Jim Mein, moderator of the NSW Synod, Uniting Church, was interviewed on The World Today, on national ABC radio yesterday. Roy Edmund interviewed Jim on the proposal to sell traditional buildings and invest in new congregations. The interview concluded with a few comments from Tim Costello, relating to the way in which Hillsong is able to operate in a non-traditional approach.

JIM MEIN: I think it’s a crisis for the community. Certainly, we’re seeing that spirituality is probably at its highest ever. But Christianity is not necessarily seen as a spiritual option. So we need to look at ways to remove the image that has the church in stained glass buildings to being a church that’s people moving around and through the community.

EDMOND ROY: But isn’t that what the church actually sold: a unique proposition, as it were, that you actually go to church on a particular day at a particular time?

JIM MEIN: Yes, that’s correct for worship, but our concern is that many of our church buildings are only used on Sundays for worship. And that we’re trying to encourage our people to actually see churches as seven days and nights witness, and that that witness means moving around in the community sharing their faith.

EDMOND ROY: Which means, what, going into pubs, theatres, that kind of thing?

JIM MEIN: That sort of thing where people are.