Glen Waverley Uniting Church Organic Vision Document

Prepared for: Congregation Meeting 31 August 2014

Table Of Contents

Intent

Glen Waverley Uniting Church community has embarked upon a process of strategising for the future. Through this process we have spent time together asking ourselves how do we continue to live out our vision statement in a culturally relevant way, in the multi cultural community to which we belong, adapting to the many changes in the cultural context we minister within. We are committed to all our existing ministries, and would like to highlight that our Seniors, Children and Families and Youth and Young adults ministries are still a part of our vision and focus, and to reflect our communities demographics we especially need to grow in the latter two areas. This is a organic, living document, it will change, with each season.

Vision Statement

GWUC is a faithful, Christ-centered community that meets God and shares unconditional love.

Glen Waverley Uniting Church

To have a diverse ministry that encourages and empowers individuals, families, youth and children to ex- plore their faith and purpose in a community environment of unconditional love. Offering a variety of worship services, communion, faith development, baptisms, weddings, funerals, small groups, faith exploration groups, bible studies, welfare, broadcasts, podcasts, gatherings, hospital- ity, english conversation classes, pastoral care, coffee and so many other seasonal programs and minis- tries, for all ages and cultures. In all we do, we aim to serve our community, our world and each other.

Biblical Narrative

Our biblical understanding of the Church and its role centers around us loving God and loving our neighbour in all of our communal activities. Responding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our local and global world, we strive to be a church reflecting Jesus' gospel message of love, grace and transforma- tion. (See a fuller explanation later in the document.)

Ministry Identified Areas

After much prayer and conversation we have identified areas in which we are committed to grow, enable and make a priority over the next 5 years. To do this we will continually ask ourselves if we are honoring these areas in all we plan and do. We divided our four areas into Internal and External areas, with two identified areas in both.

Internal

1. Continue to build connectedness and genuine community.

Building on our existing pastoral care, enriching our fellowship and strengthening our sense of community.

• Fostering relationships
• Small groups
• Pastoral care and Pastoral partners
• Gatherings and events
• Intergenerational connections

2. To nurture faith development, sharing, questioning and exploration.

Offering engaging worship along with opportunities to discover and explore faith in an environment where all are welcome wherever they stand on the journey of life and faith.

• Providing specified study groups
• Developing expressions of faith
• Diverse worship services, styles and times
• Broadcast Ministry
• Teaching
• Conferences, seminars and guest speakers
• A culture of asking questions, exploring and sharing faith

External

3. Kingsway Ministry

Intentionally growing our ministry to our local multicultural community

• Reflecting our contexts demographic
• Culturally diverse in all practices
• Intentional listening to and learning from other multicultural or ethnic specific church communities
• Building relationships by pastoral care and prayer support to Kingsway businesses
• Participating in Kingsway events. I.e. Chinese New Year
• Thank you cards and Christmas cards
• Utilising our grounds and facilities to enhance our ministry in Kingsway. I.e. Fete, Book sale
• Fostering relationships
• Navigating our diverse world
• Inviting people on the journey

4. Raising Glen Waverley Uniting Church’s profile, by serving our local community

Nurturing partnerships to enable our congregation to grow our servant heart

• Partner with schools, councils and clubs etc
• Reflecting our local demographic
• Talking to community organisations to identify needs within Glen Waverley
• Talking to global organisations to identify global concerns
• Empowering the disempowered
• Advocacy of community and global topics

Ministry Questions

We are committed to challenging ourselves by keeping our identified areas at the forefront of all we do, by continually asking ourselves if any new initiatives fit within our identified ministry areas. We are therefore asking all groups to actively think and ask themselves if new initiatives fit within our congregations identified ministry areas.

For Church Council, the Ministry Team and Missional, functional Groups and other Groups

• Does it fit our Vision?
• Is it Internal or Externally focused?
• Is it a part of our identified areas?
• How do we support? (How will this be supported?)
• How do we empower?
• How do we use time wisely?
• How do we recognise expectations and measure outcomes?
• Can we partner with our community, other groups, Collaboration?
• What is our follow up strategy?

Encouraged Group Rhythms

We are also encouraging all groups to create rhythms, enabling each other to dream, wonder possibilities of events, partnering with others and other areas of our community. Reminding us to debrief and ask what worked, what didn’t, what could we improve on and celebrating the event and all those involved it it. Wondering - Doing - Partnering & Collaboration - Debrief - Celebrate Church Council is also continuing it’s commitment to the missional and functional groups, as well as hav- ing a specified Council representative on all groups, it is hoping to facilitate more collaboration and infor- mation opportunities between the missional groups in 2015.

A Biblical Perspective on Being Church

The word “church” is derived from the Greek ‘kyriake’ meaning belonging to the Lord and ‘ekklesia’ meaning assembly. The church is primarily the worshipping assembly called forth by God.

