MISSION & MINISTRY AT WORK - Creative Ministries …cmn.unitingcare.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Ministry-at-Work... · Cover design by Margaret Neith ... This Discussion Paper

A DISCUSSION PAPER and

INVITATION FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

for

ACTION-REFLECTION PARTNERSHIPS TO ENGAGE

WITH THIS MISSION

This Discussion Paper and invitation for Expressions of Interest has been preparedfor the Commission for Mission to support the development of a Synod strategy

in a new arena of mission and ministry in the world of work.

MISSION & MINISTRY AT WORK

J JOHN BOTTOMLEY

J MAY 2011

Published by CREATIVE MINISTRIES NETWORK

P.O. Box 362 St. Kilda 3182

Telephone: (03) 9827 8322

Web page: www.cmn.unitingcare.org.au

for COMMISSION FOR MISSION, SYNOD OF VICTORIA AND TASMANIA, UNITING

CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA

Published 2011

MissionandMinistryatWork:ADiscussionpaperandinvitationforExpressionsofInterestforaction‐reflectionpartnerships

toengagewiththismission

© John Bottomley

John Bottomley asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

ISBN 978-0-9806434-7-3

Cover design by Margaret Neith

Printed in Australia by Bendigo UnitingCare Outreach Print Services.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or

otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Mission and ministry at work 2

Foreword This Discussion Paper on ‘Mission and Ministry at Work’ touches on practically every area of the Commission for Mission’s work, and then reframes the emerging issues through the lens of the contemporary world of paid employment and society. What makes this project ‘new’ is that the reframing we are seeking to explore here arises from a growing awareness that the way the UCA thinks about mission may be increasingly limited by our view of the world through the particular experience of institutional church life. Has our reflection on mission in the modern world become too limited by our relative disengagement from the world of paid work? I believe the Discussion Paper is also ‘new’ in that it is not concerned with developing a unifying one-size-fits-all policy on mission and ministry at work. Rather, the Paper invites all parts of the Synod to engage with the reframing of our mission and ministry at work from the mission perspective of your present experience. I trust it will be possible for you to connect with the project through one of the different pilot projects. These have been designed to promote action and reflection that engages with a new mission arena, while creating space for developing a response to God’s mission in the world and a ministry conversation across each project and across the Synod. I have asked the Creative Ministries Network and its Director, Rev. John Bottomley to assist the CFM develop this project for the Synod. John has responded with this thoughtful discussion paper and creative project design. I believe the project identifies some big issues facing the UCA while offering a practical engagement with them that is respectful of our diverse experience. I understand the scope of the issues raised may feel daunting. But I have seen through the Commission’s experience with the project ‘Towards a Charter’ that with time, patience and by God’s grace, small steps taken in trust build relationships that shape new possibilities. You are invited to connect with this project if and where you feel called, and then respond to John directly with your comments on the matters raised in the Paper. I also invite your expression of interest to any of the areas identified below that are discussed more fully in the Paper. Your expression of interest simply needs to advise that you wish to be informed of the expression of interest process we will provide for each area. The areas of interest which are described more fully in the Paper are:

1. Quarterly round table

2. Group mentoring program for ministers in residentially-based congregational ministry

3. Education and training pilot project: governance

4. Education and training pilot project: work as vocation or calling

5. Responding to harm caused by injustice at work

6. Entrepreneurial church enterprise


Please send an email to John Bottomley to ask for further details as they become available, at [email protected] You can also contact him on 9827 8322 and P.O. Box 362, St. Kilda 3182. Your preliminary expression of interest should be lodged by 31 July. While the Commission has limited resources to implement immediately every aspect of the proposed pilot project, your engagement with the Expression of Interest process will assist us immeasurably in determining project priorities and the allocation of resources. Please join with the Commission in taking a first step into this new initiative of our response to God’s mission in the world. David Pargeter Executive Director Commission for Mission Synod of Victoria and Tasmania


