Elaine Ledgerwood: The Hope of Forgiveness

Elaine Ledgerwood has written an article titled, The Hope of Forgiveness, in Vol 19, No.3, 2012 in Australian eJournal of Theology. Check out the abstract here. Free subscription.

DAP Regional Gathering

The DIAKONIA Asia Pacific (DAP) regional gathering was held from October 28th to November 2nd, 2012. Rev Sandy Boyce (Deac) was a delegate from DUCA, accompanied by Geoff Boyce. It was a great time of sharing and learning, with lots of singing and celebration.

Deacon celebration calls church members to mutual vulnerability

The WA Synod celebrated the 20th anniversary of the first ordinations of Deacons in the UCA as part of their Synod meeting in September. Here's the story from the WA website:

Rev Bev Fabb preached at the celebration

Rev Denise Savage

Synod Sunday began with worship celebrating the 21st anniversary of the renewal of diaconate ministry within the Uniting Church. The focus of the morning was on the ministry of service given expression by those ordained to the ministry of deacon.
Rev Marion Millin gave some historical background, telling of how the Uniting Church, in 1991, agreed to recognise two expressions of ordained ministry, the ministry of the Word, and ministry of deacon. WA’s Rev Betty Matthews was the first person to be ordained as a deacon in the Uniting Church.
Rev Bev Fabb preached, focussing on the story of the last supper as told in John 13:
… So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, “Master, you wash my feet?”
Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I’m doing, but it will be clear enough to you later.”
Peter persisted, “You’re not going to wash my feet—ever!”
Jesus said, “If I don’t wash you, you can’t be part of what I’m doing.”
“Master!” said Peter. “Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!”
(The Message translation)

Rev Bev Fabb washes the feet of Rev Marion Millin

 Bev pointed out that, while Christians have followed the tradition of the last supper by celebrating communion, and recognising it as a sacrament, Jesus’ command to wash one another’s feet is not followed often.
“The act of foot washing is an experience of mutual vulnerability,” said Bev. When you kneel at someone’s feet, you risk being kicked in the head. At the same time, the person whose feet are being washed has to expose their defects and sensitivities.
“Deacons are called to wash the feet of those who suffer in our world, in gentleness, compassion and love,” said Bev.
“What God wants is for us to wash one another’s feet.”
During the celebration of communion and over the morning tea, Bev and other deacons were available to wash others’ feet or to have their own feet washed.
Photos on the website. 

Insights (NSW/ACT) August 2012 - featuring Deacons

The August edition of Insights (UCA publication in NSW/ACT has a great coverage of Deacons and diaconal ministry - a great read. If you live in NSW/ACT you'll have access to copies. People in other Synods might like to contact Insights for a copy. The editorial team is to be congratulated for such a great contribution to the 20th anniversary of Deacons in the UCA.

Here's a link to Clive Pearson's article on the God is where?! Conference, featured in the August edition of Insights and Stephen Webb's editorial. 

Exploring diaconal ministry - a post by Steve Taylor

Rev Dr Steve Taylor, Principal, Uniting College for Leadership and Theology (UCLT) in SA, wrote on his blog:

A few weeks a young couple came to see me, armed with questions about ministry in the Uniting Church. With their permission, this is some of their story.

She was born in rural Australia and moved to Adelaide to study. In 2008, as part of her degree, she did a placement in Port Augusta. She felt a stirring, a sense that she might return one day. She returned to Adelaide to continue her study. She met and married a trained youth worker.

After university study, they found employment in community ministry here in Adelaide. Together they sensed God’s call to the marginalised and poor. In order to explore this call they moved to work with Urban Neighbours of Hope (UNOH) in Sydney. They loved the values of UNOH, of Incarnational work in partnership with the lost and the least. But they still remained restless, sensing their call was not urban, but to regional South Australia.

They moved to Port Augusta, he to community youth work, she to volunteering at the aged care home in Davenport, plus paid a few days a week as part of the Aboriginal education team in the school. They found the most run down suburb and moved in. They find themselves linking with the Uniting Church, one week with Congress, the other week with Port Augusta Uniting Church.

