Changing of the guardRev Prof Andrew Dutney is

installed as the new President

of the Uniting Church in Australia

The 13th Trienniel Assembly meeting of the Uniting Church in Australia, held in Adelaide from 15-21 July, was another example of the power of people moving together towards a promised goal.

Almost 300 hundred Uniting Church members gathered to celebrate “Life Overflowing” (the Assembly theme) and participate in the decision making and directions for the Church for the next three years.

The continued solidarity with our Indigenous brothers and sisters was strengthened by a moving moment when Assembly members stopped business to hold a prayer vigil of lament for the Stronger Futures Legislation on the steps of South Australia’s Parliament House.

Standing side by side, new Assembly President, Rev Prof Andrew Dutney, and Rev Rronang Garrawurra, the new National Chair of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC), showed the nation it is possible to walk together as one people of God. The vigil was a simple gesture that made a marked difference not only during it, but also on the rest of the meeting.

The participation of over 50 guests from 34 overseas churches and partner organisations reflected the Uniting Church’s determination to cooperate with churches in Asia, the Pacific and Africa as they pursue fullness of life for all people.

Overall the 13th Assembly was full of life in abundance; those present were witness to the Uniting Church at its best, discussing difficult issues that affect humanity, with grace and respect.

These pages showcase only a glimpse of the action from the week. For more, head online to sa.uca.org.au/assembly2012 or assembly2012.uca.org.au.

Life overflowingCelebrating the 13th Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia

Assembly CommunicationsThe Communications Team responsible for the reporting, photography and social media at this Assembly meeting were: Amy Waters, Mardi Lumsden, Kate Indigo, Marjorie Lewis-Jones, Stephen Webb, Maggie Johns, Heather Dowling, Don Dowling, Josh Curtis, Belinda Taylor, Caryn Rogers, Nigel Tapp, Penny Mulvey, Siobhan Marren and Matt Pulford.

The following is an excerpt of the installation address given by the newly installed President, Rev Prof Andrew Dutney.

Religion in Australia is intensely voluntary. People choose a religion for themselves, what parts they’ll adopt or ignore, and what they think of any pronouncements that their religion’s official leaders make. People don’t take their religious affiliation as “given”, but choose it.

This isn’t the orderly transmission of a denominational tradition from one generation to the next. This is post-denominationalism and it is part and parcel of the Uniting Church’s life and ministry.

The Uniting Church in Australia was always meant to be like this too. In his address to the second Assembly, as the retiring President, Davis McCaughey said:

In an important sense we in the UCA have no church identity, no distinctive marks – other than belonging with the people of God brought into being by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on their way to the consummation of all things in Him… We are embarked on a course in which we ask men and women to forget who they are and remember whose they are.

The Basis of Union had envisaged not a unit-ed church – complete, packaged, distinct – but a unit-ing church – provisional, a continual work in progress, “an interim way of being ‘church’ on the way to the end of denominationalism as a whole.”

It is the task of this 13th Assembly not to shore up a denominational identity, not to protect our brand, but to lift our eyes to that horizon of “reconciliation and renewal …for the whole creation” as we attend to our work.

The Installation Address of Rev Prof Andrew Dutney was delivered at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on 15 July 2012.

New President addresses Adelaide

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This is an excerpt of an address which Rev Alistair Macrae, ex-President delivered on Monday 16 July, 2012 which was Day Two of the 13th Triennial Assembly.

Along with the worldwide Christian Church we are in a time of fundamental transition, with all its challenges and opportunities.

We should continue to ask what Christians have asked in every crisis: What is possible, even in the valley of the shadow of death, in this liminal, uncertain space, for those who trust that the Shepherd God can provide water in the desert, bring hope out of fear, liberation out of paralysis, life out of death?

In the early church, and ever since, believers confronted by massive barriers, have recalled the mystery of faith which we intone every time we gather at the table of the Lord: “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again!” A crack in the wall appears and the light of hope shines through again. New worlds of possibility open up and fire the hearts, minds and imaginations of believers.

What distinguishes hopefulness from mere optimism is the central Christian claim of resurrection. We are ‘prisoners of hope’. Not hope for mere institutional survival but for the ultimate victory of love over hate, peace over violence, hope over despair.

Thank you, Uniting Church, for entrusting me with this role. Please forgive my mistakes and omissions and any words or actions that have been unworthy of the church or the gospel.

