Greetings …

Last week I gave a bit of an explanation about Synod Council and the Meeting of that Council which I attended from Friday to Sunday.  While I missed being with all of you, it was a wonderful opportunity to gather with people from the breadth of the Uniting Church and to pray, reflect and discern together.

The diversity of the Uniting Church was seen in the opening worship which included English, Tongan, Samoan, mandarin, Dinka, and Bahasa Indonesian languages as well as members from rural and metropolitan congregations. 

Bible Studies were conducted by Rev Dr Kylie Crabbe who encouraged us to look carefully at how we read the Biblical text.  With a focus on disability she reminded us that in Jeremiah 31 God changes the path so people don’t stumble, rather than changing the people, and that we have to change our assumptions that people need to be changed to be like us.

Major business of Synod included calling for Online Gambling Advertising Reform, Protection of People on Temporary Visas from Family Violence,    Online Safety and Climate Justice Action.  Each of these were discussed in small groups and reworked before consensus was reached.

We were also invited to consider A Guide to the Church in Walking Together as First and Second Peoples – an invitation for 2021 onwards. This working document encourages congregations to think through what Covenant is and how we might be involved in it.

The theme for Synod, Like Leaven in the Loaf, comes from Matthew 13:33 which reads:- He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”  

God’s Spirit (like leaven in the loaf) is with us from the beginning, is hidden in the making, yet seen in the beauty of the product.  We, as the church, are called to be the leaven in the loaf in our communities, and to do our bit (which might, like the leaven, seem small) but can have a huge impact.  May we all be the leaven in the loaf.

Blessings – Heather.