To The Editor,

Dear Editor,

THE SPIRIT IN THE SHAKING

Never has the Uniting Church been so shaken. Many are reacting negatively to the decisions of the 10th Assembly on 'Ministry and Membership in the Uniting Church'. Week by week, as urgent meetings are held across the Synods attempting to find the way ahead, our church is in decline numerically and in terms of missional impact. Much energy is being expended on trying to hold the disparate elements of the denomination together.

In my view, the time has come to consider the possibility that the UCA has run its course, and should now be allowed to reform into various congregational and regional entities comprising new forms of the church. Perhaps none of these emerging faith communities should retain the name 'UCA', for any group which holds to the name would in fact be markedly different to the existing denomination.

Once a denomination is formed, it seems that there are extremely powerful forces that insist the, while the Spirit inspires the creation of the new, it is less likely that the Spirit inspires the shedding of what is no longer necessary. If it were possible in the years leading up to 1977 for old forms to be replaced by the new, why not now?

There appears no way of maintaining the unity of the UCA post-10th Assembly. Many members are saying that they reject what they see as a fundamental change in regard to the possibility of same-sex couples being accepted as candidates and being ordained in the UCA. If, as we are be assured, the 10th Assembly was simply clarifying a position previously adopted, many are even more alarmed that such a policy had been adopted earlier, without many in the church realizing it.

A church which endeavours to be a church of grace is tested at the point of the determination of distinctives: while there is an urge towards toleration, there is also the necessity to discern boundaries. For example, ministers in the UCA are not permitted the luxury of thinking and acting in ways contrary to the UCA stance on baptism and on acceptance of women in leadership in the UCA. Every form of the church, every denomination and congregation/small group, needs a code of such distinctives to exist. The only alternative is chaos, where nothing can be asserted as having meaning or value so as to distinguish the nature and mission of the church. Centrifugal forces appear to have now been unleashed, and new church/es are already forming.

The UCA has been an exciting venture: perhaps it is time to recognize that it has peaked in its present form, and needs to be laid aside with thanksgiving in favour of a new future. A truly diverse church should surely be able to allow diversity to flower in new forms and structures!

I dream of the emergence of distinctive forms of 'church' free of the constraints of trying to maintain the appearance of unity in diversity, freshly energized by the Spirit, evolving in exciting and entirely valid ways appropriate to the 21st century.

Such a journey involves great risk: on the other hand, not to embark on this journey may be more hazardous. I think I would be joined by others in believing that a post-UCA presence in our land offers fresh hope and rich contexts for Spirit-adventure.

Ross Kingham

Manuka, ACT