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

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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 2 nd and 3 rd June, 2017 DECISIONS Decisions recorded in these Minutes were reached by consensus unless otherwise indicated TIMES OF SESSION SESSIONS pm pm pm pm pm pm am am am pm AGENDA 52/17SC APOLOGIES adopt the Order of Business as printed subject to changes suggested by the General Secretary and alterations made by the Synod Standing Committee Mr David Barrow, Mrs Diane Torrens, Mr Iain Brown, Mr Jonathon Rea ATTENDANCE SESSIONS Rev. Jane Fry Mr Paul Ballard Mr Kevin Barrington Rev. Christine Bayliss Kelly Rev. Glenys Biddle Rev. Dr Brian Brown Rev. Grant Bilbey Rev. Karyn Burchell-Thomas Mr Craig Corby Mr Paul Creek Rev. Lindsay Cullen Rev. Kevin Dilks 1,2 Rev. Tara Curlewis Rev. Garry Dronfield Mrs Sue Graves 2,3,4,5

2 Rev. Robert Griffith Mrs Robyn Harvey 1,3,4,5 Rev. Shin Goo Lee Mr Bruce Lyon 4,5 Mr Ian Lawrence Rev. Darren Liepold Rev. Stephen de Plater Mr John K Martin Rev. Stephen Mathews Rev. Graham Perry Rev. Ivan Roberts Rev. Stephen Robinson Mr Graeme Tolson Mrs Heather Watson 4,5 Mrs Jacki Watts IN ATTENDANCE Mrs Karyn Warner ASSOCIATED MEMBERS MINUTES Mr John Kitchener Mr Peter Worland Mr Michael Anderson Mrs Meredith Yabsley Rev. John Thornton Mr Peter Andrews Rev. Rhonda White Mr Ian Gray 3 Mr David Scott 2 Mr Ted Woodley 2 Rev. Dr Sang Taek Lee 2 Rev. Jason Choi 2 Ms Colleen Geyer 3 53/17SC confirm the Minutes of the Synod Standing Committee held 7 th and 8 th April, 2017 CONSENT AGENDA 54/17SC determine that matters listed in the agenda be adopted.

3 ACTING GENERAL SECRETARY REPORT 55/17SC Reference - Working Paper 1 That Synod Standing Committee note the report SYNOD PATHWAYS & STEPPING STONES PROJECTS UPDATES 56/17SC Reference - Working Paper 2, 2A That Synod Standing Committee note the reports of the Project Teams KOREAN PRESBYTERY REVIEW Reference - Working Paper 3 57/17SC That Synod Standing Committee (i) receive the draft report; (ii) request that Synod Standing Committee members any further feedback to Mr Ted Woodley by 30 June, 2017 SYNOD BUDGET FY /17SC Reference - Working Paper 4 That Synod Standing Committee (i) approve the budgeted deficit of $1.57M for the Synod in FY2018 (ii) request the Budget Steering Committee to continue its work and give immediate and careful attention to the matters identified in the review of the budget and (iii) bring a budget update to the March 2018 meeting of Synod Standing Committee that reflects the review in ii (above) as well as any proposed changes resulting from the Stepping Stones Project

4 STEWARDSHIP CONTRIBUTION PROGRAMME Reference - Working Paper 4A 59/17SC That Synod Standing Committee note the report GENERAL SECRETARY UCA ASSEMBLY 60/17SC thank the General Secretary for her verbal presentation ACT OF COVENANT: THE BURWOOD DEVELOPMENT 61/17SC Reference - Working Paper 5 (i) note the report (ii) approve the Act of Covenant, in principle, and delegate final approval to the General Secretary upon receipt of recommendations of support from Uniting Mission & Education, Uniting Financial Services and the Synod Risk Oversight Committee as required in Schedule 1 of the Act of Covenant, Governance - Burwood Development (Attachment A) ACTING ASSOCIATE SECRETARY REPORT 62/17SC Reference - Working Paper 6 note the report

5 UME BOARD UPDATE 63/17SC Reference - Working Paper 7 note the UME Board s resolution # 28/17UME By formal majority vote the Board resolved to; proceed with Option C: Take no action on the site and advise CSU to seek an alternative location. RIVERINA PRESBYTERY REVIEW REPORT Reference - Working Paper 8 64/17SC (i) receive the report; (ii) commit to working with the Riverina Presbytery to address current needs in terms of the criteria in the report (attached as Attachment B); (iii) request the Acting General Secretary to convene a meeting with the existing Review Team and the Moderator Elect to explore the broader implications of this report including the long term structure and governance issues in rural and remote areas and bring a discussion paper to the December, 2017 Synod Standing Committee RELATIONS WITH OTHER FAITHS COMMITTEE REPORT Reference - Working Paper 9 65/17SC (i) receive the report; (ii) note the dialogue that is occurring between NSW and ACT Synod Relations with Other Faiths Committee (ROF) and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (NSWJBD) and Inner West Chavara (IWC); (iii) note the ROF s role in organising a joint trip of members of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) and members of the NSWJBD and IWC; (iv) encourage congregations to consider arranging for a speaker, to visit their congregation to speak about Palestine and Israel, noting the World Week of Peace for Palestine and Israel in September each year; (v) encourage pilgrims and witnesses to visit Palestine and Israel and experience the multiple of narratives of the diverse multi-ethnic, multifaith peoples who call the land their home;

