Uniting Church Triennial Assembly Meeting July 2012 in Adelaide

   I decided I couldn't be away for another extra week this year and so I didn't nominate anywhere to participate in the UCA national Assembly meeting this year in Adelaide!! At the last two my highlights have certainly included:
- connecting with young adult participants
- facilitating a working group
- discussion of issues and perspectives with some of our most gifted leaders [beyond the superficial]

I have been frustrated by:
- Some participants unpreparedness
- Participating in spirited and transformational discussions where the scholarship, time and openness to the issues haven't always been evident 'on the ground' in congregations at large
- my own inadequate grounding in some issues

   I believe really strongly in the empowerment of gifted people to make space for Godly discernment and the way in which 'I guess you had to be there' works. It reminds me that this stuff goes off the rails often due to a lack of trust that people can make these decisions [but that goes right through to local task groups or regional teams so what's new]!!
   I think 'consensus' is an important goal but that our processes often don't fully utilise the power of that goal and we have pseudo voting instead. Other times it's as though we assume an idea is of value and then the conversation spends almost the whole time dwelling on what people think is wrong with it and we end up moving in favour but feeling conflicted that an idea that seemed so good suddenly felt tenuous.
   Every Assembly has contentious and groundbreaking issues [because it's a space for big questions and the future]. My final thought in this post is that given all the above I think we let ourselves down by not doing broad educational processes around the big questions. It's about putting theological and contextual tools in peoples hands so our scholarship, thinking, prayer, discernment and decisionmaking doesn't stop at the doors of power. Just my thoughts!!
   Decisions get made but only news of those moves people forward... not the work to understand or to grapple with opposing views... national media, extreme views and caricatures will take up the gap...

BUT hang on, there's something you and I can do...
- The mailings for participants are downloadable in pdf here
- There will be a dedicated website soon
- check the info about the theme
- pick up worship shaping info from the background, theme and topics
- spend corporate time discerning and informing local views about the global issues
- pray
- reflect
- ask