Church is in •easingly taking part in ecumenical /ents, and (as in so many other laces) the barrier between Catholic id Protestant is the last really seri js obstacle which remains to be ■oken down by territory Christians.

At the time of writing, the latest icouraging development along these les was a conference of Pacific eologians in Lae attended by both rotestant and Roman representatives, ut this new-found entente proved o weak to include the Roman atholic Church in a pan-evangelical ission to be held in the territory ter this year.

Few open clashes

If therefore, the churches in Papua ew Guinea still have some way to • in their quest for unity, at least ere are now few open clashes and sputes. When disagreements do cur they are usually settled quietly id amicably between superiors of the sputing churches.

The only religious organisations nch come in for sustained enmity

(at least from any of the major churches) are the Jehovah’s Witnesses; and the Seventh-day Adventists.

It is often argued that the Witnesses; cannot be described as a Christian church, since they deny most of the fundamental Christian doctrines and consider that “religion is against God.” Accordingly, they and their work are often attacked by territory churchmen with a virulence which can be almost totally lacking in charity.

The Seventh-day Adventists are quite another matter. They are some times referred to as heretical; mostly, one understands, because of their Old Testament emphasis. But it would probably be nearer the mark to say that other churches resent them be cause they are given to poaching their members and to proselytising in areas which other denominations claim as their preserves.

Greater things to come

Whatever the rights and wrongs of these situations, the SDA’s produce some of the finest men and women in the territory.

These attitudes towards the Witnesses and SDA’s are lapses in an otherwise good contemporary record —a record giving hope for what one Catholic priest has called “greater things to come.”

But there is no cause for com placency or self-congratulation; after all, the churches have no business tc be divided in the first place.

And important as Christian unity may be, it is even more important that the territory churches should not become so absorbed in promoting cos> relationships between themselves that they forget the true object of theii existence.

Mr. Grabbled comment

Meanwhile, the future of the Church in the Islands has been commentec upon in Sydney by the Rev. C. F Gribble, general secretary of the Methodist Church’s Department oi Overseas Missions, when he presentee the 1968 report to the Board oj Missions.

Referring to the changes in P-NG Mr. Gribble said the Church hac been ready to learn a hard lesson foi Europeans—that Europeans had nc monopoly on talents. It might bt that new structures within the churches should be worked out b} the local people, too. He added: “Have we done right in transplant ing throughout the Pacific our AuS' tralian denominational procedures'

the people these must always seem iplex, foreign and unmanageable. ? of the big jobs for the church is develop its own pattern of organ ion related to its own culture and 1 of doing things.

One of our missionaries says, sre are few Australian missionaries ) can keep abreast of all the ips and committees of the church the demand for double-entry k-keeping. Yet this is the pattern are asking the people here to pt.’

Consider independence

[t would seem that the time is t for the autonomous conferences he Pacific and the United Church *apua and New Guina to consider lusly the nature of their inde lence and their place within the r ersal Church. There seems no reason why these churches should find the kind of autonomy which Id make them completely free to e their own decisions unhampered the machinery which binds them in the General Conference.

Ye know the strong loyalty and ition that has linked the Pacific ches with the Australian church ititutionally. The fellowship need be weakened with us and cer !y would be widened with others ; these churches to be in dent churches within the World ncil of Churches.

Ve would not press this, but we Id hope that in their own think they will be led to take some > that would be compatible with ter responsibility and adulthood, i steps have been taken by other ches in the Pacific and in many > of the world without any nution of needed missionary or icial assistance.”

Rev. C. F. Gribble