Pacific Church Leaders Meeting

Date: July 31st – August 03rd, 2017

Venue: Auckland

Theme: “Re-reading the Stars:  Renewing the Household of God in the Pacific”

 

Brief Overview

Cited below is Resolutions 2 of the 10th General Assembly’s Ecumenism commission that was held in Honiara, Solomon Islands, in 2013. This resolution is the basis for this consultation.

“The PCC Secretariat, PTC/GPP, SPATS, MATS[1] and theological schools of member churches to establish and implement a process of reflection, rethinking and renewal of the ecumenical movement at all levels – grassroots, regional and national – particularly in the areas of ecumenical identity, ecumenical solidarity and social justice action, and ecumenical leadership and theological education”

The resolution was implemented through a renewal programme designed by the secretariat. It used the formation series (a series of biblical topics from governance to the care of the environment) as the basis for the renewal. The emphasis varied according to the country context where the renewal programme was implemented. In 2014 and 2015, the programme was implemented in the following countries: Vanuatu; Solomon Islands; Kiribati; Pohnpei; Maohi Nui and the Cook Islands. 

In addition, the 2013 General Assembly gave its endorsement of and support for the PTC Council’s decision to implement a research project on ecumenical cooperation and relation since the 1980s. Resolution 8 is as follows: “The PCC Assembly endorses and supports the conduct of the research project on ‘Ecumenical Relations in the Pacific Islands since the 1980s: Developments – Problems and Perspectives’ under the auspices of the Institute for Research & Social Analysis of the Pacific Theological College.”

These two process (ecumenical renewal programme and the research project), while implemented independently, are now the basis to re-envisioning regional ecumenical cooperation and relations, in this early part of this century. Hence, in many respects, it is hoped that their outcomes will provide valuable insights and challenges to the re-envisioning process. The consultation is to collectively discern a way forward on ecumenical renewal based on the churches’ experiences, research study recommendations and insights from global ecumenical trends.

Objective

Discern together a renewal framework for the ecumenical movement in the Pacific in light of the churches experiences since 2013, the recommendations from the in-country consultations and the research project, and the global ecumenical trends.

[1]Melanesian Association of Theological Schools