12th Assembly of the Uniting Church of Australia

On the final day of the 12th Assembly meeting in Sydney members of the Assembly agreed to adopt the statement “Jews and Judaism: A Statement by the Uniting Church in Australia” as the Uniting Church’s official position on Christian Jewish relations.

Members of the 12th Assembly of the Uniting Church on July 21 agreed to continue for the next triennium the key directions originally adopted by the 11th Assembly.

The Uniting Church’s Code of Ethics has been updated to deal with emerging issues in the church and to clarify and amplify areas in the code which had been of concern.

Two members of the Uniting Church’s 12th Assembly on July 21 moved that the Assembly resolve:

(a) to amend the minutes of the 11th Assembly to include the decision to record the names of members who dissented from Minute 06.41; and

(b) to include the list of names of those who registered dissent as an appendix to the Minutes of the 11th Assembly.

The 12th Assembly has created a new class of Uniting Church property called “available for alternative missional use”.

A decision made by the Uniting Church’s national Assembly on July 20 will simplify and strengthen the transition of Uniting Church ministry candidates into ordained ministry.

The introduction of the Ministry of Pastor was a key decision of the 11th Assembly in Brisbane. After three years and a lot of work, particularly by members of the Ministerial Education Commission (MEC), the new way of understanding lay ministry is being implemented across all the synods of the Uniting Church. Decisions made during the final full day of the 12th Assembly will support that process.

The Assembly of the Uniting Church, meeting in Sydney, made several amendments to its Constitution on July 20 to reflect the content of the new preamble adopted earlier in the day.

The 12th Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia has considered key directions for the future and found only partial agreement so far.

The national peak decision-making body, meeting in Sydney July 15-21, considered key future directions in five areas.

The 12th Assembly has agreed to spend the next three years in conversation about “what kind of church we need to be in the Australian context”.