There are many verses of Scripture that highlight the role and work of the church and we will highlight some significant verses.

In Matthew 22:34-40 Jesus is asked “which is the greatest commandment”. Jesus responded, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”. And Jesus followed this up with “love your neighbour as you love yourself”. We can do this individually but it is more effective to do this communally as a church community. Our love of God and neighbour is expressed in worship, pastoral care, teaching, fellowship and mission.

At his ascension in Acts 1:8 Jesus says to the disciples “but when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filed with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. It is important to recognize that it is the Holy Spirit working through us. The Church, the followers of Jesus, are to have an outward focus to be witnesses in word and deed.

We have a role in continuing to share Jesus message. In Luke 4: 16 - 21 Jesus declared his role in the Synagogue at Nazareth by reading from the prophet Isaiah. “The Spirit of he Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the lord will save his people.” This is a message of transformation, freedom, healing (in its broadest sense) and hope. In John’s gospel we have Jesus teaching about life – life giving water (John 4:10), the bread of life (John 6:35), you have the words of eternal life (John6:68). Jesus offers the gift of life for all.

How are we equipped for our work as church? We have the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 14: 15-20, we have been given gifts for service (1 Corinthians 12: 1 – 11) and we also have the fruit of the Spirit to enhance our fellowship and witness – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control.

Missional & Functional Groups - current goals

2014 was a new season, here at Glen Waverley and the missional groups continued to be the life and ministry enablers of our congregation. At the start of the year as requested by Church Council each Mis- sional and functional group shared their main objectives and goals. It is encouraging to see how these goals fit nicely into our newly identified areas and we look forward to seeing the 2015 and beyond initiatives.

Community Hub M.G in 2014

Because of the variety of activities that are included in the Community Hub, we have 2 main objectives for each of the activities and one overall objective covering all the activities.

Cooee

1. To continue to offer support, company and friendship to each other. To be able to offer a place for people to come rather than stay at home on their own. To laugh and to use our minds, and keep our minds active by playing Scrabble.
2. To achieve a combined score of over 500 in Scrabble.

Leisure Time

1. To maintain our guest list as close to 20 as possible. So far this year, we have had 5 Ins and 7 Outs, which is fairly typical of a group at this stage of life's journey.
2. To participate in the adoption of Safe Church processes in a way which assists both our guests and our volunteers to be seen to be participating in a safe and nurturing environment. Our isolated seniors are a very vulnerable group.

Playgroup

1. To start another playgroup - to assist the many parents who are on the waiting list. As you are aware, Playgroup have achieved this, and therefore, we are very proud!!!
2. To continue to grow relationships with those in the community around GWUC, who need support.

The Hub

1. To continue our special morning teas which are bringing people into our church from the local community and to advertise these morning teas and the normal Hub days more widely in the community. We advertised our Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea at The Hub in the local paper, and as a result we had over 50 extra people come to our morning tea.
2. To continue to grow relationships with the people who come to The Hub from the community and to offer support to these people who are in need of support in various ways.

Welfare

1. To provide practical, spiritual, social and emotional support to those in our Church and in the wider community.
2. To encourage independent functioning and the use of existing community resources including those within our Church.

Overall Objective

1. To continue to open up our church even more to the wider community as a welcoming, supportive and friendly place of Christian hospitality.

Community Outreach Missional Group

In 2014 Community Outreach missional Group has performance goals which include:

• maintaining and growing the information flow between GWUC members and the Group relating to past COP activities and other global Outreach projects (new and old) as they may arise.
• We also seek to assist with maximising the efficiency of providing material and monetary support to these projects within the current capabilities of the GWUC resource pool.

Property

The buildings are owned by the UCA Property Trust and we manage them as stewards. We are able to do almost anything we want if we present a story, supported by the congregation with how it is to be paid for, and as long as UCA see benefit, we would be allowed to pursue our vision.

The Property Committee oversee the Careful Kitchen Crew who have been instrumental in ensuring that no one has been injured on our property due to food safety weaknesses.

We have statutory responsibilities from Monash Council and UCA responsibilities.

We support the mission and vision of the GWUC Communities within the cost constraints placed upon us.

We have an ageing building, with ageing facilities and ageing volunteers to look after it.

Vision

To increase hirings as much as possible to make the running costs of the complex a minimal drain on church finances.

To lower the running costs of the church as a proportion of costs.

Broadcast ministry

We have not been brought under the wing of any Community Group. Originally, we were to be a part of the Faith Community but at that time, no one was interested in us.

We offer worship, wedding and funeral service recording to a wide variety of events.

Vision

To record all possible services

To create a broadcast streaming service that will allow an unlimited number of people watch any or all recorded services live. This may require a cost contribution by them.

