Introduction
to Agency Reports and an Executive Summary
1. INTRODUCTION
In the following pages are reports from the Standing Committee
and Agencies of the Assembly. Within these documents the Standing Committee
and the Agencies seek to report on the ministries exercised on your behalf,
share something of their passions for the work they do, and to point towards
the future by naming issues and some possible responses.
Agency reports serve two primary purposes
- to enable the Assembly to exercise its ministry of
oversight in relation to the work of the national Council of the church
- to provide a vehicle through which Agencies are able
to share with the members of the church in general, and the Assembly in
particular, their sense of the issues and possibilities that lie before
the church.
During the Assembly meeting members will connect with
the material through two different engagements. One part is a review of the
work done and the other is a process in which the Agencies share their sense
of the issues that lie before the church in the next triennium.
The review, or accountability phase, is an opportunity for members of the Assembly
to discuss the work of the Agencies in the light of their mandates, to ask
questions and to affirm the work. The process will involve the community working
groups and a plenary session. Mandates will be provided for each reporting
Agency at the end of their written report. Members will be more fully introduced
to the process at the Assembly.
In preparing reports Agencies were requested to speak
about the setting in which they conduct their ministry. In particular to
reflect upon the context and how that is shaping their priorities for the
future. Within the reports there are indications of the issues that Agencies
believe are before the church at this time. A process has been developed
where these issues will be shared with the members during the meeting of
the Assembly.
Clearly each Agency has considered the context and issues
from its unique place within the life of the church. This means that there
are common threads and particular perspectives. This paper gathers common
themes and issues and provides extracts from the reports to illustrate them.
A critical responsibility for the meeting of the Assembly
is to set directions for the next triennium. The directions have relevance
because they respond to the issues that face the church, which in turn are
based on a critical reflection upon the context of ministry. Throughout the
meeting of the Assembly there will be a variety of factors that will shape
the thinking of the Assembly about future directions – worship and
Bible study, various reports, resolutions, informal conversations to name
a few. The presentation by Agencies on future issues provides part of that
mix. Through these written reports, plenary sessions at the Assembly and
small group work there is input into the discernment process upon which the
Assembly is engaged.
This paper aims to extract from the Agency reports a sense
of the context in which the work of the Assembly is being undertaken; and
to identify the issues and themes for the church that Agencies believe arise
from this context. Under the various headings there are a few quotes from
the reports. This “executive summary” is provided as an aid to
getting into the reports and as a way of identifying the issues that the
Agencies wish to hold before the Church at this time.
2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The reports that follow include a great deal of material
and you are encouraged to read them all carefully. This summary seeks to
draw your attention to two aspects of the reports – what they say about
the context within which the ministry of the Assembly is undertaken; and
what issues or themes the Agency reports want to hold before the Assembly
for the next triennium. The extracts and quotes from the reports do not exhaust
the different illustrations of the points named in the headings There are
also other contexts and issues that might be identified – however there
is a strong thread in the reports and this summary seeks to draw that out.
2.1 THE CONTEXT IN WHICH THE MINISTRY OF THE ASSEMBLY
OPERATES
1. The values that are shaping society are changing.
This experience results in a variety of emotions and responses.
We are moving from a time where the church was, if not the centre,
then a major player in shaping Australian society and values. The church
is now on the edge, the margins. How we experience being on the margins
affects whether we see this as a place of pain or possibilities. In times
of stress people respond in different ways – some positive, others
negative. For many in society and the church there is a real grief at the
loss of the world they knew.
- “People are being defined by governments as
consumers in an economy rather than as participants in a democratic society”
- “A society that often has little or no
interest in what we have to share.”
- “ … the self concept of Australia as a
tolerant and accepting society is being challenged”
- Lack of serious ethical and moral consideration leaves
medical and technological innovations unchecked / unquestioned.
- Fear, terrorism, warmongering, re-armament
- rural decline – loneliness often borne of isolation,
increase in suicides, and other mental health issues, depopulation, collapse
of rural economies and constant isolation
- Aboriginal communities needing to draw strength from
their past while seeking to live in a new kind of world.
