56. MULTICULTURAL MINISTRY (report C17)

That the Assembly:

56.1 (a) as a specific mission strategy, strongly encourage Congregations, Presbytery Pastoral Relations Committees and Synod Placements Committees, when making decisions regarding placements, to pursue the possibility of placing ministers who are able to exercise ministry in both Anglo and specific Migrant-ethnic cultures (with the relevant language capacities);

(b) request the Strategic Planning Unit to explore the implications of the recommendation and to develop recommended processes for its implementation in consultation with the Reference Committee on Multicultural Ministry;

Rationale:
See the report of the Strategic Planning Unit, part 5(a) iii, page C21-22:
"The Church will need to make closer connections with people of ethnic-minority groups, moving beyond simply allowing 'them' to worship in 'our' buildings, and place more emphasis on being in dialogue and cooperating with groups of other faiths, if we are to engage seriously with this multicultural society."

The recommendation has particular relevance to the 'consultation/mission study' prescribed in Regulation 2.7.15(a). A mission study that fails to recognise opportunities for connections with ethnic-minority groups is inadequate. Consider, for example, a small congregation whose neighbourhood includes a growing number of Vietnamese families. A thoroughgoing mission study might recommend that this congregation seek an English-speaking Vietnamese minister, rather than a monolingual Anglo. And such opportunities are to be sought not only in the local situation but beyond it. An example of participation in global mission is mentioned in the SPU report, page C21-17: "The Synod found the funds to pay part-time an African Minister…"

The recommendation affirms the importance of the Seventh Assembly's resolution 94.32.02 (a)(i) requesting the Standing Committee to consult with synods on "ways of increasing the number of ministers and candidates for ministry who are bilingual". Ministerial Profiles held by synods should include details of language skills and cross-cultural experience, and a national register of ministers who are bilingual or multilingual would be a useful resource.

56.2 (a) as a specific expression of the multicultural nature of the Church, affirm the need for a national translation strategy;

(b) request representatives of the Reference Committee on Multicultural Ministry and the Secretariat to consult about steps to be taken in implementing such a strategy;

Rationale:
See report C17-2.1.7, 3.4.3, and the Strategic Planning Unit's report part 5(b), page C21-23, which calls the Church to use new technologies to communicate.

56.3 (a) agree to launch a national bequest campaign for Multicultural Ministry.

(b) authorise the National Director for Multicultural Ministry to develop an annual appeal on One Great Sunday of Sharing for the work of multicultural ministry.

Rationale:
Multicultural Ministry has no access to capital funds. This means that the work of this ministry is tied to a diminishing Assembly budget. The effect of these constraints is that this ministry finds it difficult to develop an adequate support structure for the National Director and resources for its programs. The committee believes this to be an urgent matter insofar as the multicultural ministry of the Uniting Church is an area of considerable growth.