BLOGS
John Posted 11-10-08
It's not about the survival of "the church." It's about loving God and loving your neighbour. Look to these and the church will survive.
I said that Christians have a special interest in God, not a special interest by God. Everybody is special.
Don Posted 12-04-09
REFOCUSING UCA MISSION
While most mainstream Protestant churches across Australia have trouble attracting younger people, the Uniting Church of Australia ranks as one of the poorest. It seems to me that an important reason for this is that we fail to provide opportunities at a congregational level for "hands on" mission. The reality is that young people, in particular, inspired by the Gospel message want to make a difference helping the poor, the disadvantaged and the marginalised, but the UCA rarely provides such opportunities. In simple terms, the Uniting Church's approach to mission is for congregations to raise the funds in order that mission can be done at a corporate level. That may be cost effective and provide good PR, but it doesn't strike at the core of what we should be about - bringing people to Christ and giving them the tools and opportunities to live out the Gospel message. My experience is that the growing, exciting congregations do most of their mission "in house" by responding as the passion moves them - supporting individuals they know in overseas mission and participating in local causes, as basic as teaching local, lonely migrants English and running soup kitchens. In short, our mission should not centre on corporate activities, much of which is arguably the role of government, but rather to provide opportunities for Christians to live out the Gospel message. How we bring such change in our church is the challenge, but it seems to me that we have agonised too much about theology and too little on how to encourage our people to put passion into practice.
Don Bartlett
Lower Templestowe
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