- “… it seems … the darkness is thicker
than ever. That the powers of evil are more visible, and the people of
God are being tested more severely.”
- “cross cultural relationships are not always
positive and life affirming”
2. The Church is also experiencing the possibilities
and concerns that change brings. In some settings the changes express themselves
in concern about the capacity of the institution to cope.
The patterns and practices of church life have been created
in response to particular times and places. In times when the former foundations
and assumptions of the church are being unseated, even within the church,
there is a chance to rename the foundational things and move on into new
times. The key is to know the difference between a baby and bath water. When
the tectonic plates deep in the earth shift we do not see it but we experience
volcanoes and earthquakes. There is a shifting of the tectonic plates in
society at the moment. While it is possible to affirm with confidence the
faithfulness of Jesus Christ as head of the church we can still struggle
with the notion of what to do next.
- Migration patterns mean that people want links
with overseas churches that are outside the UCA’s 35 partnership
agreements.
- The practices of many Presbyteries operating outside
of the adopted Assembly guidelines and ecumenical practice re lay presidency
at Holy Communion is threatening foundational ecumenical agreements and
common understandings at precisely the time that there is an increased
need for ecumenical co-operation.
- “Within the UC … there is an increasing
anxiety and focus on our survival”
- Increasing call for lay education
- “There has also been an increasing awareness
of some inconsistencies within the specified ministries that has made the
work of the MEC more difficult.
- Uniting Church community service agencies are wrestling
with their connection to the ethos and values of the Uniting Church and
some are seeking to address this.
- People who are not committed to the Uniting Church
as such will join us in those things that enable them to have a high level
of participation and to make a difference.
- “Extensive, increasing diversification of UCA
congregations - has contributed to new expressions of independence in Christian
education ministry across congregations. … idiosyncratic decisions
about Christian education and formation needs”
- Decline in the number of clergy – particularly
in rural areas.
- Reduction of Christian education ministry means a
significant proportion of UCA members are ill-equipped for ministry and
mission in their local and regional settings.
- The busyness of fewer people in the Church maintaining
our institutions
3. There is a searching for spirituality and questions
about the capacity of the church and its members to share the gospel.
The search for spirituality is a well attested social phenomenon. It
will be in community service, chaplaincy and congregational contexts that
this will be most apparent. Perhaps more than in the last thirty years
there is an openness to discussions about foundational life issues and
spiritual matters. Being bearers of the light is the calling – who
is ready?
- “For thousands it is the confusion of
uncertainty, or not having someone to talk to about spiritual, moral
and other life issues.”
- The Uniting Church is known for its community services
but not for its spirituality.
- The number of people professing no faith in the census
is growing.
- “In a society hungering for authentic spirituality
willing to listen to all kinds of self proclaimed gurus ... too often the
church is not in the marketplace.”
- “… our people need to be able to articulate
and share their faith … and be theologically literate as the basis
for critical analysis of social trends …”
4. Commitments and affirmations that Agencies
want to express about the life of the Assembly.
The context in which ministry is undertaken includes an awareness of
challenges and opportunities but also a deep sense of who we are. The Agency
reports name some commitments and affirmations that are foundational to
who we are as a church – they are our context of ministry too.
- “ … we are saying ‘the need
has never been greater, we are committed to stand with you.’”
- “We have been challenged, encouraged, inspired
and strengthened. The stories and experience of our partners has a crucial
role in giving us hope and confidence to be sources of the light of the
gospel.”
- Solidarity and partnership as an appropriate way of
living as a church.
- “… multicultural ministry is for all of
us, its core gospel stuff, and we all need to grow in our cross cultural
understanding.”
- We are committed “to building a nation which
responds to the disadvantaged and vulnerable; which acts with generosity;
that struggles for equity and justice for all people; that stands in solidarity
with indigenous Australians; and that recognizes the importance of all
creation to future generations.”
- “Relations with people of other faiths is not
an optional extra.”
- “The radical solidarity of God, which the Scriptural
covenants assert, necessitates a solidarity response from the Church.”
