Uniting Church in Australia - Act2 report, 5 ways to celebrate NAIDOC Week, INS Celebration Guide + more

28 June-4 July 2023 National Update Your weekly snapshot of the Uniting Church in Australia

Our Featured Story ACT2 PROJECT New Act2 report: In Response to God's Call The Act2 Project team is excited to announce the release of its latest report, Act2: In Response to God’s Call. It emerges from one of the biggest direct consultation processes the Assembly has ever undertaken, during which the Act2 team has contacted almost every Uniting Church community and personally visited every state and territory to sit down and learn from people across the Uniting Church. In the words of Jesuit theologian Walter Burghardt, the report is a “long, loving look at the real" of our Church at this time, offered in love and hope, and drawing from a deep well of insight gathered over the last six months. The report is now available to read in full. It brings together a summary of what the team has heard, theological reflections and a set of directions and options for the future, which the Church is now invited to consider together.  Save the date for the formal launch of the report on Thursday 13 July (1:00pm AEST, 12:30pm ACST and 11:00am AWST) via Facebook Live. Join Uniting Church President Rev Sharon Hollis and Act2 Project Lead Andrew Johnson as they introduce the report, take your questions in real-time and outline the opportunities to engage and discern during the next phase of the Project. Click 'Going' or 'Interested' on the Facebook event to stay in the loop! Read more NAIDOC WEEK 5 ways to mark NAIDOC Week From this Sunday 2 July until the following Sunday, 9 July, Australians will mark NAIDOC Week. The NAIDOC Week theme for 2023 is “For Our Elders”, a tribute to the important role played by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders in their communities and in our nation. Check out our list of five ways you could celebrate NAIDOC Week in your community, including prayers from our Walking Together as First and Second Peoples Circle. INTERCULTURAL NEIGHBOURING SUNDAY Celebration Guide out now! On Sunday 16 July, the Uniting Church will mark Intercultural Neighbouring Sunday for the first time. Compiled by the Assembly's Being a Multicultural Church Circle, a Celebration Guide, is now available, including resources for a full liturgy that can be adapted to suit your community. Celebrate the cultural diversity at the heart of our identity and explore ways to build intercultural relationships in your neighbourhood! UNITING CHURCH ANNIVERSARY Uniting Church turns 46! Uniting Church communities across the country have celebrated the 46th anniversary of the UCA with joyful gatherings, special worship services and lots of cake! Check out a few photo highlights on our Facebook page. We loved hearing about anniversary celebrations at St Paul's Uniting Church in Stafford, in which they played an interview with their oldest member. Sam, aged 101, shares, "with all these changes in life and our movement, God has been a guiding light, God has guided us."  UNITING FOR THE VOICE "Behold, I make all things new..." This week we share a video from Rev Roberta Stanley, Queensland Regional Chair of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander and Christian Congress (UAICC) and ASC Member on what a Voice to Parliament would mean for her. Roberta speaks about the chance to not only have a voice, but to pave the way for the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders. She shares her hope that, under the strength of God, we can begin to make a new history for this nation. Show your support for saying 'yes' by attending one of the 'Come Together for Yes' events across the country on 2 July as we begin NAIDOC Week.  PODCAST A conversation with Anne Pate A new Dwelling podcast! The final episode in this series all about prayer is a conversation with Anne Pate, Missional Spirituality Pastor at Northcote Uniting Church. Anne reflects on prayer as an encounter and the connections between prayer, mission and spirituality. Listen now!

Act2 Project Go Deeper into the Act2 Report Over the next six months, the Act2 team will be running fortnightly, online sessions for you to dive deeper into the newly released Act2 report. Bring your coffee, lunch or brunch to this relaxed hour together where you can learn more about the Act2 Project, discuss the Act2 report and we'll unpack the future directions and options proposed in the report for the whole Uniting Church to consider. Sign up here Events President's Conference It's officially less than a month until we gather to connect, reflect and refresh at the 2023 President's Conference, 26-30 July at Redcliffe Uniting Church in QLD. Hosted by President Rev Sharon Hollis, the first part of the conference is for ministry agents and the final two days for the whole Church - with some fantastic speakers across the week! For a discounted rate, apply to volunteer. Register now Frontier Services No road too far In this great read originally published in Revive, Rev Erica Payne reflects on those difficult days immediately following the landfall of category 3 Tropical Cyclone Seroja in April 2021. As Frontier Services Bush Chaplain, Mid West WA, Erica continues to minister to communities in the region, offering practical, pastoral and spiritual support as they recover. Read more Circles Join us as we Yarn for Yes The Working for Justice and Walking Together as First and Second Peoples Circles invite you into some deep dadirri listening on the Voice to Parliament. Join Palawa woman and Advocate of the Walking Together Circle Alison Overeem, comedian Ben Moodie and Aboriginal Pastor Uncle Ray Minniecon as they Yarn for Yes on Zoom, Thursday 13 July at 7:30pm AEST. Register to attend Around the Uniting Church Marion makes a difference Having dedicated her working life to community health as a GP, Marion Bales now volunteers at the coalface of refugee and asylum seeker support through a mentoring program run by Manningham Uniting Church in Melbourne. Marion is part of a group of six from the congregation walking alongside an extended family from Afghanistan as they adapt to their new home. More from Crosslight UnitingWorld Make a bigger impact now There are just a few days left to make a tax-deductible donation to UnitingWorld's End-of-Financial-Year Appeal. Thanks to our partnership with the Australian Government, your gift will have up to six times the impact. Donations will help resource the critical work of our church partners in the Pacific, Asia and Africa. Donate by June 30!  Donate now

Positions Minister/Pastor - Uniting North Coomera, Gold Coast The Uniting Church congregation at North Coomera seeks a full time ministry agent to energise an integrated vision of church and community. National Consultants - Assembly Resourcing Unit The Assembly is recruiting for two National Consultants to join the collaborative and interdisciplinary Assembly Resourcing Unit.   Upcoming Dates 2-9 July: NAIDOC Week 3-5 July: Korean National Conference gathering, Melbourne 13 July: Act2 report launch: live on Facebook 13 July: Yarn for Yes webinar 16 July: Intercultural Neighbouring Sunday (resources out today!)  26-30 July: President’s Conference (Brisbane) 4 August: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day 24-27 August: Uniting Church National Historical Society National Conference (Darwin) Check out more dates across the year Join us in prayer for First Peoples across these lands now called Australia as NAIDOC Week celebrations begin. May we pay our respects to First Nations Elders and draw from their strength and wisdom. The whole Uniting Church as we take a long, loving look at our life through the Act2 Project and Act2 report, and move together into a new phase of discernment about our future. People in the Uniting Church quietly making a difference through service to others. The Uniting Church Korean National Conference, meeting in Melbourne next week. Kenya, Tanzania as part of the WCC Ecumenical Prayer Cycle. How will you mark NAIDOC Week? Email us! Our weekly PowerPoint with stories, resources and prayer points for use in your weekly worship.