In the Uniting Church they heard about the ministry of Deacon. Hence their visit to see me. They want to be in Port Augusta for the next 15 years, to embrace a ministry of Incarnational community development. How can their sense of call be realised in the ministries of the Uniting Church?

The Uniting Church’s understanding of ministry is that we are all called to ministry. The Basis of Union says “The Uniting Church affirms …. one Spirit has endowed the members of his church with a diversity of gifts, and that there is no gift without its corresponding service: all ministries have a part in the ministry of Christ.”

The Uniting College is about developing effective leaders of healthy, missional churches who are passionate, Christ-centred, highly skilled, mission oriented practitioners. That is you and that is me and that is our friends in Port Augusta seeking to discern their gifts and calling with the Uniting Church.

Source: http://www.emergentkiwi.org.nz/archive/uniting-college-mission-future/

Where is God - DIAKONIA Conference

A fantastic article by Rev Dr Clive Pearson in the NSW publication Insights reflects on the conference: Check it out here.  Here's a taster......
The title of this conference — “God is Where?!” — was unusual.
It is much more normal to think of who is God and what kind of God do we believe in. That shift to “where” is a little peculiar. It is suggesting a different kind of agenda.
The who and what questions are much more tied to the internal life of the church and how mission is sometimes (not without problems) tied to the church. It is, after all, the mission of God rather than the mission of this all too human institution in which we participate.
The who and what questions invite us to pay more attention to the inner life of discipleship and membership; the where question is of a different order altogether.
That point has been very well made by the English Methodist theologian, Clive Marsh.
His Christ in Practice is a study of what he calls an “everyday Christology”; it is designed to seek out “traces”, “resonances” — hints — of the Jesus story in the secular, multi-faith society we live in and which are beyond the walls of the church.
The distinctively Australian nature of the context was informed by a reading of Gary Bouma’s Australian Soul and a handful of other writers, including some who have spoken of their life in Australia as being “Australienated”.
This business of “where” is in keeping with the emerging discipline of a public theology/ministry. This synod is the only synod in the country which through its theological college has committed itself to this task, which is now freely described as a major “global flow”.
What this designation means is that a public theology is now regarded as a significant new development around the globe in helping Christians understand their faith and what is being asked of them for Christ’s sake.
The aim of the conference was to explore the nature and purpose of a public theology.
At one level this way of thinking is a thoughtful protest against the common tendency to confine faith to the world of private belief (me and my Jesus, so said Dorothee Sölle) or to the church’s struggle to survive.
These things have their place; they are important but they are only part of the picture.
The intention of a public theology is to work for the common good, the public good, and the construction of a civil society.
David Ford from Cambridge reckons that such a theology is concerned with the flourishing of all. That has become a frequent refrain for a faith and ministry in our post-this and -that world.
Those who are committed to this form of theology and ministry are shaped by a host of biblical considerations.
The Bible studies each day were designed to draw out the theme of the week and put a practical human face on this enterprise. There are a number of organising texts, like by the question posed by Jesus — who do people say that I am? — and the call to love one’s neighbour as oneself. The nagging question here is who is our neighbour?
The public theologian is likely to make use of the biblical themes of wisdom a great deal. The emphasis is an act of discernment, a capacity to read the signs of the times and express a Christian faith committed to mercy, compassion, justice and the care of creation.
It was recognised that part of the public role of the Christian faith is to secure a voice in the marketplace of ideas within society. That is not necessarily easy when there is so much suspicion with regards the Christian faith and in this setting the contemporary follower of Christ cannot rely upon a privileged space.
There have been too many negative headlines; there has been too much trauma associated with the effect of the church on the lives of so many people.
This discipline is one which works with “strangers”; it is interdisciplinary and it relies upon the extension of thin trust.
Such trust occurs where you do not know well or all the other but you expect them to treat you well as you would them. The making of a civil society — of any sort — depends upon such trust, writes Martin Marty in his fine study of Creating Cultures of Trust.
Those visits through the course of the week were designed to illustrate how a public theology identifies issues of the day which require prophetic attention. It so happened that they frequently coincided with the daily work and passion of those involved in a diaconal ministry.
What those present seemed to find helpful was being given a theological frame of reference in which to situate their work and praxis.They were being given words to name what they do and how it fits into the bigger picture of the Christian hope for the world.They were being invited to be bilingual; meaning being well-grounded and able to talk within the life of the church and beyond in the public domain where God is also to be found.

