God’s imagination calls Synod to be inclusive
Courageous, inclusive and generous are the three words which proclaim the ways in which the New South Wales Synod will achieve its vision of “Moving with God Transforming Communities”.
“Inclusive is probably the most difficult of these three words,” said the Moderator, the Rev. Niall Reid, “for it challenges us to see others with God’s gracious imagination as reflections of the divine.”
For each Synod meeting during his term from 2007 to 2011 Mr Reid said he would take one of the three action words (courage, inclusive, generous) and explore the word in the context of grace — which he believed was central to God’s character and had the power to transform.
The theme for Synod in 2008 is “Called to be Inclusive”. For Synod in 2007 it was “Grace and Courage”.
The word inclusive poses difficulty, Mr Reid said, because many people believe that by its very nature the Christian Church is exclusive; that is, the beliefs and values the Church holds dear inevitably exclude those who do not accept them.
However, Mr Reid said, at the centre of Christianity lies the acknowledgment that every person is made in the image of God.
“I take this to mean that no matter how broken, shattered or sinful we are there is something of God within us; that in every person there is ‘the Christ’ to be honoured,” Mr Reid said.
“While this does not require us to deny our values, principles or beliefs, understanding that everyone is included in the class of people made in the image of God must have an impact on how we exercise those values, principles and beliefs.”
Mr Reid said that to begin from the premise that everyone was welcome and included was vital, because it was through inclusion in the life of the church — in the body of Christ — that lives could be transformed.
“God knows none of us measures up,” Mr Reid said. “But, in Christ, God sees all of us as he imagines us to be: unblemished, unsoiled, un-smudged images of God. At the same time, through the toiling of the Spirit, God continues to polish us into the human beings of that divine vision. This is grace! This is our example as we seek to be the body of Christ.”
Mr Reid said the Uniting Church was striving to emulate God’s exemplary grace by valuing the uniqueness, equality and dignity of all people and working in solidarity with those experiencing injustice, oppression or abuse of their human rights.
The church’s work with indigenous people, refugees and asylum seekers and people of other faiths and its welcome of people regardless of their sexuality were all signs of its willingness to embrace diversity and live in inclusive rather than exclusive ways.
Mr Reid acknowledged that, in a broken world, there would be times when the church had to make tough decisions which might cause a person to experience exclusion. An example of this would be when a person’s brokenness endangered the safety of others.
“But people always have priority over principles,” Mr Reid said.
“Principles have their place but they are not there to exclude people.
“Principles are the desires, the benchmarks and the guidelines the Spirit places in our hearts as God makes us into the people of his imagination.
“Principles will change and develop with us as we grow together into the people God calls us to be but have yet to become — except in God’s gracious imagination.”
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