It was a joy to represent the UCA President, Stuart McMillan, in signing the covenant with the Congregational Federation of Australia (represented by Dr Joe Goodall): “To invite and welcome members of each other’s church to share in the Eucharist according to pastoral need.”

The shadow side of the 1977 union that inaugurated the Uniting Church in Australia was the number of disrupted relationships with Congregational and Presbyterian congregations that chose not to unite. The NCCA provides a context in which we can tend some of those wounds.

I’ll treasure Joe’s gift to me of a CFA lapel pin, with its multi-layered symbol. As Joe explained it to me, the “C” can represent “Congregational” or “Christian” or a broken circle. The “f” can stand for “Federation” or “fellowship” or it could be a cross – with Christ leaning forward to embrace or comfort or include…