You gave me the privilege of seeing a broad cross-section of this church and I have been blessed with so many glimpses of God’s Kingdom, God’s new creation, in and through the worship, witness and service of this Church. While we are a flawed church nevertheless God’s grace is so often manifest and I encourage us all to remain committed, faithful and imaginative as we participate with God until that blessed day when the walls of separation will be no more and God of our crucified and risen Lord will make all things new.

Optimism of resurrection

The 2012 Cato lecturer, Prof Kirsteen Kim, believes Christians need a global conversation about mission to learn from one another and to discern together the Holy Spirit among the many spirits in the world.

Rather than trying to confine one another in what they think are their rightful places, they need to recognise one another’s missions, celebrate their giftedness and find ways of engaging in mutual mission.

Kirsteen, Professor of Theology and World Christianity at Leeds Trinity University College, spoke on Wednesday 18 July during the Uniting Church’s Assembly meeting in Adelaide.

She engaged the topic Joining in with the Spirit: Connecting world church and local mission, addressing what she saw as a contemporary concern: that we have disconnected local mission from world church.

She said the weakness of mission thinking that limited each local church to mission in its own locality was that it ignored central themes in the New Testament that had to do with crossing geographical and ethnic boundaries.

“We are blessed by a Spirit that pushes boundaries, sends, interconnects and builds global fellowship,” she said. “This is something we as Christians offer to the world.”

Holy Spirit joins world Church and local mission

As the Assembly's bible study leader, visiting theologian Rev Luna Dingayan challenged Assembly members to renew their commitment to God and his mission in the world.

Luna – from the Ecumenical Theological Seminary in the Philippines – said continually seeking renewal was the very essence of a Protestant church.

“A church that stops seeking genuine change would cease to be a Protestant church,’’ Luna said in his bible study.

But, he warned it was not an easy task to follow God’s mission and it required a willingness to see, hear and act in accordance with God’s will.

Luna said it was often easier for Christians to not truly “see” the real suffering faced by people as it could be confronting.

He also said that it was just as important to “hear” what people were not saying as it was to listen to the actual words they said, as many were not able to express their real concerns because of a very real fear of persecution.

Luna said it was important for Christians to seek to truly understand and identify with the suffering of people as well as seeking to lead them from a land of captivity to a land of promise. This was not an activity which would tie up “a few hours (or a) few dollars” but a commitment for life.

To truly see and hear

Rev Macrae was the President of the Uniting Church in Australia from 2009-2012, pictured here with new Congress Chair, Rev Rronang Garrawurra.

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Rronang Garrawurra strokes his luxuriant beard thoughtfully. It’s not that he needs time to ponder his answer but he first must filter his words through his native Liyakawumirr Aboriginal language before responding in English.

The short pause says much about the new chair of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (Congress).

You sense that Reverend Garrawurra is not a man to be rushed, but a man who walks with God in a measured and deeply thoughtful way.

“(Uniting Church in Australia) president Andrew (Dutney) said to me when we were walking down the street (for the vigil) that he was feeling nervous,’’ Rronang said.

“I said `Why are you nervous? It is not your business or my business that we are doing it is God’s business and if God says we have to walk then we walk’.”

The sight of the new heads of the Church and Congress walking side-by-side was a very symbolic act given the deep desire of both men to progress the covenanting relationship.

Rronang and Andrew are in the infancy of their leadership having been installed at the separate July national gatherings of their respective bodies.

Rronang – who grew up in a strong Methodist home in Arnhem Land before finding his own way to the Lord in his late 20s thanks to a team from Rev Billy Graham’s ministry in outback Australia in 1972 – is greatly pleased by how he sees the Church responding to Congress and vice versa.

Rronang, who will leave his Elcho island home and base himself in Darwin during his term as Chair, has been involved with Congress since it was first established. It was Congress which encouraged him to undertake his Bachelor of Theology many years ago.

He was initially sent to Darwin to begin his studies by his local Methodist church after it accepted his call to ministry.

The challenge in studying was that Rronang had only completed two years of primary school – admitting he “ran away’’ because he did not like school and preferred to learn about his culture at the feet of his parents.

Rronang talks excitedly about feeling God’s guiding hand throughout his studying which led to him being appointed Minister of the Word on the Gove Peninsula.

He sees his first and primary role as the pastoral care of his Congress leaders Australia-wide.

The Uniting Church’s Assembly has chosen Stuart McMillan as its President-elect.