Communications Committee

Effective communication

• helps members of the congregation, office bearers and church staff maximise the benefits of be- ing involved with our church; and
• provides a view of our congregation and its activities to the wider community.

We have implemented 24 ways of communicating:

• 10 printed, 9 electronic, 2 in person, 3 using signs

Goals for 2014

• Refresh the Church web site (this is how people beyond our congregation see us)
• Effective use of Facebook (we are looking for a champion to drive this)

Inclusive Community

1. To seek to develop vibrant, welcoming and supportive fellowship for all age groups within the church community by hosting lunches, morning teas and intergenerational fun nights.
2. To improve and strengthen our pastoral care and slowly implement the Pastoral Partners program.
3. To provide support including prayer support, bereavement support and support for everyday needs when required for example transport, meals and help with English.

Faith Development

Two key statements for 2014

1. In light of the life & witness consultation which encourages faith development and the assembly affirmation this year as a season of teaching and learning, we will hold 2 study sessions this year.
   

   • The first “ Finding light in Darkness” was held in March/April this year and 70+ participated in these groups.
     We plan to have another study session in August/September this year and we hope to encourage as many as possible of our congregation to participate in these groups/.

2. We will encourage people to share their faith stories through questions displayed on tables where worshippers gather for coffee/tea after the services Rev Neil has taken leadership in this and some of the topics discussed have been a favourite hymn/song, favourite Bible verse, person who has influenced your life

Why are we trying to do these activities?

We recognise that all members of this congregation are seeking to journey towards God but are at different locations and using different routes. We want to foster discussion groups in which people will not feel threatened, but are comfortable to share their faith experiences and questions and be encouraged and strengthened through each others stories. We want to see people taking active steps to grow in their faith and discover Gods purposes in their lives. We are seeking resources and topics for discussion that will provide food for thought and enable us to grow as God people and discern what God wants for us.

I quote from the document sent out for todays meeting about mission

• If mission were action, with no reflection, we would go off the rails.” (Ross Langmead)

I guess through our activities we are seeking to develop this reflection

We believe that Gods word is divine, a double edged sword, therefore needs to be so well ingrained in us so that everything we do, say and how we live our lives would be in accordance to Gods Presence. We are to show God’s character in and through our lives. We believe therefore daily growth through personal reflection, sharing of our experiences with those in the community and formal teaching needs to be encouraged in our community.

Forum Group Readings

As most of you would be aware we embarked upon a series of open forums inviting the congregation to input into our future as a congregation. We have included some of the information used for the forums in this document to remind us of the biblical and cultural context in which we as a community congregation are situated.

Biblical Framework

CHRISTOLOGY - ECCLESIOLOGY- MISSIOLOGY

The word ‘church’ is derived from two Greek words – ‘kyriake’ belonging to the Lord and ‘ekklesia’ assembly.

Ecclesiology is the theological study of the church. It really involves focusing on those things that are central to our understanding of church. My copy of ‘A New dictionary of Christian Theology’ states that certain elements are considered essential in the life of the church and freedom can be allowed in other matters.

Those essential elements are – faith in Jesus as Lord, the practice of baptism and the celebration of the eucharist, the apostolic teaching and instruction, the high regard for communal love, and the expectation of the coming Kingdom of God. Some of this clearly relates to building up the people of God – the gathered community.

The mission of the Church is centred on the Kingdom of God. We live in ‘between’ times – between when Jesus came proclaiming and living the Kingdom of God and when it will be established in the fullness of time. So we continue to live and proclaim the kingdom of God as we are called to do as Church and we can rightfully call this mission.

Missiology is the commitment to join God's on-going work to transform the world. The Good News is essentially about the possibility of peace, justice and love.

“Mission seeps into all life as we live out the Good News, just as pastoral ministry seeps into all life as we potentially express care in all relationships. If mission were action, with no reflection, we would go off the rails.” (Ross Langmead)

The reflective and meditative dimension of mission is central. The doctrine of mission dei (the mission of God) alerts us to an understanding that God is a God of mission. To comprehend the mission of God is to understand that God advocates for justice, engages in the world in expressing mercy, caring for creation, and assisting people to understand the good news about Jesus Christ.

“One way of referring to the Great Commission is as the Great Co-mission, for which the Church, as the people of God, have the privilege of being co-missionaries with God, called to co-operate with what God is doing in the world.” (p1 Darren Cronshaw.)

