{{Short description|Australian Christian denomination}} {{Use dmy dates|date= February 2014}} {{Use Australian English|date=February 2013}}{{Redirect|Uniting Church|the broader classification of Protestant churches|United and uniting churches|text=Not to be confused with Union Church (Australia)}} {{Infobox Christian branch | name = Uniting Church in Australia | image = UCA-logo.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert | imageupright = .6 | imagewidth = | caption = UCA logo | type = United church | main_classification = Mainline Protestant | orientation = Methodist and Reformed | scripture = Protestant Bible | polity = mixed Presbyterian, Connexional and Congregational | founder = | founded_date = {{Start date and age|1977|df=yes}} | founded_place = | separated_from = | leader_name = Charissa Suli | leader_title = President of the Assembly | parent = | merger = {{ublist|Methodist Church of Australasia|Two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia|Congregational Union of Australia}} | separations = | fellowships = Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress | associations = NCCA, WCC, CCA, WCRC, World Methodist Council, Pacific Conference of Churches | area = Australia | hospitals = | nursing_homes = UnitingCare | aid = UnitingCare UnitingWorld | congregations = 2,000<ref name=UCASubmission/> | members = 243,000 (2016)<ref name=UCASubmission/> | ministers = | missionaries = | primary_schools = | secondary_schools = | tertiary = | footnotes = }}
The '''Uniting Church in Australia''' ('''UCA''') is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nswact.uca.org.au/about-us/our-history/|title = UCA - Our History}}</ref> when most congregations 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 united under the UCA's '''''Basis of Union'''''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://assembly.uca.org.au/about/uca|title=Uniting Church in Australia Assembly - About the Uniting Church in Australia|website=assembly.uca.org.au|date=10 September 2019 |language=en-gb|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref> According to the church, it had 243,000 members in 2018.<ref name="UCASubmission">{{cite web |date=February 2018 |title=Submission to the Review of the ACNC Legislation |url=https://www.acnclegislationreview.com.au/uploads/content_d3eab0ab534294e74726216b2cc8ed3f.pdf |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306142534/https://www.acnclegislationreview.com.au/uploads/content_d3eab0ab534294e74726216b2cc8ed3f.pdf |archive-date=2018-03-06 |website=Review of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) legislation |publisher=Uniting Church in Australia}}</ref> In the {{CensusAU|2016}}, 870,183 Australians identified with the church, but that figure fell to 673,260 in the {{CensusAU|2021}}.<ref name=2021Census>{{cite web | website=www.abs.gov.au | access-date=2024-02-28 | date=2022-07-04 | title=Census of Population and Housing: Census article - Religious affiliation in Australia, 2021 | url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/cultural-diversity-census/2021/Census%20article%20-%20Religious%20affiliation%20in%20Australia.xlsx}}</ref> In the {{CensusAU|2011}}, that figure was 1,065,796. The UCA is Australia's third-largest Christian denomination, behind the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.<ref name="Census2011">{{cite web|title=Cultural Diversity in Australia|url=http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2071.0main+features902012-2013|website=abs.gov.au|date=21 June 2012|publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics|access-date=May 14, 2016}}</ref> There are around 2,000 UCA congregations,<ref name=UCASubmission/> and 2001 National Church Life Survey (NCLS) research indicated that average weekly attendance was about 10 per cent of census figures.<ref name="ncls">[http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?sitemapid=2261 "Census vs Attendance (2001)"] ''National Church Life Survey''</ref> The UCA is one of Australia's largest non-government providers of community and health services. Its service network consists of over 400 agencies, institutions, and parish missions, with its areas of service including aged care, hospitals, children, youth and family, disability, employment, emergency relief, drug and alcohol abuse, youth homelessness and suicide.<ref name=UCASubmission/> Affiliated agencies include UnitingWorld.
