Recent posts from the warriors of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations suggest that they have been hard at work in Tonga, lobbying support for their retrograde sectarian minority opinion. The matter revolves around the decision of the 15th Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia. The posts emanated from the Conference of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga, meeting in session over the past week.
A proposal went to the Conference, “That the conference of the FWC of Tonga suspend its formal relationship with the Assembly of the Uniting Church Australia until such a time as she repents of her apostate decision to approve its secular doctrine on diversity and same-gender marriage.” It was posted with the implication that this was adopted by the FWC. I don’t believe that it was.
In fact, the General Secretary of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga has issued a statement strongly affirming the relationships that the FWC has with the Uniting Church in Australia. Dr Tevita Koloa’ia Havea has said that “There is no change to the relationship between the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga and the Uniting Church in Australia.”
The statement continues, quite pointedly, “Please disregard the rumours, regarding the termination of the relationship between our General Conferences and the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia.”
You can read this at http://fwc.to/
Meanwhile, the Uniting Church website reports that the President and General Secretary of the Assembly have issued a statement celebrating the UCA’s ongoing relationship with the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga.
“The Uniting Church in Australia and the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga have a partnership that is strong, and grounded in our shared life in Christ, the honouring of and respect for our expressions of ministry and mission and our proclamation of the Gospel of Christ. The formal relationship between the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia and the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga remains strong. May God bless our churches with wisdom, grace and peace as we seek to serve our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ with joy and love.”
The statement was issued over the names of Dr Deidre Palmer, President, and Ms. Colleen Geyer, General Secretary of the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia.
You can read this at https://assembly.uca.org.au/news/item/3033-blessed-by-our-joyful-partnership
There can be no doubt that the tactics of the sectarians in the ACC are retrograde, divisive, and disturbing. Far from affirming “the faith and unity of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church” (as the UCA Basis of Union declares), the ACC has acted to divide the unity of the church, challenge the commitment to holiness manifested in lives working for justice, splinter connections across worldwide church through agitations with a partner church outside of the regular lines of communication and fellowship, and turn away from the church’s commitment to “the discipline of interpreting [the apostolic] teaching in a later age.
That is a poor witness, acting in ways that were clearly not envisaged in the faithful work undertaken to form, and then strengthen, the Uniting Church, over many decades. The theme of the last Assembly was “abundant grace, liberating hope”. It would be good to see some grace and hope emanating from the ACC …….
also
https://johntsquires.com/2019/06/26/human-sexuality-and-the-bible/
https://johntsquires.com/2019/01/13/affirmations-we-can-make-together/
https://johntsquires.com/2019/05/26/once-again-affirming-our-diversity-celebrating-joyous-marriages/
https://johntsquires.com/2019/01/15/when-you-suffer-the-whole-body-of-christ-suffers/
https://johntsquires.com/2018/10/26/marriage-of-same-gender-people-a-gift-to-the-whole-church/
https://johntsquires.com/2018/09/19/discernment/
https://johntsquires.com/2018/07/31/abundant-grace-liberating-hope/
An Informed Faith 
Thank you, John, for sharing this post Ii had no idea this was taking place.
Thank you John. These same divisive, splintering tactics have been used at the Tongan National Conference for quite a few years. Attempts to speak to a wider audience as if the ACC speaks for all Tongans, and indeed all cultural groups across the UCA. They do not, and many sessions in which I was in attendance, made it clear. (Rev Dr) Tony Floyd, now retired UCA Minister of the Word, from 2007 to 2015, National Director, Multicultural and Cross-cultural Ministry, UCA