1. In the first paper presented at the Sixth International Consultation of United and Uniting Churches Reinhard Groscurth drew attention to the third vision of the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 2:1 5). This is the vision of a Jerusalem rebuilt not on its original plan but as a city without walls, guarded only by the Lord, who would be a wall of fire all round it and the glory within it.

2. That made his paper a true "keynote" address. Again and again the consultation returned to language about breaking down walls in order to be "built together" in terms of the consultation theme (Ephesians 2:22).

3. Like the previous five consultations this one was brought into being at the request of the United and Uniting Churches by a partnership of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and a host church. The host church was the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, which reached its present form in 1992. An even more recently united church, the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa, reminded the consultation of the inter connection between the quest for unity and the quest for liberation. A printing error which spoke of "UNTIED" churches may have been a prophetic symbol of this linking of unity and freedom.

4. A significant development at this consultation was the fuller inclusion in its programme of reflection on the various steps towards unity which can be taken by churches and the various forms of reconciliation and developed relationship which can exist between churches.

5. It was abundantly clear, as at previous consultations, that those from united and uniting churches greatly valued the opportunity to share experiences. Yet it was equally clear that there are to be no walls around this group of churches. They do not wish to be seen as a special kind of church but as markers of progress towards being the one church of Jesus Christ. They are penitently aware of the limitations on that progress but they also rejoice in having moved forward together.

6. The phrase "United and Uniting Churches" covers both those for whom the process envisages a definite organic goal and who are still open to further unions; and those whose context and whose time does not give them such a definite vision, but who are able to celebrate their place on that same journey as an authentic expression of the search for visible unity. They are churches that have sought by union to help realise the first of the functions of the World Council of Churches "To call the Churches to the goal of visible unity in one faith and in one eucharistic fellowship expressed in worship and in common life in Christ, and to advance towards that unity in order that the world may believe".

7. That first function, it was agreed by the consultation, should remain in its key position in the WCC Constitution.

8. The Consultation gathered 21 29 March 1995 at the Madge Saunders Conference Centre, Ocho Rios, Jamaica. It was the latest in a significant series of meetings (Bossey (1967), Limuru (1970), Toronto (1975), Colombo (1981), and Potsdam (1987)) which have explored the challenges then facing united and uniting churches, and focused the contribution they were then called upon to make to the one ecumenical movement.¹

9. Participating were some 52 persons from 19 countries including representatives of 33 united churches, church union negotiations and efforts towards greater visible unity. A wide diversity of united churches was present, from the earliest (1817) to the most recent (1994) and displaying a variety of ecclesiological approaches to union, as well as many of the current union negotiations. The consultation was moderated by Martin Cressey, with Faith and Order Moderator Mary Tanner and Vice Moderator Paul Crow present. Observers were present from other churches, and from the Jamaica Council of Churches; three participants had been named as observers on behalf of Christian World Communions (the Anglican Consultative Council, the Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council, and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches). In addition we were pleased to have an observer from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. We regretted that the observers appointed by the Caribbean Conference of Churches and by the Orthodox Church were unable to be present. The meeting was organized by Faith and Order staff member Tom Best, with Monica Schreil as administrator. The local organizer was Raymond Coke of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, assisted by Jane Dodman, Joyce Williams and Pam Reid, as well as the whole staff of the Madge Saunders Conference Centre.

10. Goals of the meeting included (1) reflecting on the identity and role of united churches within the one ecumenical movement; (2) hearing from and reflecting on recent church unions (in Jamaica and in South Africa) and current union negotiations, as well as other forms of inter church discussion; and (3) exploring further forms of contact and coordination among the united and uniting churches. In preparing for the consultation, participants had been asked to reflect on three corresponding topics: how do I understand the distinctive identity and vocation of my own united or uniting church? what does the gospel imperative towards greater visible unity mean in my own local and national setting? are further forms of fellowship needed among the united and uniting churches? If so, what might these be and how can they be adequately supported?

11. An extensive collection of background papers had recalled the results of the previous meetings and introduced the main themes to face us in Ocho Rios. In addition to the classic topics which have engaged the united and uniting churches (conversion, identity, forms of union, mission), several papers emphasized the role which worship may have within the search for visible unity.

12. Main papers were given on the themes of conversion and identity of united and uniting churches (Reinhard Groscurth, former Ecumenical Officer, Evangelical Church of the Union and the only person present at all 6 United and Uniting Churches consultations!); their vocation to mission and service (Roderick Hewitt, Secretary for Education in Mission, Council for World Mission, and a member of the host church); and their vocation to unity (Rena Karefa Smart, Ecumenical Officer, Washington Diocese, Episcopal Church U.S.A.). The first of these explored the origins, progress and relationships of united and uniting churches; the second developed the challenge to united and uniting churches from the gospel imperative to mission; the third explored the challenge, arising from the gospel imperative to unity, posed by united and uniting churches to the one ecumenical movement.