thumb|upright=1.4|alt=Colour-coded map of Australia|Uniting Church members as a percentage of the total population in the 2011 census, divided geographically by local area
==Organisation== [[File:St-Michael's-at-Night.jpg|thumb|alt=Downtown church at night|St Michael's Uniting Church, Melbourne ''(pictured)'' was formerly the Congregational Union Australia Church.]] [[File:Port Adelaide Uniting Church-2005.jpg|thumb|alt=Landscaped, Gothic-style church|Port Adelaide Uniting Church]] [[File:Scots Uniting Church.jpg|thumb|alt=Another Gothic-style church|Scots Uniting Church in Albany, Western Australia]] The UCA is a national, unincorporated association of councils, each of which has responsibility for functions in the church. The councils are congregations (local), presbyteries (regional), synods (state) and an assembly (national).<ref>{{cite web |title=Uniting Church in Australia Assembly |url=https://assembly.uca.org.au/ |access-date=18 January 2020 }}</ref>
===Assembly=== The UCA assembly meets every three years.<ref name=UCASubmission/>
===President=== thumb|Deidre Palmer was UCA President from 2018 to 2021. The current president is Reverend Charissa Suli since she was installed as president in the meeting of the 17th Assembly on 11 July 2024. She replaced Reverend Sharon Hollis, who had succeeded Dr Deidre Palmer at the start of the 16th Assembly in July 2021.<ref name="president">{{cite news |url=https://www.insights.uca.org.au/news/dr-deidre-palmer-gods-abundant-grace-shapes-and-reshapes-us |title=Dr Deidre Palmer: God's abundant grace shapes and reshapes us |newspaper=Insights Magazine |date=9 July 2018 |access-date=9 July 2018}}</ref> Palmer was the second woman in the role, following Jill Tabart (1994-1997).<ref name="p-e_2015">[http://assembly2015.uca.org.au/president-elect-announced/ President-Elect announced] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717050000/http://assembly2015.uca.org.au/president-elect-announced/ |date=17 July 2015 }}, Uniting Church in Australia, 16 July 2015</ref> Palmer was the moderator of the Presbytery and Synod of South Australia from November 2013 to November 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://assembly2015.uca.org.au/president-elect-announced/ |title=President-Elect announced |date=16 July 2015 |access-date=18 July 2015 |publisher=Uniting Church in Australia |archive-date=17 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717050000/http://assembly2015.uca.org.au/president-elect-announced/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Hollis was moderator of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania at the time of her election in 2018 as the president-elect and became president at the beginning of the sixteenth assembly, which was to be held in Queensland in 2021.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://uniting.church/sharon-hollis-named-as-uca-president-elect/ |title=Sharon Hollis named as UCA President-elect |publisher=Uniting Church in Australia |access-date=12 July 2018 |date=12 July 2018 |archive-date=12 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712182849/https://uniting.church/sharon-hollis-named-as-uca-president-elect/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was moved to a shorter, online form.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/is-the-uca-ready-for-a-president-of-colour/ |title=Is the UCA ready for a President of colour? |newspaper=Eternity News |first=Matt |last=Pulford |date=15 July 2021 |access-date=16 July 2021}}</ref>
===Synods=== Synods are UCA councils which roughly correspond to state boundaries. Each synod meets about once per year, with a standing committee to represent it between sessions. Synod responsibilities include the promotion and encouragement of the church's mission, theological and ministerial education, and overseeing property matters.<ref name="2015-regulations">{{cite web |url=https://assembly.uca.org.au/images/resources/Regulations_Policies/2015_Regulations-updatedSeptember2016.pdf |pages=75–78 |title=The Uniting Church in Australia Regulations |access-date=7 November 2016 |archive-date=7 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107160632/https://assembly.uca.org.au/images/resources/Regulations_Policies/2015_Regulations-updatedSeptember2016.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> There are six synods:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uca.org.au|title=Uniting Church in Australia Assembly - Home|website=uca.org.au}}</ref> * Synod of New South Wales and the ACT (formerly the NSW Synod)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nswact.uca.org.au/ |title=Uniting for the common good. |publisher=Synod of NSW and the ACT}}</ref> * Synod of Queensland<!--this seems to be the formal name, but Queensland Synod is also common--><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ucaqld.com.au/ |title=The Uniting Church in Australia Queensland Synod}}</ref> * Synod of South Australia<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sa.uca.org.au/ |title=Uniting Church SA - Uniting Church. Uniting People.}}</ref> * Synod of Western Australia<ref>{{cite web |url=http://unitingchurchwa.org.au/ |title=Uniting Church in Australia, Western Australia}}</ref> * Synod of Victoria and Tasmania<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.victas.uca.org.au/ |title= Uniting Church in Australia. Synod of Victoria and Tasmania}}</ref> * The Northern Synod, which includes the Northern Territory, north-west Western Australia and northern South Australia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ns.uca.org.au/ |title=Uniting Church in Australia Northern Synod}}</ref>
