Page 12 - Preservation for the Documentation of Chinese Christianity

WORK OF STANDING COMI^TTEES
5«- Church Unity Committee
~A) Consultation on Church Unity, 5th, 1962:- About 50 people represent­
ing Anglican, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist Evangelical & Reformed, Rhenish,
Lutheran, Evangelical Churches as w ell as other Christian organizations met at
the Methodist College at 11:00 a.m. Missionaries of half a dozen nationalities
jointed with about an equal number of Chinese Pastors and lay leaders.

o
In the absence o f Dr, Robert Nelson of the Wrld Council of Church, Bishop
R.O, Hall addressed the Conference, giving what he called a very personal view
of New Delhi. He described New Delhi as being truly a visible representation
in time and place of the whole church o f Christ, for even the Roman Catholics
and anti-W.C.C. Evangelicals were present as critic a l or appreciative observers,
reporters, etc.

After lunch a sh ort report on the work of the committee on unity was given.
Notable Ecumenical Events of the year were mentioned, such as the Lunch Hour Forum
at which the viewpoints of Anglican, Roman, Moderate non-conformist, and Southern
Baptist were put to an attentive audience over a period of six weeks, and the R.C.
Protestant performance o f the Messiah at the City, both sponsored by Dean B. T ill,
The New R.C, Translation of the oible into Chinese based no longer on the Vulgate
but on the best available ancient manuscripts, and therefore usable by Protestant
churches was another surprising ecumenical factor.
The Conference then divided into three groups: one Cantonese and two English
language discussion groups. Their findings have been sent to the leaders o f a ll
loca l churches.

B) Local Situation Conference, 8th December, 1962:- In preparation fo r the
East Asia Christian Conference Sitm tion Conference which is going to be held in
Japan in March, the committee called for a loca l situation conference which was
held on 8th December, 1962.

The Christian church in the modern world f i n d s i t s e l f a changing situation,
especially, in Asian countries.: we, therefore, need to re-examine these.,changes,
discuss, the new factors which influence, church l i f e , and reaffirm the foundations
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of the Ch ristian commission to preach the Gospel to a ll men.

70 participants representing 30 churches (denominations) joined in the
discussions, and many suggestions on-going mission o f the church. Findings
of the Conference have been sent to lo c a l church leaders.

C) I n view of the need for more uniformity in the Church Calender, the
Council has asked a ll loca l church to observe the following Special Sundays
in 1963*.-
Christian Unity Sunday January 20th (3rd Sunday)
Labour Sunday April 28th (4th Sunday)
Christian Family Sunday May 12th (2nd Sunday)
Commonwealth Youth Sunday May 26th (4th Sunday^
Christian Citizenship Sunday July 14th (2nd Sunday)
Christian Literature Sunday September 15th (3rd Sunday)
World Wide Holy Communion Sunday October 6th (1st Sunday)
Medical Sunday October 20th (3rd Sunday)
Bible Sunday December 8th (2nd Sunday)
It was reported that many churches have observed the Sundays as suggested.
D) W eek o f Prayer for Christian Unity, 1963 We followed the calendar o f
the World Council of Churches and observed the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,
January 18-25 as suggested by the Department o f Faith & Order, World Council of Churches.
Because of the response of the Chinese and English-speaking communities to
the underlying meaning and witness of a unified biligu al observance of this
world-wide prayer, a united prayer meeting was held on Monday 21, January, 1963
in the Chinese Methodist Church, Kowloon. For the fir s t time a sermon was included
in the programme, the Rev. John K.C. Ma preaching on the theme, "He is our Peace".
A combined Choir gave a special anthem and there were about 300 present including
8 Roman Catholic p riests.
In this age of increasing tensions in a world dominated by disunity, fear and
suspicion, the c a ll to prayer for Christian unity comes as a fresh challenge and
opportunity for reconciliation.
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