13. A series of panels explored the most recent church union (the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa) and several of the currently active union negotiations. These included the Church Unity Commission in South Africa, ENFYS (the Commission of the Covenanted Churches in Wales), the Tripartite Discussions in India, the Negotiating Churches Unity Council in New Zealand, and the "Together on the Way" process in the Netherlands. Also explored were the sustaining relationship between the Evangelical Church of the Union and the United Church of Christ, the Disciples of Christ United Church of Christ Ecumenical Partnership, and the Consultation on Church Union in the United States. In addition, there were presentations of experiences of union at the local level (the Local Ecumenical Partnerships in the U.K. and the Cooperative Ventures in New Zealand), as well as two inter-church agreements not presently aiming at structural integration, namely the Leuenberg Agreement between Reformation churches in Europe, and the Porvoo Common Statement between British and Irish Anglican Churches and Nordic and Baltic Lutheran Churches.²

14. Our life and work was undergirded by worship organized by the consultation Chaplain Diane Kessler. Our worship sought to enable us to hear God's Word, to glorify God through prayer and songs of praise (animated by consultation musician Daniell Hamby), to celebrate the community and communion given to us through Christ, and to share and celebrate the richness and diversity of worship resources embodied in the united and uniting churches. This richness and diversity was set within a common pattern for daily worship. The morning worship drew particularly on Lenten themes from the Gospel of John, and emphasized the increasing recognition of baptism as our common baptism into the one body of Christ. In evening worship we brought to God in prayer each day's work, with its joys and frustrations, and our concerns for our neighbours far and near.

15. Interaction with the host church was a significant part of our programme. The Consultation Worship prepared and conducted by our hosts was a eucharistic service held in nearby Immanuel Church. There was a visit from young people of the member churches of the Council for World Mission engaged in the Council's Training in Mission programme (TIM). An extensive plan of weekend church exposure visits saw participants dispersed throughout Jamaica, staying in homes over the Saturday night and preaching, or bringing greetings, in local worship on Sunday morning. After the weekend participants had the opportunity to share these experiences, and several commented that these visits were one of the most stimulating and rewarding aspects of the consultation. In addition the host church introduced itself in a plenary session led by Maitland Evans and Richmond Nelson, and provided no less than two social events at which under the brilliant stars of the Jamaican sky we shared food and fellowship to the accompaniment of music by the Portmore Chorale and Hope Evans & Company.

16. We record here our deep thanks to all those who offered us such a warm welcome, who did so much to support our work, and who made our visit to Jamaica so memorable.

17. United and Uniting Churches continue to be a rare and living challenge to the divided state of so much of the Body of Christ today; a divided state which has often contributed to, rather than healed, conflicts between peoples and nations.

18. In this present time UCCs feel a particular urgency about the call to unite for mission which comes as much from the world as from the church, if not more so. As the closing years of the decade ebb quickly away UUCs plead with all the churches to recognise the call of God in the urgency of the present time (kairos).

19. Their pleading has special poignancy when, as is the case with many of those churches which are a generation or more removed from the time of union, they themselves have lost the memory of the fresh vision and the new energy which unity brought, and have, as a consequence of that loss, become indistinguishable from the churches which gave them birth.

20. Representatives of such churches have come to this consultation under the weight of judgment, needing to ask, in the words of the daily liturgy from Santiago de Compostela:

Tell us Lord, tell us Lord
What has happened to us? What has happened to us?
Where did we go astray? Where did we go astray? ³

21. United and Uniting Churches are not in themselves the goal of that vision for unity which continues to intrigue if also to elude the church as a whole, but they are signs that Christians cannot rest with their continuing failure to be in full visible unity with each other as members of the one household of faith.

22. As living parables, each of them reflects the differences of the period of their formation, their locations and the histories of their uniting streams. As the product of human and fallible agencies, though inspired by the Holy Spirit, they will also reflect the very shortcomings their existence had hoped to overcome. Even so, their very existence, with a common life of prayer and worship, still summons them and others to the goal of a new future in Christ.

23. Together, moreover, they are already yielding some crucial insights into the nature of unity, and that is part of their challenge to their continuing but separate sister churches and denominations. These are insights which arise from being one eucharistic fellowship; insights into the need for healing because of the pain of separation; and insights into the dynamic that a united church can release. Their challenge to themselves is to live out the nature of their calling from a life apart to a life together. As such, United and Uniting Churches have a distinct and different identity, which is to be constantly open and constantly evolving.

24. They have constantly been encouraged by the support they have received from all their partners in Faith and Order and in the WCC, as also by the enrichment they have received from each other.