===Congregations=== There are about 2,000 UCA congregations, with 243,000 members and adherents. Congregations range in size from a dozen to hundreds of members.<ref name=UCASubmission/>
==Agencies== [[File:WaysideChapel.JPG|thumb|alt=City house, converted into a small church|upright=1.3|Wayside Chapel, Potts Point]] UnitingCare Australia, operates shelters and emergency housing; family-relationships support; disability services, and food kitchens.{{cn|date=May 2026}}
===<span id="Recent history"></span>Youth=== The National Christian Youth Convention is a national UCA activity during school and university holidays, every two or three years in a different city. NCYC 2007, "Agents of Change", was held in Perth.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.agentsofchange.org.au/ |title=NCYC 2007: Agents of Change |access-date=2007-01-09 |archive-date=6 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070106212929/http://www.agentsofchange.org.au/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The 2009 "Converge" was held in Melbourne. NCYC 2011 was held from 29 December 2010 to 4 January 2011 at the Southport School on Queensland's Gold Coast. Yuróra NCYC 2014 was held in North Parramatta, Sydney from 7 to 10 January 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ncyc.com.au/ |title=NCYC 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226031134/http://ncyc.com.au/ |archive-date=2015-02-26}}</ref> Yuróra NCYC 2017, "Uniting Culture", was also held in Sydney in January 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://yurora.com/ |title=Yurora 2017 |work=National Christian Youth Convention |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205001620/http://yurora.com/ |archive-date=2017-02-05}}</ref>
===<span id="International"></span>International aid=== UnitingWorld is the church's international-aid agency.<ref name="UnitingWorld">{{Cite web|url=http://www.unitingworld.org.au/wp-content/uploads/UnitingWorld-Annual-Report-2017-18_FINAL-LOW-RES.pdf|title=UnitingWorld Annual Report 2018|website=UnitingWorld Governance and Structure}}</ref> It receives funding from the government of Australia to implement development and poverty-alleviation programs in the Pacific, Asia and Africa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://dfat.gov.au/aid/who-we-work-with/ngos/Pages/list-of-australian-accredited-non-government-organisations.aspx|title=List of Australian accredited non-government organisations (NGOs)|website=Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade|language=en-us|access-date=2019-07-19}}</ref> UnitingWorld works in partnership with 18 overseas denominations to support over 180,000 people annually through sustainable community development projects.<ref name="UnitingWorld"/>
==Culture==
The UCA advocates for social justice. It has taken stances on issues such as native title for indigenous people; the environment; apartheid; refugee status, and safe injection facilities for drug users. The church is similar to other united and uniting churches, which maintain a cultural identity in their own country and practise ecumenical fellowship with other Christian denominations worldwide.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Crossing borders : shaping faith, ministry and identity in multicultural Australia|editor1=Helen Richmond |editor2=Myong Duk Yang|date=2006|publisher=Openbook Australia|isbn=1864072474|location=Sydney|pages=138–146|oclc=224450283}}</ref> Between 1991 and 2013, UCA attendance declined by 41 per cent. In 2013, about 97,200 people attended weekly worship services throughout Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://assembly.uca.org.au/images/13C003_UCA_Census_Headline_Summary_FINAL.pdf|title=2013 Uniting Church Census of congregations and ministers - Headline Report|publisher=National Church Life Survey Research|page=4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411034716/https://assembly.uca.org.au/images/13C003_UCA_Census_Headline_Summary_FINAL.pdf|access-date=9 February 2016|archive-date=11 April 2021}}</ref>
==Theology==
===Sexuality=== {{Christianity and LGBT topics}} The church permits local presbyteries to ordain gay and lesbian ministers.<ref>{{cite web|title=Global Trend: World's oldest Protestant churches now ordain gays and lesbians|url=http://www.ucc.org/global-trend-worlds-oldest|website=ucc.org|publisher=United Church of Christ|access-date=April 21, 2016|archive-date=10 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710184632/http://www.ucc.org/global-trend-worlds-oldest|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The fairly broad consensus has been that a person's sexual orientation should not be a bar to attendance, membership or participation in the church. More controversial has been the issue of sexual activity by gay and lesbian people and the sexual behaviour of ordination candidates. In 2003, the church voted to allow local presbyteries to decide whether to ordain gay and lesbian people as ministers.<ref>{{cite web|last1=O'brien|first1=Kerry|title=Nile quits church over gay ordination decision|url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2003/s906981.htm|website=abc.net.au|publisher=ABC|access-date=April 21, 2016}}</ref>