Clive Pearson is Principal of United Theological College, Lecturer in Theology and Ethics, and Head of School, School of Theology, Charles Sturt University.

Deacons at 13th Assembly of UCA in Adelaide

The 13th Assembly of the UCA, held for a week in July in Adelaide, included ten Deacons - five from SA and five from the other Synods. This is more than on previous occasions, so we celebrate about the involvement of Deacons including Denise Champion and Dean Whittaker with Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, Susan Doughty as a Deacon candidate, and Sandy Boyce and Michelle Cook serving as two of the President's chaplains. The UCA Assembly meeting formally acknowledged the 20th anniversary of the renewal of the diaconate, with the first ordinations in 1992 (starting with Betty Matthews in WA).

Deacons at 13th UCA Assembly meeting, July 2012

Reconciliation People - a statement to the nation by young adult leaders in the UCA

Rev Aimee Kent was one of the participants in the UCA National Young Adult Leaders Conference (NYALC) in February 2012, and features in this video in which various participants read the statement in a variety of settings. Well worth a look! Here's the link.

Emma Matthews - school chaplaincy in changing times

Rev Emma Matthews with a student

Rev Emma Matthews seems well and truly at home in her surroundings at Penrhos College. Girls proudly come up to her in the halls to show their achievements. More students are scattered around her office making Easter baskets. It is through these informal connections as chaplain she is able to build meaningful relationships with the students.

Fittingly placed on the wall, a plaque reads, “Life is a journey, not a destination.”

You could say that Emma, a recently ordained Deacon, has come full circle in her journey through faith. Penrhos College, an all-girls’ school that boasts about 1,170 students, including around 100 boarders, and 200 staff, is one of seven Uniting Church schools in WA. Like many of her students, Emma grew up in a non-church family and attended a Uniting Church school. It was at around the age of six that Emma’s faith started to emerge.

Once she left school, she moved into a house full of Christian students where her faith flourished and grew further. Working as a school music teacher to pay the bills, Emma’s passion for social justice formed part of her journey to the diaconate. Her passion can be traced back to a teenage experience at a school speech night; standing on the steps of the Sydney Town Hall, one of the school mums was approached by a homeless man asking what the event was. The lady turned her back, and left a lasting impression on Emma.

“That really had a profound impact on me,” she said. “It melted my heart.”

Emma spent a lot of her time since then volunteering for various causes including social work among AIDS victims, meals on wheels and refugee advocacy. “So basically without really realising it, I was doing diaconate work,” she said. “I started a period of discernment about six years ago and discerned quite rapidly that the diaconate was where God was leading me.”

Similarly, after finishing her theological training and beginning a new time of discerning God’s plan for her, “It became more and more apparent that Penrhos was the place for me.”

Having been in her role for three school terms now, Emma has settled into the busy schedule. The school’s multicultural and multi-faith community brings with it joys and diversity. While some may think of that as being a struggle, Emma is a natural in her role at relating to students.

“The five world’s biggest religions all have things in them that talk about valuing other people, talk about being neighbourly, talk about caring for the environment. So there are ways that you can mould a message that is actually palatable for everybody,” she said.

The college’s Ignite program, which Emma teaches, offers an opportunity to explore such similarities in more depth. Each term the class studies a different religion so by the end of the year they will have learnt about Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism. But it’s not just chapel and education that Emma offers. She’s also a friend and a listening ear to students and staff alike.

“My role is pastoral, liturgical and teaching,” she said. “Being a pastoral presence in the playground — being there in that moment — can have a life changing impact.”

“As far as I’m concerned, the difference that church schools make is significant. The chaplain’s door is always open. Girls have an opportunity to ask big questions. And they do.”

As Emma continues to walk her journey, she encourages others who may be hearing God’s call to ministry to take the plunge, despite it shaking your whole life around.

“It changes everything,” she said. “If it’s doing its job, it’s deconstructing you — your faith, preconceived ideas, stretching all your boundaries — and putting you back together again. “Don’t be scared. Have faith. God won’t leave you floundering and will make your path straight. You might not be able to see it in your second year of study, but it will happen.”

