Abstract
What is there to celebrate after 40 years of the Uniting Church in Australia? Reflection on the Uniting Church is often celebratory, antiquarian, or in narrative form. If the fortieth anniversary of the Uniting Church is to be directly relevant to the church, it deserves analytical treatment in the light of Biblical theology, history, tradition and pastoral experience. This paper argues that the Uniting Church has survived in spite of considerable external and internal threats to its life. It explores the miracle of the existence of the Uniting Church despite secularisation, apathy and atheism on the one hand, and self-destructive, delusory and marginalising tendencies on the other. The decline of the Uniting Church will not be slowed either by acquiescence to the outside world or by self-deception about the internal state of the church. If the Uniting Church is to survive into the future, it will need to continue to recover its deep theological and philosophical basis as well as heed the warnings of other, similar churches and para-church organisations that have also declined. While the Uniting Church is declining more slowly than is often predicted, if it is able to see itself as a small, precious and fragile object of God's love it may have a much longer life-expectancy than current projections.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | A Pilgrim People: 40 years on |
| Subtitle of host publication | The proceedings of the inaugural Uniting Church National History Society Conference, June 9-12, 2017 |
| Editors | Robert W. Renton |
| Place of Publication | Melbourne, Australia |
| Publisher | Uniting Church National History Society |
| Chapter | 11 |
| Pages | 150-160 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Edition | 1st |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780980716856 |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |
| Event | Inaugural Uniting Church National History Society Conference 2017 - Pilgrim Uniting Church, Adelaide, Australia Duration: 09 Jun 2017 → 12 Jun 2017 http://historicalsociety.unitingchurch.org.au/national-conference/ |
Conference
| Conference | Inaugural Uniting Church National History Society Conference 2017 |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | A Pilgrim People: 40 Years On |
| Country/Territory | Australia |
| City | Adelaide |
| Period | 09/06/17 → 12/06/17 |
| Other | The Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia has decided to establish a National Historical Society. This is good news for the UCA and for the cause of history! Those of us already engaged, through state UCA Historical Societies, through the teaching of religious/church history or through regional or local church history groups and programs, welcome this move and look forward to what it will contribute to the important processes of understanding, recording, debating and celebrating our history and allowing that history to inform our future journey as a pilgrim people on the way. To formally launch the new national society, and also to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the UCA (not to mention the five hundredth anniversary of the Protestant Reformation!) a conference is being planned for 9-12 June 2017 (the Queen’s birthday long weekend). The conference will be held at Pilgrim Uniting Church in Adelaide, starting at 5.00pm on Friday 9 June and finishing by 12noon, Monday 12 June. It will feature a mix of major contributions from specially invited keynote speakers and panel discussants short papers presented by conference participants (who will be academics, non–academics, local historians, archivists, former missionaries, members of UAICC, clergy, laity – in fact anyone interested in and engaged with UCA history) workshops and field visits plenty of opportunities for networking and conviviality. |
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