NEWS/MEDIA at the Assembly

We’re planning a less cluttered Assembly

The Uniting Church’s tenth annual Assembly in Melbourne in July will be rather different from some of the earlier Assemblies. For one thing, more time will be spent on fewer issues. There will also be fewer and less detailed proposals. “Less clutter” is how Assembly general secretary, the Rev. Terence Corkin, puts it.

Terence said there are two major dimensions to the business side of Assembly:

• Reflecting on matters that are important to the church at this time.
• Speaking as a council to other councils of the church - or speaking on behalf of the Uniting Church to the wider community.

“This Assembly, some of the discussion will take part in small groups around a table,” he said. “We want to enable people to participate as much as possible. This will allow them to do more than support or not support proposals. We want them to be able to engage with the issues themselves. Table groups can help that happen. They can help people form the mind of the meeting. They can speak without having to get up in front of 300 people. What they say can then be fed into the determining sessions. People will be in table groups in plenary sessions. They will also take part in community group discussions. The community groups will meet where people are staying.” more >>