Introduction This Discussion Paper and invitation for Expressions of Interest is the first stage in a project to develop a Synod strategy in a new area mission and ministry to the world of work. The paper was commissioned by David Pargeter, the Executive Director of the Commission for Mission (CFM), and was prepared by John Bottomley, the Director of the Creative Ministries Network (CMN). The Discussion Paper represents an affirmation by both David and John of the goodness of God in creation, and their personal testimony of being met by God’s grace in the world of work beyond the current bounds of the institutional church. However, we have also witnessed the harm experienced by too many through work, and at work. There are many people burdened by deeply rooted experiences of injustice and suffering that cry out for healing, justice and reconciliation. This Paper grows from our shared conviction that Christ calls the church to God’s mission and ministry in the world to restore God’s image in human beings, and to embody Christ’s peaceable social order in every sphere of life. This Paper proposes an initial framework by which the CFM will initiate a series of actions in partnership with people from major sectors of the Synod’s life. Creative Ministries Network will coordinate and develop the response of project partners to their shared discernment with the CFM of Christ’s call to the church, and the need of the world. Project partners will be those who express an interest in contributing to the discussion by their action and reflection in one or more of the areas identified for partnerships. Project partners may contribute at one or all of three levels:

i. Respond in writing to the five proposed policy principles. ii. Take up any of the strategic priorities identified for each policy area. iii. Put forward an expression of interest for one of the pilot projects identified for each

policy area, with the intention of being resourced through the project to be a participant in the pilot project.

The background section that follows outlines why the CFM is proceeding in this manner. Background Since the Synod’s disengagement from Inter-church Trade and Industrial Mission (ITIM)1 almost 20 years ago, the Synod has not had a mission policy for the UCA’s engagement with the world of work. During this time, the Synod’s focus on new areas of mission has centred on new housing growth areas and the development of residentially-based congregations.2 This period has also seen a dramatic decline in UCA membership in traditional residentially-based congregations. The decline in membership of people of employable age has been the most

1 The Synod’s disengagement from ITIM was the result of a shift in governance, direction and

philosophy at ITIM. In 2007, ITIM changed their name to Converge International, to “mark our strategic shift to becoming a global leader in work life balance with the expansion of our Business Innovation Group, the addition of on-line services and the establishment of the Institute for Knowledge and Learning”. (www.convergeinternational.com.au/about/index.cfm, accessed 15/02/2011) Converge is currently governed by a Board of five Directors.

2 Residentially-based congregations are organised around members’ place of residence, rather than their place of work, and in large part reflect the interests of home, family and the geographical community.


significant component of the overall decline3. However, neither of these observations is reason enough for an interim policy on the Synod’s mission and ministry to the world of work. This interim policy is based on the discernment that the Uniting Church’s gradual separation from the world of work is theologically significant for the church in its vocation in the world, and for the world in its need of reconciliation with God and God’s creation. The interim policy affirms the goodness of God’s creation in every sphere of life, including the world of economics and work. This interim policy declares the world of work is in need of God’s reconciliation, and seeks a response of faithfulness from the church to share in God’s mission to renew creation in peace and justice. The Genesis story of the tower of Babel is a theological picture of how human work strives to take humans to the height and power of a god (Genesis 11:1-9). The intention of this building work is to live without God. The consequence is fragmentation and distorted communication. So the Scriptures lead us to reflect on whether the church in its separation from the world of work has become captive to the fragmentation and distorted communication that arises when human work has proceeded to shut out God. This reflection goes to the heart of the theological imperative and project design behind this initiative. The question about the consequence of the church’s own fragmentation within the world of work is critical to the intention to invite people and organisations from across the too often isolated parts of the church to prayerfully consider contributing to some part of this new mission initiative. The project seeks to enable a theological conversation between various project partners that engages them with people in other sectors of the Synod. Methodology This Discussion Paper is based on a theological conversation between David Pargeter and John Bottomley that began many years ago, because of their mutual interest in workplace ministry. The proposal owes more to John’s experience with Creative Ministries Network, but it is the recognition of our own different experiences and the limits of our conversation that instruct us to shape this proposal as a Discussion Paper and invitation to a larger conversation grounded in a series of discrete actions. The project design recognises that this initiative has been developed from a committed but limited base of experience of UCA mission and ministry in the world of work. A central purpose of the project is to engage the church in a series of pilot projects that may broaden the church’s experience, and provide a stimulus to the church’s reflection on policy principles, strategic priorities, and emerging issues. It is intended this approach will assist the CFM to clarify in turn a stronger policy direction and creative mission initiatives. This project also intends to extend David and John’s theological conversation about work further into the life of the church,4 and deepen the purpose of the conversation. In choosing to support the development of mission policy around an action-reflection theological conversation, the CFM affirms the critical importance to the church of remaining focused on the horizon of God’s intention for the world of work and God’s peaceable kingdom of justice and mercy. The affirmation of God’s presence in our history needs a theological conversation that can assist the church to be reconstructed with a new identity for its mission

