Multicultural Ministry - an agency of the Uniting Church National Assembly

One day Workshop – for congregations sharing property
‘Living Together as God’s People in this Place’

Introduction

‘Living Together as God’s People in this Place’ is a resource developed by the Assembly Working Group on Intentional Multicultural and Cross-cultural Ministry. The sharing of property remains a vital issue in the life of a multicultural church. It can be a source of problems and headaches, misunderstanding and hurts as well as providing the opportunity to engage deeply with one another in relationships of mutual enrichment and joint learning. Sharing property has long been recognized as a gospel, justice and mission issue. This resource helps Presbyteries as they do mission planning in places where two or more congregations share the same property. ‘Living Together as God’s people in this place’’ is distributed to Presbytery Ministers and Mission officers and Synod cross-cultural committees to enable them to facilitate one day workshops as needed within presbyteries. This one day workshop seeks to encourage a transformative encounter between two or more congregations/groups sharing property.

Aim of Workshop

The aim of the workshops in to invite groups of people who share property, to be involved in a process of intentional sharing and cross-cultural conversation leading towards mutually enriching relationships that reflect the love, justice, and hospitality of God.

The workshop will:

(a) provide an opportunity for participants listen to each others’ stories and reflect on the points of enrichment and tension in their shared life

(b) enable a deeper understanding of one another and foster a sense of partnership and shared vision for ministry and mission

(c) begin the process of developing some agreed patterns, strategies and intentional ways of working together to enable the relationships to grow into the future. (This may take the form of a written ‘Covenant’ or agreed ‘Statement on Sharing’ that will guide their ongoing journey together.)

For more information about facilitating a workshop and to obtain a copy, please contact The National Director of Multicultural and Cross-cultural Ministry, Rev Helen Richmond at helenr@nat.uca.org.au or your Presbytery Minister.