About Missiology and Evangelism
Since the 9th Assembly, held in Adelaide July 2000, the Missiology and Evangelism Working Groups have been exploring our mandate and looking to expand the mission and evangelism conversation.
The mandate includes responsibility to develop "theological leadership to assist the Church to reflect on, articulate and apply the Christian faith, to engage the culture and to spread the good news of Jesus Christ".
There are several strong strands within the mission tradition of the Uniting Church, including:
- mission as justice;
- mission as witness; and
- mission as service.
There are also many examples and innovative patterns we have developed to fulfill our mission vocation so our task includes supporting networks and bringing leaders together to reflect on praxis. Through our engagement with the culture, we have discovered many challenges to effective mission in the Australian context and we believe in the importance of new directions to be explored and evaluated.
In light of the call of the gospel the working groups also have the task of articulating our mission and encouraging the church to develop a missional ecclesiology.
In the formation of the Uniting Church many believed that while we could affirm our part of the universal Church we would also have a particular role in relation to Australia's geo-social setting and the historical context. Now, 30 years later, it is important to acknowledge the present realities, to learn from our experiences and to restate our commitment.
Over the last 30 years the Uniting Church has sustained many perspectives on mission, some are contextual (urban, rural, outback, suburban); some generational; and others are to do with the theological themes (witness, justice, service). We have been exploring these perspectives and we are looking to make the connections with other dimensions of the church's life including our belief (doctrine and faith), worship traditions and education ministries.
