Emmanuel Uniting Church Cairns

In light of the events surrounding the eviction of homeless people from The Good Samaritan Ministry Centre in Gatton Street, Cairns and the subsequent charges laid against Hedley that resulted in the termination of his placement with Emmanuel Congregation, there has been much soul searching about what this means for us as Christians and members of the Uniting Church in Australia.  It goes without saying there has been constant prayerful consideration of the issues as they unfolded, by individuals, the Church Council and Elders, and the congregation as a whole.       

Many questions came to mind during this time as we tried to make sense of what was happening and has happened.  There seemed to be apparent inconsistencies between what is stated and one would think is intended in the Basis of Union for us as a Church, and the Constitution, Rules Regulations and By-laws, and importantly the practical application of these ‘man-made laws.’        

The issue was never with the need for ‘man-made laws’ but rather that because the Basis of Union acknowledges the Sovereign God and the teachings of Christ as written in the Holy Scriptures, there was a reasonable expectation from Hedley, Emmanuel Church Council and Congregation that with God as our witness, all dealings would be undertaken within this context. 

A Discussion Paper titled “The Status, Authority and Role of the Basis of Union in the Uniting Church of Australia”, was prepared in 1995 by The Advisory Group on Church Polity as requested by the Assembly Standing Committee.  The paper refers to the two elements of Faith and Order.  The following excerpt is taken from page 14 of the Paper under the heading of ‘The Polity of the Church.’

The Basis of Union has also to be authoritative for determining the polity of the Church.  The Basis of Union holds together faith and order.  The order of the Uniting Church grows out of and is controlled by its faith.  That must always be so, for the church is the creation of the gospel, called into being by the gospel and given shape by the gospel.  If order is divorced from faith, what then determines the order of the Church?  Expediency?  The structures of big business?  What its members think would be most efficient?    

This statement partly captures some of the questions that were already forming in our minds and are important and challenging questions for us all as Christians, and members of the UCA. They are;

1. What is the legal relationship between the Basis of Union and the Constitution, Rules, Regulations and By-laws of the UCA?
    
2. Man’s Law is clearly reflected in the Constitution, Rules, Regulations and by-laws of the UCA so how is the Basis of Union (gospel teaching) reflected as such?
    
3. To support the practical application of the Constitution, how is the theological basis of the UCA as affirmed in the Basis of Union, explicitly referred to in these documents that represent the order of the church, i.e., how is order compelled to explicitly refer to or, even defer to faith?
     
4. What is the ‘due process both written and transparent’ within the Church to address situations where there is an apparent tension between the Basis of Union, the Ordination Vow of a Minister and the Constitution (God’s Law and Man’s Law), as a result of God’s calling as occurred in this instance?
    
5. Where does this leave Ministers, Church Councils, Congregations, Presbytery and Synod when these tensions become evident?
     
6. What are the processes and procedures contained within the Constitution, Rules, Regulations and By-laws of the UCA that are used to resolve these particular issues other than the disciplinary process?  (Single-mindedly resorting to a disciplinary process is not conducive to trust, can lead to conflict of interest and as is the nature of man almost inevitably the primary interest becomes self-interest or preservation.  This is in itself at odds with scripture based teaching of denial of self.)
    
7. Given all of this, is it reasonable for Ministers, Church Councils and Congregations to expect Church Leadership to explicitly and openly discuss and resolve matters with reference to both faith and order to prevent decisions based only on expediency and the structure of big business?  Is this God's plan for his church to be unbalanced in this way?
    
8. Can the Church be held accountable if there is not a clearly defined process in situations such as these, or where individuals, Congregations and Church Councils have not been able to access transparent and reasonable recourse that explicitly accounts for both faith and order?
    
9. If Ministers are placed with a congregation as a result of prayerful discernment by both the Minister and the congregation and in response to God’s calling, how does one over-ride God's will?  Has God's will and calling and therefore matters of faith been usurped in favour of man-made order with all its inherent failings?

10.  Is it fair to say that when difficult situations arise such as this, the practice of discernment and prayerful consideration seems to focus on which processes and procedures of order should be applied, instead of the issue of faith at hand?  

11.  What then is the role of the Church Council and Congregation in serving the world and being led into a fuller participation in Christ’s Mission in the world as outlined in the Basis of Union if, as Christians we cannot be responsive to the needs evident in our own communities according to God's will?

12.  What will be our personal and collective account to God?      

We know many of these questions are not new and have been asked before.  We also know others have encountered situations similar to ours.  We hope these questions will provide some context to the bigger issues that lie behind the events surrounding The Good Samaritan Ministry, the matter of faith faced by Hedley, the Emmanuel Church Council and Congregation and our reasonable expectation from the very outset that this would be heard and understood.    

Trish Latu (Church Council Member).