How can we as the local church empower God's people for mission? We start with embracing God's mission, not the mission we want, but the mission we have been given. All believers are called to be disciples. The root metaphor of mission as divine self reaching out is the “other”. The other is an invitation for the Christian to reach out - it is an invitation to relationship and communion bestowing an identity on both partners in this dialogue. What is imparted is a sense of identity, hope and belonging. We are reminded of John 10:10 “Affirming life in all its fullness” is Jesus Christ's ultimate concern and it is our concern as Christians. The way churches try to respond to the challenge of mission can be seen in how they respond with love and compassion. God's mission can be explained as one of indiscriminate compassion and hospitality toward all humanity.

A Church is missional not because of its new ways of doing mission - it is missional because of the core message of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, to which the Church community witnesses through the power of the Holy Spirit and builds bridges from people to God.

Three characteristics for mission.

• A genuine concern for the individual
• A openness to circumstances, and
• A profound spirituality.

“We need to be open to the guidance of the Spirit for it has always been the Spirit that has called people to mission and set them the agenda they are to pursue.” (Lawrence Nemer: Notes from “Mission in the Twenty First Century - A Historian's Perspective”, Mission Day 2001, p25).

Christology - essentially Christology comprises the biblical teaching of and about Jesus the Messiah.

When we say Christology must inform all aspects of the church's life and work, we mean that our understanding of Jesus’ teaching and actions be the first and foremost in our lives and self-definition as church and disciple.

Our Christology will be characterised by its prophetic role, that will offer help for the hopeless that will be a source of courage for the present and an inspiration for the future.

“Our Christology (more common words) shapes our missiology that enables our ecclesiology”

Community Profile

Glen Waverley community profile taken from the just released Monash planning Document May 2014

GLEN WAVERLEY

The following figures are based on the ABS Census 2011

Glen Waverley is a diverse community with 48.7% of the people born overseas.

The main countries of origin are China 10.4%, Malaysia 5.2%, Sri Lanka 4.5%, India 4.5% and England 2.8%.

24.9% of the GW population are aged over 65.

3.9% of the GW population are preschoolers.

10.9% of the GW population are in the 18-24 age bracket.

A SUMMARY OF POSSIBLE IMPACTS ON GWUC FROM THE RECENT MONASH PLANNING DOCUMENT (Prepared by Propertey and provided with permission)

The key impacts in the planning document for GWUC could be summarised as:

• Kingsway - turning into Bogong Ave at the church corner, will become a Ring Road and all major traffic (buses and taxis) will be directed around the front of the church.
• The Church Car Park will come under further intense pressure and may require access controls introduced.
• Properties around the church will be allowed to be developed up to 4 story units - but as most of them in Bogong ave are very new homes, this will take many years.
• The Car Park opposite the church could be developed into 4 - 6 story office/units; and
• VERY LONG TERM (15 - 20 years) the GWUC site could be seen as very attractive for major de- velopment, because UCA own the entire Southdown/Kingsway/Bogong Ave corner end of the block which includes the church and the 3 manses. But because we are surrounded by residential development, that is unlikely in our view in the immediate short term. But keep in mind Monash own the house in Bogong ave next to the church so a major site consolidation would not be impossible.

Synod Major Strategic Review ”Context”Information

The following extracts are taken from the above titled document (April 2014) to stimulate your thinking. Trends in Population Growth from Overseas

In 2011, the Census revealed that over a quarter (26%) of Australia's population was born overseas and a further one fifth (20%) had at least one overseas-born parent. In 2011, 82% of the overseas-born population lived in capital cities compared with 66% of all people in Australia. Perth, Sydney and Melbourne had the highest proportion of overseas-born people, over a third each.

Recent arrivals make up a large proportion of some population groups in Australia, reflecting the increasing number of people born in Asian countries. Recent arrivals accounted for 47% of the total Indian-born population in Australia and 35% of the total Chinese-born population. In contrast, only 11% of the total United Kingdom-born population were recent arrivals. Country of birth groups which increased the most between 2001 and 2011 were India (up 200,000 people), China (176,200) and New Zealand (127,700).

Religious Affiliation

Between 2001 and 2011, the number of people reporting a non-Christian faith increased considerably, from around 0.9 million to 1.5 million, accounting for 7.2% of the total population in 2011 (up from 4.9% in 2001).

The number of people reporting 'No Religion' also increased strongly, from 15% of the population in 2001 to 22% in 2011. This is most evident amongst younger people, with 28% of people aged 15-34 reporting they had no religious affiliation.

Over half of the overseas-born population (56%) reported a Christian denomination; the two most commonly reported were Catholicism (24%) and Anglicanism (12%).

GENERATIONS in Australia

First generation Australians are people living in Australia who were born overseas. This is a diverse group of people including Australian citizens, permanent residents and long-term temporary residents. In 2011, there were 5.3 million first generation Australians (27% of the population).

Second generation Australians are Australian-born people living in Australia, with at least one overseas- born parent. In 2011, there were 4.1 million second generation Australians (20% of the population).