25. The United and Uniting Churches are to be constantly reminded of the need to re-define their identity in relation to the call to participate in the mission of the Triune God. God shapes and re-shapes human history and the destinies of nations, making his reign real to people. This re-shaping takes unique expression in each country. The overthrow of apartheid, the caste system and oppressive socio-political structures are ways in which God announces his sovereignty over his creation. We are called to participate with God and to witness in the name and power of our Lord Jesus Christ in these contexts. Every church needs to redefine its identity in the light of this task. This re-definition may involve styles of worship, theological formulations, administrative structures and standards of ethics. It may also involve a re-interpretation of its own history.

26. United and Uniting Churches need to express a vision of that community which is not an exclusive and narrow absorption with the other, but a community whose experience of accepting and being accepted overflows into the world. Such a community certainly does not exclude links between the churches which formed the union and the Christian World Communions to which they have belonged. Their identity is shaped as much by the stories that have grown out of their pilgrimages as separate churches, as by their discovery of being different together. It is to that vision that they were once called. It is to that vision that they must constantly be re called. It is to that vision that they must be true if our traditions are once again to capture the hope of one church for one world.

27. A powerful challenge was presented to the Consultation by Roderick Hewitt of the United Church of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. He raised the question of the missionary impact of the United and Uniting Churches, asking whether their experience fulfilled Jesus' prayer "may they all be one... so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (John 17:21). This challenge to be at mission was understood by the consultation in terms of the churches' responsibility to call people to personal faith in Jesus Christ, to offer community services to people in need, and to work for social transformation in the face of unjust social and political structures. Emphasis was placed on the development of worship patterns appropriate to the local culture, on the equipping of local churches for their ministry and mission, and on the sharing of resources in church partnerships across the world.

28. In response the United and Uniting Churches affirmed their conviction that their establishment is a direct response to the Biblical imperative for Christian unity. The primary motivation of churches entering into organic union has been that of Christian obedience. In some situations additional motivation has been found in changes in the social and political context, as in South Africa, where two churches previously separated by apartheid have united. In other situations the desire for a more credible Christian witness has been a most important motivation, as in India.

29. The ending of (some) church divisions and the relinquishing of (some) power involved in churches moving into organic union are significant witnesses in themselves to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless United and Uniting Churches acknowledge that church unions do not always provide an immediate benefit in missionary effectiveness. In the first years following most unions of churches there is an inevitable preoccupation with internal matters relating to the life of the new united church. In some instances negotiations towards further unions have immediately commenced, although the outcome has often been disappointment and frustration that efforts for further unions have failed. The United and Uniting Churches confess that internal reorganisation and failed union negotiations have diminished the time and energy available in the church for increased missional action. They call each other to act more deliberately for renewal in church life and mission, making use of the opportunity for change and development provided by union.

30. The United and Uniting Churches also noted that in no country or region has a union of churches involved all churches. Nowhere has Jesus' prayer for oneness "that the world may believe" been given opportunity for full implementation.

31. United and Uniting Churches affirm that their understanding of mission is not in itself different from the mission to which God calls all Christians - "all this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5:18). But as churches which have resulted from union with other churches and which are committed to act ecumenically, the United and Uniting Churches believe they have a particular contribution to make to the mission of the whole church. They grapple with the new missionary challenge posed by changing social situations across the world from the perspective of more than one denominational tradition of mission. They are therefore likely to be innovative in missional understanding and action.

32. By nature United and Uniting Churches are inclusive churches, welcoming into their fellowship people from more than one Christian tradition and gaining richly from the sharing of these traditions within the one church. In recent decades this inclusiveness has expanded in most of these churches to enable the full participation of women and to provide for different expressions of the faith in diverse and multicultural societies. In a few United and Uniting Churches, inclusiveness has encompassed the participation of people regardless of their sexual orientation, though the issue remains controversial. The United and Uniting Churches as a whole have a particular contribution to make to the whole church in modelling diversity within unity in communities of increasing pluralism. As in the whole church, the unity within United and Uniting Churches is rooted in common baptism into Jesus Christ. The unifying work of the Holy Spirit makes acceptance and reconciliation possible among all God's people.

33. The slowing down, and in some places reversal, of the movement towards church union is a notable feature of the period from the mid-1970s to the present. Other aspects of the ecumenical movement, such as theological dialogue, have shown real progress. In some situations individual churches are re emphasizing their power and separate identities over against ecumenical thinking, while in other situations anti ecumenical feelings are not nearly so strong. The attitude of ministers is, however, often a barrier between churches, although lay people of different churches, especially young people, are generally much more open to one another and less concerned with theological differences. This is particularly true of societies in which Christians are in a small minority.

34. There is a real need, in confronting these obstacles, to develop in and among all churches ecumenical education and training for both ministers and members. This request was repeatedly voiced in the consultation and is emphasized by our host church, the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. When Christians have been prepared together for worship, witness and service they will be much better able to overcome factors of separation and division.

