I'm just back from Sydney and 2 days of meeting with UCA National Directors & Gen Sec etc. this is remarkable group of people who oversee the church's work in Frontier Services, UnitingWorld, UnitingCare, UnitingJustice, Doctrine, Worship, MultiCultural Ministry, etc. this time Pres-Elect Andrew Dutney sat in for a few hours too. my second time at such a meeting, and I've come away again both richly stimulated and deeply impressed by the breadth and depth of what the UCA seeks to do.
we had an exploratory discussion about the 'big picture' of church polity, governance and resources in relation to mission (particularly across the various 'sectors' of church activity - congregation, agencies, schools, etc), and whether/how we as a church might reconsider that. of course there was talk about the upcoming Assembly and how to both report to and listen to the Assembly, and what it means for such a gathering to be a time of discernment. just like being at an Assembly meeting itself, it is something of a highlight for me to hear about the various initiatives that we are taking as a church.
I'm excited about the work we are doing in relation to an Economy of Life, our support for the Methodist Church in Fiji, advocacy in relation to climate change, and the fact that we're about to celebrate 100 years of mission service to outback Australia. and there's more...
My research project is about how well we're doing in growing disciples. We have thought that we were doing well in that area for much of the last 100 years, but clearly in the last few decades we've had to do a reality check. I wonder what we'll say about our capacities, intentionality, resourcing, and development in this area in 50 or even 20 years time. Glad to be part of the Uniting Church, and also glad to be helping us focus on how congregations see discipling as central to their identity and purpose.