3 44 per cent of UCA members are retirees, compared with 30 per cent in other denominations (NCLS 2001

census report) 4 The theological framework for the proposed conversation is drawn from a paper submitted to BOMAR by the

Creative Ministries Network in response to BOMAR’s invitation to the CMN to explain how an investigation into the ‘world of work’ would provide a ‘genuinely transformative’ opportunity for the church. The invitation from BOMAR arose from CMN’s report on a three-year (2007 –2009) BOMAR funded project on transforming work.


in the world of work. This new identity will free the church to understand what led us to this place of separation from the world of work, and what we can hope for in our future as we engage with this new mission. One measure of where we are today in the separation of the church from the world of work is that the language of church and theology is alienating to many immersed in the world of work, and vice versa. A number of people who commented on earlier drafts of this Paper expressed a preference for one or other of the languages being used. The language of work and business was alienating to many theologically schooled church members. This may be a consequence of fragmentation and distorted communication arising from the world of work’s claims for itself, and the church’s captivity in that world. In symbolic recognition of this brokenness in the life of the church, this Discussion Paper seeks to speak with two voices united by a common spirit. The first voice outlines the proposals in practical terms, and explains how to become a project partner in practical terms. The second voice is a theological voice, and is included as an appendix because it embodies CMN’s theological journey as a UnitingCare agency with a focus on mission and ministry to the world of work. But as a theological voice, it is open for the conversation that needs to follow. It acknowledges that people can affirm the practical policy proposals as a basis for future action and reflection, without travelling the same road to make that commitment. Mission and ministry to the world of work Policy principle one: CFM will establish diverse starting points across the life of the UCA to connect the fragmented reality in both the world of work and church with each of the theological convictions underpinning this Discussion Paper. CFM will therefore develop a whole-of-Church missional strategy to the world of work as a new area of mission. Strategic priorities CFM will develop policy from this project for the Synod’s mission and ministry to the world of work. CFM seeks to support the transforming movement of God in establishing the church at work by forming critical partnerships and networks of support across the church that minister healing, justice and reconciliation to the brokenness in the world of work and church. Pilot project CFM’s Executive Director will convene a quarterly round table to facilitate the shared experience of discrete aspects of this policy implementation and to encourage theological reflection on emerging issues. Expressions of interest to be a participant in the round table will be sought. Policy principle two: CFM affirms that the vocation of lay people in paid employment (both employees and employers) is the hidden treasure of the church’s mission in the world of work, and will explore how it may empower UCA lay people for the mission they can and do exercise on the church’s front line in the new mission area of the world of paid work.


Strategic priorities CFM will seek to identify people who have or are able to assist the church to: • Develop liturgies and prayers to support key events in members’ work life. • Equip ministers, including lay pastors, to listen to members concerns about their work,

and develop their capacity for preaching on such concerns. • Learn from the experience of ministers in secular employment. • Develop opportunities for faith reflection on lay people’s work through study and prayer. • Locate lay people’s individual experience of work in the wider context of issues facing

their occupational category or industry sector. Pilot project Expressions of interest will be invited for participants in a group mentoring/supervision program for up to five ministers in residentially-based congregations willing to engage in a pilot project on developing congregations engagement with worship, pastoral care, the individual and collective vocation and identity of members in their daily work, and action for justice on work issues. Policy principle three: CFM affirms that within its Synod structure, schools and agencies, the UCA has many workplaces where it can address the integration of faith’s wisdom and professional knowledge. CFM is concerned to identify those who may assist the church examine its own policies and practices as an organisation relying on professional expertise, through its calling to be the church, and as a learning environment for future ministry in like industry sectors and work organisations Strategic priorities Initially, CFM seeks to document examples where church bodies have attempted to integrate faith’s wisdom with professional knowledge in an environment defined by secular notions of ‘risk’. CFM will forms partnerships with a small number of agencies or individuals to pilot projects which are able to: • Develop governance models and training for Synod, schools and agencies that affirm the

governance of God as the basis for integrating faith’s wisdom with professional knowledge in service provision, employee relations and workplace based faith communities/congregations.

• Develop management models and training for CEO’s and senior managers in Synod, schools and agencies that uphold the governance of God as the basis for competent and faithful leadership of UCA work organisations.

