Gathering in faith, building community: pre-Assembly sessions begin

Rev Kath Behan, Assembly National Consultant

Last week, the Assembly Resourcing Unit hosted the first of three online community building sessions for the members of the 17th Assembly. The theme of the first session was ‘Gathering at the Table’, with the aim of facilitating an opportunity for Assembly members to meet and see one another virtually as part of supporting their preparation for the upcoming 17th Assembly.

In the Uniting Church’s Manual for Meetings, we place a significant emphasis upon community building and worship as the foundation for good and wise decision making. This is the particular gift and uniqueness of the Uniting Church’s ethos. We dare to believe that when we share the life that each of us has in Christ, regardless of our experiences of life and faith, our ethnicity and cultural backgrounds, our gender and expression of sexuality, our beliefs, our age, our abilities and disabilities, then we are able to see beyond our limited view of the world. And then we are freed to see with the imagination of God’s heart.

The processes we use to create community and communicate in our meetings can themselves assist in the discernment process. This will be enhanced if people come expecting to be open both to the Spirit and to each other. By creating and sustaining effective communications in the context of a Christian community, we will be more likely to discern the guidance of the Spirit and reflect this in our decision-making.

Of course we are not so naïve as to think that one hour online will miraculously open us to each other and we will only have loving and generous deliberations together in July!

And yet we also naively, or perhaps faithfully, say ‘why not?’ Our God is a God of mystery and wonder and transformation and we are told time and again throughout all of scripture that what seems to be almost lost, stuck in thick mud, dry like old bones, parched without water, God can turn into something beautiful and alive and beyond our comprehension in moments.

So we gather in faith and we build community within the limitations of virtual engagement and we tentatively open ourselves to each other a little of our stories of hope and frustration, of joy and disappointment, of anticipation and trepidation. And somehow God is present and at work in our midst!

This is what the members of the 17th Assembly consciously opened themselves to last Tuesday evening as we ‘gathered at the table’ and heard personal stories of what each person brings to this particular table of the 17th Assembly.

We were reminded by Proud palawa woman, Alison Overeem, from South East Lutruwita in the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, about this gathering being like a ‘tirrina’ (basket) woven together by the Creator God from the many threads of those who are joining as one. And the invitation to seek the ancient wisdom of the Creator God who weaves us together.

We were reminded by Rev Reuben Edmonds from the Synod of Western Australia, that each of us are many things that we acknowledge we can’t put aside as we come together. But what we can try not to bring are the opinions of others, or a pre-planned decision, about how I should vote in the meeting.

We were reminded by Emily Evans from the Northern Synod, of the hospitality that is part of what it means to be a Uniting Church. And that coming to this Assembly meeting is like welcoming old and new friends around the table for dinner, to experience our shared identity as friends in Christ.

We were reminded by ex-President Dr Deidre Palmer, that membership in a council of the Uniting Church is not the same as representation in other community groups or organisations - because we believe each of us are called to this work, bringing our individual stories and experiences with us as followers of Christ, but with the aim of becoming one group in Christ together in this time and place on behalf of the church. It is our shared discernment we believe the Holy Spirit will guide and direct during the meeting, that will allow us to hear God speaking and moving amongst us.

What a gift to gather together in community in this way, in anticipation of what God is already doing to prepare the 17th Assembly members who have been appointed to this important council in the life of the church!

I think one of the ways I see the church at its best is when we seek God in communal prayer and the Spirit speaks to us as a community. Whether it's pausing during a meeting when there is conflict, or crying to God in desperation when we can't find the answers to difficult practical problems, I think the act of addressing God directly and with patience and waiting expectantly for a response is powerful. I love it when we seek God's face and heart and voice and direction, and get it. We feel empowered and bold and purposeful and great things happen. If only we did it more!

(Reflection from a member of the 17th Assembly)