A Wake Up Call for the Uniting Church in Australia by Rev. Robert Griffith - 24 July 2018

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1 A Wake Up Call for the Uniting Church in Australia by Rev. Robert Griffith - 24 July 2018 Disclaimer: At the time of writing this, I am privileged to be serving in a number of ministry roles within the Uniting Church. I am the Senior Minister at Lismore Regional Mission, Chairperson of the Far North Coast Presbytery and a member of our Synod Standing Committee. I do not presume to speak on behalf of those bodies and I fully expect there will be members within each one who may disagree with some of the things I ve written here. I would encourage them to seek the Lord as I have and speak into this space as they feel led. I have taken a great risk in speaking out. However, when I prayed through my ordination vows again last week, I realised I had no choice. I must be true to my calling. Those who read this must decide for themselves whether these are just the ramblings of another critic, or a much-needed prophetic voice at a crucial time in our Church s pilgrimage. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. ( Revelation 3:2-3 ) I believe the above admonition to the Church at Sardis could have easily been written this week to the Uniting Church in Australia. As I have been wrestling with God in the aftermath of our 15th Assembly, I am convinced more than ever that our Church stands at a crossroad right now. In one direction I see a narrow, challenging road which will lead to our renewal and revival as the transforming agent of God we were meant to be in this nation. To travel this road we must heed the warning above and remember what we have received and heard; hold it fast and change our course. In the other direction I see a much wider road of continual compromise where we go on appeasing the world and its values and deny our unique and prophetic calling in Christ, through Christ and for Christ. Which road will we choose? As I write these words my heart aches as I remember where all this started and ponder how far we have fallen. I beg your indulgence as I reminisce for a moment. In the beginning It was an amazing year. I can remember 1977 like it was yesterday. I was 19 years old, on fire for Jesus and intent on saving the world. I was a lay preacher, heavily involved in the youth work at St. Johns Presbyterian Church in Orange, NSW and convinced that one day I would serve my Lord as a Minister of the Word. My heart was bursting with anticipation as I counted down the days until the miracle of the Uniting Church in Australia would become a reality. While my mates were thinking about cars or motorbikes I was studying my dog-eared copy of The Basis of Union. I had never read anything like it before. All the good stuff was in there for a passionate disciple: the centrality of Christ; a commitment to ensure our message was regulated by the Bible; the priority of discipleship; a governance structure which valued every member and still allowed Christ to rule and renew His Church. Of course the cherry on top was our commitment to further union with other churches. It was a veritable smorgasbord of all my hopes and dreams for the Church which Jesus promised to build. To this day I stand in awe of our pioneers who so powerfully captured the essence of the New Testament Church in just a handful of paragraphs. I remember the tears rolling down my face as the Church which was embodied in The Basis of Union was born that glorious night in Sydney Town Hall. How far we have fallen Fast forward 41 years and there I was in a different Town Hall at our 15th Assembly in Melbourne. Once again the tears flowed as I stood in front of a poster-sized printout of The Basis of Union which was being circulated. This time my tears came from a place of deep anguish as I read each paragraph again and realised just how irrelevant many of those foundational statements (and the Bible from which they came) have become for many of our members and decision-makers. 1

2 When the Uniting Church was born I could recite the first five paragraphs of The Basis of Union from memory as I boldly declared my Church s commitment to the Scriptures regulating our doctrine and the message we preach; my Church s submission to the rule and authority of the living Christ in our midst; my Church s acknowledgment of the priority of discipleship as our primary calling and purpose; my Church s unyielding commitment to work within and seek further unity with the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. But last week I wept as I realised just how far we have fallen and how few of our original foundation stones remain strong. And so it came to pass Friday 13th July 2018 may be remembered by many as a Black Friday in our Church because it was the day when our National Assembly voted to depart from 2,000 years of Christian belief and open the door for same-sex couples to marry under the Rites of the Uniting Church. From the outset, I want to make it very clear that I am not seeking to undermine the authority of Assembly, its leadership or its processes. Nor am I suggesting that this Assembly was any different to others or that appropriate meeting procedures were not followed. I respect the decision of the Assembly. Any concerns I raise after Assembly are directed to the whole Church as we all step back and look at what has just happened and how we got to this point. We all have responsibility for our governance processes and when weaknesses are revealed, they need to be called out and