• Develop staff education and training for lay staff in Synod, schools and agencies that equips Christians and non-Christians to work together in work environments that encourage all staff to live out their vocation.

CFM will consult with the Centre for Theology and Ministry (CTM) on the development of pilot projects and evaluation of their experience. The experience gained from developing these models may then be built upon to provide education and training for individual Christians working in secular organisations in similar sectors. Pilot project CFM will invite the CTM to sponsor a public theology series of seminars on work and faith. Two series will focus on the role of lay people in the education and community services sectors, and one will focus on the arts industry. Each series will examine critical issues in the sector, and the focus faith brings to work's meaning and purpose as well as a sense of participation in God's mission. CFM will liaise with staff working in UCVT agencies, UC


schools, and Synod’s Arts Development Officer to plan and implement each series of seminars, thus giving voice to lay members ministry in everyday life. Policy principle four CFM affirms the need for a church that has a risk-taking culture and spiritually formed leadership to engage with those burdened by harmful impacts of work, including: • The dispossession of Australia’s First Peoples through colonial economic expansion. • The compartmentalizing of emotions (grief) and belief (faith, values) in the private

sphere, and their separation from objective and rational facts in the public sphere. • Work-related deaths and injury. • The impact of competitive and violent work and economic relationships (discrimination,

bullying, prejudice) on poverty and mental health. • Destruction and degradation of the environment (salinity, pollution, exposure to toxic

substances, climate change). • Diminishment of the value and worth of unpaid work and of people who are outside the

paid workforce. Strategic priority The CFM will document the experience of its own staff on the impact of the ideology of work on CFM projects, programs and staff relations. Pilot project CFM will consult with UCVT agencies, UC schools, and congregations to identify ways they respond to the harm caused by violence and injustice at work. This consultation will: • Identify the ways the church develops position of solidarity alongside those who are

suffering. This seeks a renewal of our understanding of grief and lament as the means by which the church calls on God to act mercifully against injustice.

• Listen to God’s word of judgment on any church structures and beliefs that impede our solidarity with broken and suffering people; acknowledge our failures and limitations; and open our hearts to God’s transforming grace so we can be renewed in our vision and mission.

• Proclaim a renewed vision of work as part of a new community advocating for just and peaceable work.

Policy principle five CFM affirms a commitment to renew the humanity of people at work through the development of theologically sensitive business models of the church at work. Strategic priority CFM will explore ways to translate the church’s experience with pastoral care, ritual, ethical reflection, social justice and faith education to develop new humanizing responses to work issues in the working life of the synod, presbyteries, congregations, agencies and schools. Pilot project CFM will establish a Church Enterprises Working Group to identify whether there are opportunities to create financially self-sustaining work-orientated agencies for mission and worship that address urban and rural industry sectors. Possible examples include: • Entrepreneurial community service business enterprises, such as opportunity shops,

hospitality services. • Converting a church building to a small business incubator for marginalised people. • Establishing an employee assistance program providing holistic support services to

industry. • Developing an occupational health and safety consultancy specialising in cross-cultural

information and training


Appendix: a theological foundation for an intentional conversation about mission and ministry to the world of work. 1. The sovereignty of God’s governance is continually displaced and marginalised

in the world of work shaped by the spirit of modernity5 The CFM affirms the goodness of God in creation by recalling the church’s discipleship to God’s governance of the world of work that believes itself to be shaped by the spirit of modernity. God’s incarnation in Christ sheds light on how the church is to implement our calling in a world, while the prevailing worldview is that individual and social progress comes through the work of autonomous individuals whose reason and scientific knowledge will give them the ability to control and subdue nature. This Discussion Paper, consistent with the Basis of Union, welcomes the inheritance of scientific enquiry of recent centuries as a gift of God in creation, while affirming the insistence in the Basis of Union that God in Christ reasserted God’s claim over the whole creation. However, the Paper notes that the Basis of Union is silent on how these two affirmations are to be integrated, or how they are to relate when their respective claims appear to be contested. CFM acknowledges the complex relationship between these beliefs about truth as we engage the church with the world of work. CFM encourages the church to deepen our understanding of the complex relationship between faith’s wisdom and secular knowledge, while committing this interim policy to assist the synod accept the challenge of speaking with an inclusive theological voice. Policy principle one: CFM will establish diverse starting points across the life of the UCA to connect the fragmented reality in both the world of work and church with each of the theological convictions underpinning this Discussion Paper. CFM will therefore develop a whole-of-Church missional strategy to the world of work as a new area of mission. Strategic priorities

