Twelve months into my role as President of the NSW Ecumenical Council, I feel as though I’ve had an experience of entering a new world,  but an exciting and enriching world. So I thank God for the opportunity to pray and celebrate the unity in Christ and to work and reach out to extend the unity in Christ with my Christian brothers and sisters in 18 of our member churches of NSWEC. 

Since I joined the Uniting Church, coming from Korean Methodist Church in 1987, I have seen significant changes in my church and other churches in Australia.  In those 35 years, churches have experienced a decrease in membership and an increase in the age of membership and significant changes in cultural diversity. 

In 1987 Christianity was a major religion, with 74 % of the population of Australia identifying as Christian. And Sundays were kept as the Sabbath in the truest sense, and most shops were not open. But 35 years later, only 43.9 % of Australians say they are Christians, and the average Christians are well into their retirement phase and can shop any day of the week.   

There was a steady increase in cultural diversity as Australia adopted the Multicultural policy in 1977. 

Being a Multicultural Australia, we are unlimited in our communities’ diversity of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. It also means that the nation has many faiths, including many Christian denominations. 

The 2021 census results show a significant increase in Christian denominations, mainly Orthodox denominations. And this is one of the exciting experiences of my first encounter with the NSWEC work, learning about our ancient relatives, the Orthodox churches. It involved a stiff learning curve to learn many things, but learning the names of our member churches and how to address the leaders of different denominations was tough, let alone catching up with various rituals and theological differences. 

But at the same time, I learnt that ecumenism is not a diplomatic relationship but an intentional engagement of deepening our relationship with each other in Christ and discovering Christ’s mission for the 21st century in each other’s shared heritage and different techniques. 

In the past 12 months, I saw many challenges the NSWEC experienced in bringing people to ecumenical gatherings, whether for a prayer gathering, executive meeting, various commission work or Heads of Churches meeting. 

The pandemic, which started in 2019, has stopped almost everyone and everything on our planet for some time, and its impacts are still lingering. However, with technological advancement, we developed ways of communicating without necessarily meeting face to face but virtually: zoom meetings, streaming and various online services connected people while we were in lockdown as necessary tools. Although using technology is still challenging for our human brain, wired for hunter-gather mode,  this virtual communication has also enabled us to connect with people who would otherwise be unable to connect. 

Through the Zoom meetings, I started my journey with the NSWEC, and these would become an essential method for the Council to meet as we moved into a hybrid mode. Since we have many member churches in different parts of NSW /ACT, technology allows us to connect with people from other states of Australia or other parts of the world and, at the same time, invites us to think broad beyond geographical boundaries and more. 

We have now moved into a new world, meeting without meeting face to face; we need a new imagination for our shared aspiration for Christian Unity.  And the ways we have learned to cope best with this new challenge is a gift in disguise to be explored and developed. 

I want to highlight a few things that the NSWEC has focused on in the last twelve months: Firstly, the conversation that the Heads of Churches had on Climate Change by hearing from three people, a theologian, the Climate Ambassador and an Environmental activist/educator.  Climate Crisis is not a topic of the news or media catchwords but the actual situation that the creation order is facing. As Christian churches, we have a moral responsibility to speak out about the destruction of forests and natural habitats for wild animals, subsequently leading to animal species extinction. And I trust all our Heads of churches will raise their voice like the Green Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Francis. And all the members live up to justice for the environment, like  Jessica Morethorpe, a young Christian who started the “Five Leaf Eco Awards” ( see https://fiveleafecoawards.org/ ), encouraging churches to become examples of sustainable living. 

Secondly, the response NSW Ecumenical Council made to the Government regulation on Covid, “the condition of entering to worship”, was timely and helpful, especially for the people crying out for guidance amid confusion and uncertainty. Thanks to Rev Dr Ray Williamson, who put the statement together.  

Another thing I’d like to mention is our support of the Uluru Statement from the heart. The Annual Dinner 2022 invited the Aboriginal leader, Brook Prentis, as a keynote speaker who passionately spoke about a crucial issue that Christian churches could not ignore: Reconciliation. And it is also my pledge as a Christian and Australian and as the president of the NSWEC to walk closely with the First Nations people, to work together to bring a society where justice prevails for all people in this ancient land that the Aboriginal people have cared and loved for tens of thousands years. 

As someone privileged to experience life in regional places, I know first-hand how isolated and excluded one can feel in the regions. So I have a strong interest and commitment to connecting with the churches in the regional areas, celebrating the work of their ecumenical endeavours and supporting them with our prayers. And this I would love to see as our next task.

It is still too early for me to know the full taste of ecumenism. Still, I am beginning to see the ecumenical work of NSWEC as it helps us respond to the call of Christ, our Lord and Saviour, for the whole community, whether it is Christian communities, human communities, or God’s entire creation order. 

In Korea, we say, “It will be lighter and easier to carry a sheet of paper with two people.”  

Together, in the name of NSWEC, we not only carry the ministry of Christ easier but also bear witness that the world can believe that God sent Christ to this world. “ Father! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one so that the world will believe that you sent me.” ( John 17: 21 )

It has been a privilege to walk and work closely with Fr Shenouda, our tireless, devoted General Secretary, and the wonderful core group, who were always ready to give their wisdom and expertise unreservedly for the work of the NSWEC. 

 

Myung Hwa Park