Uniting Church in Australia

Logo of the UCA

The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was formed on June 22 1977 when the Methodist Church of Australasia, Presbyterian Church of Australia and Congregational Union of Australia came together under the Basis of Union document.

The third largest denomination in Australia (the Roman Catholic and the Anglican churches are larger), the UCA has 312,858 members in 2,247 congregations (2000 figures).

Organisation

The UCA is governed by a series of councils:

Congregation (local)
Presbytery (regional)
Synod (state)
Assembly (national)

with a lay (non-ordained) majority on each.

The offices of President of Assembly and Moderator of Synod (that chair these councils) are open to all members of the UCA, whether lay or ordained, male or female.

The UCA is not an episcopal church, that is is has no bishops. This leadership and pastoral role in the UCA is performed by Presbytery as a body (meeting). Many members would see the role as being exercised by the 'Chairperson of Presbytery' or the 'Moderator' of the Synod who is often an ordained minister but may be a lay person. In many Presbyteries there is also a 'Presbytery Officer' who may be ordained or a lay-minister. The Presbytery Officer in many cases functions as a Pastoral Minister (that is, a Pastor Pastorum or pastor to the pastors) to people in ministry. Other Presbyteries use this position for Mission Consultancy work. Still others use this position for Administrative work.

Assembly

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Dean Drayton

Dean Drayton

The national Assembly meets every three years, and is chaired by a national President. The 10th triennial Assembly met in Melbourne in July 2003.

The current President is Rev Dr Dean Drayton.

The President-elect is Rev Gregor Henderson, formerly General Secretary of the UCA, and before that the National Council of Churches in Australia.

For a list of Assembly dates, locations, and leaders, see below.

Between the formal Assembly meetings, the interim business of Assembly is conducted by the Assembly Standing Committee that meets typically three times each year, usually March, July and November. Membership of the committee is drawn from around Australia. (18 persons are elected at each Assembly.)

Synods

The Synods meet regularly. Some Synods meet every year (e.g. NSW-ACT). Others meet every eighteen months or every two years (e.g. Qld).

The Synods do not quite correspond to the States of Australia. There are six in all:

NSW Synod (which includes New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory)
Queensland Synod
Synod of South Australia
Synod of Western Australia
Synod of Victoria and Tasmania
The Northern Synod (which includes the Northern Territory and the northern regions of Western Australia)

Presbyteries

South Australia has moved to unitary Presbytery-Synod model. There is some investigation of allowing interest groups/networks being set up in this structure.

It is at the level of the Presbytery that decisions are made regarding:

selection to canditure to minitstry:
placement of ministers
...

Congregations

Congregations conduct the regular worship life of the UCA. Generally, they meet on Sundays; however, many churches also conduct worship services at other times, for example a monthly weekday service (http://www.kippax.org.au), a late-night service for day shift workers, cafe church (http://www.cafechurch.org.au), or Saturday or Friday evenings.

There must be at least one meeting of the Congregation each year. The Congregational meeting(s) typically considers and approves the budget and any over-arching policy matters of a local nature including decisions on property (which have to be ratified by Presbytery and Synod agencies) and the 'call' (employment) of a new minister or other staff.

Otherwise, Congregations manage themselves through a Council which is deemed to have Elders and may have other members. The Council must meet regularly. The Council approves the times of the worship services and other policy matters.

There are some united congregations where the UCA has joined with other churches (examples are with Baptist and Churches of Christ in Australia in a local area, and there are a range of cooperative arrangements where resourcing ministry to congregations is not possible, particularly in rural and remote areas.

Local churches are often also used by congregations of other church denominations. For example, a Tongan Seventh-day Adventist may make arrangements to meet in the building on Saturday.

The multicultural nature of the UCA means that there are established Korean, Tongan, and various other national congregations meeting within the life of the church.

Agencies

Assembly and Synods each have 'agencies'.

Examples:
- Assembly - "Theology and Discipleship", "Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress", "UnitingCare Australia", "UnitingJustice Australia", etc
- Synods - NSW "Rural Evangelism and Mission"; WA "Social Justice and Uniting International Mission"; VIC/TAS "Working Group on Christian-Jewish relations"; SA Mission Reourcing Network; etc.

UnitingCare as a whole is the largest operator of general social care activities in Australia, including being the largest operator of aged aged care facilities. Other activities include: 'central city missions'; shelters and emergency housing for men, women, and children; family relationships support; disability services; regular food kitchens for underprivileged people (example: Exodus Foundation (http://www.exodusfoundation.net) at Ashfield Uniting Church in Sydney).

Ministry in the UCA

The role of the laity is valued in the UCA. Some speci'fic roles are elder and Lay Preacher.

There are two orders of ministry in the Uniting Church, these are:

Minister of the Word
Deacon

Other arrangements are made in situations where it is not possible or desired to have an ordained minister. Lay Pastor, or a Lay Ministry Teams are often found in rural areas.

Culture

As a uniquely Australian denomination, the UCA seeks to share Jesus in authentic "Aussie" ways. It was one of the first churches to grant self-determination to its Aboriginal members, through the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress. Strong partnerships also continue with South Pacific and Asian churches, especially those which share a Congregational, Presbyterian or Methodist heritage. An increasing number of ethnic churches meet to worship in the languages of their former countries as well as in English.

The UCA has a strongly felt and argued sense of social justice. It has taken stances on issues such as native title for Aboriginal people, the Environment, Apartheid, status of refugees, and provision of safe injection facilities for drug users. These stances have been expressed in practical involvement as well as in political comment and advocacy.