5 Descartes (1596-1650), for example, as an architect of the modern age, developed a philosophical program based on ‘pure reason’ that sought to make human beings ‘the masters and possessors of nature’ to enjoy ‘the fruits of the earth and all its commodities’. Descartes’ hope that the conquest of nature by the exercise of reason would make a reality of reason’s ‘sweet dream of heaven on earth’ (see Harvey, B, 1999, Another City: an ecclesiological primer for the post-Christian world, Trinity Press, Pennsylvania, pp. 95-96) has proved not only a nightmare for indigenous people around the world, but caused environmental upheavals such as climate change, the cost of which is yet to be fully realized. See also Middleton, J and Walsh, B, 1995, Truth is stranger than it used to be: biblical faith in a postmodern age, Illinois, Intervarsity Press, pp. 14-15. Middleton and Walsh present Dewey as a proponent of the spirit of modernity in the North American context. His philosophy delights in the natural world rather than being preoccupied with the supernatural; seeks to attain truth through the power of individual minds rather than ecclesiastical authority; and has a belief in progress, which is achieved by controlling and subduing nature by scientific methods. The spirit of modern ‘man’ is one of self-assurance and autonomy, being in control of his destiny through the exercise of scientific knowledge and the courage of his reason.


CFM will develop policy from this project for the Synod’s mission and ministry to the world of work. CFM seeks to support the transforming movement of God in establishing the church at work by forming critical partnerships and networks of support across the church that minister healing, justice and reconciliation to the brokenness in the world of work and church. Pilot project CFM’s Executive Director will convene a quarterly round table to facilitate the shared experience of discrete aspects of this policy implementation and to encourage theological reflection on emerging issues. Expressions of interest to be a participant in the round table will be sought. Policy principle two: CFM affirms that the vocation of lay people in paid employment (both employees and employers) is the hidden treasure of the church’s mission in the world of work, and will explore how it may empower UCA lay people for the mission they can and do exercise on the church’s front line in the new mission area of the world of work. Strategic priorities CFM will seek to identify people who have or are able to assist the church to: • Develop liturgies and prayers to support key events in members’ work life. • Equip ministers, including lay pastors, to listen to members concerns about their work,

and develop their capacity for preaching on such concerns. • Learn from the experience of ministers in secular employment. • Develop opportunities for faith reflection on lay people’s work through study and prayer. • Locate lay people’s individual experience of work in the wider context of issues facing

their occupational category or industry sector. Pilot project Expressions of interest will be invited for participants in a group mentoring/supervision program for up to five ministers in residentially-based congregations willing to engage in a pilot project on developing congregations engagement with worship, pastoral care, the individual and collective vocation and identity of members in their daily work, and action for justice on work issues. 2. God’s judgment on the world of work and the life of the church reveals the

critical failings that God’s mercy may transform The CFM accepts the following discernment of God’s judgment and mercy on our modern world of work and the life of the church is primarily the theological reflection of the Creative Ministries Network, arising from the Network’s mission to the world of work over 27 years. The CFM seeks first to listen to this testimony of prophetic judgment from one of our agencies so we may enhance the conversation about the critical dimensions of idolatry, sin and evil in both the world of work and also the life of the church. The CFM prays for understanding of God’s judgment on the brokenness of life, and seeks to be open to God’s transforming mercy so the life of the church may cultivate and empower spiritually formed, visionary leaders for the renewal of work. 2.1 Life divided: God’s ‘no’ to the separation of ‘public’ and ‘private


The division of human life into ‘public’ and ‘private’ spheres is today under God’s judgment. In particular, we are witnessing the collapse of rational knowledge and ‘facts’ as sources of absolute truth with the dehumanising of work (e.g., work-related deaths, bullying, increasing gap between rich and poor within and between nations), while the private realm of the individual and home is emotionally overburdened and unable to cope with the strain (e.g., increasing mental illness, stigma, social isolation, spiralling levels of drug, gambling and alcohol addictions). God’s judgment also falls on the church to the extent that the UCA’s congregation, presbytery, synod and assembly structures are primarily enmeshed in and focused upon the private sphere of residential/home life. The sickness the church is experiencing due to its overwhelming location of its resources around the private world of residence/home life is mirrored in the sickness being experienced in the world of work. One cannot be transformed without the other. This is a message of hope for the church as we hear God’s ‘no’ to the separation of ‘public’ and ‘private’. 2.2 Time divided: God’s ‘no’ to the separation of ‘death’ from ‘life’ There is a judgment on the separation of ‘death’ from ‘life’ and the consequent fear of the reality of death and grief in the public world of work. The lack of respect for death as part of life ensures the causes of death due to injustice and oppression in the public world are inadequately understood (e.g., work-related death, road/car deaths, stress-related death) and therefore the foundation of injustice continues to hold firm. God’s judgment also falls on the church to the extent that the UCA is in denial about the decline and death of its prevailing model of residentially-focused ministry. The UCA is complicit with the prevailing culture when both church and world live in denial of dying, death and grief. From the 1950’s, declining congregations have been encouraged to amalgamate to survive. Recently, the same strategy has been applied to presbyteries. Throughout this period, the church has invested more and more heavily in establishing congregations on the traditional congregational model in so-called ‘new’ suburbs, when these urban fringe suburbs bring even greater separation of home from work than the ‘old’ suburbs did 130 years earlier. A church that cannot live with the truth of its own decline and the dying of its much-loved model of ministry is not well-equipped to minister to a culture that is also suffering the pain of decline and dying. The dying of an institutional form of church may be teaching and transforming the church for the urgent ministry our society needs. This is a message of hope for the church as we hear God’s ‘no’ to the separation of ‘death’ from ‘life’. 2.3 Reality divided: God’s ‘no’ to the separation of the ‘material’ and ‘spiritual’ There is a judgment on the exclusion of ‘spirit’ from the ‘material’, and in particular the destruction of the essential links between human life and our stewardship of creation. The blindness to God’s spirit at ‘work’ in the created order ensures our economy continues to plunder the environment’s ‘resources’, while the prevailing spiritualities of our age baptise the pursuit of material progress. Work for many is soul-destroying because God’s spirit of justice and mercy is resisted by the prevailing economic free-market spirits of efficiency, competition, and greed. God’s judgment also falls on the church to the extent that the UCA has organised its life around this spiritual blindness, maintaining the separation of the material (property, finance,


work) from the spiritual (mission, worship, home). Lay people receive little or no encouragement from the church to integrate their faith and work. Rather, they are encouraged to see faith as service to the institutional church, and their work as a lesser service, if indeed it is seen as a service to Christ at all. This is a message of hope for the church as we are called to the profoundly urgent matter of spiritual discernment so we may hear God’s ‘no’ to the separation of the ‘material’ from the ‘spiritual’. Each of the three divisions described here as characteristic of western societies dates back to beliefs about social structures and human life that underpinned the British colonial expansion to Australia in 1788 – a belief system that in enduring to this day has deeply shaped the meaning and purpose of work in the Australian context. Our theological commitment to addressing this historical context may be part of the unique contribution the Uniting Church is able to bring to the challenge of national reconciliation. Prophetic ministry imagines God’s purifying judgment on the people of God as necessary preparation for their ministry to be a transforming light to the nations. The testimony of the Hebrew Scriptures is these acts of God’s judgment and renewal occur in human history. Thus the CFM again affirms the importance of understanding its own history in partnership with other parts of the church and the world of work in implementing God’s mission to transform work and church. Policy principle three: CFM affirms that within its Synod structure, schools and agencies, the UCA has many workplaces where it can address the integration of faith’s wisdom and professional knowledge. CFM is concerned to identify those who may assist the church examine its own policies and practices as an organisation relying on professional expertise, through its calling to be the church, and as a learning environment for future ministry in like industry sectors and work organisations Strategic priorities Initially, CFM seeks to document examples where church bodies have attempted to integrate faith’s wisdom with professional knowledge in an environment defined by secular notions of ‘risk’. CFM will forms partnerships with a small number of agencies or individuals to pilot projects which are able to: • Develop governance models and training for Synod, schools and agencies that affirm the

governance of God as the basis for integrating faith’s wisdom with professional knowledge in service provision, employee relations and workplace based faith communities/congregations.

• Develop management models and training for CEO’s and senior managers in Synod, schools and agencies that uphold the governance of God as the basis for competent and faithful leadership of UCA work organisations.

