Dwelling in Love: the 16^th Assembly

From Rev Dr John Squires
Presbytery Minister - Wellbeing

The 16^th Assembly of the Uniting Church is meeting online over this coming weekend. Originally planned to be a week-long meeting in southern Queensland, the decision was made last year to move to an online gathering. So this coming weekend, two days will be spent online. The Assembly will then reconvene a year later, for a further session in July 2022.

The Assembly receives reports from each of the Synods of the church, as well as from Frontier Services, UnitingWorld, the Uniting Aboriginal and Islanders Christian Congress, Defence Force Chaplaincy, UnitingCare, and other agencies. It is the council of the church which attends to matters of national policy, in the areas of worship, doctrine, relationships with other denominations, and relationships with other faiths. A report regarding the National Redress Scheme will also be considered.

This meeting of Assembly will be considering documents regarding Pastoral Procedures for Responding to Allegations of Sexual Misconduct at Special Events Run by the UCA, a Policy on Vilification and Harassment, Guidance for the Church's Faithful Thinking, and a paper of The Nature of Doctrine and the Role of the Assembly. You can access all the documents for the Assembly meeting and read them at https://uniting.church/16thassemblyresources/

Our Presbytery is sending Co-Chair Judy McKinlay and Presbytery Minister—Congregation Futures Andrew Smith as our two members. (Every Presbytery sends one ordained and one lay person.) In addition, the Rev. Aimee Kent of Kippax will be attending as one of the members elected by the Synod of NSW.ACT.

The photo above shows the General Secretary of Assembly, Colleen Geyer, with the President-Elect, the Rev. Sharon Hollis, who will be installed as President on the Saturday of the Assembly. You can participate online in the opening service by logging in at https://uniting.church/16thassembly/ or by watching on the Assembly Facebook page, Uniting Church in Australia. The service commences at 11:30am AEST.

Elections for the President-Elect (2021—2024) will take place on Saturday, with the result being declared on Sunday morning. You are invited to pray for the members of the Assembly, remembering especially those from this Presbytery who are attending; for the four candidates for the position of President-Elect; and for the Business Committee of the Assembly as they guide the members of the Assembly through the two days of business.