Australian Baptists & Uniting Church hold theological dialogue
By Tony Cupit There is a good relationship in Melbourne, Australia,
between the Baptist and Uniting Churches (UCA), a body that arose in 1977 as an amalgamation in Australia of Methodists, Presbyterians and Congregationalists. On two occasions, in the 1980s and the 1990s, theological conversations within the State of Victoria (where Melbourne is the capital city) have been initiated. However, these left no lasting legacy, no reports were issued, and only the immediate participants were aware and affected. Baptists in Australia generally have little or no such theological conversations with other churches. However, in 2006, the secretary of the Christian Unity Work Group of the UCA, Sandy Yule, approached the then National President of Australian Baptist Ministries (ABM), Gwyn Milne, about holding theological conversations at a national level between the two churches. Discussions began in 2007 and concluded in 2012 with the launch of the report of the conversations at a meeting of both churches attended by the General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, Neville Callam. The UCA Work Group can negotiate on behalf of the UCA, but “Baptist structure and governance” does not provide a formal route for either the sanctioning of or adoption of the outcome of the dialogues. However the dialogue was acknowledged by the ABM and the Baptist participants were recognized and affi rmed as being “representative of Australian Baptist thought and practice.” The Baptist representatives were Milne, Ken Manley and Tony Cupit, all identifi ed closely with the BWA.
A workshop on the Bible and biblical interpretation had an
extended discussion on the meaning of interpretation. Miyon Chung gave an overview on the basic issues in hermeneutics, highlighting overarching principles such as the Bible’s context, the historical context and the interpreter’s context. Tribute was paid to the fi rst BWA Regional Secretary for Asia
and APBF General Secretary Edwin Lopez, who died shortly before the start of the congress on August 31. Lopez, from the Philippines, was Baptist leader in Asia from 1980-1997. A new executive was elected to lead the APBF over the next
fi ve years, led by Ross Clifford of Australia as president. Others elected included vice presidents Edwin Lam of Singapore, Dave Kwok from Hong Kong and Tapan Chowdhury of Bangladesh. Resu was elected to serve another fi ve years as APBF general secretary. A Development Consultation, a pre-congress event that was
sponsored by a number of partners, including Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the BWA, explored how Asian Baptists can better serve the poor. Almost 200 delegates from 14 countries attended. Subjects examined included practicing distinctive Christian development; preparing for and managing disasters; and the place of a rights-based approach to development. The 9th
APBF Congress will be held in Indonesia in 2017. As to why such an initiative between the churches was
important, the report affi rmed the importance of seeking a greater understanding of each other as “gift” through truthful sharing. This was recognized as one aspect of our own Christian discipleship. Of course there was no thought of abandoning traditional commitments or practice, but rather a willingness to be open to learn from each other. Both churches affi rmed the vital nature of baptism as the point of entry into the fullness of Christian discipleship and both asserted that that baptism is “lifelong and unrepeatable.” From the outset, while acknowledging our spiritual unity in Christ, the purpose of the conversations was to concentrate on practical issues that affect both churches, especially where there can be interaction and sometimes misunderstanding. Consequently the area of church membership was agreed upon as a suitable subject for scrutiny and discussion, and allied issues like baptism and covenant were thoroughly canvassed. Both churches prepared a statement of their church’s historic approach to the issues of church membership, baptism and covenant. As a result, the representatives of each church responded to the other’s statement identifying points of agreement and of tension.
important questions were posed for distribution to the two churches:
1. 2.
4. 5.
How do we discern a readiness for baptism and church readiness in those applying for baptism?
How do we understand our membership of a particular
congregation to be related to our membership of the universal church?
3. What do we mean by the word “covenant” and how might
this concept assist our practice of achieving and deepening church membership?
How should we deal with our differing stances on the baptizing of infants?
How might dialogue itself contribute to consolidating the
reality of our common membership in the universal church, the body of Christ?
The report stated that the dialogue “had been marked by a high level of mutuality and personal sharing, a clear recognition on all sides of the continuing imperfections and inadequacies in the life of our churches and the positive value of our search together for clearer understanding of the will of Christ for His Church.”
Tony Cupit is a former director of the Baptist World Alliance
JANUARY/MARCH 2013 25
AUSTRALIA
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