NB. This is archived material from Assembly 2004

Home » What's Presbyterian? » Church governance structure » General Assembly 06 » Reports from Assembly 2004 » Policy Groups » F10: Connecting with Society

Connecting with Society Policy Group

<typohead type="2">Synopsis</typohead>

<typolist>

The Church's response to Human Rights Legislation.

The Treaty of Waitangi and what it means to us in our Church.

Promoting material relating to the Decade to Overcome Violence.

No recommendations are brought with this report.

</typolist>

<typohead type="2">Report</typohead>

<typohead type="3">2. Greetings </typohead>

2.1 Greetings to the General Assembly. We are delighted to be reporting to you for the first time as a fully established policy group.

<typohead type="3">3. Introduction </typohead>

3.1 Our policy group works at the margin where church and society meet. We aim to connect the church with what is happening in society and to connect our society with the life of the church. Our work is driven by the belief that a concern for justice, peace and the integrity of creation is an integral part of being Christian in our world. As congregations grow in their awareness of and commitment to this aspect of their faith, connections between church and society will increase both in number and in depth without compromising the church's unique stance in relation to the society within which it lives and serves.

3.2 We seek to assist in growing healthy congregations by empowering people in them to become aware of the ways in which the love of Christ might be released as we connect with our communities. The Policy Group will work towards this by developing, in conjunction with the School of Ministry, easy to use processes and materials to enable congregations to increase their understanding of the issues and to build increasingly effective connections with the wider community. The Churches' Agency on Social Issues (CASI) will continue to be a significant place from which resources and information can be obtained as interest grows.

<typohead type="3">4. Context </typohead>

4.1 As we have begun our work we have become aware in all our conversation of the context within which we operate.

4.2 The diversity of theological views within our church means that we can no longer offer 'the church's position' on a range of issues which are of interest and concern to us. Rather we seek to enable people to explore the range of positions which have been thoughtfully arrived at, and so to clarify their own thinking from within the range of Christian thought and reflection.

4.3 Our policy group is aware that the church is part of a society which is both unfamiliar with and sceptical of the institutional church. There is a widespread lack of interest in belonging to institutions of any kind, people rather offering their gifts to a project which interests them for a time. Rather than insist that a changing society return to the halcyon days of the sixties and seventies, we are interested in engaging with society as it IS, and therefore are exploring ways the church can come to understand the society within which we serve and proclaim and ways in which society can encounter the church and the gospel in a way which brings life.

4.4 In a church which is anxious about its own survival we feel that discovering and building connections with our society will enable us to be aware of the shoots of new growth which mean new life. We are open to the challenge of recognizing those new shoots as valid expressions of 'making Christ known' in our pluralistic and anxious society.

<typohead type="3">5. Approach </typohead>

5.1 Our approach reflects an awareness of the context within which we operate. We are trying to work by building on existing networks and developing new networks where a need is discovered. We are trying to work by resourcing and empowering church members and leaders to make and share their own discoveries rather than defining a position which the church should hold. We are trying to work by building connections with our society, rather than by trying to drag society into an institution which is not, on the whole, seen as relevant or hopeful. We work closely with Churches' Agency on Social Issues (CASI) who provide most of the research on current issues. With them, we are working on ways to relationship with CASI.

<typohead type="3">6. Issues </typohead>

6.1 The issues which the Connecting with Society Policy Group is working on include:

6.6.1 Establishing a task group to explore the theological, legal and of our churches response to Human Rights legislation. It is hoped that this task group will report to the 2006 General Assembly.

6.6.2 Working alongside Te Komiti Takawaenga in gathering a national church hui on Treaty relationships within our church.

6.6.3 Developing policy on the promotion and distribution of material related to the Decade to Overcome Violence.

6.6.4 Building relationships in the key areas of migrant communities, arts and culture.

6.6.5 Through Churches' Agency on Social Issues equipping Church leaders, congregations and members and the wider community to engage with government on issues of spiritual, cultural and ethical significance. See the report of CASI for greater detail on their work.

6.6.6 Resourcing the work of our policy group is becoming increasingly important. In a society where the church seems to be increasingly isolated from the rest of the community, we encourage people to recognize the seeds of new growth, to come to see the footprints of Christ in unexpected places and to rejoice in the discoveries which will follow. This ability to recognize signs of new growth is, for us, a sign of healthy congregation living in resurrection hope.

<typohead type="3">7. Prayer of the Connecting with Society Policy Group </typohead>

7.1 We bring no recommendations to this Assembly, but do request your prayers for the work of our policy group as we try to help each other discover the ways in which God´s grace is revealed in the connections we make with the society in which we live.

 

Sally Carter
Convenor            

• Home