addressed so we can ensure we have the best possible, God-initiated outcomes in the future. Now of course for others in our Church it was not a Black Friday at all. They welcomed this change to our doctrine on marriage and are celebrating the grace and diversity they enjoy in the Uniting Church. Now those two words have been thrown around a lot in recent days and they were almost used as weapons at the 15th Assembly. What do the words grace and diversity mean in the Uniting Church? More importantly, what should they mean in any Church? A space for grace Leading up to this controversial decision on marriage, all members of our Church were strongly encouraged to create a space for grace. To any mature Christian, that simply means that we should act in a Christ-like manner towards each other as we engage in honest, respectful dialogue. However, to a growing number of people in this new age of inclusion, it would appear that extending grace to them means that we cannot say anything which might disagree with them, offend them or be perceived as judgement. If we do, then they are no longer in a safe space. The tricky part is, they are the ones who get to decide what offends them, when they feel judged and when the space is safe. There appears to be no objective or agreed parameters determining what is safe. So, when taken to its logical end, this can create an environment where a facsimile of grace is present and truth may be absent all together. We cannot allow this to happen because grace without truth is not God s grace just as truth without grace is not God s truth. Jesus is our ultimate role-model in this regard. He was the first perfectly balanced human being since Adam and He showed us what a person fully alive under God looks like and acts like. Jesus was full of grace and truth. However, in this new age, grace and truth are often set against each other. It seems they cannot cohabitate in one person or even occupy the same room. Jesus proved otherwise every day of His earthly ministry and continues to do so through His Spirit. The same Jesus who changed the water to wine at a wedding, also stormed through the temple, overturning tables and driving people out. The same Jesus who gave His life for the Pharisees, also rebuked them harshly, calling them a brood of vipers and white-washed tombs. The same Jesus Who refused to condemn a woman caught in adultery, told her to, Go and sin no more. Grace and truth, always in harmony, never set against each other. This is the authentic Jesus, not the mythological Jesus we increasingly see portrayed today. Too often we confuse niceness with Christlikeness. When that happens we are no longer living as authentic disciples of Jesus Christ, the One Who declared that it is truth which sets us free. 2

3 At our 15th Assembly a space for grace was created, and with an emotive and personal issue like marriage on the agenda, that was really important. However, the way that played out was to effectively shut down truth at almost every point. The agenda was structured and unfolded in such a way that it allowed very little opportunity to challenge the foundational thinking and theology behind the proposals we were being asked to support. As the week progressed, this anesthetising space for grace seemed to envelop us, consuming rational thought and reasoned, honest debate in its path. I don t believe this was intentional, but many people felt there were some underlying assumptions in our discussions on marriage which remained largely unchallenged or understood. Diversity without boundaries? That brings me to diversity - another key word I am wrestling with in light of this Assembly and our current reality in the Uniting Church. One very upset UCA member suggested online last week that diversity has now replaced God and has become the new standard by which we measure all theology and practice in the Uniting Church. Whilst that statement is a too harsh, I do believe diversity became the primary reference point in the marriage debate. The fact that this diversity no longer seems regulated by The Basis of Union or the Bible, didn t seem to bother most of those voting at Assembly. In a post-assembly media release we read these words: To honour the diversity of Christian belief among our members, we will hold two equal and distinct statements of belief on marriage. There is a simple truth which seems to have escaped those within the Uniting Church who are driving this diversity agenda: without clear boundaries, diversity can never be aligned with Christian belief and certainly should not be honoured. The fact that we now have two statements of belief on marriage which are mutually exclusive, disqualifies this new position from being Christian. In spite of the many attempts from some Assembly members to expose this serious flaw in our thinking, a clear majority of those members present still supported the adoption of this new hybrid doctrine on marriage. This decision, in my humble opinion, seriously calls into question our integrity if we are still claiming that The Basis of Union and the Bible are foundational documents in the Uniting Church. So as we stand at this important crossroad and reflect on how we got here, a number of questions need to be asked and answered. These questions pertain to the process and outcomes of issues dealt with in the Assembly meeting, but they also impact our whole Church and the way we discern the voice of God. Again, let me stress that I am not critical of the Assembly meeting or those present. My concerns are with the process and the wider governance