Uniting Church in Australia - Welcome to the Year of Mark! NEW Lectionary out now, post-referendum worship resources & more in UC National News 18-24 October

18-24 October 2023 National Update Your weekly snapshot of the Uniting Church in Australia

Our Featured Story Welcome to the Year of Mark The Assembly is excited to release the 2023-24 Lectionary leaflet for preaching and worship leading in the new church year, which begins on the first Sunday in Advent. The leaflet includes an introduction by Assembly Associate General Secretary Rev Lindsay Cullen and helpful resources for preachers including commentaries, websites and podcasts. The gospel readings for this Lectionary year are focussed on the Gospel of Mark, the earliest gospel and the shortest - a rapid and urgent telling of the stories of Jesus. Rev Lindsay Cullen writes in the Lectionary introduction, "May those of us who preach and teach in the Year of Mark lead people to meet this irresistible Christ who reaches out to each of us through the pages of Scripture!" A printed leaflet is available for purchase from MediaCom Education and a PDF version can be downloaded from the Assembly website. Enjoy preaching and worship leading in the Year of Mark! Get the Lectionary UNITING FOR THE VOICE Post-referendum worship resource The Assembly has released a new worship resource to help Uniting Church communities process and reflect on the result of the referendum. The resource includes a Foreword from President Rev Sharon Hollis, liturgies and rituals, almost 20 prayers and questions for your community to reflect on together. Contributions have been offered from across the national Uniting Church and compiled by the Assembly Resourcing Unit. On referendum night the Uniting Church acknowledged the referendum result in a joint statement from President Rev Sharon Hollis and Rev Mark Kickett, National Interim Chair of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress. UNITING FOR THE VOICE Marking five years: National Apology This Sunday 22 October will mark five years since the National Apology to Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse. The Uniting Church is committed to acknowledging this anniversary each year as an opportunity to reflect on and lament the wrongs of the past and to reaffirm our own apology to survivors and promise to embody a culture of safety. We invite local communities to use the Liturgy of Acknowledgement and Lament in their worship and to read the joint statement from the Assembly, UCA Redress and National Safe Church Unit. ACT2 PROJECT Reflecting back: our national theological culture Between August and October 2023 the Act2 Project ran five public National Forums focussed on key national areas: Our voice in the public square; international partnerships and ecumenical relationships; promoting the mission of the Church; multicultural and intercultural identity; and national theological culture. ICYMI, you can now watch the Zoom recordings of all five Forums and read reflections on the key themes, including a reflection on the final Forum released today. THIS IS MY UNITING CHURCH "Taking Jesus seriously together" This week in our This is my Uniting Church series we hear about the faith communities that are formed at the Young Adult Gatherings (YAGs) which are a project of the Pulse team in the Synod of NSW/ACT. Gathering young adults from across Sydney, the YAGs are growing relationships and disciples. Will Giacometti and Summer Potten share: "We have been inspired by the conversations about collaboration between congregations and the shared excitement for the future knowing there are other young adults passionate about being courageous disciples and taking Jesus seriously, together." JUSTICE Time for a treaty on the ban of nuclear weapons The Uniting Church Assembly is among 130 organisations which have endorsed a new civil society statement released by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) this week. On 15 October 1953 the first nuclear weapon test on mainland Australia took place at Emu Field, south of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands in South Australia. No consent was sought and the resulting radioactive “black mist” fallout has led to ongoing environmental, health and social outcomes. 70 years on, the statement urges the Australian government to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

