At the 1999 Special General Assembly in Christchurch it was recommended that a review of the Subordinate standards with regard to their ‘relevance as confessional documents’ be made. This was duly arranged under the convenership of the Rgt Revd Alistair Rae.
This committee reported to the 2002 GA in Wellington as the subordinate standards task group.It recommended the creation of a Focal Identity Statement and a rewrite of the regulations to reflect a new relationship with this statement. The FIS Workgroup was set up under the convenership of Richard Dawson.
This group first reported to the 2004 GA in Christchurch with an incomplete statement asking that it be examined and discussed at the GA as a part of the review process. This was done and the result became a part of the working documents of the group.
A complete confession was presented to the 2006 GA in Auckland. Assembly asked that the work of the Taskgroup it be reviewed again because of last minute changes to the document prior to it being presented to the Assembly.
At the 2008 GA in Wellington a third report of the Taskgroup’s work is taken through the Assembly’s small group process and found wide acceptance. There was much debate about the work and general acceptance that the Westminster Confession must be replaced. The vote yielded a 53% result which was still 7% shy of the threshold required by Assembly. The work was referred again back to a strengthened Taskgroup for further refinement.
We are now reviewing that last document and will shortly have a new confession and commentary ready for assessment by the whole church.