35. In some situations issues of power become obstacles to any move to unite the churches. Where Christians are oppressed and alienated, and so particularly need a sense of belonging, denominational labels and traditions help provide a sense of identity. There is always a danger however that this will become a trap from which members do not wish to escape, even when their situation is changing.

36. Out of their experience of a kind of death and resurrection to a new identity, linked with a renewed sense of mission in obedience to the Gospel, United and Uniting Churches can bring an important contribution to the process of encouraging other churches to move towards union. By their very existence and the growth in their numbers - even though it is slow - they are a living challenge to other churches.

37. The question of which form of episkopé is to be adopted is still a divisive one, which frustrates some union negotiations and limits the possibilities of further unions between churches, including United Churches. The World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Anglican dialogue have produced important studies on this subject, which merit wider consideration. Perhaps this could take place in regional consultations, leading to an international consultation, in each case bringing together different confessional groupings.

38. There was general agreement that the phenomenon of denominations should be understood as only a stage on the way to a full realization of the church as Christ envisaged it. In this process, denominationalism (in the sense of treating the denomination - especially one's own! - as the normative manifestation of the church) was seen as the major obstacle to be overcome. The consultation doubted, however, whether this could be achieved by mounting a specific programme through the WCC to eliminate denominationalism, on the lines of the Programme to Combat Racism. Rather there must be a strong contribution from United and Uniting Churches to the programme "Towards a Common Understanding and Vision of the World Council of Churches". We realized that in this setting the Toronto statement of 1950 remains important for many member churches as a safeguard; the United and Uniting Churches nevertheless find the negatives of the Toronto statement dangerously inhibiting to progress in the forming of an ecclesiology for visible unity.

39. The consultation urges the World Council of Churches to give a more prominent place to United and Uniting Churches and to church union negotiations, and so, by keeping these constantly before its member churches, to encourage them to move towards visible unity. In any major move towards visible unity local unions and ecumenical projects have a vital part to play in giving scope to those ready to move ahead, and showing the doubtful and indifferent some of the joys and fruits of Christian unity.

40. The consultation was not allowed to forget the world to which the churches are today offering the Good News of Jesus Christ. The visits to local congregations of the United Church in the urban and rural settings of Jamaican life, the conversations with Jamaicans about the challenges facing their society and its familial and community structures, our observations of the contexts of our own churches forced upon us the questions whether we have a new wine for a thirsty world and whether ecumenism is too often "patching old wineskins".

41. Our youngest participant focused this for us in an impassioned plea that we respond to a vastly changed world with a renewed theology.

"We need to talk about new wine - a theology that is appropriate for the challenges of today, not repeating the old answers, but listening - and questioning almost everything, addressing even the question: who is God?...

One of the new things I heard this week was the homily on seeing the disabled as persons, a fresh approach without classical "pre cooked" answers. We must look for a new understanding of reading the Bible, a new understanding of our churches, our unity, our society. Even our church structures are not sacred but secular attempts by men and women...

Since I am the youngest in your midst I felt I must ask this question. At times it became almost a nightmare, an ecumenical one. In the middle of the Passover night there is the question of the youngest: without that question, no feast!"

42. The determined efforts in the WCC to bring out the inter-relation between Faith and Order work on "Church and World" ⁴ and the continued studies on issues of justice, peace and the integrity of creation are an important sign that "the question of the youngest" is heard by all (see Costly Unity .⁵ )

43. Both in presentations of the quest for unity in a wide variety of situations and in the reflections of the groups there was a ready welcome for the local congregations which have pursued unity in their own life. Under many names and in many forms (Local Ecumenical Partnerships, Co-operative Ventures, etc... in South Africa and in Jamaica, in Britain and New Zealand, in Canada) such churches are a sign of hope.

44. Grounded in the life of their communities they have the opportunity of pursuing a comprehensive mission. Loyal to a vision they patiently (sometimes impatiently) invite their churches to enter with them into a future of visible unity. In their own location they are receiving fruits of the international and national theological dialogues.

45. Of course, it can be frustrating to be a local united group that has to relate to several separate structures of church life and authority. Yet the existence of local unity is in no way a giving up on the possibility of wider visible unity, nor should it be thus presented. Rather it is the planting of seed-beds of unity which in the longer term require a whole system of agriculture, while the system will be "fruitless" without the seedbeds.

46. The location of ecumenism is wherever the church is called to be embodied.

47. Several presentations by the panels, whether on union negotiations or on steps towards unity, were notable for showing the variety of approaches in different parts of the world and offering fresh insights and new perspectives for the churches.

