Annual Synod seeks U Turn to growth
Glen Powell, New Congregations Consultant with the New South Wales Synod Board of Mission, has issued a challenge to congregations to help reverse the shrinkage that the church has been experiencing since 1991.
His plan is for each congregation in the Synod to start a new group containing three people from outside their church.
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in a congregation that makes a conscious effort to try and make church about making
a difference in the community. We set dates to go into the community and make
a difference. We try to make practical connections and we do it with the idea
that we should be out there to do a service, not to focus on getting people to
church. I think that's a better attitude.Those groups need not be of religious nature, he told the New South Wales Synod, meeting at Canterbury Park Race Course, Sydney, October 7-11. They could involve any activity, such as walking or reading.
The annual meeting of the Synod gathered over 400 members of congregations and presbyteries to worship together and discuss policy related to the life and mission of the church.
Mr Powell said Project U Turn was offered to help reverse a continued "shrinkage" in numbers that was expected to be confirmed with the results of this year's National Church Life Survey.
He said that the project was simple and within the means of every congregation within the New South Wales Synod.
"By building a relationship that brings three people into a church and keeping those relationships healthy, the church will eventually start to grow and find a new way of building mission and transforming communities and being transformed by those who come into contact with us," he said.
A website for the project (http://uturn.uca.org.au/) provides resources for those willing to engage with the challenge. Through the New Congregations Seed Fund, the Board of Mission is providing $100 per participating group per year to encourage and assist with resources for new small groups.
Congregations not connected to the internet can attain resources and information by contacting the Board of Mission, PO Box A2178 Sydney South NSW 1235; phone 02 8267 4390; fax 9267 7316.
Earth and water bring diversity together
Earth and water from 14 presbyteries were presented at the opening of Synod to show that the meeting was to be a place where people's "journeys intersect, our footprints mix and mingle".
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young people, in my job, relationships with their peers are just so important,
especially fostering positive ones that can grow and support each other and not
negative stuff, like getting caught up in alcohol. And, when somebody has a question
about God, or has stuff that they want to talk about, if they know you and there's
a relationship of trust there, you're the person they're going to come to when
they are ready.Other symbols from the Uniting Aboriginal and Island Christian Congress (including the bark of the Bangalow palm and sea salt) and the Synod's Korean Commission (a cushion divided and representing the divided North and South Korea) were also presented during the Synod's opening service.
The Darug people, the first inhabitants and custodians of the land, were acknowledged and honoured and the Synod's diversity, struggles and hopes brought together through the symbols brought to the central worship table.
The service and Bible readings revolved around the biblical idea of the church being made of "living stones" - people consecrated to carry out God's work on earth.
New South Wales Synod Moderator, Mr
Jim Mein, spoke during his sermon of the need for the Uniting Church to move forward
with Jesus Christ as the "cornerstone" working with God and transforming
communities.
He urged Synod members and visitors to be "Sharing Christian
faith in bucket-loads and far more".
Church should trail-blaze
The Rev. Niall Reid has been chosen as the Moderator of the New South Wales Synod, 2007-2010.
Mr Reid, born on the Isle of Jura in Scotland and married to his wife Paula for 23 years, ministers at Gordon Uniting Church.
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think the church has to be brave enough to undergo a theological restatement.
We have to make better contact with the community ... You have to be open and
honest; there has to be a theological reshaping of the life of the church ...
And until we're prepared to do the theological reconstruction, a lot of people
in the community will ignore us.As Moderator, Mr Reid said he would continue to encourage people to see that there was a value in being "a different people that can bring a different message to the community".
The Uniting Church needed to "think of ourselves as leaders rather than followers, trailblazers, the pathfinders rather than tourists treading the well-worn path that is safe," he said.
Blazing
the riskier trail would be hard; however it was important not to be covetous of
the growth seen in other churches that may be on other paths.
He said another
challenge was to "live out the life of God calls us to be as the Uniting
Church" - to show that people can experience deep faith and still hold views
that are different.
'Help the church connect with community'
Against a background of significant change in Australia's religious and spiritual life, General Secretary the Rev. Paul Swadling called on the New South Wales Synod to help its congregations "make sensible and coherent connections with the communities of which they are a part".
