Uniting Church in Australia - Your bumper update on the Act2 Project 2.0

Your Act2 Update Our biggest national project in 46 years

Join us in a new phase Greetings from the Act2 Project! I'm pleased to share with you this update on the work of Act2, and especially to announce the release of our latest report, Act2: In Response to God’s Call. The first report since the creation of the Act2 Steering Committee and Project Unit, this report summarises our engagement across the Uniting Church between November 2022 and June 2023. We want to thank all those people and communities that, during this time, reflected so thoughtfully on where and who we are as the Uniting Church. We have tried to faithfully reflect these insights, frustrations, hopes, dreams and challenges in the report. In all of this Jesus remains our centre and continues to walk with our Church, living our stories with us, holding us in compassionate love, calling us on into true life. The report looks concretely to the future, offering for discernment: four directions related to the future of our communities of faith four options related to the future of our governance and resourcing We are moving now into the Collective Discernment phase of the Project, when we will be inviting every part of the Uniting Church to engage with the report, directions and options and respond over the next five months. This a genuinely meaningful opportunity to have your voice heard about the future of our Church, as the input you give will directly shape the proposals which will go before the 17th Assembly in July 2024. Find some opportunities to get involved below, with more to come. We look forward to sharing with you in this important moment of discernment and imagination. This is not the time to watch and wait, but to pray and participate, as together we discern the leading of the Holy Spirit for our future. Grace and peace, Andrew Johnson Act2 Project Lead Contact Andrew Read and Consider Read the new Act2 Report Act2: In Response to God’s Call emerges from six months of our engagement across the Church and brings together: A summary of what we did during the Exploration phase A summary of what we heard through our engagement Theological reflections Four future directions for our local communities of faith Four future options for our governance and resourcing The report is now available to read in full on the Act2 website. Sections of the report can also be downloaded separately, along with an Executive Summary in plain language and visual illustrations of the four Directions and four Options. There is also a simple webform you can use to submit questions of the report. Read the report Have your voice heard Have your say on our national Church We're running a series of public forums about the life and work of our national Church, focussed on some key areas. What's the future of the Uniting Church's justice work? Of ecumenism? Of our multicultural commitments? How do we want to use our public voice? Across these forums we are asking: what's important for us to do as a national Church, and how do we resource it? Each forum will have some key speakers and panellists and the chance to engage through Q&A and break-out discussions. These four forums are confirmed: Our national voice in the public square (THIS Wednesday) Our international partnerships and ecumenical relationships Our multicultural and intercultural identity Promoting the mission of our Church Register now With others Go Deeper into the report From June until November we will host fortnightly sessions which will provide the opportunity to go deeper on the latest Act2 report. Running every two weeks, these sessions will alternate between focussing on the directions about local communities of faith (Workstream 1 and Section 5 of the Report), and the options for our future governance and resourcing (Workstream 3 and Section 6 of the Report). Register and choose your session. Register for a session Learn Help us unpack our theological culture How would you speak about the theological culture of the Uniting Church? What's unique about it? What shapes our theological life? What kind of theological culture do we want? We're calling for papers, provocations and reflections to help us consider our theological culture. Not sure what 'theological culture' means? Act2 Project Lead Andrew Johnson unpacks this idea. Contributions welcome until September 2023. More information Respond Respond to the report Over the next five months, we are asking every part of the Church to have a conversation about the Act2 report. We are particularly asking our councils to discuss the directions and options found in Sections 5 and 6 of the report. Specific forms and visual aids to help your part of the Church respond are becoming available: a form for synods, presbyteries, committees and boards (available now) a form for Church Councils (available now and will be directly communicated along with visuals and videos) a form for individual members of the Church to respond (still to come) Responses are invited until 30 November 2023. Find information How else to get involved? Make a submission to the Project, which might be a general submission or specific responses to the report, options or directions. Share your prayers for the Uniting Church and our future Invite the Act2 team to facilitate a conversation or workshop with your Council or community. Email us to discuss. Learn more about the Act2 Project Plan and our work between now and the 17th Assembly.

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