A Special General Meeting of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations Inc has voluntarily voted to cease business operations as of 30 April 2023. Over 90 per cent of the members at the meeting supported the closure.
The Assembly of Confessing Congregations has been the more militant of the evangelical organisations in the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA), campaigning against adopting same-sex marriage. It built on the work of earlier networks, EMU (Evangelical members of the Uniting Church) and the Reforminging Alliance.
The members of the ACC believe it has finished its work, and many of them plan to leave – or have left – the Uniting Church.
The ACC’s outspoken “confessing” stance has had its day in the UCA. This is partly because the conflict with the denomination has become sharper.
Mooloolaba Christian church has joined Sunnybank Uniting as key ACC churches dissolved by their UCA Presbyteries. Hedley Fihaki, the chair of ACC, has had his ministerial credentials revoked by the UCA. Lulu-OHa’angana Senituli from Sunnybank resigned after the church was dissolved so he could be a lay minister in his church. Many of the younger ministers in the ACC see no future in the UCA.
And the older generation is being promoted to glory. The final issue of “The Good Confession,” the ACC Newsletter, contains obituaries to three ACC leaders, Dr Ian Breward, Margaret MacMillan, and Robert Imms.
The ACC was, for many years, a movement that provided a means for conservative Christians to stay in the UCA. However, a wave of churches and ministers left after Lesbian and Gay male ministers were accepted by the UCA in 2003; many of those leavers were charismatic and became part of the Crosslinks network of churches. The ACC served those who stayed in, resisting the changes sought by the progressive leadership of the UCA.
Other sizeable evangelical movements in the UCA, such as Propel and Hopenet (South Australia), remain in the UCA.
In the last few months, there have been discussions about ACC churches joining the Diocese of the Southern Cross, the refuge for conservative Anglicans in parts of Australia where the local Anglican diocese (region) is progressive.
The former Mooloolaba Christian church, now known as Faith Church (Sunshine Coast), may become the sixth church in the new diocese.
Hedley Fihaki, the ACC chair, writes that he has no regrets, although he had his recognition as minister withdrawn by the Uniting Church. “Making a stand on this issue has led to the removal of the recognition of my ordination by the UCA as well as the termination of my placement on the 14th of October, 2022. Because the Mooloolaba Christian Church continues to support me as their minister, the Presbytery of Mary Burnett dissolved our congregation (similar to what happened to the former ACC Sunnybank UCA) on the 18th of March, 2023.
“Do I regret being part of the ACC because of this? Absolutely not! I continue to be very proud of being part of the ACC and their unflinching and unwavering commitment to sole loyalty to Jesus Christ, the living head of the Church, despite the cost.”
Peter Bentley, a long-time evangelical activist in the Uniting Church, gives thanks for the people of the ACC. “As I wind down from more organised and public service in the confessing movement, I would
like to express my deep appreciation to all those members who have supported me (and help to facilitate the ministry of RA and ACC) in so many ways through my various staff person roles since 2005 with Reforming Alliance and then the last three-and-a-half years of voluntary service, highlighting:
- Hospitality: over 200 visits with many entailing extended stays with members, including wonderful meals and times of sharing
- Transport provided for visitations (I think my ‘oldest’ driver was 95 years young)
- Prayer Support Teams, particularly during the UCA Assembly meetings
- Notes, emails and messages of encouragement from members
- Practical care and support, and the enabling of various staff roles through generous financial support of the ACC from members
- Support and service of the members of ACC committees, commissions, boards and the National Council, and other ACC staff and contractors, particularly for the ACC publications and resources
It has been a privilege to stand alongside people in their local witness of Confessing Christ.
(Statement of interest: This writer edited the ACC magazine for 5 five years, working closely with Bentley.)
Image: Assemby of Confessing Congrgations gather in happier times
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I think progressivism will slowly kill the church. If the church becomes of the world there’s no relevance to the world to be part of the church, they can find that relevance in all other areas of their life.
Going to a place just so you can hear someone say Gods loves you becomes irrelevant when you’ve got Tik Tokers like Jeffrey Marsh with over 699k followers telling people that he can be your family and that he loves you. People find more relevance in a real person telling them that they love them than an invisible God.
I share Peter Bentley’s attitude, and also give thanks—for the closure of this negative force in the UCA, for the movement of Sunshine Coast folk into a fellowship that will accept them and keep them cosseted and safe from the big bad world and especially the big bad church, and also for the peace that will descend onto councils of the UCA, no longer having to endure scores upon scores of “Point of Order” cries from the two predictable sources. Hallelujah!!!
Hi there John Squires
I am not sure thanks for your contribution is the right phrase here. But rather, this is what I might expect from a progressive.
