2025 President's Conference to weave faith, justice, community and Tongan hospitality

Rev James Bhagwan, General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches, will deliver a keynote address on the third day: “The Church’s Role in Addressing Social Challenges.” His address will explore the church’s prophetic and pastoral vocation amid climate change, disability inclusion, gender equity and migration.

“I was born and raised in Fiji, and this place has shaped my heart and vocation,” Rev Bhagwan says. “Whether I’m preaching, teaching, or in talanoa by the shore, I return to the same call: follow Christ who breaks down walls, and serve people where they live—in villages, settlements, schools, churches, and along the foreshore where mangroves hold our islands together.”

Rev Bhagwan describes the Pacific’s most pressing challenge as “the web of social and ecological wounds—climate disruption, inequality, harmful politics, and the ongoing struggle for dignity and self-determination. These aren’t separate issues; they meet in the daily lives of our people.” Yet, he believes churches are uniquely placed to respond. “We can lift a prophetic voice, provide pastoral accompaniment, and insist on practical outcomes… When churches act together, we become an ecumenical canoe—many paddles, one direction—moving our people toward hope.”

His vision is deeply spiritual and rooted in Indigenous wisdom. “Long before I joined PCC, climate advocacy was part of my calling. I was raised by eco-champions who taught me that faith is lived in how we treat land, ocean, and neighbour.”

“As a Pacific person of Indian and iTaukei ties with inlaws and relatives and friends across the Pacific spectrum, I don’t see the climate crisis as only environmental—it is spiritual. When graves are washed away or villages must move, it is a tearing of identity and story. My Christian faith says creation is God’s gift and our neighbour’s lifeline. So prayer must become action. Climate justice, for us, is discipleship.”

To Australian churches, Bhagwan offers encouragement and challenge: “My message is about belonging, not just partnership. The Uniting Church is part of the Pacific churches: a member of PCC, with strong Pacific diaspora leadership, and located within the wider Pacific family. That belonging calls us to act together… My prayer is that you carry both urgency and hope: urgency, because now is the time for bold, practical action; hope, because when we move as one Body of Christ, we do make a difference.”

The conference will open with a keynote from Her Royal Highness Princess Salote Mafile‘o Pilolevu Tuita, Princess Royal of Tonga, a figure revered across the Pacific for her grace, wisdom and lifelong service to her people.

“I eagerly anticipate welcoming the Uniting Church in Australia to Tonga for this vital conference on weaving Christ's love across cultures,” said the Princess Royal. “It is my hope that through our shared fellowship, we will rediscover how living out our faith – interwoven with love and a commitment to justice – can be spiritually renewed through the beauty and wisdom of our Tongan cultural practices, such as the profound art of lalanga.”

Her reflection will set the tone for the gathering, linking the conference’s theological theme to the spiritual depth of Tongan culture, where weaving (lalanga) is not only an art form but a metaphor for community, strength and the divine interconnection of all creation.

On the Saturday morning, Dr Tangikina ‘Utumeimoana Moimoi Steen, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Tonga National University and CEO of the Ministry of Education & Training, will lead worship and give a devotion.

“The phrase ‘giving back to God and country’ describes my life journey,” she says. “It’s the thread that brings together the different strands of my life—culture and traditions, education, religion, academia, community and life experiences.”

“Christ’s love has no boundaries, it is seamless,” she says. “It cuts across visible and non-visible barriers, weaving across cultures and borders.”

Youth and intergenerational leadership will feature prominently at the conference, with Rev Penisimani ‘Akau‘ola Tonga – also known as Pastor Benny Tonga – leading morning worship on the second day.

A lifelong member of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga, Rev Tonga believes young people hold a key to the renewal of the church. “One of the biggest challenges for youth today is not being able to understand their value and not being offered an opportunity by the Church to express their God-given talents and potential. Young people can usher in vital changes where the Church may need a spiritual revival.”

As Director of Theological Education and Evangelism for the FWCT, Rev Tonga sees collaboration with partners like the Uniting Church as essential: “The Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga together with the Uniting Church of Australia and also the other Pacific churches must invest in our young people, to encourage, coach and assist young people in all that they do.”

The voice of the next generation will continue to take centre stage on the second day. Olivia Baro, Ecumenical Animator for Youth Engagement and Empowerment with the Pacific Conference of Churches, will lead a Bible study: “Leading with Love: The Next Generation’s Vision for the Church.” Olivia will invite participants to reflect on how Jesus’ love reshapes leadership and how young people across the Pacific are weaving new threads of courage, creativity and inclusion in the life of the church.

The conversation will continue in an Emerging Leaders Panel facilitated by Maungarongo (Moe) Tito of the Methodist Church of New Zealand. Young leaders from across the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga, Pacific Conference of Churches, Uniting Church and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress will speak candidly about identity, trauma, racism, calling and the church they hope for.

Above: Nuku'alofa on the island of Tongatapu.

Across its four days, the President’s Conference will blend worship, spiritual nourishment, talanoa dialogue and cultural immersion. Participants will experience weaving and ngatu workshops, and community visits focused on climate justice, disability inclusion, women’s wellbeing and pastoral care. There will also be an opportunity for leisure experiences, enabling conference participants to experience the beauty and richness of Tonga. All will be woven through with honest sharing, theological reflection and prayer.

Our prayer is that the conference will be, as President Suli describes, both a homecoming and a pilgrimage – an opportunity for Uniting Church members to be encouraged and enriched, and an invitation to renew the friendship between the UCA and the churches of the Pacific.

Regular news, photos, videos and updates from the President’s Conference will be shared to the Assembly’s social media platforms each day, and in our weekly National Update newsletter. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and sign up for National Update.