“A great deal of time is now going into talking to representatives of the member churches to test the recommendations against their expectations of the Council. I know the President, Ian Smith, is deeply appreciative of the conversations we are having.”

“We convened a special meeting of leaders of the member churches and were pleased that there were fifteen people in attendance. They gave us some very valuable insights into their thinking about the VCC and the way ahead.”

“The basis of the thinking of the Executive when looking at the review has been to place particular emphasis on the VCC as a place where churches can be in conversation.  There are many issues we share in common – allowing us to learn from each other. It is in our conversations that we discern the unity Christ prayed for. It is in our conversations that prayer and celebration arises,” Mr Mackaay said.

“And in our conversations we also discover our differences. Those should not dismay us, rather we should welcome the gifts that each tradition brings as its witness to the love of God in Christ.”

“People sometimes wonder why the VCC is silent on sensitive matters of social policy and issues in the media. Usually our silence is a reflection of the breadth of our diversity. This is particularly the case on some social policy matters. We would rather be silent, or explain our silence, than offend our member churches, and that is as it should be.”

“I am looking forward to further deliberations about the review, and the way forward for the VCC. The next twelve months will be very interesting,” Mr Mackaay concluded.
July 26, 2012