48. Driven by the mission imperative, they attempt to express or bring about, or at the very least make clearer, an existing if partial vision, but with a regular recurrence of questions about authority and oversight appearing in several presentations and in the discussion of these papers. Where does authority lie? How is episcope to be exercised and by whom? To this corresponds the question, focused for some in the discussion of the Porvoo Statement: is acceptance of the "historic episcopate" really a sine qua non of ecumenical convergence?

49. It has been said that the churches are currently in an "Ecumenical Winter", and several reasons for that have been put forward, internal dissensions within churches which are dealt with by avoiding issues; problems that absorb so much time that ecumenism is lost sight of; pressures on staffing or on finance that make ecumenism and the search for unity too expensive. These pressures co exist with a resurgence of confessionalism which is in part a denial of the ecumenical vision, in part a symbol of frustration at the time scales that often seem to be involved, and in part a manifestation of a desire for a return to our roots and the certainties of traditional teaching.

50. Yet there are many fresh shoots, signs of new life breaking through, even in areas that might be thought merely to be old ground covered yet again. In Milton Keynes an experiment with the as-yet unique post of "Ecumenical Moderator" has provided in that place an ecumenical ministry of pastoral oversight and a personal focus of unity for all the churches. At the same time it has underlined the question of the relationship of ecumenical oversight to the continuing exercise of oversight in the separated denominations. In Wales this initiative is being taken further in an investigation of the possibility of an ecumenical bishop within the life of the Covenanted Churches (ENFYS).

51. A sign of hope for Christian unity in two of the major world confessional families has been the Leuenberg agreement between Reformation churches in Europe, primarily Lutheran and Reformed. In the last twenty two years more than eighty European churches and some South American churches have signed to declare their common understanding of the Gospel, withdrawing the doctrinal condemnations of the past and granting Pulpit and Table Fellowship including mutual recognition of ordination. The Fourth General Assembly of the Leuenberg Church Fellowship in May 1994, confirming the way of growing fellowship, received theological documents on the Church, Baptism, Holy Communion and Christian Freedom. It encouraged further discussion with Anglicans, Methodists, Nordic Lutherans and other churches. The Leuenberg Agreement has been and remains a major factor in overcoming historic divisions across the borders of European national churches and as such is an important step towards visible unity.

52. The Porvoo statement which will bring into visible unity Lutheran churches from the Nordic and Baltic countries and Anglican churches of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales represents a new relationship made on the basis of agreement on the goal of visible unity and agreements in faith, including agreement on the apostolicity of the whole church and the fact that apostolic succession is carried by more than one means of continuity. This "frees" the churches which have preserved the sign of historic episcopal succession to acknowledge an authentic episcopal ministry in a church which has preserved continuity in the episcopal office by an "occasional presbyterial ordination". Similarly, a church which has preserved continuity through such a succession is free to enter a relationship of mutual participation in episcopal ordinations with a church which has retained the historical episcopal succession, and to embrace this sign, without denying its own past apostolic continuity (compare The Porvoo Common Statement, para. 52).

53. A fresh approach to the question of reconciling ministries is a proposal in the South African Church Unity Commission, which will by mutual recognition of ministries, prior to full reconciliation, enable them to be exercised in their present form within any of the participant churches, e.g. a Presbyterian minister would be able to preside at a eucharist in an Anglican church and vice versa. The question of oversight will continue to be studied in this new setting of mutual recognition, and agreement will open the way to full reconciliation.

54. The churches of India (the Church of South India, the Church of North India, the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, the Methodist Church in India) described how they were seeking appropriate ways of making unity visible when the churches involved are two relatively similar united churches, a church with roots in the ancient Christian tradition of India, and a non Anglican episcopally ordered church.

55. COCU (the "Consultation on Church Union", an American body working towards the visible union of 9 churches) has experienced several setbacks. However despite the failure of several schemes of union produced over the years - failures that led to the comment, "Whatever else we can unite, we will never be able to merge our pension funds" - there has evolved a "COCU consensus" which states that any future united church must be "Catholic, Reformed and Evangelical", with a unity "based on sacred things". Such a church will be inclusive, allowing no discrimination on the basis of race, gender, disability and so on. Recognizing one baptism whose reality finds expression in different forms, it will allow and even encourage uniting churches to retain their distinctive characteristics and distinguishing features for as long as they feel necessary.

56. The question has been raised in COCU, and in many other settings, as to how United and Uniting Churches address the relationship between uniting churches and the struggle for justice. As was said at the Fifth International Consultation of United and Uniting Churches at Potsdam:

The quest for visible unity is related, and must be seen to be related, to the overcoming of human divisions and the meeting of human needs. This does not mean that the unity of the church is only functional, it is also a direct reflection of God's own unity and unitive love. Relating unity to mission, service and sharing the sufferings of humankind is precisely an expression of the love of God which calls the church into being, as the sign, foretaste and instrument of a new humanity in the kingdom of God. ⁶

57. The excerpts from other presentations to be printed in the full Consultation Report show examples of liberating experiment with, for example, Presbytery Bishops, a covenant relationship of two churches at the national level, and trans Atlantic and trans Pacific partnerships.