issues which were highlighted in this Assembly. Here are some of the questions I am wrestling with now and which cut to the heart of our challenges in the Uniting Church. I pray we have the courage to wrestle with these in the days ahead. Question 1: How can less 300 people determine whether an issue is vital to the life of the whole Church without serious consultation with the whole Church? The Basis of Union portrays a Church which does not have a hierarchical, top-down governance structure. We have multiple councils which work together to discern the will of God. The Assembly is the national council of the Church comprising representatives from across the Church. However, for years we ve been told that we do not represent our Presbyteries or Congregations when we make decisions as a Synod or Assembly. This not only stands in contradiction to paragraph 15 of The Basis of Union, it begs the serious question, So who does represent them? The only answer I can discern from this Assembly is nobody their voices were not heard. We have to ask why? Question 2: The Basis of Union places our Congregations in an honoured place. So why are they so often excluded from decisions which have a major impact on them and their ministry? The Basis of Union declares that, The Congregation is the embodiment in one place of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, worshipping, witnessing and serving as a fellowship of the Spirit in Christ. (P.15a) Over many years now this high view of the Congregation has been increasingly ignored or directly undermined as more and more vitally important decisions are made at a state or national level without close engagement with or feedback from our Congregations. 3

4 This is not only wrong and in direct conflict with The Basis of Union, it is also incredibly self-defeating. Surely we should seek the widest possible ownership and support for all our major initiatives to guarantee they bear fruit? Why would we fail to educate and listen to the very people who may determine the success or failure of many of our resolutions? The Basis of Union also declares that, Each council will recognise the limits of its own authority and give heed to other councils of the Church, so that the whole body of believers may be united by mutual submission in the service of the Gospel. (P.15) One council of the Church has just made a decision which has enormous implications for the whole Church and the wider Body of Christ in this nation. It did so without giving heed to other councils. Why did we allow this to happen and how can we trust or accept the outcome of a decision-making process which was flawed? I cannot see how anyone could confidently say the Uniting Church has heard the voice of God regarding the change to our marriage doctrine when the process leading up to that decision was so inadequate. Question 3: Is our faith and obedience still regulated by the Bible? The Basis of Union states, The Uniting Church acknowledges that the Church has received the books of the Old and New Testaments as unique prophetic and apostolic testimony, in which it hears the Word of God and by which its faith and obedience are nourished and regulated. When the Church preaches Jesus Christ, its message is controlled by the Biblical witnesses. The Word of God on whom salvation depends is to be heard and known from Scripture appropriated in the worshipping and witnessing life of the Church. Our Assembly has just created a dual doctrine of marriage which stands completely apart from everything the Bible has to say about marriage and yet the report which was the catalyst for our new doctrine on marriage actually states that an argument for same-sex marriage can be found in Scripture. This is not true. When this and other flaws in the report were not fully discussed in our Assembly meeting prior to this decision being made. Question 4: How can we still claim to be a multicultural Church when we just failed so spectacularly to engage with our culturally diverse members before trashing a fundamental belief they have held for thousands of years? In 1985, during the 4th Assembly of the Uniting Church, we boldly declared, We are a Multicultural Church and then for the next thirty years we poured much time, effort, prayer and resources into building a strong relationship with our brothers and sisters from Korea, Tonga, Samoa, Indonesia, Fiji and many other nations and what a precious melting pot of humanity we have become! Then, with little or no consultation with all our culturally diverse Congregations and leaders, the 15th Assembly changed our entire Church s position on marriage a position many of these cultures have held dear for their entire history. Surely those pushing this agenda would have known the huge impact such a change would have on so many of our brothers and sisters? Our Korean Presbytery made it very clear at Assembly where they stood and how they may be forced to leave. So why did we not slow this whole process down and take the time needed to work through this difficult issue with our whole Church? We did not have to make this decision now. So why did we, and at what cost? Question 5: How can we honour and bless our indigenous brothers and sisters with sovereignty and then shake them to the core in the same meeting by changing our Church s doctrine on marriage without taking whatever time was needed to walk through this issue with them? Also in 1985, the Assembly of the Uniting Church unanimously welcomed and agreed to officially support what Aboriginal and Islander people were seeking the formation of a Congress. Subsequently the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress came into being. We entered into a Covenant with our first peoples which has resulted in a deep and lasting relationship of mutual respect between first and second peoples in the Uniting Church. Last week, our Assembly put a huge strain on that relationship by changing a view on marriage which our first peoples have held for over 60,000 years. Why was there no serious engagement with Congress members before a report or proposal was brought to Assembly? Why was their voice not heard in the actual report? 4

