UNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA SYNOD OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND THE ACT SYNOD STANDING COMMITTEE

Transcription

1 UNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA SYNOD OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND THE ACT SYNOD STANDING COMMITTEE MINUTES for the meeting of the Synod Standing Committee held at Centre for Ministry on Saturday 19 October 2013 DECISIONS Decisions recorded in these Minutes were reached by consensus unless otherwise indicated by agreement or by formal process ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF ABORIGINAL PEOPLE The Moderator paid respect to the Aboriginal people of the Burramattagal Clan and Darug tribes who have cared for this part of the land from time immemorial WORSHIP The Moderator led opening devotions. Dr Katalina Tahaafe-Williams led closing prayers TIMES OF SESSIONS am 10.30am am 12.30pm pm 3.00pm pm 5.00pm AGENDA 182/13SC adopt the Order of Business as printed subject to changes suggested by the General Secretary and alterations made by the Synod Standing Committee ATTENDANCE AND APOLOGIES A record of those present as members and alternates is held in the records of the General Secretary 185

2 APOLOGIES Session Rev Warwick Cadenhead Rev David Gore Rev Lindsay Cullen Mr an Gibson Rev Greg McConnell Rev Kath Merrifield Rev Bronwyn Murphy Rev Punam Bent Rev Simon Hansford Mr Ian Lawrence 1 Rev Ki-Soo Jang 2 Ms Malia Puna 3 Mr Peter Worland 3 IN ATTENDANCE Ms Mary Kapotas Rev Jane Fry ASSOCIATED MEMBERS Mr Michael Anderson 1 Mr Matthew Moore 2 Mr Justin Whelan 2 Dr Miriam Pepper 2 Mr Jonathan Rae 2 MINUTES 183/13SC confirm the Minutes of the Synod Standing Committee held 21 September 2013 EN BLOC 184/13SC determine that matters listed following be adopted en bloc unless the General Secretary receives a request before the commencement of Session 3 that a matter be considered separately 186

3 APPOINTMENTS (a) UnitingCare Board Reference letter from the UnitingCare NSW.ACT Board dated 14 October /13SC (i) note that Ms Libby Davies term as Chair of the Board of UnitingCare NSW.ACT concludes on 31 December 2013 (ii) note that the Rev Gordon Ramsay has been nominated to the position of Chair of the Board of UnitingCare NSW.ACT for the next period and commencing 1 January 2014 noting that this appointment is current through the remainder of the structural review process currently underway and the transitional process that will follow once the decision has been taken regarding the revised structure of UnitingCare NSW.ACT (b) The Uniting Church (NSW) Trust Association Limited 186/13SC on the recommendation of the Governance, Nomination and Remuneration Committee, nominate the following persons to membership and directorship of the Uniting Church (NSW) Trust Association Limited (i) Members (to be appointed for a term of three years) Mr Michael Anderson Mr Stephen Capelin Mr Peter Andrews Mr John Graves Mr Kenneth Broadhead Mr Craig Wright (ii) Members (to be appointed for a term of two years) Mr John Cameron Ms Sonia Powell Mr Graham Horrocks Mr Cameron Smart Mr Andrew Gibbons Mr Richard Stewart (iii) Directors (to be appointed for a term of three years) Mr Andrew Gibbons Mr John Collins Mr Neil King 187

4 (iv) Directors (to be appointed for a term of two years) Ms Karin Hawkins Mr Timothy Holden Mr Graham Horrocks CONSTITUTIONS (a) Monty s Place Narooma Reference Minute CC31/13 and Working Paper No /13SC (i) rescind Resolution 123/13SC (ii) on the recommendation of the Constitutions Committee, approve the Constitution for Monty s Place Narooma (b) Joshua s Kitchen Reference Minute CC32/13 and Working Paper No /13SC on the recommendation of the Constitutions Committee, approve the Constitution for Joshua s Kitchen REVIEW OF SYNOD MINISTERS SUPPORT 189/13SC Reference Working Paper No. 3 and 4 (i) receive the report from the Ministers Support Funds Committee (ii) receive the letter from Uniting Resources (iii) defer the decision on the recommendations until a meeting with the Ministers Support Funds Committee, Michael Anderson and others to discuss the recommendations and then Michael Anderson will provide an updated report and recommendations to a future Synod Standing Committee meeting (iv) Synod Standing Committee members provide Michael Anderson and the General Secretary with issues that they wish to be further considered in the process before the Ministers Support Funds Committee meeting on 24 October

