Minute of Appreciation of Clem Dickinson

That the Assembly place on record its appreciation of the contribution that the Rev Clement A Dickinson has made to the life of the Church as Executive Director of the Beneficiary Fund and through his involvement in other areas of the Assembly's life.

He was appointed Management Secretary of the Assembly Beneficiary Fund by the Assembly in 1991, taking up the placement on 1st December of that year. The nine years he has held the appointment has been a time of great significance to the Fund. Following Government's proclamation of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act, Clem has guided the Fund through a veritable minefield of changes, ensuring that it became and remained a Complying Fund within the meaning of that Act.

Clem supervised the incorporation of the Fund with establishment of Benefund Limited as the corporate Trustee, having a Board of Directors elected by six Synods, himself becoming Executive Director. He promoted the principal of Directors being elected on the basis of skills' criteria (each Director to possess at least two of the skills identified as appropriate). During this time Clem has employed and maintained a stable, long-serving and competent staff, improving the range of skills available to the Fund when changes in staff have occurred. The Board has benefited by the manner it has been represented by its Executive Director in the Councils of the Church, industry seminars and the establishment of an Inter-Church Superannuation Group.

Within the UCA, he provided the framework and carefully guided the setting up of a Preventative Care Program, which has proved of great value to ministers and the Church - a program unique in the Australian superannuation field. Under his administration the Fund assets have grown from $114 million to $230 million (at the end of 1999), and despite changing economic conditions the Fund's results have been near the top of industry performers. His professional conduct of the affairs of the Fund has earned the respect of the Fund's many consultants - actuarial, legal, investment and audit etc. An objective external measure has been the commendation of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority which over two detailed reviews commended the Fund on its purpose, transparency and high standard of competency.

In the midst of all this complexity Clem has maintained the Beneficiary Fund's strong pastoral emphasis as a Defined Benefit Fund (rare in these days), while being responsible for management of fund investments, self-insurance, payment of pensions and oversight of a complex system of member benefits. With the support of Directors and staff, Clem has organised the workload to ensure that very little administration is outsourced.

To this must be added Clem's other Assembly involvement's - co-opted member of the Finance Committee, member of the Management Advisory Group, attends Assembly Standing Committee by invitation, and, on a few brief occasions, acting General Secretary. Clem facilitated the creation of the National Home Endowment Fund (except Queensland) and arranged for it to be administered from the Beneficiary Fund office.

Clem has always seen good administration as having a clear pastoral dimension. In all his roles Clem has been a pastor - to members of the Fund, active and retired, his own and other Assembly staff. He has made himself available to anyone who seeks his support or help. His role has involved extensive travel within the bounds of the Assembly - reporting to Synods, meeting with Presbyteries, groups or individual ministers. His retirement seminars have been greatly valued, both for the detailed and relevant information provided and the fellowship engendered. Telephone counselling is constantly availed of. To all the personal relations Clem has brought an open and sensitive ear, informed mind and a concerned heart. He has seen each role as an active expression of his primary goal - to be a faithful minister of Christ and his Church.

To this expression of thanks, the Assembly offers to Clem and Margaret its assurance of its prayerful interest in their retirement. The Lord be with you.

82. MINISTRY AND MISSION IN REMOTE AREAS (Neville Campbell and Libby Paterson)

That the Assembly, in view of the commitment of the Uniting Church to reconciliation:

(a) notes that the declining financial resources of the Assembly are jeopardising ministry and mission in remote areas at risk;

(b) commits the Church to continue to resource ministry in remote areas as a priority;

(c) asks the Standing Committee to consider, as a matter of urgency, ways in which mission and ministry in remote areas of Australia can be fully resourced.

Rationale:
The churches, which came into union, saw that they had a responsibility to support ministry in remote areas. This was clearly seen as part of the mission of the Church. Since Union, this long standing and deep commitment has been demonstrated in the annual grants provided by the Assembly to the Northern Synod and the Western Australian Synod for use in the Presbytery of the North West. These grants have made it possible for ministry to be provided to such remote locations as Karratha, Carnarvon and Port Hedland in the North West Presbytery, and Broome, Katherine and Tenant Creek in the Northern Synod.

As the financial resources of the Assembly decline, so the Assembly grant to these remote places has declined. This has meant that in many places the grant is no longer sufficient to sustain full time ministry. Many of these remote towns now are only able to support part time ministers. This has meant that in some cases ministers have had to get part time jobs to sustain themselves financially, resulting in them having much less time available for ministry in these places. Whilst the incumbents have agreed to drop from full time to part time ministry, it is extremely unlikely that when they leave such remote towns will be able to attract a minister to replace them when all the church can offer is a part stipend. This places future ministry in these places in great danger. This is happening at a time when ministry in such remote places is of crucial importance to our nation, for it is in such places that the hard issues of native title, coexistence and reconciliation are being worked out. Given the urgency of the need for reconciliation in our nation, and given the Uniting Church's commitment to reconciliation, it seems vital that the Church maintains ministry in these places.

The Uniting Church is at the cross roads in its commitment to ministry in remote areas. If we do not as a whole church accept our responsibility to resource ministry in remote areas, we are in effect withdrawing from about two thirds of our continent. The Uniting Church will become a church of the cities and towns, and the more settled rural areas. There is a real risk that there will be few or no Uniting Church congregations anywhere in the remote areas of Australia.

If the Assembly believes that it is still part of the mission of the Church to maintain ministry in remote areas, then urgent action is needed.

