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But in spite of this, the Committee is still finding; it
difficult to function properly as we have no way of knowing of
the new arrivals or posting of missionaries in different churches.
Unless the Committee is well supplied with information about new
missionaries - their arrival, their backgrounds, and their posts
here in Hong Kong, we have hardly any means of appraising the
situation in order to arrange something which will be beneficial
both to the missionaries and to the local churches.

DIVISION OF INTER-CHURCH RELATIONS - REPORT OF EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

A major portion of the work of this Division is done through
its Committees: Church Unity Committee; Church Planning and
Development Committee; Missionary Orientation Committee; and the
Ecumenical Library Committee. Reports on these appear separately.
In addition to these, several items require comment.
1. Church Unity. In recent months, serious interest in further
steps toward church unity have been evidenced, among several
member churches of the Council. There is a desire to pursue this
further and consider concrete steps that may be taken toward this
goal. A broad consultation on issues of Church unity in Hong Kong
for all interested persons is in the early planning stages. The
Special Ecumenical Fund of the EACC will provide financial
resources for this project. Issues relate to ways in which the
Church in Hong Kong can manifest its unity in Christ while main-
taining its diversity; and what is the implication of the demands
of mission for the unity of the Church?
2. The Ecumenical Loan Fund. In February, Mr. Bevin Fitzsimons,
Secretary of the Ecumenical Loan Fund of The World Council of
Churches met with a few interested persons to discuss the
possibility of assistance from this fund to projects in Hong
Kong. Briefly, the procedure is to form a local committee which
will assume responsibility for administering the loan fund,
including collecting the payments, and recommending projects.
This proposal is now in the exploratory stage.
3. Joint Fund Raising. The Executive Committee at its meeting on
November 25, 1968 approved in principle but postponed for one
year a Joint Fund Raising Campaign to support the work of the
Council. The purpose of this venture is to raise needed funds
for the interdenominational activities of the Council, Hong Kong
Christian Service, HK Christian Industrial Committee and the Audio
Visual Evangelism Committee, plus funds for an overseas ecumenical
mission project. Greater local support is necessary if the
Council is to become an instrument of the churches in Hong Kong
and also to replace declining overseas funds. Further, such a
campaign would give concrete expression to the unity we now have
in the Council and represent a major first attempt in Joint
Action for Mission. It would bring to the total church wider
benefits of greater cooperative activity.
4• Consultation on the Mission of the Church in Hong Kong, The
Council now envisions a high level consultation on the theme:
"The Mission of the Church in Hong Kong." This Consultation would
be an attempt to: (a) consider together the new challenges of HK;
(b) to develop suggested broad outlines of a strategy for the
Church in the 70's; and (c) to produce a report with specific
recommendations for study and implementation by the churches.
Themes to be dealt with will include:(l) the Challenge of the
Hong Kong Environment - urbanization - industrialization -
secularization, etc. (2) A Review of the Present Work of the
Churches; (3) Problems facing the churches; (4) Finding New
Directions. Probable dates for the meeting are September 29th
and 30th. Approximately 100 to 120 people will be invited,
including representatives from the member organizations and
committees of the Council. It will be conducted in both
Chinese and English.