Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code is a best seller. It is, of course, a thoroughly enjoyable and gripping novel. However, it is not a work of history, and should not be confused with history. Steve Francis considers the historical issues.

The 1997 Assembly decided that the work of the Council of Elders and the Parish Council should be combined in the work of the Church Council. All Elders are to be members of the Church Council (unless Presbytery agrees otherwise), Elders must be at least 50% of the membership of Church Council, and the tasks of the Elders Council are the basis of the task of the Church Council. The purpose was clearly to bring together the mission and finance/property tasks of the congregation into one body.

One question that has been raised is whether the fact that there is now no Elders Council breaches the Basis of Union. That is, can the Church Council legitimately been seen as the equivalent of the Elders Council in terms of the intention of the Basis of Union.

The Church Polity Committee has the responsibility of providing advice on this issue, after consultation with groups which includes the Doctrine Working Group.

The World Council of Churches has produced a report on Episkope and episcopacy (Faith and Order Document No 183), which calls on member churches to consider the way oversight of the faith, unity and mission of the church is exercised. The Working Group is considering this report in order to make recommendations on how the UCA should respond. Part of this will involve consideration of how well the present structures of oversight work, and whether the UCA is again being challenged to consider some form of personal oversight.

The World Council of Churches has also offered a document (Faith and Order No 181) which seeks to indicate levels of ecumenical agreement on our understanding of the nature and purpose of the church. The UCA is asked to indicate the extent to which the document reflects our understanding of these issues. We are working on this with Uniting International Mission.

A concern has arisen among people actively encouraging the emergence of the church in new places, that in some situations people are not willing or able to meet the requirements for becoming a congregation of the UCA.

How can we recognise and encourage other ways for Christians to gather and yet to be related to the UCA? The Assembly asked that we explore such faith communities in the Catholic Church and what we can learn from them.

A paper has been prepared and forwarded to the ASC.

The NSW Council of Synod believed it was important for its present lay Moderator to preside at the eucharist at Synod events.

The Doctrine Working Group believes that such a decision represents a significant departure from the polity and practice of the UCA and asked that the NSW Synod not proceed.

The NSW Synod has asked the ASC to clarify the issues involved.

Together with the Working Group on Worship, the Doctrine Working Group has considered the need for creeds and statements of faith and what these should contain in our situation.

(i) A Victorian statement based on the Basis of Union. The Doctrine Working Group was asked to comment on whether the statement should be more widely accepted as a useful way to introduce people to the Basis of Union. While commending the intention of the statement, the Working Group believed that it left out some central affirmations in the Basis. Further conversations are to be held between the Working Group and the Victorian Synod.

(ii) Who decides who presides at worship and/or preaches in a congregation? Previous Regulations said that the Parish Council made this decision based on criteria provided by the Minister. This provision was inadvertently left out when the Regulations were redrafted for the Church Council. The ASC decided that this was the Minister's decision but sought advice from the DWG. The Working Group indicated its belief that it is the Minister in consultation with the Church Council, not simply the Minister alone. The ASC will need to consider this issue further.