Pastor Stuart McMillan, the Northern Synod Moderator, will be President-elect for the next three years before he takes up the presidency in 2015.

He will succeed current President Rev Prof Andrew Dutney, who took up his role during the Assembly’s opening service on July 15.

As he took the stage for the first time, Stuart spoke the familiar phrase “The Lord be with you”. The floor of the Assembly responded with “and also with you” to which Stuart remarked lightly, “Thanks, I’ll need that.”

Stuart said, “I’ve been deeply enriched by what my Indigenous brothers and sisters have shared with me over the past 30 years in their spirituality. I’ll need to listen carefully to them, and to the church, over the next three years to prepare me for what you have entrusted me to do.

“It’s been a good journey so far. One of the privileges of being in the Northern Synod is that we get to share with the President as we sit under trees and on beaches, sharing in some of the riches of this nation and this nation’s people.

“It strikes me that this has been a really important thing for me to soak up from the previous past president, Rev Al Macrae, and some of his predecessors.

“The opportunity to be mentored by Andrew over the next three years is something I look forward to.”

Leader seeks to unite Stuart McMillan is President-elect

Pastor Stuart McMillan is the new President-elect.

Rev Prof Andrew Dutney, newly installed President of the Uniting Church in Australia, and Rev Rronang Garrawurra, newly installed Chairperson of Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, stood together on the steps of Parliament House to lament the Stronger Futures legislation.

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A fundraising dinner to coincide with Assembly has raised $2000 for Adelaide's Northern Suburbs Dinka-speaking Faith Community.

The funds are going to support the Uniting Church's first female Sudanese Minister Rev Amel Manyon and her rapidly growing church. Amel does not currently receive a stipend for her church work - this fundraiser was an important way that people could support her ongoing work.

The Dinka 226 dinner was organised by Rev Dave Williamson, the Multicultural & Cross-Cultural Ministries Officer for Mission Resourcing SA, who has spearheaded the bulk of fundraising efforts for Amel’s ongoing work.

The title ‘Dinka 226’ comes from Dave’s love for this project and his participation in the Ironman Australia triathlon spanning a gruelling 226 kilometres to fundraise for it (see page 5 of July New Times for more information on this).

South Australian Moderator Rev Rob Williams opened the dinner with a blessing of the food.

Amel thanked everyone for attending and extended a warm welcome for people to attend her service at St Andrews Church, Elizabeth, at 2pm on Sundays.

Dinka 226 fundraising dinner

Rev Amel Manyon was truly thankful for the support of those who attended the Dinka 226 fundraising dinner.

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On the second to last day of business at the 13th Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia, members were treated to the eye-opening wit and humour of economist and Executive Director of The Australia Institute, Dr Richard Denniss.

Speaking at a preview of the new UnitingJustice Australia website, the

Economist calls church to act on justice

Dr Richard Denniss, co-author of Affluenza.

co-author of Affluenza asked why, in a country as rich as Australia, we can afford to tackle so many problems yet we can’t tackle climate change.

“Why does our economy generate the outcomes that it does? Why is poverty with us in times of affluence? These are questions that my profession and the political class love to keep to themselves.

“We can’t possibly imagine tackling something like climate change because we are busy actually causing that climate change with the world’s biggest mining boom,” he said.

Dr Denniss urged Assembly members not to leave issues of justice up to the world’s economists.

“As high priests of finance we have nothing to contribute to questions of justice.”

He reminded those present that big global issues are solved every day but it was a matter of priorities.

“In the last 20 years we have not found the will to address indigenous disadvantage, we have not found the money to improve our public education system, we will not invest the money into our aged-care system to prepare for an inevitable demographic time bomb, and we are told repeatedly that we cannot afford to tackle climate change.

He pondered why it was that Melbourne could subsidise a car

race but could no longer afford to subsidise fresh fruit in public schools. Why Sydney could afford to host the Olympics but not house the homeless.”

He congratulated Assembly members for the media coverage of the prayer vigil on the steps of South Australia’s Parliament the previous day.

“It is very hard to get on mainstream TV talking about issues of Indigenous disadvantage, but gee it is easy every night to get 30 seconds about the Hang Seng and the Nikkei-Dow.

“I don’t know anybody who doesn’t have an economics degree who even knows what the Hang Seng is! So what is it doing there on the news every night? It is telling you that big, important things are happening in the world.

“If you do want to change the world, you need to understand what my profession does and doesn’t know.

