-Ing, not -Ed

It’s less than four decades since the Uniting Church was called into being and yet the outlook for the worldwide church now is light years away from what it was then.

We had just emerged from the Vietnam War and were fully immersed in the Cold War; the “mainstream” Australian Church had a central, even pivotal, place in our community, and consisted of what was essentially a handful of denominations – Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Methodist and Presbyterian – with some smaller faith traditions variously present. The advent of computers, the internet and mobile phones was yet to be realised, with no expectation of the exponential change which marks our lives now.

The vision of the Basis of Union is a church which stands on the foundation of Christ, and is also able to heed Christ’s call as the world shifts and changes
The Church preaches Christ the risen crucified One and confesses him as Lord to the glory of God the Father … On the way Christ feeds the Church with Word and Sacraments, and it has the gift of the Spirit in order that it may not lose the way.

Our name proclaims that we did not see ourselves arriving as a Church and then parking ourselves neatly. We acknowledge a world in transition, engaged by a church in transition. We are the “Uniting”, not “united”, Church; discovering, under God’s grace, how to worship, witness and serve in an ever-changing world.

As our society reshapes the meaning of community, education and citizenship, in a world which is brought to our laptops by extraordinary technology, it is critical to explore the place and shape of the church.
… the Uniting Church also stands in relation to contemporary societies in ways which will help it to understand its own nature and mission. The Uniting Church thanks God for the continuing witness and service of evangelist, of scholar, of prophet and of martyr. It prays that it may be ready when occasion demands to confess the Lord in fresh words and deeds.

It can be an awkward, messy process. As the mainstream Church splinters and declines, as new forms of church emerge, as the church rediscovers its rightful place on the margins of our communities, we must listen for God’s Spirit ever more urgently, ever more patiently. The temptations to entertain, or to provide gospel-lite, are the false prophets tickling our ears and egos. Our future is not how we imagined it in 1977; it is God’s Church and not ours; we are disciples of Christ, and it is to him we remain faithful.
The Uniting Church affirms that it belongs to the people of God on the way to the promised end. The Uniting Church prays that, through the gift of the Spirit, God will constantly correct that which is erroneous in its life, will bring it into deeper unity with other Churches, and will use its worship, witness and service to God’s eternal glory through Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.