The AGM of the Vic CofC Conference is over,and as with any AGM, it tells a story of how an organisation is travelling. The Annual Report records the ups and downs, but few will know what's happening as the Report is not on the web;Qld Conference has its Annual Report up;SA has its AGM minutes together with its financial reports; and NSW and WA also nothing.A few years ago the Vic Report was more than 100 pages,now it scraps in at a little over 50 pages.No minutes ever go up in Vic.

1.Despite some of the good news stories,and there are lots of them,Vic is not travelling well: 48% of its ministers are trained outside of CofC colleges; 70% of its members have no strong identity with CofC; 11 of the 24 churches involved in its Future Direction program have received minimal benefit;apparently none of the CofC ministers invited to apply for the director of Ministry applied, and so a Baptist was appointed;and an informal staff assessment concluded that 80 congregations of the 124 Victorian congregations are "unsustainable,not viable,unhealthy and vulnerable". According to a Dreaming Day doc,"conflict and misconduct continue to be significant causes of decline".(NB A recent highly publicised 3 day meeting on mission and evangelism targetted at more than 300 ministers attracted little over 20 ministers and staff from Victoria).

2.The Conference itself has a significant governance dilemma. No longer are any of the departments constitutionally accountable to members and congregations thru the AGM.CCTC,Community Care,& Properties Corp now write their own constitutions,set their own budgets and decide what to do.True,they "submit"their financial reports,but the AGM does not approve,ammend etc,and the AGM is able to "ratify" board members but not nominate or elect.At the same time these same departments sit on the Conference Council deciding constitutions,budgets and programs for the rest of us. A most peculiar state of affairs,not seen in any other denomination.

3.Financial Accountability to the AGM *For the second year in a row the CCCC(Community Care) produced a deficit in excess of 4 million dollars. No discussion was permitted on this report as the Council directed thru the chair, that all reports would be moved,seconded and adopted,without discussion. * At the national level, while the National Council,GMP,ACCIM and National Media reported,even tho congregations contribute to these agencies,no financial reports were tabled. * Council does fund a budget for the Social Justice Network so no financial report was tabled.An announcement by the Council in Feb 2008 was a little puzzling in that it reported it had decided "to continue to financially support it's activities";so maybe next year we'll see a budget. * For the 2nd year, the CofC Foundation tabled a financial report with a surplus;but no info on what this is,who are the trustees and what it does. * The Indigenous Ministry Fund,reported an increase in funding in 2007, $1800 compared to $600 in 2006!!! Before hats are thrown in the air,NB 1600 of that went on travel. * But the Protestant Chutzpah Award 2008 goes to Future Directions: in 2003 the Council agreed and was accepted by the AGM,that FD would be "funded from outside the budget";in 2007 AGM, the Council reported that FD was "cost neutral" (The Treasurer on being questioned about this, couldn't provide any further detail);in 2008 it was reported that "costs were about $60,000......and we now had a surplus of $4856";achieved apparently by excluding all staff time!! * A good move by the Council,as well as providing financial summary docs.,it tabled full financial statements;however CCTC and CCCC decided not to table their complete statements.Which meant,for example,the AGM does not know if Community Care has applied for government funding to assist with the employment of indigenous staff as other denominations are doing.

4.Accountability Some of the things that could have been reported on, and with some creativity could have been discussed: * Yet another year and the Council decided not to table the new federal council constitution or discuss it with its delegates; its a strange way to treat a membership, and contributes little to openess and inclusivity. *At state and national levels appointments are made to ecumenical and interchurch organisations;however,there are currently no mechanisms for those appointees to report or be held accountable.For example,CofC is a part of the Vic Heads of Churches,which has been discussing with the Government, a same sex register which is now law. The issue has not been discussed at a AGM(in fact we run a mile from any discussion on gay relations,gender issues etc) so it would have been helpful to know what was said on our behalf. The National Council report had no info on what has been said and done on our behalf in the NCCA,NATSIEC or any other national agency on which we are represented. * Membership fees are paid on our behalf to both the Christian Conference of Asia and the WCC;no reports were made.Why continue to pay lipservice and hard cash to an ecumenical movement, which is not taken seriously. *Increasingly, we are moving closer to the Baptist church;an "agreement" has been signed with them,but no info has been made available to the AGM;the women's unit now runs joint programs with the Baptists;in WA and Qld joint ministers and parts of conferences are run together with the Baptists.Is this where Council and staff would like to take us?; two senior positions in the ministry unit of the Conference are Baptist (an unheard of situation in any other church concerned with its identity and mission); could the new principal of the College be another Baptist? Has the time come for a discussion on closer ties with the Baptists? *The Chair of Community Care signalled in his report some of the challenges confronting it,in a new and competitive environment,where frequently market share,rather than ministry is the driving force. Most other states have a community care ministry covering a wide range of community services;Vic continues with a government funded residentially based service.Are there good reasons for this? Why not go follow other states? *Would it not have been responsible for ACCIM to have tabled its new constitution and helped delegates understand what it means for Vic congregations? *The Council was aware that a review of the Conference structures was to take place. Was there a reason, why terms of reference,cost(the last major review was done without cost by a professional consultant assisted by a team of volunteers;is this review going to be the same?),whether or not the review report would be made public(most reviews by the Council are labelled confidential and remain secret)

etc, were not provided to the AGM? *All 3 motions on increased fees,green churches and the indigenous apology were past without discussion.The indigenous motion,was moved,seconded and adopted in 4 minutes flat! Strange and bewildering. *Still no constitution for the MM Board;it was not tabled in 2007,and again not tabled in 2008;will the AGM have an opportunity to debate it in 2009? *A small group has served the Conference maintaining archives,publishing our history etc yet the Council decided not to include anything of their activities.Not much appreciation around the place it would appear. *Could not the CCTC share with the AGM the future of the principalship of the College?

5.Courtesy and Koinonia It was a strange AGM, not just the way reports were adopted without discussion,and no opportunity to comment on or add to the agenda. *recognise the contribution of the founding chair and a number of members who had served on the MM Board (reportedly there have been deep tensions between the Board and the Council);this was finally done only after Council members were reminded of the oversight *accept with appreciation the long time service of people like Lynette Leach,who served some 16 years on ACCESS Ministries; or Simon Clemow who not only served GMP but creatively developed the SJN website who returned to SA without a thought from the AGM;are there others? *recall and remember the passing of those who had given long service to the ecumenical movement such as David Allison and David Hillier.

The President of Conference reflecting afterwards wondered why "so many churches were not represented...and why they chose to be absent". Good question. Lets hope in getting some answers, the Council doesn't overlook the role played by the Conference structure itself, in this conundrum.

Yours continuing in hope.

Alan Matheson

PS.NSW CofC Conference and its congregations,which are in formal,but bizarre, partnership with James Dobson's, Focus on the Family, will I hope, be surprised at the very emotional and personal attack on the US Presidential candidate Barak Obama.According to Dobson,a warrior of the Republican Party and religious right, Obama has "deliberately distorted the Bible",dragged biblical understanding thru the gutter","wilfully confusing people",and having a "fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution".Check Sojourners site for Jim Wallis's strong ejection of Dobson's attack