GLEN WAVERLEY UNITING CHURCH

MEETING OF THE CONGREGATION

Held in the Church at 11:30am on Sunday 28th July 2019 - following the 10:00am Combined Worship service.

MINUTES

These minutes are work in progress and are not yet finalised.

1. Welcome and Apologies

Apologies: VidaFoo, DavidMorgan, SueMorgan, LynnPeters, LesleyArmstrong, EricArmstrong, JudyBoucher, DeirdreReynolds, GeoffWillis, BarbaraChamberlain, RaymondWagon, FayeWagon, JacquiKing, EvelynFleming, HerbFleming, BeverlyMcGlead, FredWaine, JoanWaine, GraemeSchober, BobbieRooks

2. Prayer

3. Confirmation of Minutes of Meeting held on 3rd March 2019

The minutes of the March meeting of the congregation, CongMeetingMinutes20190303, were confirmed by consensus.

4. Matters arising from the previous minutes

There were no matters arising from the previous minutes other than those with a separate agenda item.

5. Correspondence

There was no correspondence.

6. Reports and Recommendations

6.1. Congregational Outreach Projects in 2019

The meeting was reminded of the process and criteria for selecting Congregational Outreach Projects. Details are in CommunityOutreach.

Proposed Congregational Outreach Projects were presented. Details of the proposed projects are in COPProposals2019.pdf and are also displayed below.

Discussion

The balance between Australian and international projects was questioned. The selection team explained that the balance reflected the nature of the applications received and that they were biased towards international projects.

6.1.1. Resolutions

The following resolutions were considered as a group.

1. “The congregation resolves that all profit from the 2019 Fete is to be distributed to Charity”

2. “The congregation resolves that the charities listed in the distributed COP brochure shall participate in the distribution of 2019 Fete profits"

3. “The congregation endorses the Distribution of the 2019 Fete profits as shown in the COP Brochure for Profits of $20,000, 25,000 & 30,000"

4. “The Congregation resolves that the COP Committee be authorised to allocate profits intermediate to, or beyond those now approved"

5. “The Congregation resolves that the COP Committee is to advise the Congregation of the final allocation to all nine charities, in the first available Bulletin after the Fete profit is finalised”

All approved by Consensus

6.2. Ministry Team Report

NeilPeters and AlaneeHearnshaw presented some highlights of the life of the congregation.

Indonesian Fellowship. Recently we have had visits from ministers from an interfaith group visiting Australia from Indonesia at the invitation of the Australian Government.

English Classes. NeilPeters drew attention to the Engish classes that precede the Chinese Fellowship on Wednesdays. For more information see https://gwuc.org.au/ministries/multicultural-ministry/

Visit to Sulawesi in Indonesia. NeilPeters presented highlights of his visit, as part of a group, to our sister church in Indonesia earlier this year.

Hub 10th birthday. NeilPeters drew attention to the many volunteer hours that have been devoted through The Hub to making welcome hundreds of people over the last ten years.

Workshop by Dr Craig Mitchell in October. NeilPeters gave advance notice of an interactive session "What kind of church might God be calling us to be in 21st century Australia?".

State Youth Games. AlaneeHearnshaw reported on the fifteenth time that youth of our congregation has attended the State Youth Games and that amongst the fun were some serious conversations about God and faith.

Uthies. AlaneeHearnshaw reported that Uthies for grade 4,5,6 children is again active this year. She showed photos of Uthies participation in the "I Give a Sock" a programme that results in socks being donated to the Salvos - see https://igiveasock.com.au.

AlaneeHearnshaw reported on the 'Backpack Challenge' camp in September. It will be local with a focus on making do with very little over a weekend. Thi idea is to help participants think about people overseas who have very little.

JudithGreenwood introduced the Mount View Hub. Twelve members of our congregation are 'grandparents' to hearing impaired children in years 5 and 6 at Mount View Primary school. This is part of realising the church mission of being involved in the wider community. Some wonderful relationships have developed and the teachers report how much they appreciate us helping the children to gain more confidence in speaking to people in the community.

6.3. Church Council Report

GlynHowells presented highlights of recent work of the Church Council. He highlighted that Church Council is now working out how to better support the ministry team and each other following input received form the 'Taking The Pulse' survey last year. He drew attention to the Synod speech by Dr Deidre Palmer and four of the hopes she expressed for the Uniting Church: growing discipleship and faith across all ages, culturally appropriate evangalism, nurturing and growing young leaders, intergenerational and intercultural ministry.