58. Throughout these various "steps towards unity" questions about oversight (episkopé) have been heard again and again. In Porvoo, Milton Keynes and COCU they are explicit; in some of the presentations they are found under other headings; but even when not there in the foreground they lie just beneath the surface.

59. The consultation rejoiced that there are recently united churches in Jamaica and South Africa, and churches in the Netherlands "together on the way". The consultation in many ways endorsed what was said at Potsdam about the "marks of a growing manifestation of unity"⁷ - and indeed that Potsdam recommendation has since been strengthened by the Canberra unity statement The Unity of the Church as Koinonia: Gift and Calling.⁸

60. The consultation recommends that Faith and Order:

• within the study on ecclesiology find a way of listening to the insights and experiences of United and Uniting Churches; and
• in its work on "ministry and authority" (cf. Faith and Order Conspectus of Studies) ⁹
• give special attention to the apostolicity of the whole church and its relation to the ministry of oversight expressed personally, collectively and communally, as well as the various means of safeguarding continuity in the life of the church.

61. We close this section of the report in praise to the Triune God with the words of one of the hymns which we sang in daily worship:

You are holy,You are wholeness,You are present,Let the cosmos praise you, Lord!

Halleluja, Halleluja,
Halleluja, Halleluja,
Our Lord! ¹⁰

62. The following resolutions were adopted by the Members of the Sixth International Consultation of United and Uniting Churches:

A. The consultation receives the report "Built Together: The Present Vocation of United and Uniting Churches" and gives it general approval as a record of the deliberations of the consultation (adopted unanimously).

B. Subject to the availability of funding, the consultation requests that the report be edited, together with the material from the consultation papers, as a Faith and Order Paper for circulation to the churches, national councils of churches, and the WCC and its units (adopted unanimously).

C. The consultation expresses its gratitude to the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands and its generous invitation to hold the meeting at the Madge Saunders Conference Centre, Ocho Rios, and to the many persons at the conference centre, at the United Church office, from local congregations and from the WCC staff who enabled such an enriching conference and stimulating visit to Jamaica (adopted unanimously, with applause).

63. The following minutes were recorded for inclusion in this Report.

A. In the course of the meeting thanks were extended to the Evangelical Church of the Union for its faithful support both for this consultation and for Faith and Order's work with United and Uniting Churches over the years. Thanks were also extended to the Council for World Mission for its support of this consultation.

B. At the conclusion of the meeting Dr. Best expressed thanks to Monica Schreil, Diane Kessler and Daniell Hamby, and Raymond Coke, together with Jane Dodman, Joyce Williams and Pam Reid as persons who had been particularly helpful to the conference. Dr. Paul A. Crow, Jr. together with Dr. Mary Tanner conveyed the gratitude of the conference to the Rev. Martin Cressey, its Moderator and to Dr. Best and the whole consultation staff.

64. Faith and Order Director Alan Falconer had sent a letter to the consultation regretting his absence from the meeting, extending good wishes for our deliberations, and expressing his hope that the link between Faith and Order and the United and Uniting Churches might become even closer in the future. The Consultation agreed on the following text to be sent in reply by Moderator Martin Cressey.

Dear Alan Falconer, The Sixth Consultation of United and Uniting Churches gathered at Ocho Rios, Jamaica, sends its greetings and encouragement to you as you begin your work as Director of Faith and Order and thanks you for the warmth and openness of the letter you sent to us.

This response reflects a substantial discussion about our own networking, about our relationship with the Faith and Order Commission and about the contribution of our churches to the current discussion "Towards a Common Understanding and Vision of the World Council of Churches".

1. We remain convinced that the basic intention in our unions to transcend the differences which exist between Christian World Communions prevents us from setting up an organisation of United and Uniting Churches in the same form as the CWCs. We value our relations with and within the CWCs and our participation in the Forums on Bilaterals, but we are aware of being a different kind of grouping.

2. We are grateful that Faith and Order has continued to serve our churches as a location for their common concerns but we have observed the breadth of the issues which have come before us, of faith, of church structure, of life and mission. We therefore request Faith and Order to continue making staff time available for us but to do so in relation with other parts of the WCC structure. We recognize financial implications in this request. The consultation has called for a higher profile to be given to the United and Uniting Churches within the WCC, not because we are specially meritorious but because we have by union sought to realise the vision embodied in the first of the functions of the WCC "To call the Churches to the goal of visible unity in one faith and in one eucharistic fellowship expressed in worship and in common life in Christ, and to advance towards that unity in order that the world may believe".