In his report from the Council of Synod, Mr Swadling said if the church was to fulfil its task of engaging with and transforming society, it first needed to understand society and changes that are taking place.
"As
a church we have been distracted for several years by issues surrounding sexuality
and leadership. We have not been focusing on the 'main game'.
"As a result,
the mission of the church has suffered as councils of the church have been constrained
to reflect on one issue rather than being able to give their full attention to
the range of issues that comprise the New South Wales and ACT mission field."
Synod has encouraged all its congregations, presbyteries and agencies to switch to government accredited "Green Power".
Synod agreed that, as a church, it had
a moral and theological imperative, as stewards of the earth, to be actively concerned
with environmental issues.
The Rev. Peter Hobson and Ms Lauren Fee told Synod
that, if global warming continued at predicted rates, millions of people would
suffer worldwide.
"In a country that produces more greenhouse gases per person than any other developed nation, it is essential to think about how we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions," they said.
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best way to connect with community is to go to where the community is - don't
just expect them to come to you. Switching to Green Power was a simple and practical first step to help stop polluting the air and stop global warming, Mr Hobson said.
Ms Fee estimated that if every church in the New South Wales Synod switched to Green Power it would cut greenhouse gasses by 4,500 tons - the equivalent of taking 1,000 cars off the road for a year.
Green Power is a national accreditation program that sets stringent environmental and reporting standards for renewable energy products offered by electricity suppliers to households and businesses across Australia.
When households and businesses choose a government-accredited Green Power product, their energy supplier agrees that the equivalent amount of energy they nominate is produced from renewable sources, avoiding the use of coal-derived power.
For more information about Green Power, see http://www.greenpower.gov.au/pages/; for a list of ways to reduce energy consumption see http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/whatyoucando/; look for the UnitingCare InfoAction sheet on Living Sustainably at http://www.unitingcarenswact.org.au/.
UnitingCare: relating with the church
UnitingCare NSW.ACT is among the largest charities in Australia, but its size should not hinder its relationship with the wider church, said executive director the Rev. Harry Herbert in his report to Synod.
"Key Relationships within the Church and External Bodies" is one of four strategic priorities adopted by UnitingCare NSW.ACT.
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of the really important things is being able to think outside our comfort zone.
And we need to discover ways of doing this well while keeping hold of some traditions
that we've grown up with. We need to find ways of reaching out and trying new
things, bringing in new people and communicating things that will get people who
have rejected the church. I think it's about thinking outside the traditional
idea of church and engaging with people where they are. Mr Herbert said chaplaincy, full-time ministry placements, sessional and part-time arrangements, and UnitingCare Children's Services were among the many ways UnitingCare connected with congregations and communities.
Mr Herbert encouraged everyone to approach UnitingCare representatives and services to see how congregations could play a role in its work.
In meekness we exhibit God's grace
The concept of meekness does not sit well in a world seemingly fixated by power, but it will be one of the greatest contributions we make in sharing the Gospel, said the Rev. Keith Garner, presenting his first Synod Bible study, Meekness in a Power-Driven World.
The study, based on Matthew 5: 1-12, was the first in
a series entitled "Square Words in a Round World", exploring meekness,
forgiveness and holiness.
Mr Garner said the contemporary church had "too
often chosen the path of least resistance, simply following the pervading secular
culture and, in doing so … lost touch with the heartbeat of the message and
ethos of the ministry of Jesus Christ."
He warned Christians against acting out the power models they observed in the world at large. "If we collude with the commonplace rejection of meekness, we will lose hold of our vision of Jesus Christ, who came to turn the world's values upside-down," he said.
In his second study, Mr Garner called Christians to forgive, like God does, "without limit" and to make forgiveness the "fundamental driving force of our attitude, not only to God, but also to others in the world around us".
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should be prepared to stop thinking that they are separate from the community.
Think in terms of being part of the community.He said that, while forgiveness featured constantly in Christian hymns and songs and was declared in liturgy and present whenever the gospel was preached, it was too rarely welcomed at church meetings and in church courts.
"The
experience of fighting with each other, ridiculing each other or, even worse,
ignoring one another, are all too prevalent in our church life," he said.
