Vision
Life-giving Communities of Discipleship and Mission
Our purpose is to support life-giving communities of discipleship and mission, where communities of faith worship, grow disciples of Jesus, and participate in God’s mission in their context.
We are seeking to enable greater flexibility in recognising different forms of congregations and in how Presbyteries assign responsibilities and authority. We are also reviewing Church membership to better align the Church’s regulations with its lived reality.
Key Changes
- Focus on discipleship and mission.
- Implementing changes to Regulations and Constitution to (a) enable more flexibility in the recognition of different types of congregations, (b) enable more flexibility for Presbyteries in assigning responsibilities and authorities to congregations and other bodies.
- Review of church membership to align our rules and our reality.
Stream A is being progressed by the Assembly Resourcing Unit (ARU), a team of Assembly employees who undertake this work as part of their broader responsibilities. Unlike Streams B and C, which are overseen by Commissions with appointed members, Stream A is carried out through the ARU’s ongoing work on behalf of the Assembly.
The ARU operates under the oversight of the Assembly Standing Committee (ASC) and is supported by a Reference Committee appointed by the ASC on the recommendation of the General Secretary. As the composition of the ARU changes over time, individual profiles are not included.
Reflections on the theological culture of the Uniting Church
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Rev Dr Seforosa Carroll
Multicultural, Cross-Cultural, Intercultural: Theological descriptors or models of church?
Introduction Since 1985, the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) has used three key terms for its self-understanding and identification as a culturally and linguistically diverse church. These are multicultural, cross-cultural, and intercultural. But these terms tend to be more descriptive rather than they are theological. An added confusion lies in whether these terms are applied…
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Rev Dr Paul Goh
CALDing the Theological Culture in the Uniting Church in Australia
A theological culture of belonging in the Uniting Church in Australia can and should be cultivated considering our prescribed identity as a multicultural church. In 1985, the fourth Assembly declared we are a multicultural Church acknowledging “the fact that the Uniting Church unites not only three former denominations, but also Christians of many cultures and…
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Rev Dr Robert McFarlane
Theological Culture in the Uniting Church: A Community Project
I like the Act2 working definition of theological culture: “The theological culture of the Uniting Church is that network of practices, institutions and texts which resource, sustain and extend the Uniting Church’s particular conversations, doctrinal decisions and prophetic speech about God, Christ and the world.” The definition blends general ideas about culture with hints about…