Pilgrims and Presbytery meetings

By Rev Nigel Rogers

Posted in Leadership

In 1964 Bob Dylan released the album The Times They Are a-Changin’. The title track of the album pointed to a society that was transitioning. The song has an enduring appeal, something every generation can recognise, because change is always with us.

Generally speaking, we love change that makes life better – for example, the “twister fork” or the “cup holder umbrella”. And we hate change that disrupts the way we have always done things – for example, when the TV remote has been misplaced and a different, apparently more inconvenient, way of changing the channel must be found.

In the Uniting Church, the times are always “a-changin’”.

We are a church that refers to itself, in paragraph three of the Basis of Union, as a “pilgrim people, always on the way towards a promised goal”. This reflects a church that, at its core, is a missional movement.

It is not in our DNA as a church to be a static or stationary people. The static church loves change that makes life better for the people in the church. The stationary people of God hate change that upsets the way that things have always been done. Unfortunately, the static and stationary people of God often assume positions of authority, changing the church from being a pilgrim people to being a possessive people.

The Basis of Union is clear that in our DNA “the Uniting Church acknowledges that the Church is able to live and endure through the changes of history only because its Lord comes, addresses, and deals with people in and through the news of his completed work” (paragraph four, Basis of Union). A missional movement follows the lead of Jesus who said “I will build my church and the powers of hell will not conquer it” (Matthew 16:18).

A missional movement requires adaptability. The church must be able to change its shape to ensure the substance of Christ’s completed work can infuse and transform the wider community.

The gatherings of the Presbytery and Synod provide the church with an opportunity to be immersed in the present and future shape of our life as a missional movement. It is also a time to celebrate what God has been doing in and through the church as a pilgrim people.

At the November meeting (3-5 November), and in the years to come, we will have a stronger focus on the generational transition of people under the age of 35 into the life of the Presbytery and Synod gathering. To this end, the next meeting will include an evening session where the music and input will be driven by Generation Y members. Held from 7-9pm on Friday 4 November, this session will provide the whole pilgrim people with an opportunity to journey with the music and insights of this younger generation.

The meeting will also provide an opportunity for members to engage with a wide variety of electives that seek to equip the missional movement of God’s church. The electives will be aimed at informing and resourcing the church in the areas of evangelism and discipleship, church planting, leadership, and mental health. The electives will be run on Thursday night from 7-9pm (with the exception of the mental health elective) and on Friday from 11am-1pm (with the exception of the leadership elective).

The electives and the Gen Y evening will be open to the whole church – not just members of the Presbytery and Synod.

I look forward to all that the unchangeable God has in store for the church during these changing times.

This article was originally published in the October/November print edition of New Times but has been edited to include corrections and updated information.


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