- The UCA values the Reformed and Evangelical traditions
that are significant to its roots
- The UCA values the ‘priesthood of all believers’ as
a theological principle and operating style.
2.2 ISSUES / THEMES / COMMITMENTS FOR THE FUTURE
One of the responsibilities of the triennial meeting of the Assembly is to
seek God’s will for the Assembly over the next three years. In part
this means making some decisions about the work of the Assembly into the
next triennium. The way forward is discerned through prayer, scripture, the
leading of the Spirit – as we reflect upon the context of our ministry
and the particular gifts and possibilities that are ours at this point of
time. As the Agencies have reflected on the context within which their ministry
is undertaken they have a sense of what the issues may be for the next period
of time. The following part of the summary draws together the issues and
themes that the Agencies suggest are before the church at this time.
As with the section of the reports dealing with the context
of ministry this section will also bring together some quotes from the reports.
1. Hearing truth and sharing pain
Because we are in relationship with a transforming, transcendent God
we are open to hearing the truth and pain of the world. Because we follow
an incarnate God, present to us as the crucified and risen Christ, we enter
into the pain of others and seek to be part of the redemptive purposes
of God in Christ.
- “In remote areas of Australia, reconciliation
will become reality, hope will replace anxiety and despair, development
will benefit the community and everyone will have appropriate access
to services.”
- Be peacemakers, eg: “In an age of human division,
Christians are under divine obligation to act in neighbourly love towards
those who belong to other religions”
- Commitment to have available the best possible standard
of research and theological reflection as a foundation for the church’s
policy and action and advocacy
- The UCA is therefore committed to active engagement
with governments regarding the development and implementation of policies
that promote and make possible a just and equitable society.
2. Forming and nurturing gospel community
For a Christian community living in a society that does not reinforce
its values and identity it becomes imperative to know who we are and what
we have to share. A missionary community requires a clearer sense of identity
and different abilities in its leaders and members than a Christendom church.
- How do we help people to connect with / join
/ be nourished by a Christian community?
- The UCA is committed to equipping the whole people
of God for God’s work in the world
- There is an issue of leadership in the church that
requires “identifying the qualities needed in leaders for a creative,
outgoing and flexible church”
- Strengthen and support the gifts and skill of lay
people for ministries of witness and service.
- What does it mean to be a multicultural community
of faith?
- Ecumenical agreements and changes in ministry patterns
require that we engage in serious dialogue across the Church about the
needs and responses of the Church to the crisis in ministry.
3. Living and working in solidarity
In a world that seeks to divide and compartmentalize life we believe
in the indispensable requirement of community, and the gospel character
of standing alongside people.
- Standing alongside people in their fear, uncertainty
and danger. What would it mean for the work of the Assembly if in all
our work we were thinking about “laughing with those who laugh
and weeping with those who weep”?
- Commitment to people has at its heart notions of reconciliation
and renewal.
- Affirm, clarify and describe the relationship with
Congress. Continuing the call to covenanting eg to young people.
- “A radical recovery of God as creator means
that my Hindu or Buddhist neighbour … is a child of God.”
- Commitment to sustaining community life, “nurture
and put energy into becoming an inclusive community”.
4. Being bearers and witnesses of hope
In a world where many feel lost, uncertain and afraid there is a pressing
need for a community that can bring hope – in word and deed. In different
eras the church has drawn on different aspects of the tradition to provide
the dominant shape to its character. What would it mean for the Assembly
(and the church in general) if it organized its life in order that it could
be a bearer and witness of hope?
- “One is left to wonder what is required
of people who want to bring light into the darkness and uncertainty of
our world and community. This is a question that all Assembly Agencies
and other Councils can profitably reflect upon and share their insights
with the whole Church.”
- “Frontier Services has a part to play in bringing
hope, in bringing life and in bringing the love of God and the whole Church
to (remote) communities and those who must sometimes think that they have
been forgotten.”
- The UCA and its members need to learn how to best
communicate the gift and challenge of the Gospel.
- The time is right to “Offer a clear alternative
vision for a compassionate and just society.”
Terence Corkin
March 2003
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