Final Synod Speech for Queensland

I started by explaining that last time I spoke at Synod I had with me a street sign for the Uniting Church, and I asked if anyone could tell me what happened to it? David Ellis from Lifeworks Toowoomba told me it had gone home with him in anticipation of a new congregation in the outskirts of Toowoomba. I asked if anyone could tell me what happened to the other one that came to Synod this week? As it turned out it was found on the driveway of the camp site.

I explained that I was taking up the position of Presbytery Minister with Canberra Region Presbytery in 2011, and that with my escape route organised I finally had a chance to “tell you all where to go and how to get there”. Humour, perhaps, but maybe some bite. Here’s what I said next…

In 2005 we took the bold step of recognising our need to explore, encourage and resource new initiatives in mission. The project has been a way to shape our culture, moving us beyond our focus on consolidation, and help us learn again to foster new adventures in mission and ministry. It’s about seeing beyond ourselves. It’s about hope.

We began with a Vision for Mission team who were given the responsibility of engaging with new projects. I want to thank and honour the members of the team, as well as those who took the risk and set out in our VFM projects. Your courage inspires us.

It became clear that the vision for mission needs to be fostered at every level of the church, in the everyday lives of our members, in our congregations, in our Presbyteries and agencies, and in the way our Synod staff resource the church.

We began with $2 million in funding potential. That figure indicated that the Uniting Church was serious about new initiatives. I have at times been worried that centralised funding has the potential to distort our approach to mission, feeding our years-long preoccupation with staffing, programs and buildings.

What encourages me is that we have had a wide range of people prepared to invest their time, resources and energy for the sake of God’s work in the world.

We still have the challenge of fostering new projects as learning communities for the Synod, as well as building a courageous and supportive environment for mission throughout the church.

The dandelion you see on the banner over here and on the screen indicates that we’re called to be a sending church – encouraging new growth in places where it hasn’t been before.

We have learnt about the importance of Christ-inspired generosity and compassion as the foundation of our work, rather than obligation and guilt.

We have learnt about the importance of vision and ministry shared and lived by our members, rather than delegation of mission to committees and employees.

We have learnt about the need for encouraging imagination and creativity, alongside careful planning for people working with people.

Ann Morisy, from the UK, talks about the danger of focusing on “doing mission” for the sake of mission. She suggests we need to approach mission obliquely, from the side, through the lenses of everyday compassionate living in the kingdom of God. With that in mind we’ve discovered something about the need for equipping our members in that living.

Plan Be

Dave Andrews’ work on living out the beatitudes of Jesus touched a nerve with young adults in Greenbelt in the UK. The series turned into a book with a pink cover and started to sell like hot cakes. Here was a way to rediscover the practical teaching of Jesus. As the Uniting Church we partnered with the Bible Society Queensland and other denominations to develop action/reflection resources, video and journals, launched here in Queensland but spread throughout Australia and beyond. The DVD, which we helped develop, features interviews with people on the streets of the Brisbane, unpacking the teaching of Jesus. Let’s see the promo.

Faith Stories

National Church Life Survey results indicate that we in the Uniting Church don’t feel confident about sharing our faith. Part of that’s a reaction to insensitive and narrow expressions of evangelism. But I think we’re often lacking inspiration and encouragement for healthy models of faith sharing. That’s why we developed Faith Stories, an 8 part DVD with stories and studies prepared by Graham Beattie and myself, with narrator Peter Armstrong. We launched the DVD in June last year, making it a long term resource in the care of the Pilgrim Learning Community. Not a lot of people have used Faith Stories yet. I encourage people to use the discussion/training resources in small groups, workshops and during worship services.

Mission Stories

Synod members would have seen the two videos shown in the South Moreton and Central Queensland presbytery reports, from Ashmore and Emerald. They’re two of many videos on the Mission Stories DVD resource, coming out in the next month, available through the Pilgrim Learning Community. Mission Stories a six part series designed to help church leaders develop a shared language and understanding of God’s mission in the world. I’m hoping that congregations will use the material to ground their sense of community in the gospel of Jesus Chris. There’s a strong focus on growing disciples in everyday life. We encourage people using the DVD to build partnerships between congregations, agencies, community organisations and the exiles who find themselves on the edge of the church.

The video and discussion resources will help you discover the people groups with whom God is calling you to journey, be they in your community and beyond. And you’ll be encouraged to hold together the fullness of God’s mission, with respect for each other and openness to learning from the Holy Spirit.

I’ve been working as a mission consultant and advocate for eight and a half years. And I’ve found that the telling of stories of mission has been the most powerful means of transformation – through visiting speakers and written material, yes, but even more so, through visual presentation.

From Here On

We’ve got Faith Stories, and we’ve got Mission Stories. I’m planning to move on to Gospel Stories – looking at how communities embody the gospel of Jesus, Generation Stories, looking at how we foster members of each generation to discover and live out their God-given calling. We could have Green Stories, Cross Cultural stories. Sadly, I’ve run out of time to complete these resources here in Queensland. As much as I can I will continue the work when I move to the role of Presbytery Minister (mission and education) at Canberra Regional Presbytery next year.

Between now and when I finish on July 31, I’ll be completing my work with Gary Adsett and Presbytery ministers to develop a transferable process for appreciative inquiry for local mission, using the Mission Stories DVD to help people with discovering, dreaming, designing and delivering their missional calling as the people of the gospel.

Needless to say, leaving this role is painful, but I find strength in the observation that my role of advocate is being picked up by people all over the place. We’re getting closer to seeing every member as a mission agent. We’re seeing signs of a vision for mission being held by every congregation and agency.

Vision for Mission Advocates

As we prepare for the next phase of the Together on the Way process, I encourage you to share with me as advocates for fresh expressions of mission. At every level of our life together.

Jesus gives us the Advocate – the Holy Spirit – the Paraclete. Being people of the Spirit then suggests that we might also be advocates.

  • Listening – affirming the testimonies and aspirations of people at the grassroots.
  • Encouraging – standing with others to build courageous action
  • Coaching – asking powerful questions that build wisdom, insight and courage to make a difference.
  • Connecting people with those will share their passion and resources that might help them.
  • Getting in the way of controllers – protecting new initiatives from being squashed by anxiety and perfectionism.
  • Telling the story – using every means you have at your disposal to celebrate new beginnings, struggles and breakthroughs
  • Praying – joining with the Spirit in seeking the kingdom of God.

I finished with the challenge to live out the generous hospitality of God, that comes out of our understanding of the grace of God. “Let’s continue to be the generous, compassionate, faithful, humble, truthful and just people of the Gospel.”

I finished with a video from South Australia Synod’s Uniting People campaign.

Click on the image below to play the Ampersand video in YouTube (HD)

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