National Youth Young Adults Ministry

Uniting Faith and Justice mandate

UNITING FAITH AND JUSTICE MANDATE

Vision and Mission Statement

Uniting Faith and Justice will give national leadership to inspire, develop and nurture the people of the Uniting Church, as a gospel community in contemporary Australia, in their life of faith, discipleship and transformation, expressed in worship, justice, witness and service.

Mandate

a. Provide innovative national leadership, vision and policy for the Church, through an integrated team that will enhance the Assembly's capacity to resource and guide congregations, presbyteries and synods, with particular focus on:

• Theological competence
• Missiology and discipleship formation
• Liturgical awareness and resources
• Justice, peace and the integrity of creation
• Indigenous issues
• Theory and practice in Christian Education
• Relationships with people of other faiths
• Cross-cultural awareness
• Sharing the faith and evangelism

a. Provide advice and support to the President and General Secretary in the areas in (a) above

b. Develop national policy in the areas covered by (a) for the consideration and decision-making of the Assembly and the Assembly Standing Committee

c. Advocate on national policy issues

d. Articulate the team's vision and policies to Uniting Church in Australia membership, other churches, ecumenical bodies, government and the community

e. Provide support and resources for Working Groups and Task Groups

f. Staff appointed to Uniting Faith and Justice should have complementary skills and professional expertise and, together, consider the work under four broad lenses - mission, justice, education and theology.

Operational Style

1. Uniting Faith and Justice is:
• a group of professionals who bring their particular expertise as a contribution to the whole work of the Assembly
• persons called to exercise leadership and ministry in ways that are at times done separately and at times together as the result of collaborative decisions
• adaptive, self renewing and refocussing in response to the changing circumstances within which its ministry is exercised and the decisions of the Assembly

2. Uniting Faith and Justice:
• respects the contribution that each person brings to the team
• meets regularly
• develops its passions, vision and strategies and shares these with the Assembly, and as appropriate the wider church
• offers leadership to the church
• works in a way that gives space for the exercise of the distinctive contribution of each member and which fosters and encourages interdisciplinary sharing and collaboration
• holds the members mutually accountable for their responsibilities in and for the team

3. Uniting Faith and Justice enables:
• the Assembly to be resourced in reflecting, commenting and acting faithfully across a number of critical areas of its life
• the Assembly's understanding in a number of fundamental areas (not just those covered by Uniting Faith and Justice) to be informed by the perspectives of theology, justice, education and mission
• the Assembly to respond more promptly to new needs and opportunities as they arise
• a witness to the wholeness of the gospel and the Christian life by organisationally affirming that justice and theology, mission and education, and various other combinations, belong together
• an organisational arrangement which makes it possible for the Assembly to consider taking up new work which does not fit into existing agency and mandate frameworks