#uniting church

[psithurism-elisheba]

Am I technically a UCA christian? Yes.

Am I going to buy anglican prayer beads? Also yes 

[questioningchristianqueer]

UCA will continue with SSM

In case the memo was missed. There was an attempt to stop SSM within the church. But it had to be invoked within 6months and not enough presbyteries successfully voted to put a pause on it.

I’m so proud of my church. Thanks for wrestling with difficult decisions and not changing their mind even when faced with opposition.

[eranasoulin]

Uniting Church, Glebe

[internetbt]

[to-learn-of-living]

What would make you change your mind on Same Sex Marriage?

A Reflection on Acts 10

source: Google Images

The last couple of weeks have been a time of turmoil for the Uniting Church in Australia. The National governing body came to a decision to make 2 different statements on marriage, both allowing same sex marriage for congregations and clergy who accept it, and keeping the original definition for congregations and clergy who don’t. 

While many were thrilled with the outcome, I’m sorry to say the repercussions came quickly. Many congregations, especially from conservative areas like mine, rejected the decision. For the most part they claim that this is a departure from God, and that the assembly is leading the church down a secular path. 

But this isn’t the first time situations like this have happened in the church.

In Acts 10 we see a similar story. 

When reading the New Testament, it’s easy to get the feeling that everything was happening quickly, but biblical scholars actually think this story took place  almost 10 years after Christ’s ascension.

We see the apostle Peter in meditative prayer, when he falls into a trance and sees a cloth lowered from heaven with all sorts of unclean animals on it. God tells him to kill and eat. Peter responds in his typical way by telling God he can’t possibly eat, because he knows God’s will, and it’s not to eat unclean food. 

In other words, Peter tells God he knows God’s will better than God does. In fact he tells God this three times in a row!

2000 years later in a very different culture, it’s very easy for us to miss the nuance of what is going. Many of us read this story and think ‘I would have followed God’s word immediately!’ But I’m not sure if that’s true...

The idea of ritual cleanness was absolutely central to the Jewish religion. Up until this point most people didn’t think of Christianity as a new religion, but rather an extension, or sect, of Judaism. The apostles required new converts to follow the Torah and the prophets. 

The Jews were set apart as God’s chosen people because they kept themselves ritually clean. They abstained from eating certain foods. They abstained from wearing certain fabrics. There was laws on hair length and tattoos. They had to remove themselves from the community for touching a dead or unclean body. They had laws about almost every aspect of their lives. To become unclean was to become like the surrounding nations - the epitome of a sinful life. To eat ‘unclean’ food wasn’t just to disobey God. It was completely abhorrent and incompatible with the Jewish religion. 

At least it was in the minds of the Jewish people.

But without changing this rule, the gospel of Christ would most likely still just be a small sect of Judaism. 

By changing this fundamental aspect of Judaism, God was able to explode Christianity over the entire known world. 

God had to teach Peter that his fundamental idea of holiness and God’s will was wrong. Without this the gospel would never have spread. 

Do you see where i’m heading with this?

I used to think that I would show Peter up by immediately following God’s instruction in this story. But the sad fact is I’m far worse than the apostle. 

I spent 5 years denying what God was telling me. 

Virtually every major Christian influence in my life had always taught me that same sex marriage and Christianity were completely and utterly unreconcilable - just like eating unclean meat was too the Jews.

 So like Peter, I told God I knew His will better than He did.

God showed me time and time and time again that He was behind the push to allow same sex marriage in the church, yet each time I asked Him for more and more proof. I spent 5 years studying theology, psychology, history, and listening to the tragic stories of the abuse of LGBT Christians at the hands of the church. 

One of the main reasons I finally believed what God was telling me was through watching what He was doing on a global scale. 

Over the last few decades, God has been working on many individuals, just like Peter, who He’s then used to change policy in almost every denomination around the world. 

The Uniting Church is just the first major denomination in Australia to officiate same sex marriage. But there are dozens of others around the world who already have this right including the Lutheran’s in Canada, the Presbyterian’s in the USA, and some Anglican synods in the UK. 

In virtually every other denomination this conversation is happening. With every National Assembly each denomination comes closer to allowing same sex marriage. Every time this happens, Christians around the world pray that ‘God’s will be done’. 

Last year in the national plebiscite on same sex marriage, Christians prayed that ‘God’s will be done’. 

These last few months Christians in the Uniting Church prayed that ‘God’s will be done’. 

So the question you should be asking yourself is not whether or not God allows same sex marriage. A better question is: 

‘Does God answer prayer?’

Either God is suddenly incapable of answering prayers, and the devil is taking control of the church on a global scale...

...or as many Christians now believe, God is showing us His will by answering our prayers in His own way.