83. NATIONAL CO-OPERATION (Robert Johnson and Pam Kerr)

That the Assembly request the Standing Committee to consult with synods regarding ways in which synods could cooperate nationally in areas such as investments, accounting and information technology services, in order to find ways of greater efficiency in serving the church and to free more resources for mission and ministry.

Rationale:
At present each synod operates its own services in these areas, as they are entitled to do. There is a small amount of cooperation, through occasional national meetings of synod staff in these areas, or through the Assembly Finance Committee.

Through rapid changes and improvements to technology, most other national organisations have moved to operate such service functions nationally, with relatively small support staffs in each state. This has resulted in large gains in efficiency through not having different and sometimes non-compatible systems and through not having to replicate systems in each state.

These are very large areas of our services to the Uniting Church. Nationally, the UCA has over $1,500,000,000 (ie. 1.5 billion dollars) of funds under management. Combined operating expenses are estimated to be over five million dollars. Were this to be managed nationally, it would be reasonable to expect at least three million dollars to be freed for the ministry and mission of the church.

Accounting services and information technology could likewise be managed nationally with a savings of millions of dollars for the church.

It is recognised that there are difficulties to be overcome in order to fully achieve this aim, but co-operation on such an issue as the church's response to GST and other tax changes shows that it is possible for synods to work nationally for the good of the whole church.

84. MANDATE OF UNITY AND INTERNATIONAL MISSION (Gregor Henderson and Bill Fischer)

That the Assembly request the Standing Committee, in light of the establishment of Uniting Church Overseas Aid, to consult with Unity and International Mission with a view to amending the Unity and International Mission mandate.

Rationale:
There is need for the UIM mandate to be reviewed, now that the new closely-related agency of Uniting Church Overseas Aid has been established. Parts of the current UIM mandate which now more properly relate to UCOA need to be reconsidered and there needs to be reference within the UIM mandate to the close relationship with UCOA. This proposal authorises the Standing Committee to amend the UIM mandate following consultation with UIM. The relevant mandates can be found on pages C5-37 and C5-41.

85. AMENDMENT TO PROPOSAL 74.1, 74.2 (Paul Blacker David Buxton)

That Assembly recognise celibacy in singleness and faithfulness in marriage is one understanding of Christian sexual ethics held by some members of the Uniting Church.

Some members of the Assembly believe this to be an inadequate basis for Christian Sexual Ethics.

Given the church's commitment to unity in diversity the Assembly continue to discern it's standards on Christian sexual ethics and that 'Right Relationships' outlined in Uniting Sexuality and Faith and celibacy in singleness and faithfulness in marriage be used as guiding principles for consideration by Uniting Church members.

Rationale
The Uniting Church is a diverse church, holding in dynamic tension Issues of faith. The church is currently encouraging members to work with the problems caused by strongly held views and doctrinal positions on sexuality. In being a church living with unity and diversity, it is unwise to put at risk persons of any sexual understanding by setting in concrete a specific doctrinal position. The church already has in place guidelines and policies for processing matters of inappropriate sexual behaviours, either from the point of view of improper interpretation of the concept of right relationships or inappropriate behavior arising out of the misuse of meaning associated with celibacy in singleness and faithfulness in marriage.

To close the door on a long held guiding framework such as celibacy in singleness and faithfulness in marriage and open another door which is still in the process of being hinged to the church will cause avoidable conflict and further heart ache for some members.
The time may well come to adopt the concept of right relationships however it is inappropriate we believe to move to this point at this time.

86. INCLUSIVENESS WITHIN THE CHURCH (Rosemary Miller and Murray Muirhead)

Noting the call in Paragraph 13 of the Basis of Union to all members to exercise the gifts bestowed upon them by God; That the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia, as an expression of the Gospel:

1. welcomes gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender people into the fellowship and membership of the Church and praises God for the gifts for ministry they bring;
2. commits itself to work towards the UCA becoming a safe place where people can be open about their sexual orientation and relationships without fear of discrimination;
3. affirm that being a committed same gender sexual relationship is not a barrier to any ministry within the Church;
4. affirms those congregations who have developed ministries with gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender people and encourages the whole church to learn from their experience in mission and ministry;
5. request the Standing Committee to appoint a group which includes gay and lesbian members to consider and bring recommendations to the Tenth Assembly on how the Church may respond to lesbian and gay people who wish to have their commitment to a life-long faithful relationship affirmed by the Church;
6. request the Standing Committee to consider whether the Uniting Church should renounce its exemption under the equal opportunities legislation.

Rationale:
The Basis of Union paragraph 13 clearly calls the members of the Church to use the gifts bestowed on each member and that there is a corresponding service which attaches to that gift. Further it goes on to say that the Church will provide for the exercise by men and women of the gifts God bestows on them and will order its life in response to God's call to enter more fully into mission.

The Assembly is the body that has the responsibility to make determining decisions for the Church. Now is the time to show leadership. In the past the Assembly has not shied away from deciding for the right and just claims of women and Aboriginal people in the recognition of their gifts for service. We need now to be consistent in accepting the God given gifts of all people, encouraging their use for the ministry of God through the Uniting Church.

The Uniting Church in Australia has a proud record of advocacy for justice within the secular community. We now have the opportunity to hold ourselves as accountable as our governments in the area of equal opportunity. It seems just that the Uniting Church adopt in its own life the standards which it advocates for the secular community.