Pacific Church Conference
The Pacific Conference of Churches ( Pacific Conference of Churches , PCC) is the governing body of churches in the Pacific region and the central regional ecumenical organization of Oceania .
The church conference represents its member churches at all levels. The PCC strives for the visible unity of the Christian churches on issues such as justice, peace and the integrity of creation . The organization continues to support education and training initiatives and solidarity with its members in times of natural disasters and social upheaval.
A first ecumenical meeting in the Pacific took place in 1961 in Malua ( Upolu ), the theological college in Western Samoa , which resulted in the establishment of the PCC on Lifou ( Loyalty Islands ) in New Caledonia in 1966 . Further general assemblies followed in 1971 in Davuilevu in the city of Nausori in Fiji , 1976 in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea , 1981 in Nukuʻalofa in Tonga , 1986 in Western Samoa, 1991 in Vanuatu , 1997 in Tahiti in French Polynesia , 2002 in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands , 2007 in Pago Pago in American Samoa . The last, the 10th General Assembly of the Pacific Conference of Churches, took place in 2013 in Honiara , Solomon Islands .
Members
The organization has 27 churches and eleven National Councils of Churches as members. They are spread across 17 island states and territories. The main administration of the PCC, the Secretariat, is based in Suva ( Fiji ).
- Organizations with their members
- Papua New Guinea Council of Churches (PNGCC)
- National Council of Churches in American Samoa (NCCAS)
- Samoa Council of Churches (SCC)
- Niue National Council of Churches (NNCC)
- Kiribati National Council of Churches (KNCC)
- Fiji Council of Churches (FCC)
- Other members
- Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu
- Congregational Christian Church in American Samoa
- United Church in the Solomon Islands
- Kiribati Uniting Church
- Church of the Province of Melanesia
- Evangelical Church in New Caledonia and the Loyalty Isles
- Methodist Church of Samoa
- Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea
- Congregational Christian Church in Samoa
- United Church of Christ - Congregational in the Marshall Islands
- Congregational Christian Church of Niue
- Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand
- Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma
- United Church in Papua New Guinea
- Cook Islands Christian Church
- Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga (Methodist Church in Tonga)
- Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu
- Maohi Protestant Church
Programs
At their meeting in 2007 in Pago Pago ( American Samoa ) decided the ninth General Assembly (General Assembly) of the Pacific Conference of Churches six main programs (strategic thematic programs, STPs) for the organization's work:
- Ecumenism in the Pacific
- Human rights
- Responsible governance and style of leadership
- Environment and climate change
- HIV / AIDS
- Globalization and trade
There are also two sectoral programs that are geared towards specific target groups. The strategic sectoral programs (SSPs) focus on women (SSP1) and youth (SSP2).
vision
PCC is “a community of churches and ecclesiastical organizations […] which together strive to fulfill their common vocation of the One God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit” (PCC Constitution, Part 4).
Essentially, PCC strives for a vision of a Pacific region characterized by values such as unity, justice, peace, dialogue and leadership based on the heart and mind of Jesus, as well as a spirituality that is essential for the existence of the Pacific Church Conference and the work that it does does, represents foundation and substance.
mission
The goals of the Pacific Church Conference are set out in its Constitution (Part 5):
- The ecumenical movement among the Pacific member churches promote and encourage.
- Encourage and support the member churches in allowing the Holy Spirit to guide them on the way to the visible unity of the one, undivided Church.
- Help members evaluate their missionary work; to help them with the coordination, organization and planning so that their human, financial and material resources - wherever possible - can be used more effectively in joint action for the mission.
- Encourage and encourage members to raise awareness among people of the Pacific and the world of justice, peace, the integrity of creation and development.
- Organize conferences on issues affecting the relationship between the churches and other common concerns among members.
- To encourage and support the active participation of members in the global ecumenical movement.
- Provide a vehicle through which the churches in the Pacific can help one another and churches and other organizations around the world in times of natural disaster and other emergencies; and ensure the help of churches in other parts of the world in times of emergency.
- Support and promote programs and information dissemination for preaching and spreading God's Word.
- Establish common actions and programs for members to be determined from time to time by the assembly.
- To stimulate and promote interreligious dialogue.