In
his third Bible study, Mr Garner said holiness was the "heartbeat of Christian
mission" and should be readily embraced as a reason for speaking up for the
poor.
Far from being alienating or incomprehensible, Mr Garner said, holiness was "God's high calling in Christ" which demands engagement with the world.
Synod adopts strategic directions
Synod adopted strategic directions for the period November 2006 to October 2011.
The strategic directions, intended for the Synod as a council of the church and as an operational structure, were:
• To develop a vibrant faith in
Christ and God's mission by exploring, modelling, encouraging, enabling and resourcing
discipleship.
• To explore and respond to the searching for spiritual
experience that is a profound impulse in the lives of many people in the Australian
community.
• To engage with credibility in actions of reconciliation,
justice and peace for Christ's sake.
• To take initiatives and to work
with presbyteries, new and existing congregations and faith communities in the
hope of transforming communities.
• To strengthen the integrity of the
Uniting Church's ministry.
• To ensure sustainable funding and resources
to enable mission.
UTC and university arrangement approved
Synod approved the full participation of United Theological College (UTC) in the School of Theology of Charles Sturt University from January 1 2007.
In a report to Synod, John Squires,
Secretary to the Council of United Theological College, said the benefits to the
college and the church from the new arrangement included:
• greater flexibility
to develop academic and formational courses,
• greater resourcing of
theological study by distance education,
• an opportunity to provide
formal study for formational requirements across the range of Uniting Church specified
ministries,
• enhanced access to government funding schemes for students,
• improved opportunities for faculty research,
• the possibility
of building relationships across a number of disciplines within the university,
and
• the consolidation of international networks with institutions in
countries where the Uniting Church has relationships with partner churches.
Investing for the future church
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need to be on about the values, the authentic Christian values: what is just,
good, right and compassionate. Those are the things that are missing in our society.
We need to be a church that is prophetic, we need to be a church which has great
integrity in speaking and living out those values to the wider community and also
to ourselves. We need to be a compassionate and open church and, when we do that,
we'll find that people will listen to us and want to take part.Excellent investment performance in equities and property investments enabled Uniting Financial Services - the investment arm of the Uniting Church in the New South Wales Synod - to pay a special distribution of $2,583,000 to the Synod Fund in 2006.
Reporting to Synod, Board of Finance and Property (BFP) Executive Director Gavin Pretorius said a large proportion of the $2.5 million was allocated as a capital grant to the Board of Mission for the purposes of providing low interest loans, interest free loans or grants to mission-focused new or developing congregations seen as strategic in the life of the Synod, Mr Pretorius said.
Total funds under UFS management now exceeded $1 billion, and the growth of deposits by individuals to $185 million had been "an outstanding success story", said General Manager of UFS, Tony DiMauro.
A new name, logo, website, corporate publications and improved service had "reinvigorated" the Uniting Church (NSW) Trust Association Limited, now trading as Uniting Financial Services (UFS). The Association was granted an Australian Financial Services Licence in 2005, enabling it to maintain some of its key services like cheque account facilities, third party payments and electronic funds transfers.
'New paddocks' for presbyteries sharpening mission focus
A renewed desire to focus on mission and to be innovative about its form were key messages from presbyteries reporting at Synod.
Representatives of Canberra Region and the Central West gave whistle-stop tours of the great work happening in their presbyteries with enthusiastic response from Synod members who said the stories showed brave, risky and new ways of being church.
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think the church needs to get outside buildings and get to know people in the
community. Finding out what they need, what they care about and what they're passionate
about ... and valuing who they are. Gradually I think, people respect that and
they trust you to when you engage them on a spiritual level. The stories also showed how giving young people and lay people leadership roles based on their gifts could make a vital difference.
"The days of the minister doing everything, those days are so over!" said Regional Resource Officer Bronwyn Murphy in a DVD shown by the Central West Presbytery. "And that's a good thing," she added.
Church life was no longer about lay people "sitting back and getting a free ride while the minister kills themselves," she said.
A number of presbyteries reported that discussions over sexuality and leadership had taken their toll but that the overarching desire to focus on Christ's mission, regardless of differing views, meant new energy and creative projects were emerging.