In March 2021, the UCA became the first mainstream Australian church to induct a transgender minister, when Jo Inkpin was installed at Pitt Street Uniting Church in Sydney.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Joesphine Inkpin to serve as new minister at Pitt Street Uniting Church|language=en-us|work=Insights Magazine|url=https://www.insights.uca.org.au/joesphine-inkpin-to-serve-as-new-minister-at-pitt-street-uniting-church/|access-date=2021-07-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-03-30|title='Tears of joy' as trans priest becomes Uniting Church minister|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-31/reverend-jo-inkpin-making-history-in-uniting-church-role/13282256|access-date=2021-07-09|newspaper=ABC News|language=en-AU}}</ref>
=== Marriage === Ministers were permitted to bless same-sex couples entering civil unions in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hiatt|first1=Bethany|title=Uniting Church may overhaul rules of marriage|url=https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/28769619/uniting-church-may-overhaul-rules-of-marriage/|website=au.news.yahoo.com|publisher=AU News|access-date=April 21, 2016|archive-date=1 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401170740/https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/28769619/uniting-church-may-overhaul-rules-of-marriage/|url-status=dead}}</ref> A 2018 resolution allows local churches to decide about blessings of same-sex marriage.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sandeman |first=John |date=13 July 2018 |title=Uniting Church to hold same sex marriages |url=https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/uniting-church-to-hold-same-sex-marriage/ |work=Eternity |location=Australia |access-date=13 July 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/uniting-church-to-allow-same-sex-marriages|title=Uniting Church to allow same-sex marriages|work=SBS News|access-date=2018-07-13|language=en-GB}}</ref>
===Theologians=== * Alan Walker * James Haire * Bill Loader * Wesley Wildman * Benjamin Myers
== Assemblies ==
{| class="wikitable" !No.!!Date!!President!!General secretary!!Location |- |1|| June 1977 || Davis McCaughey|| Winston O'Reilly||Sydney |- |2|| May 1979 || Winston O'Reilly|| O'Reilly (until December 1979)||Melbourne |- |3|| May 1982 || Rolland Busch|| David Gill (from January 1980)|| Adelaide |- |4|| May 1985 || Ian B. Tanner|| David Gill|| Sydney |- |5|| May 1988 || Ronald Wilson|| David Gill (until July 1988)|| Melbourne |- |6|| July 1991 || D'Arcy Wood||Gregor Henderson (from January 1989)|| Brisbane |- |7|| July 1994 || Jill Tabart|| Gregor Henderson|| Sydney |- |8|| July 1997 || John Mavor|| Gregor Henderson||Perth |- |9|| July 2000 || James Haire|| Gregor Henderson||Adelaide |- |10|| July 2003 || Dean Drayton|| Terence Corkin (from January 2001)|| Melbourne |- |11|| July 2006 || Gregor Henderson|| Terence Corkin|| Brisbane |- |12|| July 2009 || Alistair Macrae|| Terence Corkin|| Sydney |- |13|| July 2012 || Andrew Dutney|| Terence Corkin|| Adelaide |- |14|| July 2015 || Stuart McMillan|| Colleen Geyer (from January 2016)|| Perth |- |15|| July 2018 || Deidre Palmer|| Colleen Geyer|| Box Hill, Victoria (Melbourne) |- |16 || July 2021 || Sharon Hollis || Colleen Geyer || online |- |17 ||July 2024 || Charissa Suli || Lindsay Cullen (interim) Andrew Johnson (from October 2024) |Parramatta |}
==See also== {{Portal|Christianity|Reformed Christianity}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Uniting Church in Australia}}
===Official websites=== *[https://uniting.church/ National Assembly website] *[https://www.unitingworld.org.au/ UnitingWorld website] *[https://unitingcare.org.au UnitingCare Australia] *[http://www.assembly.uca.org.au/rof Relations with Other Faiths website] *[http://www.assembly.uca.org.au/mcm Multicultural and Cross Cultural website] *[http://www.unitingjustice.org.au UnitingJustice website] *[https://journeyonline.com.au/ Journey magazine website] *[http://www.confessingcongregations.com Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA]
===Other websites=== *[https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/discovery/fulldisplay?context=L&vid=61SLQ_INST:SLQ&search_scope=Everything&tab=All&docid=alma99208773402061 Uniting Church in Australia Oral History 1992–1994], State Library of Queensland
{{Christianity in Australia}} {{Religion in Australia}} {{UCA Churches|state=autocollapse}} {{Methodism footer}} {{UCA Schools}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uniting Church In Australia}} Category:Uniting Church in Australia Category:United and uniting churches Category:Methodist denominations Category:Presbyterian denominations in Australia Category:Congregationalist denominations Category:Members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches Category:Members of the World Council of Churches Category:Christian organizations established in 1977 Category:1977 establishments in Australia Category:Christian denominations in Australia Category:Affirming Christian denominations in Oceania