5 Question 6: Can the 15th Assembly really declare that we have discerned the voice of God on this issue of our marriage doctrine? Not only did we not thoroughly engage the whole Church in this vitally important issue before making a decision, there was actually only one time in the entire six day Assembly program when we paused to pray before making a decision. That one time only occurred because a frustrated Assembly member interrupted the flow of the meeting and suggested we needed to pray. What followed was a very brief prayer from the President, which is very different to us all waiting on God in prayer. There were no times of prayer around our tables all week and very little time for prayer in our small group sessions. As the days passed I felt we were just not making room for God to speak. There s nothing more important and more powerful than the people of God together in prayer - asking God to speak to them, there and then. I really missed the opportunity to engage with God in this important meeting. Question 7: Why have we sugar-coated our post-assembly reports? It is important that we maintain our integrity in what we now say to the world, but especially what we say to our own people. The first media release after the decision on marriage gave the impression that the Uniting Church had reached this decision through some challenging discussion and after discerning God s will for our Church. Whilst this is technically correct from a procedural point of view, I question whether this an honest, transparent commentary on what has actually happened? When we say the Uniting Church has made a decision on marriage, a lot of people will assume that Synods, Presbyteries and Congregations were part of that decision. That is simply not the case. In our President s pastoral letter to our Church we read, This long conversation over almost 30 years in our Church has been a difficult one. Our whole Church has not had a 30 year conversation about same-sex marriage! This new reality we find ourselves in now was only made possible eight months ago when the government changed the law. This issue was discussed at the previous Assembly but the vast majority of our members never seriously engaged in this conversation and still haven t because it was rushed through this Assembly without concurrence being sought with the wider Church. Even the Assembly members were only given a detailed report less than ten weeks before the meeting a report which, incidentally, was then not even debated at the Assembly. I m not suggesting we tell the world how badly our Church is hurting over this divisive decision and how we could lose a lot of our people. However, I am saying we should not gloss over the fact that this decision will come at a very high cost if this resolution stands. Others reports from leaders are emerging are are along the same lines. I m not hearing anyone saying, Houston, we have a problem! So let me say it: Uniting Church, we have a huge problem! We need to come to terms with what is actually happening here. Question 8: Where is the Gospel and the Mission of Christ? The greatest sadness I have felt this side of Assembly came when I went back through the Assembly Agenda to find some issue in a week-long meeting which had any direct bearing on the mission of Christ and advancing the Kingdom of God in this nation. The vast majority of our focus was on issues such as Marriage, Voluntary Assisted Dying, Domestic Violence, First Peoples Sovereignty, Climate Change, UCA Membership Criteria and a Peace Treaty in Korea. As important as these issues may be, none of them could be described as the core business of the Church. So why are these issues the national priorities for our Church in 2018? I recall a time in the Uniting Church when all we seemed to talk about was evangelism and new, innovative ways to lead people to Christ so His rule and reign as Lord of all Creation might explode across our communities. That was a very long time ago. In paragraph 3 of The Basis of Union it says, To God in Christ all people are called to respond in faith. To this end God has sent forth the Spirit that people may trust God as their Father, and acknowledge Jesus as Lord. Where in our meetings, priorities and activities are we calling people to respond to God in faith? Where are we declaring Jesus Lordship and calling people to Him? In that same paragraph in The Basis of Union we read that the Uniting Church is,... an instrument through which Christ may work and bear witness to himself. 5

