Further Resources
Bible Study One:
Read Acts 16: 9-15 together:
9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ 10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
11 We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. 13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. 14 A certain woman named Lydia, a worshipper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. 15 When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.’ And she prevailed upon us.
(New Revised Standard Version)
Reflect:
- Does this reading stimulate any thoughts about how mission and worship may be located? What variety of ideas may be suggested?
- How do the locations mentioned in this reading (the city, the river, a home) relate to places that are important for worship and mission within your Presbytery?
- How do we relate to the ministry agents in this reading?
Pray:
Spend some time in prayer, in preparation for listening for the Spirit’s guidance as priorities for models of the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania over the next 10-15 years are discerned.
Along with your own forms of prayer, you may like to use this prayer by the late Rev Bruce Prewer, which was also used in Day three of the recent Uniting in Prayer.
God of endless possibility,
thank you for your patient nurturing
of everything emerging.
Please continue to shape our becoming.
Dig down deeply into our hiddenness,
help germinate seeds that have been dormant,
encourage tendrils that stretch up for more light,
toughen growth that must face coming storms,
prune old growth that has served its purpose,
feed emerging fruits that have gone unnoticed,
and hasten the day when we shall become
a child growing in the likeness
of your beautiful son, Jesus:
Who with You and the Spirit of new life,
are the Source and Goal of all things beautiful,
seen and unseen, known or as yet unknown.
Amen!
Bible Study Two:
Our Story:
The Uniting Church participates in the movement (mission) of God. [8] The church is the pilgrim people of God, responding to the love of God in Christ through worship witness and service.[9] The church is always on the move. We celebrate that the divine love becomes personal, [10] and as such it is always responding in new ways. The church should never be defined in static terms, but only in terms of its future orientation. If the church ceases to be missional, it contradicts its own nature. Yet the church is not defined by what it is, but by that End to which it moves – or the promised goal.
So, the church is always in "motion", always participating in God's movement (mission), never arrived… and therefore always creative and recreative. The Basis of Union states that the church prays that God, through the Holy Spirit, will correct that which needs amending in its life.[11] In the next 15 years the church will need to adapt considerably in order to survive. The church is trying to find a new way in a world that thinks it is irrelevant.
Biblical wisdom literature speaks about the importance of taking the right path. The wide path is the way most travelled, but we are invited to take the narrower path that leads to the wisdom of God. Following the path is an act of discipleship.
When Jesus called the disciples, Jesus said “Follow me”. The disciples immediately followed although they did not know where they were going. In the life of the church at the moment we do not know where God is leading us. But we need all our church leaders willing to respond immediately to leading the church into the future.
The early church was coined by Luke to be the ‘people of the Way’.[12] Notably, it was the lifestyle of the early Christian community that identified them. As followers of Christ, we are walking together on a pilgrimage of seeking community, compassion and justice.[13]
Our Vision
Following Christ, walking together as first and second peoples, seeking community, compassion and justice for all creation.
We walk together into the future, whatever it holds, we face it together and with hope and grace. As we move forward as a church, everything we do as a church should be in partnership, with first peoples, with second peoples and with the community around us.[14]
Question 1: What other biblical narratives talk about the image of path?
Question 2: Discuss how the ‘movement of God’ is a helpful theological image for the UCA at this time? How does it connect with our UCA identity?
Question 3: What do we think makes the Uniting church distinctive? (Be inclusive of Uniting, AgeWell, Chaplaincies, congregations, parish missions, Faith Communities.)”
[8] Leslie Newbigin, The Household of God: Lectures on the Nature of the Church.
[9] Basis of Union, Para #3. ‘Uniting’ Church is an action word.
[10] Sally Douglas, Act2 website on the theological culture in the UCA and the invitation into Intentionality.
[11] Basis of Union, Para #18
[12] Biblical image ‘People of the Way’ Acts 9:2, 19:9 & 23, 22:4, 24:14 & 22 and John 14:6
[13] Synod of VicTas Vision
[14] ‘To pursue God’s mission in partnership’ is one of the ‘Synod 7 Mission Principles’
Bible Study Three:
Which Path?
When we ask congregations what is their pathway to the future we get many and varied responses…
Some of our church leaders are pointing backwards down the path we have come from, saying that is the way to go. They want to take a dangerous u-turn on a narrow cliff-face.
Some leaders charge us of being on a wide path now, the Uniting Church has chosen the way of the world and we have lost our way. We are travelling with our communities, but we have lost confidence in our distinctive voice.
Some of our church leaders just want to stop still and rest a while. They do not want anything to change. They do not want to deal with the current decline or even think about the path ahead.
Some leaders say that we are standing at the fork of multiple-pathways and actually there are many ways ahead. The future will be a mixture of old and new expression of church.
Some argue that as a church we do walk the narrow path and that the Uniting Church has a unique witness to the world. We need to stay and endure.
Some leaders say that they feel as though they are on a curved path. There is no way to see beyond the curve. They worry about whether there is a path beyond what they see.
Some leaders observe that the path the church is taking is the parallel path to the rest of the world, they are concerned that these paths never cross. The UCA is failing to engage with the wider community.
Some leaders can plainly see that we are on the steep path, with a steep learning curve before us, if the church is to adapt to the movements of God once more.
