Theology & Discipleship - Uniting Church in Australia Working Groups on Missiology and Evangelism

WHO WE ARE

Since the ninth Assembly, held in Adelaide July 2000, the Working Groups have been exploring our mandate and looking to expand the mission and evangelism conversation. The mandate includes responsibility to develop "theological leadership to assist the Church reflect on, articulate and apply the Christian faith, to engage the culture and to spread the good news of Jesus Christ". In interpreting the mandate we have come to use the phrase "to expand, inspire and stimulate the theological conversation about mission in the Uniting Church" recognising that congregations, agencies, groups and councils are all seeking, in their own way, to undertake this task.

There are several strong strands within the mission tradition of the Uniting Church, including:

• mission as justice,
• mission as witness and
• mission as service.

There are also many examples and innovative patterns we have developed to fulfill our mission vocation so our task includes supporting networks and bringing leaders together to reflect on praxis. Through engaging the culture we have discovered many challenges to effective mission in the Australian context and we believe that that it is important that new directions be assessed and evaluated. In light of the call of the gospel we also have the task of articulating our mission and encourage the church to develop a missional ecclesiology.

In the formation of the Uniting Church many believed that while we could affirm our part of the universal Church we would also have a particular role in relation to Australia's geo-social setting and the historical context. Now nearly twenty-five years later and as we are celebrating a 100 years of federation, it is important to acknowledge the present realities, to learn from our experience and to restate our commitment.

Over the last twenty-five years the Uniting Church has sustained many perspectives on mission, some are contextual (urban, rural, outback, suburban), some generational and others are to do with the theological themes (witness, justice, service). Since the Assembly we have explored these perspectives and we are looking to make the connections with other dimensions of the church's life including our belief (doctrine and faith), worship traditions and education ministries.