Office Address: PO Box 2045, Milton, Brisbane, QLD
Contact: Glenine Hamlyn, The General Secretary
Phone: 07 3369 6792 Fax: 07 3369 8573 Email: gensec@qct.org.au
Website: http://www.qct.org.au/
Brief Description/History
In Queensland, ecumenical activity was practiced by the Anglican Church as well as ecumenically-minded Protestants in the Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches. Nevertheless within each of these three churches there were people who nursed an underlying prejudice against anything that smacked of 'Romish practices' - and for some, that included the Anglican Church!
The Queensland Ecumenical Council of Churches (QECC)
The emergence of the Queensland Ecumenical Council of Churches (QECC) in the 1960s was, however, a response in Queensland to the ecumenical imperative of the Gospel - particularly with awareness of the prayer of Jesus in John 17.
That body had connections to the Australian Council of Churches, which in turn was connected with the World Council of Churches (WCC).
QECC included the Anglican, Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches, as well as the Society of Friends (Quakers).
Some Protestant churches - like the Baptist Church and Churches of Christ in Qld - chose not to belong to the QECC, which was perceived as being too liberal. Attempts to bring these churches into conversations with the QECC failed, and they formed their own coalition with the name Queensland Council of Churches (QCC).
At this time, the Roman Catholic Church was not part of any of the ecumenical councils that were associated with the World Council of Churches, the Australian Council of Churches or the Queensland Ecumenical Council. Nor was the Lutheran Church. Yet both the Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church had Observer Status in the QECC.
Both of these churches have been member churches of Queensland Churches Together since its inauguration.
From the 60s onward, the situation in Queensland and elsewhere changed dramatically following the new stance of Roman Catholics after Vatican 2.
Shared services and shared witness became increasingly common, and there was some sharing of facilities between Roman Catholics and churches related to the ACC and the WCC.
In the 1960s there were the first moves that led in 1977 to the inauguration of the Uniting Church with the merging of the Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches (some congregations of the Presbyterian Church chose not to join, as did some Congregationals).
The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is born
The Uniting Church adopted an agreed Basis of Union which commits its members to working for closer relationships and union with other churches in seeking for that unity which is Christ's gift and will for his Church. The UCA became a member of QECC at its foundation.
The spirit of the World Council of Churches and its counterparts in Australia was a great encouragement to Australian Protestants involved in the UCA and to the national and state ecumenical bodies. It also encouraged them to seek closer relationships with the Roman Catholic Church at national, state, regional and local levels.
Training together for ministry: the Brisbane College of Theology
In 1983 the Brisbane College of Theology was formed. Under this arrangement, people preparing for ministry in the Anglican, Uniting and Roman Catholic Churches undertook their theological studies together. This was a significant step in Queensland ecumenism and aroused much interest at national and international levels. This arrangement continues until today.
Striving for one ecumenical body
Early in 1988 Bishop Jim Cuskelly, on the advice of the Brisbane Archdiocesan Commission for Ecumenism, proposed to a meeting of the Catholic bishops of Queensland that they should look for a way of setting up a single structure in Queensland which would be more representative of the churches than the two existing councils.
This proposal was subsequently put to a combined meeting of the Queensland Anglican and Catholic bishops. Both parties supported it.
In the same year, QECC invited all the churches in Qld to appoint representatives to a working party which would draft a constitution for a new State Church body which all churches would feel able to join. It was to replace QECC and perhaps also QCC. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese and Lutheran District of Queensland appointed representatives to the working party. Some more cautious member churches of QCC did not participate.
The working party worked through 1989 and into 1990 to design a structure which would be acceptable to as many churches as possible. The drafters hoped that the Baptist Union, the Churches of Christ and the Presbyterians might eventually participate. That has not yet happened, but various links with them remain.
During this time the Commission for Ecumenism of the Catholic Church, through its many contacts in the parishes and by means of its newsletter, was keeping the people of the Archdiocese aware of what was happening. In May 1991 each participating church sent a delegation of four to a consultation which was to formally respond to the draft constitution.
The delegation from the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane was: Bishop James Cuskelly, Mrs Elizabeth Harrington, Father Michael Putney, who was Chair of the Commission for Ecumenism and Vice Rector of Pius XII Seminary, and Brother Eric Blumenthal FMS, Executive Officer of the Commission for Ecumenism.Bishop Cuskelly was also representing the other four Catholic Dioceses of Queensland.
The consultation met over three days and recommended to their respective churches that they accept the constitutions. It was proposed that the new structure be called Queensland Churches Together, and a date was set as the date for the inauguration of the new body: 1 December, 1991.The name was chosen because it has a more dynamic ring to it than one which spoke of a 'Council of Churches' - and probably because the word 'council' evoked memories of past difficulties and conflicts.
Queensland Churches Together (QCT)
On 1st December 1991, the inauguration of the new body was held in the chapel of St Peter's Lutheran College with a very encouraging attendance. It was an inspiring service built around the theme of light and water. Each participating church had prepared a banner which was carried in procession into the Chapel and tied symbolically to a large paschal candle. Catholic Archbishop Francis Rush gave the homily, in which he focused on Christian unity and the work of Queensland Churches Together, referring to it as a "long and costly endeavour...The reconciliation that we aim at, like our Lord's redemptive work, can be achieved only through suffering and the cross. "Our journey to glory, like that of Jesus Himself, can only be through Calvary." The heads of churches were all represented in the service and washed each other's feet in an act symbolising service to each other.