Edited from an article by Heather Dowling

World DIAKONIA Assembly

The World DIAKONIA Executive are meeting in the last week of June, 2012, and will be discussing the program for the World DIAKONIA Assembly, July 1-8, 2013. A great opportunity to meet Deacons and Deaconesses from around the world, and to engage in learning focussed on diaconal ministry.

Rev Luna Dingyan, guest speaker for the Deacons Conference

Rev Luna Dingyan

Rev Luna Dingyan will be the guest speaker on Friday at the Deacons Conference. He is a minister and key leader of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines.  He is the President of the Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Baguio, the Philippines.  ETS is a UCCP college, but is established with an ecumenical mandate and provides training and resources for several Christian denominations in the region.  Opening in 1996 in cramped, rented premises, with a tiny staff and small student body, ETS has doubled its enrolments every year since.  Its resources are still very meagre but through the leadership of Luna and his wife Perla, ETS has pioneered a curriculum and pattern of delivery that responds to the missional priorities of the UCCP among the poor of the Philippines.  It grounds biblical and theological studies in community development, human rights and Christian leadership.  Teaching is mostly done in short term intensive blocks and regional seminars, supported by distance mode learning.  All students are serving as pastors in the diverse settings, and frequently dangerous settings that characterise the UCCP’s ministry.  Luna’s theological research has been in the area of “a Christology of solidarity”.  He is a fine scholar and educator, and an inspirational church leader. (Luna will also be a Bible Study leader at the 13th triennial Assembly of the UCA in July).

Craig Batty to be ordained

Great news that Craig Batty (Queensland) is being ordained on 28th June, and will begin his placement at Indooroopilly Uniting Church as the children's, youth and families minister on 1st July. Congratulations, Craig!

DUCA Conference 2012

Great to see the registrations rolling in for the DUCA conference. The program looks fantastic, and there are participants ranging from new candidates to retired Deacons , and Deacons in very diverse placements. It will be a great time of sharing and learning. It is fantastic that Luna and Perla Dingayen can join us (Ecumenical Theological Seminary, United Church of Christ in the Philippines). Here's a link to the flyer - not too late for last minute registrations!

The Theology of Diakonia for the 21st century

 

“Diakonia is an alternative form of power which consists precisely in serving. If we transfer this insight into the social and political realm, the question is then to what extent structures of power can be permeated by the spirit of service,” said Dr Walter Altmann, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee.

Altmann was delivering a keynote address at a WCC conference on “The Theology of Diakonia for the 21st Century” in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 2 June 2012.  

Diakonia is a Greek term used in the New Testament to describe ministries of service, mission and support. It is the source of the English words “deacon” and “diaconal”.

While underlining the biblical imperative “It shall not be so among you”, Altmann went on to emphasize the importance of new forms and understanding of partnerships in diakonia.

“Smaller churches with little material resources have learned that the diaconal ministry is not a privilege of rich churches, because it is not primarily a matter of investing financial resources, but of persons placing themselves alongside those who need their service of solidarity, compassion and love,” said Altmann.

He called on churches to work together in addressing poverty and hunger, which seem to  be on the rise due to the effects of the present globalized economy. 

Dr Liz Vuadi Vibila, a theologian from the Democratic Republic of Congo, reflected on the beginnings of diaconal ministries in the church and on meeting the needs of those neglected. In her presentation she said, “Diakonia is proposing solutions and methods of solving problems of injustice and discrimination, helping those who are in distress, proposing a right sharing of resources.”

Emphasizing the need for diakonia within the churches, Vibila shed light on the reality that rampant violence against women is significant for the churches. She said that churches often do not talk about rape and abuse of women. She insisted that the churches cannot make any claims about diakonia while tolerating abuse and injustice within.

The conference brought together over fifty participants from around the world to reflect theologically on diakonia from the vantage points of marginalized people and the geo-political South. The discussions also included perspectives from local congregations stressing the conviction that diakonia is an inevitable ecclesial expression which cannot be outsourced, nor done only in the context of some limited forms and orientations.   