“These are the things for you to demand of your political leaders, but understand that my colleagues will be standing between you and them, running interference, talking about the Hang Seng, getting you to think about anything other than here we are, living in one of the richest countries in the world, telling ourselves we can’t afford to tackle poverty.

“Congratulations for taking the time to stop and think about things that, frankly, people really don’t want you to think about.”

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On 21 July, the Uniting Church Assembly passed a proposal calling church councils, boards and agencies to uphold the views of the Uniting Aboriginal Islander Christian Congress (UAICC) as it makes decisions about the appropriateness of the changes proposed by the Federal Government which will go to referendum regarding constitutional change.

This was in the spirit of the covenant relationship the church has with its Indigenous people said Rev Tim Matton-Johnson, Deputy Chair of the UAICC, and would progress the Covenant in positive ways.

“When it comes to important decisions like this for First People, we need to trust the people for whom this is a heart issue – and that is your Congress people,” Tim said.“I don’t know what referendum question will come out of this. It’s possible it will be politicked around so much it becomes something no-one really wants so we have to say ‘no’. It’s also possible that a window might open up that is helpful to our First Peoples. And I think we can trust Congress to know the answer when it happens.”

In presenting the proposal to the Assembly meeting, Tim said he believed trusting the Congress on this matter would deepen relationships.

“We’re building trust in a context where we didn’t used to have it. So each little step is an important step,” he said.

Congress to shape referendum question

The Uniting Church has agreed to continue to express its solidarity with the people of Papua and to encourage communities within the church to engage in actions which support them.

The Uniting Church has a longstanding partnership with the Evangelical Christian Church in the Land of Papua, stretching back 20 years.

Rev Rob Williams, Moderator of the Uniting Church in South Australia, spoke on the final day of the Uniting Church Assembly meeting in Adelaide, Saturday 21July, saying the situation in West Papua was at a critical point.

Since Papua’s integration into Indonesia in the 1960s, “The rising loss of life is gravely concerning," Rob said.

Standing with Papua

New study resources will be created to help Uniting Church congregations and members to develop neighbourly relations with people in Australia’s multicultural society who are shaped by other faiths.

A paper called Friendship in the Presence of Difference: Christian Witness in Multifaith Australia will be drawn on to create these resources which will be commended to presbyteries and congregations, along with the paper, for use.

The Uniting Church Assembly meeting in Adelaide heard from the Relations with other Faiths Working Group that the changing global and Australian context brought about since September 11 had increased the need and urgency for the resources.

“Make friends with people of other faiths”

The Assembly was presented with three proposals discussing marriage and relationships on Thursday 19 July. A respectful and articulate discussion followed as Assembly members engaged with the proposers: Rev Avril Hannah-Jones and Jenny Hayes, Port-Phillip West Presbytery (proposal 31/amended to 64); Rev Lu Senituli and Rev Gwen Fisher, South Moreton Presbytery (proposal 43); and Rev Carol Bennett and Rev Alison Whish (proposal 46).

The comments and concerns of the floor were noted by the Facilitation Group so that they could formulate an amended proposal to be presented the following day.

On Friday 20 July afternoon, the Facilitation Group presented proposal 71, a proposal written to combine and amend the previously presented proposals on marriage and relationships (31, 43, 46, 64) according to the comments and concerns of the Thursday session.

After the presentation, discussion again followed, and though some amendments were made, the floor of the Assembly reached an agreement.

An Interim Record of the decision made by the Assembly was printed for members on Saturday 21 July. This statement was, as follows: The Assembly resolved

1.To acknowledge that the current position on marriage is set out in Assembly Minute 97.31.12

2.Noting the desire for respectful conversation within the diverse community of the Church, and the current public debate about same- gender marriage, to ask the Doctrine Working Group, after appropriate consultation across the Church and with ongoing liaison with the Standing Committee

• toprepareadiscussionpaperonthetheologyofmarriagewithintheUniting Church, and explore its implications for public covenants for same-gender relationships

• tocirculatethepaperwidely,andspecificallytoUAICCNationalCommittee, synods, Chairpersons of National Conferences, presbyteries, UAICC Regions, Uniting Network, the Assembly of Confessing Congregations, congregations, agencies and institutions of the Uniting Church, requesting responses to the Working Group by a date to be determined by the Standing Committee; and

• tosummariseresponsesandbringrecommendationstotheStandingCommittee by November 2014, to enable the Standing Committee to bring a report to the 14th Assembly in 2015.

Marriage and relationships