Even after Peter made the outrageous claim that Jews should eat unclean food and allow gentiles as full members into their community, many Christians opposed this idea. Much of the New Testament is spent on this subject. What food should now be legal? What about circumcision? What purpose did the law now play?

Peter and Paul even argued over this. But history tells us that Peter made the right call all those years ago. Those who were fighting this change ended up fighting against God!

So my question to you, no matter which side of the debate you fall on, is this:

What would God need to do to change your mind on this?

For me, He’d need to explain why He’s told me for 7 years that this is His will. 

But what about you?

For many, the true answer is nothing. Nothing will ever convince them they are wrong. If this is you you’re being more honest than most. And that’s part of the problem. 

Because after praying for God’s will to be done in the Uniting Church, God allowed a place for both sides of the debate to practice their faith as they understand it.

That’s important - because although God has His master plan at work, dividing into factions is never His will. The very heart of the gospel is a ministry of reconciliation. If we refuse to listen and provide space for each other, if we refuse to reconcile as Christians, how can we possibly be a light to the world?

So what do you need God to do to prove you’re wrong on this?

I pray God will provide this for you, and me, if that is His will. 

[business-advantage-png]

Impact of 2015 Papua New Guinea drought may be worse than 1997, reports agricultural scientist

Impact of 2015 Papua New Guinea drought may be worse than 1997, reports agricultural scientist #PNG

Now in its fifth month, Papua New Guinea’s drought is having its biggest impact in high altitude locations and on the fringe of the Central Highlands, according to agricultural scientist, Dr Mike Bourke. He told Business Advantage PNG that this year’s drought is at least as bad as the 1997 drought, which affected nearly a million people in rural PNG.

Crop failure from drought. Credit: Sam…

[psithurism-elisheba]

I love the Uniting church because we have always just moved with the times (In my experience) You want women in ministry? Here you go, several women pastors, you want same sex marriage? Okay you can do that! In fact you can marry your same sex partner in the church! You want services in like 5 different languages to keep up with how multicultural this country is? No problem.

There is a reason we are the 3rd largest denomination in Australia 

[questioningchristianqueer]

Uniting Church marriage liturgy for Same-Gender Couples is now available and weddings can take place from Friday 21st September 2018.

It’s been a long time coming and the whole process has been full of hurt and hate. But I hope to be able to move forward and celebrate people wholy for who they are and the deep relationships they are in.

[whitmerule]

“His own church was saying to him that, as a homosexual, you can’t go to heaven,” Frank Schaefer said. “That’s not necessarily what the church would officially say, but that’s what he heard, and it devastated him because faith had always been very important to him. I remember how I said to him: ‘It’s so obvious you did not choose this for yourself. This is who you are, and this is who God created you to be. You are created in the image of God, just like everybody else.’ ”

[aprogressivefaithtolife-blog]

UCgAy- Uniting Christian GLBTQ Australian Youth Website

The Site has been around for a couple of years.

This project grew out of a concern for young people coming out in the Christian context in Australia. We decided the best way we could help support these people was to ask some of the questions many of us had asked in our own experiences of holding faith and sexuality together. We have also tried to explore some of the questions others have asked us over the past few years.

We’re a mixed group of people from the Uniting Church in Australia, Queer and straight, younger and older, who have worked together to provide this site. It is a bit of a work in progress, so it may change and grow over time.

This website is a project of the NSW/ACT Synod Youth Unit, of the Uniting Church in Australia.

http://ucgay.org.au/

[sophisti-cunted]

Via https://www.facebook.com/welcometoaustralia

[aprogressivefaithtolife-blog]

Uniting Church Federal Election views 2013

Good resource and great points it brings up I just  wished it would of included   GLBT rights in the article (as there are a small number of GLBT in the chuch)  ,even if its just some small points.

This resource has four different elements.

The Booklet is the core part of the resource. It includes a message from the President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Rev. Prof. Andrew Dutney, a reflection on the theme, more about the purpose of the resource and some ideas and resources for active citizenship.

The issues sections in the booklet are drawn from longer and more detailed Issues Papers which cover the policy areas in more detail.

A series of Hot Issues Briefs are available which cover more specific issues, including some of the most talked about issues and others which are of particular concern to the Uniting Church.

The Election Toolkit includes a section on how to organise an election forum, ideas for active citizenship and prayers for use in worship in the weeks leading up to the election.

A Just Society: your faith, your voice, your vote has been produced for the Uniting Church Assembly by UnitingJustice Australia and includes materials prepared by various Assembly and synod agencies and Uniting Church members. We would like to thank everyone who has contributed

http://www.unitingjustice.org.au/election2013