Last Words

Future Directions for the People of God on the Way expresses the contentious aspiration that the UCA should be a courageous, contemporary, growing church. Contentious because, four years of living with Future Directions has not in any way limited the power of each of those words to provoke angst and argument. While this can at times, be tiresome, it’s also probably a good thing. 

It's interesting but not surprising that the most challenging word turns out to be ‘growing’, which calls forth the explanation that the Synod meeting in 2019 committed the church to growth in relationship, discipleship, number and impact.

I confess that I still don’t understand why this should be in any way controversial. Growth in discipleship and relationship is surely core business for the church. There’s no getting around Matthew 28:19 – "Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you".

To put it bluntly, congregations that aren’t growing in relationship and discipleship are unlikely to have much of an impact and this will inevitably be reflected in their numbers. 

The Uniting Church from the outset has understood that God called it into existence to be a fellowship of reconciliation through which Christ may work and witness. In the Basis of Union, the congregation is the visible embodiment in one place of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church, worshipping, witnessing and serving as a fellowship of the Spirit in Christ. 

Work is currently underway towards presenting a proposal to Synod 2025 that could become the most significant, consequential decision that the Synod has made since Union. That could be an overstatement but I don’t think so. Certainly it will initiate and require an extraordinary effort and major transition and transformation to bring it to life. 

However, the reorganisation of the Presbyteries and Synod that looks likely to be proposed in July, is by no means a destination, it’s not an end in itself. I wasn’t in Australia at the time of Union, but I began ministry in its aftermath and I gather from those who were involved that, while the achievement of Union was exhilarating, it was also exhausting. Congregations and ministers may have rested on their laurels following such a major change.

We don’t have that luxury anymore. 

Please bear in mind that neither the Presbyteries nor the Synod exist for their own sake. They exist to equip and support congregations in the real work of making disciples for the transformation of the world – to enable them to be disciple-forming, disciple-nurturing communities. Certainly and hopefully, presbyteries and the Synod can reorganise processes and resources to support that work, but the work of making disciples can only be done by congregations. 

I confess that my heart is in my throat as I contemplate the proposal that’s being developed. I could not and did not imagine that we could be considering such a major change at the conclusion of Synod 2023 – yet here we are.

I can only believe that it is God-breathed, that God’s call to the UCA remains alive and active and that there is work for the church to do – worshipping, witnessing and serving and being a prophetic community into the future. At the risk of annoying all the mission gurus out there, this has less to do with mission understood as service and more to do with mission with faith formation, relationship and engagement (which could be summarised by the word ‘evangelism’).

It’s time I think for congregations and their leaders to contemplate how they can live into the decision of Synod 2019 to grow in relationship, discipleship, number and impact. Without this work, every decision the Synod makes will be ineffective and futile. 

Finally, it’s highly likely that this will be my last column given that the appointment of the next Synod General Secretary will be another significant Synod decision. I’d like to thank all those who have expressed appreciation and offered encouragement for my columns over the years. I’ve enjoyed writing them (though I don’t love deadlines!) and I’ve enjoyed the conversations they’ve sometimes provoked. Thank you!