New Act2 Report is ready to launch 

written by Bethany Broadstock, Act2 Communications Officer

The Act2 Project team is excited to announce the release of the latest Act2 report, Act2: In Response to God’s Call.

This is the third report of the Act2 Project, and the first since the creation of the Act2 Steering Committee and Project Unit late in 2022.

Jesuit theologian Walter Burghardt once described contemplation as taking a “long, loving look at the real.” This is a good way of describing the Act2 Project itself as well as its newest report, which seeks, in love and hope, to hold up a mirror to the 'real' of our Uniting Church at this time - drawing from a deep well of insight gathered over six months of engagement.

The report follows one of the most comprehensive and ambitious direct consultation processes the Assembly has ever undertaken, during which the Act2 Project team made contact with close to every local Uniting Church community and personally visited every state and territory to sit down and learn from people across the breadth of our Church.

During this time of deep listening, we estimate that as a team we had personal conversations with over 400 people and had input about Act2 in a range of ways from over 1500 people in synods, presbyteries, congregations and agencies.

Act2: In Response to God’s Call emerges from these last six months of engagement and brings together:

• A summary of what we did during the Exploration phase
• A summary of what we heard through our engagement
• Theological reflections
• Four future directions for our local communities of faith
• Four future options for our governance and resourcing

The report is now available to read in full on the Act2 website. Sections of the report can also be downloaded separately, along with an Executive Summary in plain language and visual illustrations of the four directions and four options. There is also a simple webform you can use to submit questions of the report.

The report will be formally launched via Facebook Live on Thursday 13 July.

You’re invited to join Uniting Church President Rev Sharon Hollis and Act2 Project Lead Andrew Johnson as they introduce the report, take your questions in real time and outline the opportunities to engage and discern during the next phase of the Project. Between now and the end of November 2023, our focus will be on discerning together about the directions and options put forward in the report as we begin to talk concretely about the future.

Tune in on Facebook Live at 1:00pm AEST on Thursday 13 July (12:30pm ACST and 11:00am AWST).

Click 'Going' or 'Interested' on the Facebook event here to get updates and easy access to the livestream.

Recognising not everyone has access to Facebook, the video recording of the live launch will be made available immediately following the event. If you have a question you'd like answered, submit this in advance using the webform on this page.