The Victorian Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the Scriptures and seek to fulfil together their common calling to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
‘The purpose of the VCC is to be –
- a living expression of Christian unity held in diversity
- a meeting place for Christian churches
- a distinctly Christian voice
- a vehicle of engagement with both the community and government in Victoria.
VCC is:
- a ‘peak body’ – representing our member churches to the community and to government. This is a particularly important role in relation to the Emergencies Ministry Program, which could not function if the State government was unable to contract with the VCC for the purposes of the program.
- a ‘connection point’ for the member churches. The VCC enables the churches to hold their concerns and conversations in a common space. Our various Commissions provide opportunities for people from the member churches to learn from each other. At our meetings there is space for a sharing of our celebrations and our difficulties. The VCC is also consulted by individual churches on a range of matters from technical questions to finding places of worship for new congregations.
- a ‘catalyst’ – a forum in which ideas can be discussed, where one church’s solution to an issue can be received as a response to another’s question.
- an ‘advocate’ for social justice in the community and on behalf of the churches with government. Where possible, the VCC provides a means of articulating a Christian response on issues within the community. Indigenous issues, refugees, prisons, poverty and human rights are all issues which have been addressed by the VCC or its commissions over the years.
We will:
- seek to be appropriately ‘governed and resourced’ to ensure that the member churches’ funds are used in ways consistent with the purposes of the Council and with due diligence and accountability.
Our constitution can be found here.