DavidFraser discussed the work of the Church Council. He outlined a need for more people to share the load and realise our church vision and reported on a recommendation from Church Council to increase the number of elected members. He emphasised the desire of Church Council to keep all the activities of our congregation going without overloading the leaders involved. Additional members of Church Council are needed to ensure that our programme is sustainable. He commended the book: "Growing Young" that gives the results of extensive research into what has worked well in church programmes. It contains many good ideas and provides good preparation for people contemplating joining Church Council. There is a copy on the library.

A question was asked concerning how Presbytery viewed the proposed enlargement of the Church Council. DavidFraser was unable to give a specific response, but it was noted that the regulations of the Uniting Church allow congregations considerable flexibility in how they constitute their Church Council. This will be followed up with Presbytery if necessary.

Resolution

"This meeting of the Congregation approves an increase in the size of Church Council by increasing the number of elected Church Councillors from 10 to 13."

Approved by Consensus

6.4. Finance Report

The July finance report is at FinanceReport201907.

KenCoutts, the treasurer, highlighted the following. We are in a strong position. Ken reported on the audit of last year's accounts. There is nothing of any concern and the accounts are signed off. The deficit was smaller than budgeted because the 'Community Planter' role was terminated early. Next year the endowment fund account will be audited together with the other Glen Waverley Uniting Church accounts. For the first half of 2019 the office expenditure is over budget because of inadequate provision for leave associated with the departure of Heather Hon. Over the whole year, the overall office expenditure will be close to that budgeted.

7. Other Business

7.1. Recognition of Australia's First Peoples

At the November 2019 meeting of the congregation (CongMeetingMinutes20181120), it was agreed by consensus that we, as a congregation, would like to progress acknowledgement of Australia's first peoples in some way. Since then, there there have been numerous opportunities for interested people to submit ideas concerning how the Glen Waverley Uniting Church might recognise Australia's first peoples. See DiscussionRecognitionOfAustraliasFirstPeoples.

A concensus has emerged to place a plaque with suitable words outside the church in a place that can be seen by people walking by or using the outdoor seats. Some options for placement are:

1. Place (cement) on a large rock under the Gum Tree in the Kingsway facing garden.
2. Place a plaque on the pillar beside our own Foundation Stone on the Bogong Ave entrance.
3. Place a plaque inside on the wall where our Foundation Stones and memorial plaques exist (near the sound room).
4. Place a plaque is a new garden feature.

An open meeting of the congregation on June 16 considered wording for the plaque and agreed to the following. "We, the Glen Waverley Congregation of the Uniting Church in Australia acknowledge that the land on which we gather is part of the traditional lands of the Kulin nation. We respect the close spiritual and cultural ties of Australia's first peoples to the land, and recognise elders past, present and emerging. We commit to work for reconciliation with indigenous people and justice for all."

Discussion

The question was asked about how many first nations people still live in this area. Concern was expressed about whether or not there is a need reconciliation and who the reconciliation might be with. The chair pointed out that we should not view our statement too narrowly, and that there is a widely demonstrated need in the Australian Community at large for recinciliation between Australia's first and second peoples.

There was a question about whether or not sufficient context is given in the proposed wording. The chair explained that there is a lot of context in the preamble of the Constitution of the Uniting Church. WarrenGreenwood gave an example of how this has been addressed by the Ocean Grove Uniting Church where they have a simple plaque along the lines we envisage backed up with more explanatory information on a notice board visible to passers-by.

The question was raised as to whether we should explicitly mention Torres Straight Islanders. It was pointed out that the term 'first peoples' is commonly considered to include Torres Strait islanders.

Considering the amount of work that had been done leading up to the meeting, and in the light of the discussion, the meeting was asked to consider the following resolution.

Resolution

"The congregation resolves to recognise Australia's first peoples by placing a plaque containing the following wording in a place that can be seen by people walking by or using the outdoor seats: We, the Glen Waverley Congregation of the Uniting Church in Australia acknowledge that the land on which we gather is part of the traditional lands of the Kulin nation. We respect the close spiritual and cultural ties of Australia's first peoples to the land, and recognise elders past, present and emerging. We commit to work for reconciliation with indigenous people and justice for all."

Approved by agreement. Some members of the congregation were concerned about the context and issues associated with working for reconciliation.

7.2. Planning for the election of Church Councillors

The Congregation meeting chair advised the dates of the 2019 election of church councillors. He urged members of the congregation to start considering now whether they would be willing to serve as on the Church Council or to discuss the possibility with others who they think may be able to serve the congregation in this way.

An election for church councillors will be held on Sunday October 13th. This year there are some current Church Councillors whose terms are expiring. While some may renominate, there will be other vacancies to fill. For details see ChurchCouncilElections2019 and ChurchCouncilConstitution

As has been the practice in the recent past, it is proposed to allow voting following each worship activity on the designated election Sunday.

8. Benediction

The chair thanked various leaders who had reported to the meeting and then closed the meeting in prayer.