The Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) is an ecumenical organization representing Christian churches in the Pacific region. It seeks the visible unity of the church on issues of justice, peace and integrity of creation, initiatives on capacity building, and solidarity with its members during times of natural disasters and internal social upheavals.
Reverend James Bhagwan of Fiji was elected General Secretary of the PCC in November 2018.[1]
The roots of the Pacific Conference of Churches can be traced to a 1961 consultation held at Malua Theological Seminary in Samoa, followed by its founding in 1966 when its first assembly met on the Loyalty Island of Lifou, New Caledonia.[2] Its first chairman was the Tongan Methodist Sione 'Amanaki Havea, serving from 1966 to 1971.[3]
From very modest beginnings in the early 1960s, its membership is now numbered at about 27 Pacific member Churches and 11 National Council of Churches (NCCs). The head office of the Pacific Conference of Churches is based in Suva, Fiji.[2]
At their meeting in Pago Pago, American Samoa, in 2007, the ninth General Assembly of the Pacific Conference of Churches agreed on six main programmes to focus on.
Furthermore, there are two sectoral programmes specifying on certain target groups.
PCC is “a fellowship of Churches and Church organisations […] that seeks to fulfill together their common calling to the Glory of One God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (PCC Constitution Part 4).
In essence, PCC strives toward a vision of a Pacific region that is characterized by the values of unity, solidarity, justice, peace, dialogue and leadership after the heart and mind of Jesus, and a spirituality that gives grounding and substance to PCC’s existence and to the work it does.
Recognising PCC's Aims as stipulated in its Constitution (Part 5), its mission is to: