Uniting Church
| Uniting Church in Australia | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Reformed and Methodist |
| Polity | Interconciliar/Presbyterian |
| President of the Assembly | Stuart McMillan |
| Distinct fellowships | Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress |
| Associations | NCCA, WCC, CCA, WARC, World Methodist Council |
| Region | Australia |
| Origin | 1977 |
| Merger of | Methodist Church of Australasia, Presbyterian Church of Australia, Congregational Union of Australia |
| Congregations | 2,500 |
| Members | 1 million |
| Nursing homes | UnitingCare heavily funds the aging sector |
| Aid organization | UnitingCare - largest aid giver in Australia |
The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was established on 22 June 1977 when most of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union of Australia came together under the Basis of Union.
According to the Australian Census in 2011 there are 1,065,796 people identifying with the Uniting Church in Australia, making it the third largest denomination behind the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church.National Church Life Survey (NCLS) research in 2001 indicated that average weekly attendance was approximately 10% of this number.
The Uniting Church is governed by a number of non-hierarchical inter-related councils which each have responsibility for various functions or roles within the denomination. The meetings of councils include:
The membership of each council is established by the constitution. Each council includes both women and men and lay (non-ordained) and ordained people. The offices of President of Assembly, Moderator of Synod (who chair these councils) and other such offices are open to all members of the UCA whether lay or ordained, male or female.
The UCA is a non-episcopal church; that is, it has no bishops. The leadership and pastoral role in the UCA is performed by a presbytery as a body (meeting). However, many members appear to understand the "chairperson of presbytery" or the "moderator" of the synod as exercising this role. This position may be occupied by an ordained minister or a lay person. In many presbyteries there is also a "presbytery officer" who may be ordained or a lay minister. The presbytery officer in many cases functions as a pastoral minister, a pastor to the pastors (a pastor pastorum) to people in ministry. Other presbyteries use this position for mission consultancy work and others for administrative work.
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