3. We ask the Faith and Order Standing Commission in particular to set up a small liaison group of representatives of UUCs, including some members of the Commission, the terms of reference to include:

• a. mutual support and inter communication among UUCs;

• b. helping, out of the UUCs experience, to keep the goal of visible unity before all churches;

• c. acting as a reference point for those who want to ask about the life, the experiences and the approach of UUCs;

• d. ensuring follow up of this Sixth Consultation;

• e. considering the calling of a future consultation or other form of meeting for the UUCs.

This group should, on cost grounds, consist of about six to ten people, as widely representative as possible of the regions.

4. With regard to the WCC process "Towards a Common Understanding and Vision of the World Council of Churches" a vigorous discussion arose from a presentation of the process. There were not clear conclusions but the members of the consultation committed themselves to encouraging their churches to take part in the process. The consultation shared a hope that the WCC will be both an agency empowered by the churches to carry out vital common tasks of mission and service and a place where the churches take counsel together, meeting one another in depth and open to receive from one another as they respond to the loving will of the Triune God.

In the name of the consultation

I am

Martin Cressey, Moderator

Rev. Gethin Abraham Williams
Wales, United Kingdom
ENFYS/The Covenanted Churches in Wales

Rev. Nicholas Abraham Apollis
South Africa
Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa

Rev. Leonardo Alfred Appies
South Africa
Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa

Dr Kamol Arayaprateep
Thailand Church of Christ in Thailand

Rev. Samuel Matthew Arends
South Africa
United Congregational Church of Southern Africa

Rt Rev. N. M. Bagh
India
Church of North India/Tripartite & CNI/MCI Union Discussions

Rev. Dr Thomas Best
Faith and Order, WCC
WCC/Faith and Order Commission

Revd. James Breslin
England United
Reformed Church in the United Kingdom

Rev. Neville Callam
Jamaica, W.I.
Jamaica Baptist Union

Rev. Benson Mwape Chongo
Zambia
United Church of Zambia

Rev. Raymond Coke
Jamaica, W.I.
United Church in Jamaica & The Cayman Islands

Rev. Collin I. Cowan
Grand Cayman, British W.I.
United Church in Jamaica & The Cayman Islands

Rev. Dr Donald G. L. Cragg
South Africa
Church Unity Commission

Rev. Martin Cressey
England, United Kingdom
Moderator/United Reformed Church in the UK
World Alliance of Reformed Churches

Rev. Hugh Cross
England
Local Ecumenical Partnerships

Rev. Dr Paul A. Crow
U.S.A.
Disciples of Christ/UCC
Partnership/Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council

Rev. Dr Frank Dietz
USA
United Church of Christ

Rev. Dr Hilario M. Gomez
The Philippines
United Church of Christ in the Philippines

Rev. Reinhard Groscurth
Germany
Evangelische Kirche der Union

Rev. Dr Daniell Hamby
U.S.A.
Consultation on Church Union

Mr John N. Hanchinmani
India
CNI/MCI Union Discussions

Bishop J. Woodrow Hearn
USA
United Methodist Church (USA)

Rev. Gregor Henderson
Australia
Uniting Church in Australia

Rev. Roderick Hewitt
England
Council for World Mission

Rev. Dr Rena Karefa Smart
U.S.A.
Episcopal Church

Rev. Diane C. Kessler
U.S.A.
Chaplain/Massachusetts Council of Churches

Prof. Dr Leo J. Koffeman
The Netherlands
"Together on the Way" Process, The Netherlands

Prof. George Koshy
India
Church of South India/ Tripartite Union Discussions

Ms Christa Kronshage
Germany
Evangelische Kirche der Union

Rev. Dr. Abraham Kuruvilla
India
Mar Thoma Church

Rev. Douglas Lendrum
New Zealand
Negotiating Churches Unity Council, NZ

Rev. Marjorie Lewis Cooper
Jamaica
Jamaica Council of Churches

Oberkirchenrat Gerhard Linn
Germany
Evangelische Kirche der Union

Prof. Deborah Mullen
U.S.A
. Presbyterian Church (USA)

Rev. Ndalamba MUTOMBO
Zaire
Eglise du Christ au Zaire

Rev. Richmond Nelson
Jamaica, W.I.
United Church in Jamaica & The Cayman Islands

Mgr John Radano
Vatican City
Roman Catholic Church

Dr V‚t‚rinaire Jonah
Madagascar
Eglise de J‚sus Christ … Madagascar

Rev. Alastair Rodger
South Africa
Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa/Council for World Mission

Rt Rev. John Samuel
Pakistan
Church of Pakistan

Ms Monica Schreil
Faith and Order, WCC WCC/Faith and Order Commission

Th. Mgr Pavel Smetana
Czech Republic
Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren

