From Rev Dr John Squires
Presbytery Minister - Wellbeing
The 16th 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.