Act2 Project New theological culture papers Have you been keeping up with this Act2 series? Each week we have been dropping new papers, reflections and provocations from theologians across the country about the theological culture of the Uniting Church. New contributions this week are from Megan Ady, Meredith Yabsley and Rev Ben Gilmour. Keep an eye out - there's lots more to come in the next few weeks! Read them now Resources Going beyond Sunday More than Worship, More than Sunday is a practical resource with ideas, processes and planning tips to consider as part of your community's intergenerational ministry journey. A short, concise document, the resource encourages communities to explore ways to nurture an intergenerational ministry - not just intergenerational worship - which goes beyond the Sunday gathering. Read more Uniting Church Adult Fellowship Joan Stott Bursary Awarded Congratulations to Laura Rose from the Synod of VIC/TAS and Michaela Anthill-Cassie from the Synod of NSW/ACT, the two recipients of the Joan Stott Bursary for 2023-2024! Administered by the National Committee of the Uniting Church Adult Fellowship, each year the Joan Stott Bursary supports younger people through a grant towards the cost of theological or leadership studies. Meet the recipients Towards Zero Take our Emissions Survey The Uniting Church is on a journey to net-zero emissions by 2040. UCA communities are invited to take a new survey to help the Assembly understand actions being taken around the country and how we are tracking against our goals. We particularly invite responses from potentially larger emitters such as agencies, schools, synod and presbytery operations and larger congregations. Take the survey

Positions Head of Philosophy and Religious Studies - Newington College, Sydney Lead the thriving Philosophy and Religious Studies Department at the Stanmore campus of Newington College. Pastoral Practitioner, Sydney North Shore - Uniting NSW/ACT This role within the Mission team provides meaningful pastoral care services to people in Uniting's care across the Sydney North Shore. Upcoming Dates 16-20 October: Frontier Services Bush Chaplains National Conference, Adelaide 21 October - 24 October: Queensland Synod meeting 22 October: Anniversary - National Apology to Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Check out more dates across the year Join us in prayer for All those, and especially First Peoples, who continue to process the referendum result. Wherever there is grief or division, may the Spirit which has been in these lands since creation bind us in love and solidarity and dwell with us in our ache for healing. Survivors of child sexual abuse and their families and communities. We pray for justice, truth and healing as we mark the fifth anniversary of the National Apology. The Synod of Queensland, meeting this weekend on the Sunshine Coast, and Rev Bruce Moore who will be inducted as Moderator. Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico as part of the WCC Ecumenical Prayer Cycle. What is your Uniting Church story? Email us! Our weekly PowerPoint with stories, resources and prayer points for use in your weekly worship. Click 'enable content' to play video.

Uniting Church in Australia - You know the Act2 report is here, but what does it say? 8️⃣ key takeaways in UC National News 11-17 October

11-17 October 2023 National Update Your weekly snapshot of the Uniting Church in Australia

Our Featured Story 8 key takeaways from the Act2 report In June 2023 the Act2 Project released ‘In Response to God’s Call’, its new major report and the first since the 16th Assembly. Drawing on a deep well of insight gathered over seven months of intensive and personal engagement, the report seeks to hold a mirror up to our Church, reflecting on the contours of our life and challenges and of our vision as we look to the future. The whole Uniting Church is currently being invited into further discernment on concrete future directions – but listening deeply to the insights of the report itself is essential to have these conversations well. But at 57 pages, it is a long report and packed with insight! So what does it say, and what have we learned? From the weariness in our congregations and fractures in our system to our deep heart for discipleship and affirmation of identity, we've pulled together these eight key takeaways from the report. Until 30 November, every person and community in the Uniting Church can make a concrete response to the future Directions and Options. Learn how to make yours here and find resources to help here. Get the takeaways UNITING FOR THE VOICE Prayer and unity on Referendum Eve Over the past two weeks, the Uniting Church Assembly has been praying daily ahead of the Referendum on a Voice to Parliament. This Friday 13 October our time of prayer will culminate in a national Vigil on the eve of the Referendum, six hours of prayer between 2:00pm and 8:00pm AEDT. Congregations across the country will open their sanctuaries for prayer, and take turns leading prayer and worship on a Zoom webinar. Register to join online at any point across the six hours of prayer, or where possible, join an in-person gathering at times to be communicated by each location. RESOURCES Praying on Sunday and beyond In just three days Australians will go to the polls to vote in the Referendum on establishing a Voice to Parliament. As we approach the end of a long campaign and turn this weekend to anticipate the result, Uniting Church President Rev Sharon Hollis has offered a prayer for use in worship on Sunday 15 October and beyond. It can be used in the event of either result and in the event the outcome is not yet known on Referendum Day. The prayer is inspired by the language of the revised Preamble, a change to the Uniting Church’s own Constitution passed by the 12th Assembly in 2009. AROUND THE UNITING CHURCH "Love is never wasted, it bears all things" Earlier this week the Guardian published a profound piece of writing by Uniting Church President Rev Sharon Hollis about her experience of loss following the death of her partner Michael by suicide in 2013. With tenderness and honesty she reflects on the love that endures beyond death and how faith helped her navigate the worst days of grief. Image: Michael Symons and Sharon Hollis. HUMANS OF THE UNITING CHURCH "A messenger of the love of God" This week in our Humans of the Uniting Church series, we catch up with Rev Dona Spencer who is the Bush Chaplain in the Bottle Tree Remote Area which covers 250 kilometres in every direction from Roma in rural Queensland. In this Q&A she talks about what enlivens her faith in Jesus and what she's learning in her ministry, and invites the Uniting Church to pray for people in the outback: "many feel forgotten... may they know that God has not forgotten them." OUR WORLD Praying for a just peace in the Holy Land The Uniting Church joins with the World Council of Churches in expressing deep grief at the fresh outbreak of conflict in Palestine and Israel. Uniting Church President Rev Sharon Hollis has urged all members of the Uniting Church to join in prayer with Christians around the world for a just peace in the Holy Land and for those grieving and suffering due to present violence. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC

