The DNA of the Uniting Church Thursday May 30, 2019 Urban Mission Network The DNA of the Uniting Church Thursday May 30, 2019

Acknowledging our heritage

The DNA of the Uniting Church Vision https://assembly.uca.org.au/about/uca

The DNA of the Uniting Church Vision The Uniting Church confidently believes that through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God brings us into right relationship with God, whereby in faith we can: live in a close, loving, personal, dynamic relationship with the living God; participate in the worshipping, caring and serving community of Christians; receive God's gifts so that life can be what God means it to be - loving, purposeful, joyful, eternal; and tell others of this good news and live it out in acts of compassion, service and justice in the community.

The DNA of the Uniting Church Vision The purposes of the Church are to provide for the worship of God, to proclaim the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to promote Christian fellowship, to nurture believers in the Christian faith, to engage in mission, to assist in human development and toward the improvement of human relationships, to meet human need through charitable and other services and to do such other things as may be required in obedience to the Holy Spirit. UCA Constitution (4)

The DNA of the Uniting Church Vision The Basis of Union Para 3 A fellowship of reconciliation An instrument of Christ (Word-centred) Reformed and Evangelical Ecumenical Christ-centred: In Jesus Christ “God was reconciling the world to himself ” (2 Corinthians 5:19 RSV). God in Christ has given to all people in the Church the Holy Spirit as a pledge and foretaste of that coming reconciliation and renewal which is the end in view for the whole creation. The Church’s call is to serve that end: to be a fellowship of reconciliation, a body within which the diverse gifts of its members are used for the building up of the whole, an instrument through which Christ may work and bear witness to himself.

The DNA of the Uniting Church Values The Basis of Union Para 11 & 13 Discerning Covenanted with First Peoples Scripturally informed Cross-cultural and multicultural Inclusive: all ages, genders and races Gifted ministry (lay and ordained) Oriented toward justice Particular concern for the poor and marginalised Missional Engaged with the world Evangelistic The Uniting Church thanks God for the continuing witness and service of evangelist, of scholar, of prophet and of martyr. It prays that it may be ready when occasion demands to confess the Lord in fresh words and deeds. The Uniting Church affirms that every member of the Church is engaged to confess the faith of Christ crucified and to be his faithful servant.

Groups of three: What aspects of the UCA’s Vision and Values do you hold most dear? (2-3 minute discussion)

Resisting Dualism

Practicing Polarity Management Working with both – and Not with either- or

The DNA of the Uniting Church Practices The Basis of Union Para 15 Inter-conciliar Consensus seeking Male and female: all ages Discerning Prayerful Manual for meetings: Worship; education; discernment Collaborative The Uniting Church recognises that responsibility for government in the Church belongs to the people of God by virtue of the gifts and tasks which God has laid upon them. The Uniting Church therefore so organises its life that locally, regionally and nationally government will be entrusted to representatives, men and women, bearing the gifts and graces with which God has endowed them for the building up of the Church. The Uniting Church is governed by a series of inter-related councils…

Continuing the work of Biblical scholarship

Valuing collaboration and compromise as roads to consensus

Attention to inclusivity Upholding the equal place of women and men Multi-cultural focus The child’s voice

A Pilgrim People – pushing boundaries with discernment

A Prophetic Church – prophetic by its witness to what is possible

Stories to live by

Discovering and re-discovering the stories Making the stories Telling the stories

Groups of three: What aspects of the UCA’s Practices do you hold most dear? (2-3 minute discussion)

The DNA of the Uniting Church Mission To be an Australian Christian Church Live out the covenant with UAICC Respectful international partnerships Reconciliation of all things Justice oriented Stand with marginalised

What is your ‘take-away’ from the presentations and discussions of the Values, Vision, Practices and Mission of the UCA? (2-3 minute discussion)