UCA Synod meeting 1

From last Sunday evening till Wed afternoon, I attended the meeting of the Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, held at the Bundoora Campus of La Trobe University.

It was great to catch up with various friends, from Tassie, and other parts of Victoria, but more than this, it was good just to be the church together.

There were numerous items of business discussed, the ex-Moderator, Sue Gormann, gave a rip roaring "Ex-Moderator's Address" (most of the details of the decisions made and text of significant addresses can be found on the Synod website).

One item that was quite significant for me, was the plight of our rural congregations. There is a desperate shortage of ordained ministers in many rural areas, a problem which is exacerbated by the fact that there are fewer new candidates coming through the Theological College, and many of the current candidates tend to be older, and have partners in relatively senior jobs, and so need to be located in ministry placements that can also take into account the career needs of ministers' partners, and schooling needs of children. Sadly, this rules out rural and remote placements for many ministers, even the newbies.

After attending the Rural Ministry Conference earlier this year, I was awakened to the needs and possibilities of rural ministry. It was great to meet the people, hear their stories, and get some idea of what life is like for them. In many places where there aren't ordained ministers, the church's ministry is undertaken by lay ministry teams. However, according to one rural minister, this lay ministry team structure is not really working. This isn't because of any lack of skill or commitment on the part of the lay leaders, but the fact that they also have employment, families and other commitments, and so tend to run themselves ragged also taking on leadership roles in the church.

Another person from a rural congregation emphasised to me the importance of having a well-trained, ordained minister who is an 'outsider' to the community. He said that someone from outside can get alongside the people in the community where they are ministering, and get to understand the things the people are experiencing, but being an outsider can help the ministers to be a better advocate for the people they serve, as they can speak out for justice, or cry for assistance (esp in these times of terrible drought) without being accused of self-interest.

Last summer there were some very serious bushfires around Stawell, in the Grampians. Almost a year later, things are still not looking up for the people in that area. Many of them are farmers, and lost almost their entire livelihood in the fires. This season, many borrowed money so they could buy seed to plant crops. Because of the terrible drought, there is not enough water to keep the wheat healthy... last week, there were three days of savage winds, which almost completely wiped out the wheat crop in the Grampians (because of the dry conditions, the roots were fairly shallow, and the wind just decimated the crop). In the Goulburn Valley, there was a big frost last week, which wiped out much of the fruit crops. And so it goes on. Livestock has to be sold off (usually for poor return) because there is no grass, and no water to grow feed lots for them, as some farmers did last year.

But in all of this, the church goes on. In Stawell, the minister there is amazed at the spirit shown by members of her congregation, who, despite losing everything, are keen to keep going, and look for hope and healing in it all.

When I hear stories like this, and realise that as a single person, I have no encumbrances of children or partner, and so am free to go wherever God sends me once I complete my training, I can't help but think it would be irresponsible of me not to seriously consider seeking a rural placement when I exit theological college. As much as I have always been a 'city girl', I have to take seriously the possibility of becoming a rural minister.

In recognition of the seriousness of the needs for ministry in rural areas, the Synod approved a recommendation for the Moderator to call a summit, to get together the key players from the rural presbyteries, the theological college, placements committee etc, to talk about strategies to address this issue.

I hope they come up with some creative solutions.