• Develop staff education and training for lay staff in Synod, schools and agencies that equips Christians and non-Christians to work together in work environments that encourage all staff to live out their vocation.

CFM will consult with the CTM on the development of pilot projects and evaluation of their experience. The experience gained from developing these models may then be built upon to provide education and training for individual Christians working in secular organisations in similar sectors.


Pilot project CFM will invite the CTM to sponsor a public theology series of seminars on work and faith. Two series will focus on the role of lay people in the education and community services sectors, and one will focus on the arts industry. Each series will examine critical issues in the sector, and the focus faith brings to work's meaning and purpose as well as a sense of participation in God's mission. CFM will liaise with staff working in UCVT agencies, UC schools, and Synod’s Arts Development Officer to plan and implement each series of seminars, thus giving voice to lay members ministry in everyday life. 3. Lament: only people of faith will voice their pain and sorrow to God for a culture

in denial of death and dying The CFM asks God’s grace to engage a prophetic prayer that voices the people’s risk-taking lament at their/our suffering. Through our lament we re-engage with God in a desire for a renewed work culture imbued with God’s justice and mercy. In solidarity with Christ’s cross, CFM seeks to discover a voice that doesn’t pathologise powerless feelings and experiences, and sees in Christ’s acceptance of personal weaknesses and human limitations a point of openness to Christ’s love and forgiveness. In this vision, grief is not only an emotional expression of loss. Here, grief is also a lament that names what is unjust in the structure and beliefs of the modern world. This grief is a protest against the dehumanising ideology of work, and names the fractures in workplace beliefs and structures that are the critical openings for God’s spirit to begin its transforming mission. Policy principle four CFM affirms the need for a church that has a risk-taking culture and spiritually formed leadership to engage with those burdened by harmful impacts of work, including: • The dispossession of Australia’s First Peoples through colonial economic expansion. • The compartmentalizing of emotions (grief) and belief (faith, values) in the private

sphere, and their separation from objective and rational facts in the public sphere. • Work-related deaths and injury. • The impact of competitive and violent work and economic relationships (discrimination,

bullying, prejudice) on poverty and mental health. • Destruction and degradation of the environment (salinity, pollution, exposure to toxic

substances, climate change). • Diminishment of the value and worth of unpaid work and of people who are outside the

paid workforce. Strategic priority The CFM will document the experience of its own staff on the impact of the ideology of work on CFM projects, programs and staff relations. Pilot project CFM will consult with UCVT agencies, UC schools, and congregations to identify ways they respond to the harm caused by violence and injustice at work. This consultation will: • Identify the ways the church develops position of solidarity alongside those who are

suffering. This seeks a renewal of our understanding of grief and lament as the means by which the church calls on God to act mercifully against injustice.

• Listen to God’s word of judgment on any church structures and beliefs that impede our solidarity with broken and suffering people; acknowledge our failures and limitations; and open our hearts to God’s transforming grace so we can be renewed in our vision and mission.

• Proclaim a renewed vision of work as part of a new community advocating for just and peaceable work.


4. Partners in the transforming risk-taking movement of God CFM affirms the importance of work as a primary source of meaning and identity for many people, while recognising the continuing evidence that many others are alienated from the type of work that could provide them with lasting meaning or satisfying identity. CFM affirms the need for a spiritually integrated leadership in the church that is free to cultivate an innovative church able to implement radical patterns of discipleship in the world of work. Policy principle five CFM affirms a commitment to renew the humanity of people at work through the development of theologically sensitive business models of the church at work. Strategic priority CFM will explore ways to translate the church’s experience with pastoral care, ritual, ethical reflection, social justice and faith education to develop new humanizing responses to work issues in the working life of the synod, presbyteries, congregations, agencies and schools. Pilot project CFM will establish a Church Enterprises Working Group to identify whether there are opportunities to create financially self-sustaining work-orientated agencies for mission and worship that address urban and rural industry sectors. Possible examples include: • Entrepreneurial community service business enterprises, such as opportunity shops,

hospitality services. • Converting a church building to a small business incubator for marginalised people. • Establishing an employee assistance program providing holistic support services to

industry. • Developing an occupational health and safety consultancy specialising in cross-cultural

information and training

Documents

MISSION & MINISTRY AT WORK - Creative Ministries …cmn.unitingcare.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Ministry-at-Work... · Cover design by Margaret Neith ... This Discussion Paper