Act2 Project New theological culture papers This week there's a bumper drop of papers in the Act2 series of theological reflections! New contributions from Dr Sureka Goringe, Joy Han, Rev Dr Sarah Agnew and Rev Dr Benji Callen are now available to read, covering the vocations of ordained and lay people, a provocation about gaps in our theological culture, and the central place of the Gospel in our discernment about the future. Read them now Resources Marking Apology anniversary October 22 is the fifth anniversary of the National Apology to Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse. Marking this anniversary is an opportunity to reaffirm our Church's own apology, reflect on the wrongs of the past and reaffirm our commitment to embody a culture of safety. Read the joint statement from the Assembly, UCA Redress and the National Safe Church Unit and download the Liturgy of Acknowledgement and Lament available for use in worship and other Uniting Church settings. Read more

Events Converge YM Conference At CONVERGE 2023 youth ministry conference you'll connect with other leaders and be equipped in your own formation. A key focus of the conference will be exploring the findings of the Your Story research into faith markers identified by young people. CONVERGE will be held from 9-11 November at the Centre for Theology and Ministry in Parkville, Melbourne. See more Events Intergenerational Book launch Another great book launch in the intergenerational ministry space! Join with ministry leaders from around Australia and beyond at the online book launch of Being an Intergenerational Church: Practices to bring the Generations Back Together. Connect with the authors, Suzi Farrant and Darren Philip, as they introduce the content and key themes and answer your questions about being intergenerational. Register here to join via Zoom on 8 November at 7:30pm AEDT. Find out more

Positions Mission Resourcing Minister - Synod of NSW/ACT Working collaboratively, this role is responsible for encouraging, and supporting and pioneering church planting across the Synod. Bookings Coordinator - Nunyara Conference Centre Provide administrative services to the iconic Nunyara Conference Centre which offers hospitality to church and community groups. Upcoming Dates 13-15 October: Indonesian National Conference, Darwin 16-20 October: Frontier Services Bush Chaplains National Conference, Adelaide 21 October - 24 October: Queensland Synod meeting 22 October: Anniversary - National Apology to Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Check out more dates across the year Join us in prayer for All Australians, especially First Peoples, as we head to the Referendum polls on Saturday. May we vote in hope for a better future for First and Second Peoples and treat all who cross our path with dignity and respect. In the words of Palawa woman Alison Overeem, "May the creator of justice guide and surround us all in unconditional love." A just peace and an end to conflict and violence in the Holy Land. Our Bush Chaplains, messengers of hope in rural and remote Australia, and the national gathering of Bush Chaplains taking place in Adelaide next week. The Uniting Church Indonesian National Conference, meeting in Darwin this weekend. Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama as part of the WCC Ecumenical Prayer Cycle. What is your Uniting Church story? Email us! Our weekly PowerPoint with stories, resources and prayer points for use in your weekly worship. Cleck 'enable content' to play video.