Source: http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1634/diakonia-is-transformativ.html

Goodwill visit to Korea

Rev Adam Tretheway and Rev Christa Megaw (International Mission Officers, SA Synod) are currently on a goodwill trip to visit partner churches in Korea. Here's a photo of them near the border with North Korea. The UCA supports projects in North and South Korea.

Rev Cogs Smith - community ministry

Rev Cogs Smith is 0.5 at Blackwood UC and involved in the community outreach program. It was featured in the local paper. Sounds like a great way to spend time each week. Here's the link.

Win Hilliard - obituary written by Rev Bill Edwards

Bill has written an obituary for Win Hilliard, published in The Advertiser 7th April, 2012. The original text can be found here.

Bob Mitchell: Mapping a theology of change for Christian development organizations

Rev Bob Mitchell is a UCA Deacon. He has a strong interest in international development work, arising out of projects in East Timor. Bob joined World Vision Australia in 2009. He has been a lawyer for more than 20 years, and was a Tax Partner at Price Waterhouse Coopers for 14 years. He presently serves on the Executive of World Vision Australia.

Having a long-term interest in the not-for-profit sector, Bob has served as a board member of several not-for-profit organisations including BlueCare, the Timor Children's Foundation, and The PwC Foundation. He is a member of the Federal Attorney-General's International Pro Bono Advisory Group, and is a Director of Western health.

Bob has been studying theology for many years, and is an ordained minister. He is presently undertaking doctoral studies examining the role and integration of faith in the work of development organisations. An excellent paper, Mapping a theology of change for Christian development organizations, is available online (scroll down the web page - Bob's paper is the last one on the list.

http://www.worldvision.com.au/AboutUs/OurChristianIdentity.aspx

Heather's on the move

Great to hear Heather den Houting's news. She is concluding her placement at Kenmore Uniting Church and commencing as Director of Mission in Blue Care on 16th April. Easter Sunday will be Heather's last service at Kenmore UC.For over 55 years, Blue Care has been providing care and support for the elderly, people with a disability and others in their time of need.

Michael gets married.....

Rev Michael Bastin was married on February 4th, on a hot summer's day at Dawsons Cove, 'Newlands Arm. He and Gill arrived by boat - not the one in the picture nor one that is 105 years old as the paper suggests (it was built in 1947), but let’s not let the facts get in the way of a good story. We wish you both every happiness!

Rev Lesley deGrussa-Macauley - new placement in Albany

Rev Lesley deGrussa-Macauley was inducted into a new placement at Albany Wesley Uniting Church on 21st January 2012. It is one of the oldest churches in Albany. We wish her well in her new placement.

Rev Karyl Davison - new placement in WA

Rev Karyl Davison was inducted into a new placement in January 2012 with the Wellington Regional Mission - with responsibility for Collie,Waterloo and Harvey congregations and the Eaton/Millbridge Project - being church in the community for a new housing development. A change of scenery for Karyl and Peter after moving from Queensland to Bunbury. Blessings as you begin your new placement, Karyl.

SA Deacons January 2012 gathering

A group of SA Deacons gathered for an informal lunch on 22nd January, to catch up on news and plan for 2012. This includes the Deacon intensive in the last week of June 2012 in Sydney, and the Deacon Continuing Ed conference in the first week of July also in Sydney. Both events organized by the NSW Deacons. As the Triennial Assembly meeting is in Adelaide in July, there will be an opportunity for SA Deacons to offer hospitality to Deacons who will be present at the Assembly meeting.

Alison McRae, Frontier Services High Country Patrol Minister

The November 2011 edition of Frontier News features an article on Alison McRae, High Country Patrol Minister in the Victorian Alpine communities. This link will open to the news - click on November ('Returning to Country') and scroll through to P 18 - 20. This article on the Vic/Tas blogsite outlines the High Country Patrol Ministry when it was introduced in 2008.

Aimee's ordination

On Saturday January 14th at 2pm, Aimee Kent will be ordained as a Deacon in the UCA. The service will be held in the Christian College’s new Auditorium in Wagga Wagga and will be followed by afternoon tea.

Aimee will be inducted into her placement in Goulburn on the 22nd Jan at 4pm at Victoria Park. She will be doing community development for the Uniting Church, including the formation of a new faith community/congregation.

Please pray for Aimee in this time of transition.