Propel Network and HopeNet SA remain as external and yet internal networks of the UCA. As does Newlife in Qld. All these have explicit statements of faith and belief that reject SSM and Biblical revisionism, one of your rather progressive theological hallmarks. So I am not sure your gleefulness is well founded.
There are many others who remain, in WA, in VicTas, in NSWACT who continue to reject R64 and SSM.
It is interesting to note that in NSWACT there is a significant decline in the lower third of life age group (0 to 45) across NSWACT and in particular country areas. Why is this? For one, false un-biblical teachings.
The Hunter Presbytery now has an average age of 75 years old and is meeting tomorrow Tuesday in an emergency mode to consider to sell properties and rationalise congregations to raise enough cash to try and arrest this obvious decline. Money will not be an answer to false teaching – not an answer to a false gospel that creates residents of Hell and not Heaven.
This problem is not confined to the Hunter but rather across many Presbyteries in NSWACT and also its clergy creation processes.
The GAFCON Southern Cross Diocese is growing rapidly with many youthful congregants including ex-UCA.
The Lord is not I believe going to bless false teaching in false theologies in any Church for very long and such as these are on the timeline of extinction. Which would seem to be an appropriate antidote.
My husband and I were heavily involved in EMU Queensland. Thank
you to those who were there for the long haul. I’m sorry to hear you have been treated badly. The apostle Paul spoke strongly against false teaching. Leaders in the UCA will reap what they sow and it saddens me that we don’t experience unity in diversity. Those days were very difficult for many conservatives, yet on the flip side, we enjoyed deep, unique, loving fellowship across Australia. Many no longer show allegiance to the UCA. Excited there be be no denominational labels in Heaven.
The thing that will kill the church is hard line conservatism and it’s penchant for condemning people to hell. My progressive church us flourishing and growing.
No so in the Hunter, Elisabeth. Rather at an average of 75 yo, we in the Hunter Presbytery have no where near enough clergy and we are closing openly progressive churches rapidly.
Whilst it is disheartening to see the faithfulness of Wesley decay into the UCA’s perception that precedence be given to popularise viewpoints and the culling of scriptural truth to the extent that they are now simply a secular welfae agency. We pray it I all in God’s plan in abandoning what has been built, but look forward to your infusion into other Gospel & Scriptural reflecting Worship and Service.
As my Mum used to say – “there’s no such thing as a retired Christian, only a retreaded one..”
One of the main problems for UCA is the eisegesis of the Basis of Union 1971 by various Assemblies of the years, seeking to impose human wisdom and traditions to usurp the Word of God, the Holy Bible.
These satanic tendencies are to be expected in what is now a false church in these end times.
Regards you comments about Hell, I thought the following commentary from openai/ChatGpt-3.5 might be enlightening to you.
:In the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the word “hell” appears 13 times in the New Testament.
I asked: “How many times is hell mentioned in the New Testament of the New American Standard Bible and who mentions it the most ”
ChatGPT responded:
“Regarding who mentions it the most, as I mentioned earlier, it’s hard to determine as the word “hell” appears in different contexts and is mentioned by various authors. However, Jesus Christ is often associated with teachings about hell in the New Testament, particularly in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). So, Jesus may be considered the one who mentions it the most in the New Testament.:
Very good news. Praise God.
Well that depends your real meaning here Paul.
It is great news that the ACC has done its job and left its mark on a spiritully destitute UCA Assembly and its vassal state like Synods in Queensland and for example.
Just as our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 10:14 & 15 “And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town …”
In this case, the spiritually moribund UCA is that town that has not welcomed nor heeded the prophetic witness of the UCA and its forerunners, and now is these are gladly being welcomed elsewhere, such as the GAFCON inspired Diocese of the Southern Cross.
Goodbye UCA, and we still pray for you to repent from your many sins of false teaching about strange flesh, denial of the Virgin Birth, denial of the Resurrection, denial of the Holy Bible and so many other oddities, before it is too late.
Well that depends your real meaning here Paul.
It is great news that the ACC has done its job and left its mark on a spiritully destitute and gospel moribund UCA Assembly and in many parts of its vassal state like Synods in Queensland for example.
Just as our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 10:14 & 15 “And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town …”
In this case, the spiritually moribund UCA is that town that has not welcomed nor heeded the prophetic witness of the UCA and its forerunners, and in great danger on Judgement Day, assuming you believe in this. Now the ACC Inc is taking its witness, just as Jesus has commended, elsewhere where it is gladly being welcomed, such as the GAFCON inspired Diocese of the Southern Cross.
Goodbye UCA, and we still pray for you to repent from your many sins of false teaching about strange flesh, denial of the Virgin Birth, denial of the Resurrection, denial of the Holy Bible and so many other oddities, before it is too late.
*prophetic witness of the ACC*