Liturgy

Liturgically the UCA is extremely varied. Practice ranges from new experimental liturgies sometimes disparagingly called 'High UCA' through conventional reformed services to extremely informal worship reminiscent of the 'Jesus Revolution' of the 1970s. Music is equally varied, ranging from traditional hymns especially from the now-superseded but still popular Australian Hymn Book through Hillsong to hard rock Contemporary Christian music.

Decision making

Since 1997 most of these councils and agencies have operated under the consensus decision making procedures outlined in the church's Manual for Meetings. These procedures may use orange ('support') and blue ('do not support') cards, which may be displayed at many times, not just when a vote is called. The idea behind this is about trying to hear the Spirit of God through the gathered community rather than through individuals.

Commitment to ecumenism

The Uniting Church is example of ecumenism, it is one of a number of uniting-united churches globally.

The Uniting Church, as were its precursors, is engaged in ecumenical activities;

locally through interchurch councils
at the State level through state councils of churches
Nationally as a member of the National Council of Churches in Australia and
through a variety of informal and formal dialogues with other denominations.

The UCA is affiliated with the:

Theology

The range of theology perspectives found in the UCA is broad, generally reflecting its Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational origins and its commitment to ecumenism. Generally the theology can be typified as maintstream protestant with a commitment to social justice although debate between vigorous between conservative and liberal members of the UCA.

Theological perspectives found in the Uniting Church:

Traditional concerns of evangelical UCA members of morality, of faith and theology (especially regarding the understanding of the Bible) and accommodation to the dominant culture have been important. Out of these concerns the Evangelical Members within the Uniting Church in Australia (EMU, a group which gained prominence as a result of their opposition to gay ordination in the lead up to the 1997 Assembly and previously known as Evangelical Ministers of the UCA) and The Reforming Alliance have developed. Both groups espouse Neo-evangelical views and are examples of the Confessing Movement.

The UCA provides theological training and ministerial formation through a number of theological colleges. All of these are membes of ecumenical theological consortia, such as the Adelaide College of Divinity, the Brisbane College of Theology and the long established Melbourne College of Divinity. Generally training takes five years and involves a practicum.

Ordination of homosexual people

One of the issues which has been regularly discussed and debated almost from the inception of the UCA is that of the place of homosexuals within the church, and the added issue of their ordination.

The church fairly broad consensus has been that a person's sexual orientation should not be a bar to attendance, membership or participation in Holy Communion. A more controversial question has been the issue of sexual activity by homosexual people (in terms of godly living), and arising from this, the question of standards of appropriate behaviour for ordination candidates.

Development

The Assembly Standing Committee decided in 1982 maintained that homosexual orientation was not a bar to ordination and left the decision about candidature for ordination with the Presbytery.
After emotional debate, the 1997 Assembly did not reach a decision on the issue, and the 2000 Assembly decided not to discuss homosexuality.
In July 17 2003 the National Assembly of the UCA attempted to clarify the church's earlier position:
- recognizing in a resolution that people within the UCA had interpreted the scriptures with integrity in coming to two opposed views
- That from these differing interpretations some concluded that a practicing homosexual person in a committed same sex relationship could be ordained as a minister, others determining the opposite.

This decision explicitly recognised the two positions, this surprised many by not distinguishing between orientation and behaviour, thus going further than the 1982 Assembly Standing Committee (ASC) decision.

Post Assembly:
- The decision was welcomed by the Uniting Network, a group for supporters of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered UCA members although seen as a compromise from their preferred position. (This group formed out of bi-annual gatherings of homosexual Christians begun in 1994.)
- The decision was condemned by many members of the UCA and particularly by EMU
- The Reforming Alliance set up - representing EMU, many ethnic congregations and the many in the UAICC.
- The ASC subsequently used its powers to vary the wording of the resolution in order to remove reference to specific positions, so as not to be seen to be affirming any particular standard of sexual ethics. The ASC also issued an apology that better communication did not occur leading up to 2003 Assembly, and a church wide process of response, reflection and preparation for the 2006 Assembly was initiated.

Current situation

The Assembly resolution and subsequent material from the Assembly Standing Committee made it clear that when Presbyteries select candidates for ministry they may be guided by a Presbytery commitment to a particular approach to sexual ethics, but each determination of candidature must still be made on a case by case basis.

Assembly, Dates, Leaders and Locations

(President; General Secretary)
1. June 1977 J Davis McCaughey; Winston O’Reilly; Sydney
2. May 1979 Winston O’Reilly; Winston O’Reilly to December 1979; Melbourne
3. May 1982 Rollie Busch; David Gill from January 1980 ; Adelaide
4. May 1985 Ian Tanner; David Gill; Sydney
5. May 1988 Ronald Wilson; David Gill to July 1988; Melbourne
6. July 1991 H D’Arcy Wood; Gregor Henderson from January 1989; Brisbane
7. July 1994 Jill Tabart; Gregor Henderson; Sydney
8. July 1997 John E Mavor; Gregor Henderson; Perth
9. July 2000 James Haire; Gregor Henderson; Adelaide
10. July 2003 Dean Drayton; Terence Corkin from January 2001; Melbourne
11. 2006 Gregor Henderson (elect)

External links

Official Uniting Church sites

Uniting Church in Australia Website (http://www.uca.org.au)
UAICC (http://nat.uca.org.au/uaicc/index.htm)
Manual for Meetings (http://nat.uca.org.au/regulations/2001/pdf/manual_for_meetings.pdf) (pdf, 235k)
UnitingCare (http://www.unitingcare.org.au/)
Christian Unity (http://nat.uca.org.au/cunity/)

Other websites

National Council of Churches in Australia (http://www.ncca.org.au)
Uniting Church in Australia DMOZ Category (http://dmoz.org/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Christianity/Denominations/Uniting_Church_in_Australia/)
EMU (http://www.emu.asn.au/)
Reforming Alliance (http://www.reformingalliance.org.au/)

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