Question 1: Which paths do you think we are on? Are any or all of these paths familiar?
What are the obstacles on the path?[15]
Decline: According to the last National Church Life Survey [2021] the Uniting Church was experienced 23% decline over the last 5 years due primarily due to our aging profile. In fact, all the major denominational churches experienced a decline, including for the first time the Pentecostal Church had 4% decline. The only exceptions were the Catholic and Orthodox Church that experienced growth, mainly through migration. The VicTas Congregational Insights Report has noted the decline in: worship attendance in-person 50% (Not including on-line attendance); mission attendance 50% over the last 5 years.[16]
Leadership Wanted/Governance Demand: We have been experiencing a decline in the number of volunteers. There are increasing expectations for ethical training. We are finding it harder to fill church committees. Church Council may lack the specialised skill they need. It is also harder to find people willing to be elected onto our various councils of the church. In the future the structures may fail, Assembly Act2 project is suggesting models that address this issue.[17]
Rural/City Divide:
Rural Presbyteries have already done the hard work of sharing ministers across clusters/regions. They can share no more because the distances are too great. There is also a lack of willingness for ministers to come out to rural areas. Most congregations can no longer afford ministry in their own right. Rural presbyteries are preparing for a post-minister church (Presbytery of Lodden - Mallee 95% lay leaders).
City Presbyteries are for the first time needing to cluster congregations. They hold the majority of ministry placements together with the Synod office and eLM, some of which have Synod wide responsibilities. Some inner-city areas have 12 congregations within a 5 minute drive of each other. Small wealthy congregations can afford ministry in perpetuity.
Congregational Sustainability: With congregations that are no longer sustainable, most presbyteries in VicTas have considered regionalisation as important for the future ministry placements. As it becomes less about one minister per congregation, ministry agents are being appointed to regions, with specified relationship with named congregations/clusters. Increasingly ministry agents are becoming ‘Resource Ministers’ with two or more congregations and are more likely to be placed into Team Ministry. Regions also become great places for gathering lay leaders for visioning, education, and co-strategizing on the future church.
Ministry Placements: The VicTas Placement’s Symposium 2021 stated that there will be a 30% decrease in ministers over the next few years, due to a high number of retirements. This has meant that Synod placements have been unwilling to fill part-time placements and presbyteries have been working hard to create full-time placements. There is an increasing number of lay people filling supply and ministry placements.
Building Burden: Some congregations have become too small to sustain the large complex of buildings, some with heritage overlays. On Sunday the whole congregation may fit in the first 3 rows of the worship centre. There are often buildings with many decades of deferred maintenance, now needing $150,000- of repairs. Most congregations cannot afford these large expenses and 51% of congregations are running on a deficit budget in 2023.[18] Some small congregations can afford to pay, but should they? Is it good stewardship to spend large amounts of money on buildings? We will need to share resources if we are to build the church of tomorrow.[19]
Worship Vortex: Ministers may spend two days a week preparing and delivering traditional ‘4-hymn sandwich’ worship with TiS as the main hymnal all at 9:30/10am. We have 185 traditional worship services with an average attendance of 20 people, 26 contemporary worship services with an average of 40 people, and 15 Intergenerational and 13 Messy Churches averaging 23 people.[20] Our cultural and linguistically different congregation are growing faster than we can find worship leaders for their congregations and tend to be larger. Lay-led congregations may spend all their energy preparing for 1 hour on Sunday morning and often have no energy left for mission.
Changing face of Chaplaincy: UCA chaplains are appreciated for their ability to support people of all faiths and none within agencies, institutions and the community. Chaplaincy is a growing field due to increasing demand for practical pastoral and spiritual care that meets the needs of the general population. Government funding is decreasing for chaplaincy in prisons and hospitals, compliance and accountability requirements for chaplains are increasing, and the supply of chaplains is not keeping up with demand. A Synod-wide chaplaincy strategy is needed to promote and develop this particular form of ministry.
Distribution of Community Services: There are often places of great community need that Uniting would love to support. Uniting continues to seek to provide Early Childhood centres and kindergarten, emergency relief and other services in the places of greatest need.
Discipleship, Mission and Evangelism: In a declining church it is easy for discipleship, mission and evangelism to be the first to be surrendered. Yet, these are foundational for the church of the future. We need to nourish contextual expressions of church that are lighter and simpler.[21]
Question 2: Do any of these obstacles surprised you? Which of these obstacles are significant for your context?
Question 3: What role do all parts the church have in overcoming these obstacles? Are there structural barriers to overcoming the obstacles?
Question 4: How can we plan or influence the future?
[15] Mat Harry talks about the importance of moving the obstacles from the path “The Rider, the Elephant and the path” approach to change management.
[16] Your Financial Reports and Congregational Life Survey are summarised in the Congregational Insights Report of Synod of VicTas.
[17] Act2 report, Section 6 Options for Workstream 3: Governance and Resourcing
[18] Congregational Insights Trend Report.
[19] ‘Sharing Resources’ is another of the Synod 10 Statements of Intent.
[20] Congregational Insights Report – Section 5.4 – Worship Services mean attendance at worship/style.
[21] ‘Nourish contextual expressions of Church’ & Lighter and Simpler’ are two Synod 10 Statements of Intent.