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After some impressive work and some significant decisions on a range of sexuality matters, the Eighth Assembly concluded its work on the report Uniting Sexuality and Faith with this resolution:
recognizing with sadness its inability at this time to reach further agreement in regard to outstanding matters arising from the report Uniting Sexuality and Faith and recognizing also the commitment of the Church to be both multicultural and inclusive, to:
Rather than listing all the leftover proposals from the Assembly meeting in Perth, we identified four major issues which epitomise areas needing more work by the Church:
50 or so people of all points of view and from all parts of Australia were invited to comment on whether these are the main issues of concern, and to offer us advice on how the Church might most helpfully continue to explore what God is saying to us through the diversity which clearly exists amongst equally fervent, Bible-believing, committed-to-Jesus members of our Church.
We also sought out some congregations where divisive issues have had to be faced in recent years - not necessarily issues to do with sexuality, but where the congregation could have been split (in some cases, was split) as a result. We asked those congregations to share what they have learnt through that experience, what skills they have discovered that might help the rest of us in the Church deal with divisive issues.
One of us was able to sit with the UAICC Elders from around Australia straight after the Assembly while they considered their next steps in dealing with remaining sexuality matters. It was humbling to learn of the lengthy, painstaking process of consultation being undertaken with every Aboriginal and Islander congregation, to reach a consensus before a national stance can be taken by the UAICC.
One of us was invited to join a multicultural Task Group in Victoria, continuing the conversations begun in Perth amongst migrant-ethnic members of the Assembly about how best to help members of the Church participate in the discussions where English language and Anglo customs are a barrier to comprehension.
We three have thought, prayed, reflected, read, considered, discussed, drawn on our understanding of the Church, and been resourced by many who graciously have shared their wisdom with us or directed us to material from other places.
54 people or groups were approached inviting advice. 15 of those did not respond.
Over 80 submissions have been received - more than half were unsolicited comments.
This is a crucial matter for the Church, and must be addressed urgently. Part of the problem is the decline in systematic teaching about our life in Christ, as a central ministry in each congregation's life. The work of the Task Group on the Teaching Ministry and Mission of the Church (Ass. Min. 97.66) will be an important resource for addressing this question. There is a plea from the Multicultural Committee of the Synod of Victoria that wider than Western Christianity Biblical perspectives should be considered in addressing this issue in the Church.
We believe it would be inappropriate for the Standing Committee to set up a parallel process to the work already mandated to the Task Group on Understanding and Using the Bible (Ass.Min. 97.31.14), but there are some contributions that were sent to us that could helpfully be channelled into that Adelaide group's work.
Synod journals are still publishing letters with repetitive arguments for/against homosexual people in leadership and the blessing of same-sex relationships, but there has been no breakthrough with any dramatically different way of finding common ground between polarized positions in the Church. Amongst our respondents are those whose passion for a particular perspective (at both ends of the spectrum) leads them to threaten to leave the Church if a definitive policy affirming their own point of view is not declared. In fact, there already has been a small trickle of members leaving the Church since the Assembly, and we are aware of three congregations where a sizeable group has been led by the minister to leave the UCA even in the absence of a declared policy.
There is a number of issues here:
Both Congress and migrant-ethnic leaders are pleading for more time, for less Western rush to reach a conclusion. For whatever reason over the past five years, there has been little informed discussion in non-Anglo parts of the Church on any of the sexuality issues raised by "Uniting Sexuality and Faith." And it would be wrong to assume that there is unanimity of understanding amongst Aboriginal and Islander and migrant-ethnic members of the Church, about the way forward on matters to do with homosexuality.
Beyond the diversity of fixed opinions held by some, it is becoming apparent to us that there is a deep weariness about the topic amongst the majority of UCA members for whom sexuality is not the most pressing concern in the Church's life at this time. There will be some relief, we feel, that the only area for which we are recommending further concentrated study is in the work of the Task Group on Understanding and Using the Bible - which is really part of the continuing education process in which the Church expects all members should be engaged persistently.
The reality is that there IS difference of view in the Church about homosexual relationships, about what the Bible is saying about homosexual practice, and about whether the Church should identify, nurture and use the gifts for ministry of homosexual people as much as of heterosexual people. We need more time to learn about and from each other, to learn how to help heal one another more readily than condemn and judge one another. It is our hope that creative ways of hearing and respecting one another can be encouraged within congregations by the Synods.
Diversity is not something unfamiliar to the Church. It is helpful to remember, for example, that:
Hence we former Presidents are untroubled by the prospect in the shorter term of some Presbyteries placing greater emphasis than others on sexual preference in considering candidates' suitability for ministry, or that some congregations will want to, or will choose not to, explore ways of seeking God's blessing on a variety of personal relationships.
More than one of our advisers felt the fundamental question was broader than we had suggested. The nature of the church, and of Christian unity, is what is at stake here. Reaching consensus about what to do when as a church we are deeply divided in our understanding of the issues, and likely to remain so, is different from reaching a compromise or agreeing on a single view of the issue itself.
The Church has reached the point of diminishing returns in attempts to find agreement on issues to do with homosexuality. That may be frustrating, or painful, or even incomprehensible to some of our members, but what is more sobering is that we might be no better equipped for mission in Australia today if we WERE able to reach unanimity. How we deal with these issues relating to homosexuality NOW will have implications for how the Church deals with other controversial and potentially divisive issues which inevitably will have to be faced in years to come.
So how do we acknowledge and respect our differences about issues, as a starting point for reaching agreement about the variety of ways in which the Church can act in various situations?
We recognize that these issues of understanding the Scriptures and Christian attitudes to homosexuality have been the reason for long-standing, deep differences in the Christian community worldwide over a long period of time. We are not just dealing with superficial misunderstandings, where repetitious hammering may bring about a change of perspective.
If we persevere in a determined search for an agreed position, whatever the proposed process to reach that position might be, and whatever the outcome is, the result inevitably will be:
We believe an acceptance of diverse practice is possible within the one Church where it occurs within a framework of:
What we have in common as church - as members together in the one Body of Christ - is God's grace in Jesus Christ, and our (albeit imperfect) response to that transforming power. What we do NOT have in common, or ever need to have in common, is a full understanding of all the ways of comprehending that grace. We need each other with all our diversity to be the community of faith. So let us affirm that miracle of grace that binds us together in the one family.
We acknowledge that inviting Church members to engage in a further process of studying and responding to reports is not likely to be productive at this point in our history. We therefore are suggesting a different approach in which congregations may choose to participate.
The issue is what to do when we as a church are deeply divided on issues, and likely to remain so. Standing Committee will need to encourage tthe Church not to be afraid of diversity, that it's OK to permit councils of the Church with different views to act differently under different circumstances.
Our hope is that the Standing Committee can encourage the Church to recognize we are on a journey of discovery. We each glimpse part of the truth, and on the way we continue to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we search the Scriptures, respect our differences, learn from each other's insights, and together continue to serve the world for which Christ died.
resolutions arising from consideration of the report of the three former presidents
The Assembly Standing Committee, having received and considered the report of the three past presidents, forwards the report, and the resolutions arising from the advice of the three former presidents, to the church.
The resolutions should always be read in the context of the report and should not be reproduced apart from the report.
The report of the three past presidents and resolutions of the Standing Committee are offered to the church with the prayer that we recognise we are a pilgrim church on a journey. "We each glimpse part of the truth, and on our way we continue to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we search the Scriptures, respect our differences, learn from each other's insights and together continue to serve the world for which Christ died."
It was resolved to: