From one (Uniting Church) net friend (July 2003):

The thing that amazes me about the discussion on Resolution 84 is that many comments begin from part 2 and ignore part 1, which is absolutely crucial to interpreting what the Assembly has done.

1. To note the following extracts from Assembly minute 00.25.03:

(a) that the Church’s faith is in the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that the Church’s work and unity are built upon the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ;

(b) the authority of the Scriptures as defined in the Basis of Union, acknowledging that within the Church there is a range of views on questions of Biblical interpretation on various matters of Christian faith and practice;

(c) we are bound together by Christ, and because we love the Uniting Church as part of the one holy catholic and apostolic church we will continue to work together in our diversity as servants of the living God. End of quote.

The point is that this takes us back to the essence of Christianity, which is about faith in the tri-une God revealed in Jesus Christ, and how that faith shapes our life together. This is very orthodox theology. There is nothing adventurous and nothing heretical about it. The point about Christianity is that we believe that we do not earn salvation, ie our relationship with God – it is a gift, appropriated by faith. It is also our faith in Christ that holds the church together. Once we concede that, then questions of sexuality become secondary. That surely is the point of the resolution – it take the church back from the brink of the heresy that substitutes one’s views on sexuality for one’s faith in Christ as a test of one’s orthodoxy.

Clause 1 (b) is simply a statement of the obvious – forget the narrow horizon of beliefs on sexuality, this statement is at the heart of ecumenism. Whole churches disagree with one another about “Biblical interpretation on various matters of Christian faith and practice”. Commitment to ecumenism is about respecting one another’s tradition. In other words, the Assembly has not been adventurous in its theology – rather it has reminded us of the radical implications of very orthodox theology. Those threaten to leave the church over this resolution seem to miss the point – they are substituting a view about sexuality for faith in Christ – precisely what the Assembly is urging us to stop doing (on both sides of the debate).

~~~

Reminder from another:

STATEMENT ON UNITY AND DIVERSITY (UCA Assembly 2000 – Adelaide)

We celebrate

 · that the church’s faith is in the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that the church’s work and unity are built upon the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ;

 · that in the Uniting Church we have already agreed on and affirmed important matters regarding marriage, marriage preparation, marriage counselling, divorce, re-marriage, sexuality and sexual ethics.

We affirm

 · the authority of the scriptures as defined in the Basis of Union, acknowledging that within the church there is a range of views on questions of biblical interpretation on various matters of Christian faith and practice;

 · we are bound together by Christ, and because we love the Uniting Church as part of the one holy catholic and apostolic church we will continue to work together in our diversity as servants of the living God.

We acknowledge

 · that issues regarding committed same sex relationships and ordination were unresolved by the Eighth Assembly in 1997 and the Ninth Assembly in 2000, and remain unresolved;

 · that the diversity of viewpoints and the lack of resolution of these issues have resulted in tension within the life of the church.

We regret

 · that some people have felt hurt or offended because of the church’s acceptance of diversity;

 · that some people feel excluded from exercising their gifts of faith and ministry in their local congregations.

We reject

 · all forms of vilification and harassment within the life of the church.

We pray

 · that God will continue to bless and use the diverse gifts of all church members as we seek to work together to make known God’s love and salvation.

Crosslight, Vic (August, 2000)

~~~

Then this response from another

I feel troubled by two opposite viewpoints following Assembly. The “right relationships” lobby consider the Assembly decision as a win for their cause.

I am of the right relationshisp school and I definately do not see the Assembly as a victory for “my cause”. If the Assembly had adopted right relationships as the only standard acceptable in the UCA on sexual ethics, then that would have been a big win. But Assembly did not do that.

And the Assembly was not a big win for gay and lesbian members of the church. They are largely very disillusioned by the result because nothing has changed for them at all. The Assembly made no new decisions of policy to help them at all. What they want is for the elimination of all discrimination against gay and lesbian people from the life of the church. And they did not get anything like this. While they cannot be denied membership, congregations can refuse to allow them into any leadership role, such as elder. And presbyteries still have the right to refuse to ordain. I would have to say that the reaction from many people in Uniting Network was that the Assembly was a disaster.

But the Assembly was a victory for diversity. It was a victory for those are prepared to live with the tension of not deciding, with the tension of having different views in the life of the church. Those who voted for resolution 84 included people who hold to CISIFIm and those who hold to right relationships, but they all agreed that they did not have to insist upon thier view being the only acceptable one in the life of the church.

Those who are now threatening to leave I believe are people who cannot cope with diversity, cannot live in a church where there is not a clear black and white answer on some issues. Others on both sides of the debate are saying that they can do this. So not all people whho hold to CISIFIM are declaring it to be a disaster.