Problems like shrinking resources, drought, rural isolation, ageing congregations, less volunteers to do the same amount or more work, large and very diverse presbytery catchment areas and short supply of ordained ministers (particularly in rural areas) had forced presbyteries to take stock.
To keep ministry alive, thriving and meeting the needs of members and the wider community, presbyteries acknowledged the need to:
• Be strategic about mission challenges,
•
Encourage more - and more flexible - education for lay leaders,
• Share
ideas and explore new ways of carrying out ministry, and
• Share ministry
agents.
Challenges thrown to Synod by the six presbyteries included:
•
Enabling skilled people to visit presbyteries and congregations regularly to inspire
and educate local people.
• Exploring methods and opportunities for sharing
ideas wisdom and resources of Uniting Church members across the Synod.
•
Finding new ways to resource congregations so that lay people are equipped to
conduct ministry in the local community.
• Helping with income support
and other support services for sea and tree change areas.
The Presbytery of New England North West said, "We need to learn how to live out the gospel in our communities as we address extraordinary environmental changes, the arrival of refugees in traditional rural communities, the advent of new mines, the growth of larger towns and the shrinking of smaller ones, the impact of industrial relations changes and the realities of a rapidly changing world."
Quoting poet Phillip Hodgins the report ended saying: "A whole new paddock opens up its realms/of greener grass, the prospect overwhelms/you with its possibilities."
Found in translation
Participants at Synod may
not have noticed a quiet, headphone-clad figure bent over a table at the back
of the auditorium.
But her hard work over the four days meant that Korean-speaking delegates had an easier time understanding the flow of debate and the decisions that were made.
Interpreter Moo Soon Kim translated everything that was said during sessions, and Korean members were given access to headphones to hear her translated version.
Ms Kim, who attends Pyung Hwa Uniting Church at South Hurstville, also volunteers as an interpreter at the monthly meetings of the Korean Commission's Standing Committee.
She said Korean speakers really appreciated the provision of translation services.
"Some have a good command of English, but for others - especially
lay people - it can be difficult to understand everything that's going on,"
she said.
And it was a positive experience from her point of view too. "No
matter how small my service is, if I can help the church, I'm very happy,"
she said. "I attend Korean Commission meetings, but being at Synod has given
me a good sense of the bigger picture of the Uniting Church's work."
In other business:
• Synod called on the Federal, New South Wales and ACT governments to increase funding for the educational and counselling needs of children from a non-English speaking background - especially refugee children who have particularly traumatic histories and language difficulties.
•
Synod committed itself to the vision statement titled "Moving with God, transforming
communities - living with courage, inclusiveness and generosity".
A document
explaining the theological foundations for the vision statement, said it "commits
us as a church to be actively involved in the public life of our society, naming
those things that do not reflect life with God, building partnerships with all
those who share our hopes and struggles, stepping outside our comfort zones to
be in the difficult places Christ leads us into."
• Synod adopted an education advocacy policy addressing public education and its own church schools. The policy spells out the implications for public education policy of a National Education Charter written by Uniting Education in 2000.
Proposers of the policy, Mr Justin Whelan and the Rev. Dr Ann Wansbrough from UnitingCare NSW.ACT, said, "In an era when some politicians use education as a political football, it is important that the church state clearly that it remains committed to the critical importance of excellence in public education, of holistic education that nurtures engaged citizens rather than self-interested consumers, and of a serious effort to reduce educational disadvantage, especially among indigenous Australians."
Synod heard how 70 congregations had requested Jesus Conversations materials in the first year of the project's operation. The Jesus Conversations question, asked of various people around the Synod, had yielded a DVD containing clips of those people talking about their experiences of Jesus. A second DVD and website are to be created.
• Synod will assist presbyteries to carry out five-year reviews of properties entrusted to congregations in order to help release resources for mission. The move to review properties would provide presbyteries and congregations with a regular opportunity to discuss whether the best possible use was being made of property. Church councils could also consider whether the property resources could more effectively be used for other mission and ministry.
Synod reporting and photos by Emma Halgren, Lyndal Irons, Marjorie Lewis-Jones and Stephen Webb. Detailed Synod reports are available at http://nsw.uca.org.au/