Synod Meeting

What is a Synod meeting?

Synod meetings, which occur about every 18 months, are opportunities for members to discern the big-picture matters which make us the Uniting Church.  

Chaired by our Moderator, Synod is also a chance to share stories, build community, gain new perspectives, and to discover new ways of supporting one another in faithful witness. 

Who can attend Synod meetings?

Each Presbytery nominates their attending Synod members. Any confirmed UCA member can be nominated and there must always be at least as many lay people from a Presbytery as there are ordained ministers. Adults of all ages, cultural backgrounds, gender, ability or sexuality are encouraged to attend. Since 2021, Synod Meetings, including Opening Worship, have also been livestreamed. 

Typical agenda items at any Synod meeting include:

• REPORTS from governance committees, the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Congresses, our institutions (eg, Uniting, AgeWell and U-Ethical), task groups, senior leadership (including the Moderator and General Secretary), and from the Assembly President.
  

• PROPOSALS from our committees and from some of our working units are put to the meeting seeking guidance on the future of their work. Previous examples include our response to Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation, establishing the Money for Mission Fund, and our social justice priorities.
  

• ELECTIONS held at a Synod meeting may include Synod Standing Committee, Moderator-elect, members of our Governance Committees (eg, Ministry and Mission), Assembly representatives.
  

• WORSHIP forms an important part of Synod meetings and includes opening and closing worship services. Each day usually commences with Bible studies and concludes with a theological reflection on the day’s business. 
  
• Each Synod meeting also includes a Tributes Service which honours ministers who, since the previous Synod meeting, have been ordained, retired or been received from other denominations, who have celebrated milestones such as 50, 60, 65 and 70 years since ordination or commissioning, as well as those who have passed.

Synod 2025

The Synod 2025 Meeting will begin on Saturday, August 30 and will conclude on Tuesday, September 2. Contact your minister or presbytery if you would like to attend.

Synod Meetings commence with an Opening Worship service, which this year will include the installation of a new Moderator, Rev Salesi Faupula.

Opening Worship will be held at Kingswood College commencing at 10am on Saturday, August 30 and will be followed by morning tea. The Synod Meeting will commence at 1.30pm at nearby Box Hill Town Hall and conclude by 4pm on Tuesday, September 2. Both venues are disability-friendly with easy access by car or public transport. Transport will also be provided between Kingswood College and Box Hill Town Hall for those Synod Members who require transport. A variety of accommodation options are available near Box Hill Town Hall for regional or interstate attendees, and details of these options will be provided to Synod members upon registration.

Special guest theological reflections

Synod 2025 will be privileged to have Rev Tara Tauari, General Secretary of Te Hāhi Weteriana o Aotearoa (the Methodist Church of New Zealand) to provide our daily theological reflections.  As an esteemed theologian, and proud Māori, Tara will bring a unique perspective to each day’s discussions both as someone from outside our Uniting Church and as a First Nations person.

Daily Bible studies

Among his many titles, Rev Prof John Flett is Professor of Missiology and Intercultural Theology at Pilgrim Theological College, and außerplanmäßiger Professor at the Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal, Germany.

Specialising in constructive theologies and methodologies developed in conversation with intercultural and ecumenical approaches, John will be leading morning Bible studies at this year’s Synod Meeting.

A very popular new initiative at our last Synod meeting, an informal opening BBQ dinner will again be held at the end of the first day.

Members will also have the opportunity to attend one of six elective sessions, an educative opportunity providing knowledge and learnings to resource members for their role(s) within congregations, presbyteries and wider Church engagement. Members will also be able to connect more deeply with the Synod reports by attending two deep dive reporting sessions which provide space to engage, explore and ask questions of reporting body achievements, future challenges and opportunities, in a creative and interactive environment.

For younger members attending, Synod’s Younger Generations team will be holding an in-person orientation session the day before Synod commences. This will be an opportunity to get to know each other, to meet our new Moderator, and to familiarise themselves with Box Hill Town Hall, with a few fun surprises thrown in.