Regional ecumenism: Rockhampton Churches Together
On Wednesday, 11 December 1991, a service to celebrate the inauguration of QCT was also held in Rockhampton. St Paul's Anglican Cathedral was packed. Leaders and worshippers from the Anglican, Lutheran, Roman Catholic and Uniting Churches throughout the city affirmed their support for this new and exciting step towards ecumenism.
In his address to us, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Rockhampton, the Rt Revd Brian Heenan, emphasised our oneness in Christ, that we are truly brothers and sisters no matter what denomination we may belong to. He prayed that the churches would foster Christian unity through prayer, worship, dialogue and direct action.
Soon after, Rockhampton Churches Together was born. It continues to be represented personally at QCT meetings by Dorothy Demack.
The leaders of the participating church continued - and still continue - to meet together regularly, as do their counterparts in Brisbane (Heads of Churches meetings, held bi-monthly).
The constituting members of Queensland Churches Together are: Anglican Church of Australia; Antiochian Orthodox Church; Armenian Apostolic Church; Greek Orthodox Church; Lutheran Church of Australia (Queensland District); Queensland Congregational Fellowship; Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) – a non-credal church; Roman Catholic Church; Romanian Orthodox Church; Uniting Church in Australia. In 2003 the Salvation Army joined QCT. In July 2007 the Coptic Orthodox Church was also admitted to membership. QCT is a membership organization, which means, in order to reach consensus about what they want, the members meet regularly, represented in each case by delegates of their choice. This takes place in monthly Executive meetings and twice a year in so-called General Meetings. QCT's structure creates many spaces for dialogue between its various members.
The Members of QCT share the conviction that in order to see clearly the image of Jesus Christ in the world around us and respond, we need to overcome the divisions between us. In order to be agents of healing, we need to be healed of our prejudices about each other.
"I dream of an ecumenical movement as a movement of people who are messengers of God's grace, a people open to each other and discovering the presence of Christ and of God's grace in the other. To see Christ in the other is so much stronger than all that separates us. The reward in the search for visible unity of the churches in Christ is to discover the presence of the grace of God in each other on the common journey as we walk together." (Revd Dr Samuel Kobia, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, in: Called to the One Hope. A New Ecumenical Epoch, Geneva 2006, p.2)"
At its 1952 world assembly held in Lund, Sweden, the World Council of Churches adopted the so-called Lund Principle. The Lund Principle states that “given unity in Christ” churches “should do together everything except what irreconcilable difference of sincere conviction compels us to do separately”.
Queensland Churches Together expresses this goal through its own set of AIMS.
QCT aims to encourage and enable Members to: (a) pray together and share their faith, and to find ways to worship together, while respecting each Church's disciplines, doctrines and traditions; (b) foster Christian unity through dialogue; (c) develop a deeper understanding of evangelism/evangelisation in Australia's cultural context; (d) give prophetic leadership to each other and the community; and (e) dialogue with people of other faiths and ideologies in order to further mutual understanding and strive jointly for peace.
QCT has two full-time and two part-time staff, plus a volunteer who regularly assists with the work of the Churches Together Indigenous People's Partnership (CTIPP). The staff facilitate joint action of the members of QCT in various fields, in consultation with the governing bodies and commissions. In the case of Christian World Service, there are integral links to the main office of Christian World Service, which is part of the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA).
Activities
The following commissions and sub-committees carry out the work of QCT:
- Faith and Order Commission,
- Churches' Education Committee,
- Ecumenical Hospital Chaplaincy Advisory Committee, and
- Ecumenical Refugee Support Committee.
Christian World Service (CWS)
The work of CWS has been closely allied with Queensland Churches Together since the its inception. CWS is a national programme of education on global justice issues and support for ecumenical partners overseas in their work for justice and peace.
Churches Together Indigenous People’s Partnership (CTIPP)
QCT is the host for an ecumenical ministry helping to build bridges between Indigenous people and other Australians through awareness-raising and advocacy: the Churches Together Indigenous People’s Partnership. This important ministry began in Han Spykerboer’s time as President – and has been one of the most significant parts of the work of QCT. It is supported mainly by the Anglican, Catholic and Uniting Churches. CTIPP is ecumenical and is directed primarily to non-indigenous people in our churches. It complements – never competes with – the ministries of the denominational churches among Indigenous people.
The growth and broadening of the scope of the work of Queensland Churches Together over the past ten years is seen in the number of committees and other groups which now come under its auspices, namely:
- Faith and Unity Commission;
- Ecumenical Projects Team with its two working groups:
- - on School Chaplaincy
- - on Tertiary Chaplaincy;
- Commission for Christian World Service;
- Commission for Churches Together Indigenous People’s Partnership (CTIPP Committee);
- Joint Churches Domestic Violence Prevention Program, and
- Commission on Liturgy.
- QCT sends an ecumenical delegation to the Queensland Forum for Christians, Jews and Muslims, which was founded in 2004. Its other members are appointed by the Islamic Council of Queensland and the Jewish Board of Deputies.
- QCT works closely with the Multifaith Centre at Griffith University.
- From time to time representatives of QCT are asked to take part in multi-faith initiatives hosted by Queensland Government.
Churches Together in Rockhampton,
Churches Together in Woodgate,
Churches Together in Bundaberg,
Churches Together in Caloundra,
Churches Together in the Border Region
Etc.
QCT relates to other local ecumenical groups, some of them with a long history, which are not formally associated with QCT. These include, for example, the Stanley River Ecumenical Pastoral Council, the Council of Christian Churches in Mount Isa, the Mackay and District Interchurch Council and the Western Suburbs Interchurch Council. In addition links are maintained with ecumenical schools such as Jubilee School on the Gold Coast.