For thousands of years, this sacred rock has been the symbol of religious and cultural inter-relations among the peoples of the Western Desert. In the year 2000, it took on added significance as a modern group of pilgrims came to this ancient land to foster religious and cultural inter-relations among a unique global family – the World Convention of Churches of Christ.

Brisbane Australia played host to the 15th  World Convention of a Churches of Christ, marking the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the organization, which now encompasses churches in at least 165 countries around the world.  These churches, variously known as Christian Churches, Churches of Christ and Disciples of Christ trace their roots to the early part of the 19th Century both the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Although always numerically smaller than their American counterparts, the British churches still are a significant part of the work of World Convention. The 2004 Convention was held in Brighton England, cohosted by the Fellowship of Churches of Christ and the United Reformed Church, which the majority of our British churches joined in 1981. The 2008 Convention will be held in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

World Convention was the dream of Jesse M Bader, a distinguished leader in our American Churches. Bader, who would later serve as Secretary of the National Council of Churches and instituted the World Communion Sunday, was General Secretary of the World Convention of Churches of Christ till his death in 1963.

His idea was timely. In the 1920s there were Churches of Christ in at least thirty countries and the informal communication of the 19th century was no longer adequate. International passenger transport was improving rapidly and the decade of the Twenties was a time of great opti­mism for a world beginning to experience a sense of to­getherness. International organizations - almost unheard of before - were springing up.

The first assembly of the World Convention of Churches of Christ was held in Washington DC, in October 1930 with the theme `Witnessing for Christ Around the World'. Despite the `Great Depression', 9,000-10,000 attended. The program emphasized enabling those present to discover what was happening in each of the countries represented, allowing them to reflect on over a century of achievement, and to look ahead.

Conventions were to be held every five years and the next was in Leicester, England in 1935. It was here that Bader made the comment that still challenges Churches of Christ today: “While pleading in season and or out of season for the unity of a divided church, our world brotherhood has neglected too much to cultivate fellowship, cooperation and unity within itself.' The echoes of this statement can still be heard today.

World War 11 broke the five-year cycle and it not until 1947 that the third convention was held in Buffalo New York. In 1952, World Convention first ventured to Australia for the 4th Convention in Melbourne. This convention proved a watershed moment for the organization with the adoption of the current constitution, the establishment of an international Study program, and the groundwork laid for the World Christian Women’s Fellowship, which would formally come into being in Toronto in 1955. The Study Program proved particularly invaluable. Over a twenty year period it helped to clarify understanding of what the Churches of Christ stood for in six doctrinal areas, even though the conclusions reached were not intended to be binding in any way.

World Convention returned to the United Kingdom in 1960.The Edinburgh Convention was the last organized by Dr. Bader. By then the Convention was firmly established and it’s importance understood, illustrated by the words of Gordon Stirling, a minister of the Canberra Australia Church of Christ.

The Sixth World Convention made a great impact for our Brotherhood on the Scottish community, especially in Edinburgh. Press, radio and television featured the Convention. The Civic Fathers recognised it in the official welcome and in the great reception and garden party at Lauriston Castle, and in the prominent floral display on the Mound. The Churches of Edinburgh welcomed the Convention, throwing open their pulpits to Convention preachers and encouraging their members to attend the Convention services. Every bus passing the Usher Hall had a Convention badge. The man in the street, the shop girl, the waiter, the folk in the train or the bus, all wanted to know about it and showed genuine interest in hearing of who we were, where we came from and what we believed. One could almost wish that we could have such a Convention a dozen times a year in as many strategic places around the world, for the purpose of aiding the witness of local churches. Large numbers of Britons have never heard of Churches of Christ, for we are a small body in the United Kingdom. But Edinburgh knows now of our existence and something of our ideals. Likewise it will be a great lift to our growing Puerto Rican Churches to have the Convention in 1965.

Dr Laurence V Kirkpatrick, succeeded Bader and was responsible for the assemblies in San Juan Puerto Rico in 1965 and Adelaide in 1970.

The pattern moved from every five years to every four years in 1974 to avoid clashing with the biennial assem­bly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. Allan W Lee, the 3rd. General Secretary was responsible for Conventions in Mexico City, Mexico (1974), the fiftieth anniversary Convention in Honolulu Hawaii, 1980, Kingston Jamaica (1984), Auckland, New Zealand (1988) and Long Beach, California (1992).

Although the conventions continued to be well attended, World Convention moved into a difficult period in the early Seventies. `Restructure' of the Christian Church in the United States in 1968 hardened the division between the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the `independent' Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. But World Convention, caught in the middle, continued to provide excellent convention experiences throughout the challenging years of the 1970s and 80s.

1992 proved to be a turning point. A new generation of leaders began to emerge. Although aware of the struggles of the past, they were more concerned with the future. Lyndsay and Lorraine Jacobs, were called from New Zealand to become the new General Secretaries based in Nashville. The 1996 Convention in Calgary reversed the pattern: attendance increased and a surplus was recorded. Attendance in Brisbane in 2000 was at least double that of Long Beach only 8 years earlier with 34 different countries represented.

Echoing the words of Gordon Stirling, almost 40 years earlier, World Convention has moved from a major emphasis of organizing a convention every four years, to building a sense of continuing day-to-day convention.

There are at least 168 countries with congregations relating to our 19th Century heritage and there is a vast network of links within this family. World Convention provides a unique means of building fellowship, understanding and common purpose within this diverse Christian World Communion. We have dreamed of the church united in essentials, tolerant in non essentials and loving in all things - so that world might really believe and Christ's community might come.

That is our challenge.