By Rev Allan Thompson
June 22 in 1977 was one of the most exciting days of my life, professionally at least.
I had invested a lot of myself in the planning and preparation for the Uniting Church locally and regionally, and finally it came to be.
It was a Wednesday, and on the previous Sunday I had led my final services as a Presbyterian minister.
I was privileged to be in Sydney for the inauguration.
That Wednesday morning I attended the final session of the Presbyterian Assembly, and in the afternoon the first session of the Uniting Church Assembly.
That afternoon’s meeting dealt mainly with legal and constitutional issues, and was presided over by Rev Farquhar Gunn who had chaired the Joint Constitution Commission.
I remember clearly the moment when he stood and said “I now declare the Uniting Church in Australia to exist”.
There was acclamation and then he said “I think we should sing the Doxology”, which we did fervently and unaccompanied.
Rev Dr Harold Wood then led a very moving extempore prayer of thanksgiving to God.
In the evening there was a grand service of inauguration in the Sydney Town Hall, which was absolutely packed.
On the stage were the Moderators of the seven new synods, the national leaders of the three uniting churches, and some ecumenical guests.
Also there was Rev Dr Philip Potter, then General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, who had come from Geneva to bring greetings from the world church.
Early in the service Rev Dr Davis McCaughey, a prominent contributor to the Basis of Union, was installed as the first President of the Uniting Church Assembly.
The first half hour of the service was telecast live on ABC TV and the whole service was telecast the following Sunday morning.
One of my most vivid memories of that night was the spontaneous singing as the congregation streamed out of the town hall onto the steps and forecourt on George St.
I can’t remember all the hymns the crowd sang, but “O for a thousand tongues to sing” was one of them. None of us wanted to leave.
The next day I returned home.
I was no longer the Presbyterian minister in Bairnsdale, but along with the former Methodist minister, I was a Uniting Church minister.
The Sunday after that momentous Wednesday we had a big celebration in the high school assembly hall, and then on that afternoon people from all over Gippsland gathered at the Sale Memorial Hall for a regional celebration.
The inaugural Assembly had appointed me as the inaugural Chairperson of the Presbytery of Gippsland, so I had the honour of being the presiding minister at that celebration, and I remained the Presbytery Chair until I left Gippsland 16 months later.
This week in 1977 was a week I will never forget, and one which shaped much of my life from that momentous time.
Rev Allan Thompson is a retired minister in Launceston, former Synod of Victoria Moderator, and former Associate General Secretary