Very Rev. Dr Robert F. Smith
Canada
United Church of Canada

Dr Mary Tanner
England
Moderator, Faith and Order Commission/Council for Christian Unity/ Anglican Consultative Council

Rev. Livingstone Thompson
Jamaica, W.I.
Moravian Church in Jamaica

Frau Pr"pstin Helga Tr"sken
Germany
Evangelische Kirche in Hessen und Nassau

The Rev. Dr Eugene G. Turner
U.S.A.
Presbyterian Church (USA)

Mr Huibert Van Beek
World Council of Churches
WCC/Office of Church and Ecumenical Relations

Rev. Poul Van der Waal
Netherlands Antilles
United Protestant Church, Netherlands Antilles

Mr Marlin Van Elderen
World Council of Churches
WCC/Communications Department

Rev. Dr Adlyn Ioney White
Jamaica, W.I.
United Church in Jamaica & The Cayman Islands

Sr Eluned Williams, MBE Gwynedd
Wales, United Kingdom
ENFYS/The Covenanted Churches in Wales

1) Mid Stream, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1967, especially pp. 10 15 and 16 22; Mid Stream, Vol. 9, Nos. 2-3, 1970, especially pp. 4 12 and 13 33; Mid Stream, Vol. 14, No. 4, 1975, pp. 541 563, also What Unity Requires, Faith and Order Paper No. 77, Geneva, WCC, 1976, pp. 18 29; Growing Towards Consensus and Commitment, Faith and Order Paper No. 110, Geneva, WCC, 1981; Thomas F. Best, ed., Living Today Towards Visible Unity: the Fifth International Consultation of United and Uniting Churches, Faith and Order Paper No. 142, Geneva, WCC, 1988, also in German as Thomas F. Best, ed., Gemeinsam auf dem Weg zur sichtbaren Einheit: Die Fnfte Internationale Konsultation vereinigter und sich vereinigender Kirchen, Berlin, Kirchenkanzlei der EKU, 1988.

2) In addition to the presentations made to the consultation see the "Survey of Church Union Negotiations" appearing at 2 3 year intervals in The Ecumenical Review, and reprinted in Mid Stream.

3) Song by Fr. Milos Vesin, Milos Vesin, St. Archangel Michael Serbian Orthodox Church, 9815 Commercial Avenue, Chicago, IL 60617, USA. See the Worship Book: Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order, Santiago de Compostela 1993, p. 95.

4) Church and World: The Unity of the Church and the Renewal of Human Community, Faith and Order Paper No. 151, 2nd, rev. printing, Geneva, WCC, 1992.

5) Thomas F. Best and Wesley Granberg Michaelson, eds., Costly Unity: Koinonia and Justice, Peace and Creation, Geneva, WCC Unit III (JPC) and Faith and Order (Unit I), 1993.

6) "Report of the Fifth International Consultation of United and Uniting Churches", in Living Today Towards Visible Unity: The Fifth International Consultation of United and Uniting Churches, op. cit., para. 8, p. 6.

7) 42. "We recommend that, as churches work for the growing manifestation of unity, they aim to mark their onward movement by particular signs, so that their unity is visible to the world and they create the conditions for acting together. 43. By visibility to the world we mean: a) a declared common biblical foundation; b) agreement in the apostolic faith so that it may be proclaimed together; c) Christians being members of one another' in a way which enables all appropriately to participate in the life of the church; d) sharing the sufferings of others (this is described in paragraphs 46 48); e) mutual recognition of churches, including members, sacraments and ministries; f) eucharistic sharing; g) having conciliar forms of deliberating and decision making. 44. Being able to act together requires: h) corporate means of common decision making and of implementing decisions; i) joint mission and service; j) means of holding together the local, the regional and the global so that the church can act on matters that arise at all these levels'. 45. The above lists are not in a definitive order of priority and the marks can become evident in varied forms and groupings - but we are convinced that they should be clearly determined by agreement and clearly signalled to other churches and to the world around". See "Report of the Fifth International Consultation of United and Uniting Churches", in Living Today Towards Visible Unity: The Fifth Consultation of United and Uniting Churches, op. cit., paras. 42 45, p. 14.

8) In Thomas F. Best and Gnther Gassmann, eds., On the Way to Fuller Koinonia: Official Report of the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order, Faith and Order Paper No. 166, Geneva, WCC, 1994, pp. 269 270.

9) See Minutes of the Meeting of the Faith and Order Standing Commission, 4 11 January 1994, Crˆt B‚rard, Switzerland, Faith and Order Paper No. 167, Geneva, Commission on Faith and Order, Appendix I, pp. 95 100.

10) Song by Per Harling; melody and Swedish and English text Per Harling, P. O. Box 92, 193 22 Sigtuna, Sweden. See "Orders of Worship for the Sixth International Consultation of United and Uniting Churches", Geneva, Commission on Faith and Order, 1995, p. 28.