6 (vi) encourage congregations to support grass root projects in Palestine and Israel, that seek to assist Palestinians living under Israeli occupation including those coordinated directly by Palestinians, jointly coordinated by Palestinians and Israelis (such as EcoPeace Middle East and Road to Recovery) and coordinated by the World Council of Churches (such as the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel) (vii) encourage the Moderator to: a) inform the Australian Government of the UCA-NSWJBD/IWC tour of Palestine and Israel and b) recommend to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Australian Government, to increase aid for projects that assist Palestinian people, including those coordinated: directly by Palestinians; and those Jointly coordinated by Israelis and Palestinians that seek to assist Palestinians living under occupation, including projects such as EcoPeace GOVERNANCE NOMINATION AND REMUNERATION COMMITTEE (GNRC) Reference - Working Paper 10 66/17SC (i) approve the below schedule of Stipend and owances Component Stipend Vehicle Standing Cost Travel - fulltime Travel part time Travel -Supply Travel casual Resource owance Residence owance Casual Preaching fees Ministers Support Fund levy /30 95/35 250pm 250pm

7 (ii) approve a) changes to the structure and application of housing allowance with effect from 1 July 2018; b) requests GNRC to arrange for appropriate communication regarding the changes prior to implementation; c) notes GNRC will bring proposed modification to the By-laws with respect to these changes to the December 2017 SSC meeting; d) request UR to review the policy (vide Property for Pilgrim People resolutions) regarding; the portion of manse rental that can be retained by the Placement and; the formulae for between placements rental RETIREMENTS 67/17SC (a) Rev. Narelle Penman Reference letter dated 18 May 2017 note the retirement of Rev. Narelle Penman in accordance with Regulation 2.6.1(d)(i)(1) effective 31 August, /17SC (b) Rev. Anne Ryan Reference - letter dated 5 April, 2017 note the retirement of Rev. Anne Ryan in accordance with Regulation 2.6.1(d)(i)(1) effective 1 August, /17SC (c) Rev. Chris Udy Reference - dated 5 May, 2017 note the retirement of Rev. Chris Udy in accordance with Regulation 26.1(d)(i)(1) effective 31 October, 2017

8 APPOINTMENTS a) ACOMP 70/17SC on the recommendation of the ACOMP Executive; (i) note that Rev. Grant Bilbey is no longer the Georges River Presbytery representative to ACOMP as he has accepted a new placement in another Presbytery from the 1st August 2017; (ii) co-opt Rev. Grant Bilbey as a member of the Placement Committee b) Margaret Jurd College (NSW) Board of Directors 71/17SC on the recommendation of the Uniting and Mission Education Board affirm the reappointment of the following persons to the Margaret Jurd College Board of Directors until the conclusion of the 2019 Annual General Meeting Ms Elise Briggs Mr Ross Coulton Ms Margaret Kime c) UCTAL Members 72/17SC on the recommendation of the Governance Remuneration and Nominations Committee (GNRC) appointment of the following persons as Members of UCTAL for a three-year term: Rev Nicholas Cole Mr Craig Corby Mr Ian Lawrence Mr Albert Olley Mr Graeme Tolson Synod Standing Committee 73/17SC (i) note the resignation of Mr Semisi Kailahi from the Synod Standing Committee (ii) thank Mr Kailahi for his service to the Committee

9 d) Synod Budget Steering Committee 74/17SC (i) note the resignation of Mr David Barrow (ii) thank Mr Barrow for his service to the Committee (f) Synod Risk and Oversight Committee 75/17SC on the recommendation of the Governance Remuneration and Nominations Committee (GNRC) re-appoint Mr Mark McCoy for a further three years Mr Chris Westacott for a further two years Mr Graeme Rough for a further eighteen months (g) Governance Remuneration and Nominations Committee (GNRC) 76/17SC re-appoint Mr Graham Harris for a further three years (h) Uniting Mission and Education Board (UME) 77/17SC SYNOD STANDING COMMITTEE ACTION ITEMS 78/17SC on the recommendation of the Governance Remuneration and Nominations Committee (GNRC) appoint Mr Ross Chambers to the UME Board for a period of three years Reference Working Paper 12 note the Action Items

10 MISSION & PROPERTY REVIEW PROJECT UPDATE Reference Working Paper 13 79/17SC SYNOD RISK & OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE 80/17SC note the report Reference Working Paper 14 note the report and approve the eight new resolutions MODERATORS REPORT Reference Working Paper 15 81/17SC note the report OBITUARIES Rev. Geoffrey Hunter passed away 9 April, 2017 Rev. William McLeod passed away 28 May, 2017 ILLNESS Mrs Janet Elliot Presbytery Secretary Riverina Presbytery Mrs Vanessa Crimmins Presbytery Chairperson Canberra Region Presbytery CLOSE: 12.30pm NEXT MEETING: 4 th & 5 th August, Chairperson Date