5 REVIEW OF THE GOVERNANCE & MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE OF UNITINGCARE: UPDATE Reference Working Paper No /13SC receive the report ETHICAL INVESTMENTS AND FOSSIL FUELS Reference Working Paper No. 1 and 2 191/13SC (i) receive the report from the Ethical Investment Monitoring Committee (ii) agree to the divestment from direct fossil fuel investment in accordance with the Ethical Investments Monitoring Committee s implementation strategy below Implementation of the strategy Instruct the managers to proceed with their divestment of all stocks that have a greater than 40% net exposure from direct fossil fuel extraction before 19 th October 2014 Instruct the managers to proceed with their divestment of all stocks that have a greater than 25% net exposure from direct fossil fuel extraction before 19 th October 2015 Instruct the managers to proceed with their divestment of all stocks that have a greater than 10% net exposure from direct fossil fuel extraction before 19 th October 2016 Review the divestment strategy, particularly with respect to the issue of net versus gross exposure, prior to October 2015 to determine the practicality of further divestment in year 3 Instruct the managers to reinvest complying with the Ethical principles and procedures Due diligence on alternate managers to be completed before 19th October 2014 Yearly review of the renewable strategy of each of the organizations (with consideration to research and development spend) The Trustee is required to notify the unit holders of the decision and the divestment strategy in place 189

6 Notification of change to unit holders (By agreement) SYNOD BUDGET /13SC Reference Working Paper No. 5, 6 and 7 receive the reports STRATEGIC DIRECTION OF THE SYNOD 193/13SC conduct a planning session at the Synod Standing Committee meeting in November 2013 SYNOD BUDGET /13SC Reference letter from the Korean Presbytery dated 19 September 2013 (i) receive the letter from the Korean Presbytery (ii) deal with the broader presbyteries issue at the Synod Standing Committee meeting on 30 November 2013 (iii) request the General Secretary to have a conversation with the presbyteries that have written letters to Synod Standing Committee regarding the Presbytery Grant CHANGE IN THE TERM OF APPOINTMENT FOR MEMBERS OF CERTAIN SYNOD COMMITTEES Reference Working Paper No /13SC (i) receive the report (ii) give approval to the principle of varying the term of Synod committee appointments from being yearly based to being aligned to the Synod meeting cycle 190

7 (iii) request the Governance, Nominations and Remuneration Committee to report to the April 2014 Synod Standing Committee meeting with a detailed outline of the impact of that change (iv) approve, as an interim measure, the extension of the term of appointment of all incumbent Synod Committee members whose term would ordinarily expire as at 31 December 2013 to the date of commencement of the next (2014) Synod meeting, as below: Advisory Committee on Ministerial Placements Panel of Advisers Christian Spirituality Committee Synod Fund Management Committee Committee on Relations with other Faiths Admission of Ministers Committee Synod Audit & Risk Committee Synod Music Development Committee Constitutions Committee Uniting Church Historical Society NSW/ACT N.S.W. Ecumenical Council Pilgrim House (Canberra) Policy Committee MODERATOR S SHARING Participation in the chaplaincy network and in particular with the fires this week in Lithgow, Springwood, Raymond Terrace 27 September: participated in Stephen Robinson s Induction as National Disaster Recovery Officer 3-5 October: attended 3 day meeting in Albury Following the overwhelming support of the proposals relating to the Murray Darling Basin Plan (79/13S) the group reassembled to facilitate further conversations and develop strategies in response to the Plan October: attended and preached at the final day of UnitingCare Ageing Chaplaincy Network Dancing in the Gap Conference Sunday preaching engagements at: St Ives 50 th Jubilee Celebrations Jannali UCA The Rock Centenary Celebrations Bowral 150 th Anniversary Celebrations Participation in significant events of Ravenswood and Wahroonga Schools Coming up: 26 to 27 October - visit Gloucester in the Mid-North Coast Presbytery 16 to 25 November - Visit to Mid North Coast Presbytery 191

8 GENERAL SECRETARY S SHARING attended the Tongan Ministers Retreat in Glenworth Valley from September met with the Rev Myung Hwa Park, Moderator-Elect and representative of the Canberra Presbytery on 27 th September 2013 in the lead up to Myung Hwa taking on the new role facilitated the one-day Ministers Gathering meetings on 4 th, 8 th and 22 nd October at Naamaroo regarding the future direction of the Synod undertook a 5-day Company Directors Course through the Australian Institute of Company Directors from 14 to 18 October 2013 attending the World Council of Churches 10 th Assembly in Busan, Korea from 27 October to 9 November PASTORAL (a) Obituaries Mrs Gwen Morgan, sister of the Rev Bruce Westbrook passed away on 11 September 2013 The Rev Leslie Pearson, father of the Rev Ian Pearson, passed away on 15 October 2013 (b) Illnesses Rev Peter Pereira Ms Freda Whitlam Rev Dr Robert McFarlane Rev Glenn Farquhar-Nicol Rev Mark Watt Rev Dr John Hirt Rev Dr Ann Wansbrough (c) Births Mr James Ellis and his partner Danni welcomed a baby daughter, Amelia Katharina Margaret Ellis on 3 October 2013 CLOSE The meeting closed at 3.15pm NEXT MEETING Saturday, 30 November 2013 at Greenhills Conference Centre, Canberra. Chairperson Date 192