6 The national council of our Church just spent six days and nights together and I found it very difficult to see Christ at work, bearing witness to Himself. We cannot continue this way and still call ourselves the Church or expect to transform our nation. A bumpy road awaits us So how then shall we live in the shadow of the 15th Assembly? How should we respond? Well, first and foremost we need to pastorally care for our people who are struggling and try to encourage them to stay with us as we discern what God might be saying right now. Many have already left, don t even want to talk and have no desire to even challenge this decision. It s too late for them. We need to strongly encourage all the others to stay, to pray and to say how they feel about this decision. We must also take great care to love and support our LGBTIQ brothers and sisters who want to celebrate this new day which has dawned but have to now reconcile in their hearts the fallout across our Church. We must respect their desire to marry the person they love within their Church and not hold them personally accountable for this decision. It was the members of Assembly who voted to change our marriage doctrine, only some of whom were personally impacted by this issue. So if any of our Congregations or Presbyteries take issue with the way this decision was made, then there is a process which can be followed to challenge this. We have until 13th January 2019 for Presbyteries and/or Synods to challenge this decision under section 39 of our Constitution. If half the Synods or half the Presbyteries in half the Synods believe this issue is of vital importance to the Church and so a wider consultation should take place before this is finalised, then the decision will be suspended as the issue is taken back to the Assembly. We therefore need to make sure that this provision in our Constitution is widely known and that those Presbyteries and Synods who believe this should be a decision made by the whole Church, must exercise their right and responsibility under the Constitution and call for concurrence. It s time to take a hard look at how we make decisions in the Uniting Church Moving forward, we must call for a serious review of how we make decisions in the Uniting Church so in future we can ensure that our whole Church gets to determine if an issue is of vital importance to the whole Church. It is inconceivable that such a small group of members can decide that our Church s doctrine on marriage was not important enough to fully engage all Presbyteries and Congregations prior to any proposals coming to Assembly. I believe the fallout across our Church from this decision will reveal just how vitally important marriage is to the whole Church. Why did we have to find that out the hard way when we could have determined that before any proposals were brought? Of course, by far the most important thing we must do now is pray for all our people and not stop praying until God moves in power across our Congregations and Presbyteries. The very fabric of our Church is tearing badly right now because of this decision and only God can help us minimise the damage, heal the wounds and draw us together again as a family. I believe we also need to be talking to our brothers and sisters in other denominations all of whom have been impacted indirectly by this decision. We are part of the one Body of Christ and when we go it alone like we just have, the consequences are felt right across the Church. We need to do all we can to maintain a good relationship with the wider Church in spite of how they may feel about what has happened in the Uniting Church. This has placed great strain on some Ministers relationships with their peers in the local community and the road ahead will be challenging for some of us. Jesus will still build His Church with or without us As gutted as I feel right now about the way our Church has handled such an important issue, my faith still rests in God alone. Nothing which happened at Assembly caught our Lord by surprise. Perhaps God allowed this to happen in order to bring our Church to its knees so we might ask and answer some tough questions. I believe we can grow stronger and wiser through this if listen to the Spirit and decide the Church God birthed 41 years ago is worth fighting for. 6

7 I remind myself every day that Jesus promised to build His Church a Church against which the gates of hell will not prevail. The Church we have been building in Jesus name is having the stuffing kicked out of it at present. So the most pertinent question of all is this: Are we still in partnership with Jesus and His mission? By that I mean is Jesus still building His Church within the Uniting Church? Or have we pushed ourselves so far away from our roots and the basic doctrines of our faith that Jesus cannot fulfil His mission through us until we hold fast to what we have received and heard and repent? With a heavy heart, but still believing in a miracle-working God, I humbly call on all my brothers and sisters in the Uniting Church to once again turn our eyes and our hearts to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, the Lord of all creation and the only One who can redeem our failings, empower our dreams and build His Church. Come, Spirit of Christ, heal our wounds, rebuke our arrogance, humble us all before our God. Restore, renew and reform Your pilgrim people, by Your grace and for Your Glory. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Rev. Robert Griffith uca.fncp@gmail.com Note: The following co-labourers in the gospel have requested their names be added to this document so they may offer their full support for its contents. They too desire that reform and renewal would come to the Church in which they have passionately served Christ and His mission for many years. Rev. James Annesley Minister of the Word Grafton Uniting Church Deputy Chairperson Far North Coast Presbytery Rev. Maggie De Leeuw Mission Development Minister Far North Coast Presbytery 7