Dear Church Council Chair/Secretary/Ministry agent,
As a result of the process initiated at the November 2018 Presbytery and Synod meeting to structurally separate the Synod and Presbytery, and to form a Missional Non-Geographic Presbytery (MNGP), it is now time for your congregation to choose which Presbytery your church will join.
Please call a meeting of your Congregation/Faith Community to discuss and decide which Presbytery you will join. Please indicate your decision on the Form linked HERE, and return it to: secretariat@sa.uca.org.au or via post to: Uniting Church SA c/o Secretariat, GPO Box 2145, Adelaide SA 5001 by Friday 7 June, 2019.
It may be helpful to make this decision using a secret ballot (noting that a two thirds majority will be necessary if your congregation chooses to join the Non-Geographic Presbytery, now known as Generate Presbytery).
In order to be clear about what is happening, by the 1 July 2019, the Synod of South Australia will continue and two Presbyteries will be formed:
1. A non-geographic Presbytery. This Presbytery will be called Generate Presbytery.
2. An interim Presbytery that will operate from July to November, 2019. This Presbytery will be called the Transitional Presbytery of South Australia. During the period, July to November, 2019, the Restructuring Task Group (established to assist with forming the new Presbyteries) will work with congregations & faith communities in the Transitional Presbytery of South Australia to explore and create further Presbyteries that meet the needs of these congregations. It is likely that there will be two geographic Presbyteries.
At the November 2019 meeting of the Synod of SA, the Transitional Presbytery will be dissolved. As a result, it is likely that there will be the Generate Presbytery and two geographic Presbyteries.
Our June 2019 Synod meeting, in accordance with Reg.3.4.6, will determine the initial congregations and faith communities to form Generate Presbytery and the Transitional Presbytery of South Australia. This will be based on the decision made at a meeting of each congregation or faith community. The Presbyteries will hold their initial meetings at the conclusion of the June Synod meeting. This is why we are seeking the decision from Congregations and Faith Communities as to which Presbytery they will to join.
Even if your congregation/ faith community is unsure at this time which Presbytery to join, please indicate that on the linked form. Those who are unsure will be placed in the Transitional Presbytery of South Australia for now. Congregations/faith communities may make the decision to join Generate Presbytery at a later time or decide to wait until November, when the shape of the Presbyteries that will be formed out of the Transitional Presbytery of South Australia is known.
Please note that a Ministry agent in a single Congregation placement will come under the oversight of the Presbytery chosen by the Congregation. A Ministry agent in a multi congregation placement (if the congregation chooses different Presbyteries) will be able to choose the Presbytery under whose oversight they wish to come. They will also need to maintain a relationship with any other Presbyteries chosen by the congregations in which they minister.
The Constitution of the Uniting Church describes the very key role that Presbyteries play in the life of the Church. Paragraph 26 of the UCA Constitution reads:
“The Presbytery shall have such oversight as is necessary to the life and mission of the Church in the area committed to it; it shall stimulate and encourage the Congregations within the bounds, providing them with opportunities for counsel in the strengthening and assistance of one another and in their participation in wider aspects of the work of the Church”.
If you have any questions about the process, please contact me via email on gensec@sa.uca.org.au, or the Associate General Secretary, Rev Sue Page on spage@sa.uca.org.au.
Yours sincerely,
Rev Rob Brown
Interim General Secretary
Presbytery and Synod of South Australia