Synod 2021 – Where the Wild God is

After an extraordinary year, we are looking forward to new ways of celebrating being the Church and living out our faith. Let’s not let 2020 define us as a Church. We can’t meet in person and celebrate together so our Synod meeting in 2021 is being adapted to suit this challenging time and has a theme to match.

Synod 2021 will explore Where the wild God is — a God that is active in the turbulent world in which we live right now. Let us encounter God in this new wilderness and turbulent time in which we find ourselves as the body of Christ.

Discovering Christ’s call to explore and disrupt

As we navigate this wilderness time together, we will discern and seek to obey Christ’s call as we participate in worship and hear the way God is inspiring, shaping and guiding decisions across the life and mission of the Synod. There is work to do, and decisions to be made about the future of the Church and what this looks like for us as the people of God.

The Synod Standing Committee has determined that Synod 2021 will take place in an online environment (73/20SC). Meeting online presents both challenges and opportunities to our regular practice of gathering over three or four days every eighteen months.

Collaboration, discernment and engagement

In order to meet these challenges, and capitalise on these opportunities, the Synod Standing Committee has endorsed a model of Synod 2021 that will be a series of meetings and whole-of-Church events involving the whole Church, rather than just a three day event involving members.

With Zoom fatigue an issue and Covid-19 restrictions in place, we commit to spending this extended time together to explore the real issues facing the Church, and in doing so, have an opportunity to maximise collaboration, discernment and engagement across the Synod by staggering the Synod in session dates to allow for consultation across the whole Church.

There will be regular updates after each meeting, where we will discuss how proposals and challenges facing the Church are being addressed laying out a framework for the future of the Uniting Church Synod of NSW and ACT.

Synod in Session dates for 2021

• Saturday, 13 February 2021 Induction of Synod members (9am-1pm)
• Wednesday, 7 April 2021 Opening of 39th Synod Meeting NSW & ACT & Session1A (6pm-9.30pm)
• Saturday, 10 April 2021 Session 1B (9am-1pm)
• Wednesday, 2 June 2021 Session 2A (6pm-9.30pm)
• Saturday, 5 June 2021 Session 2B (9am-1pm)
• Wednesday, 4 August 2021 Session 3A (6pm-9.30pm)
• Saturday 7, August 2021 Session 3B & Closing of Synod 2021 (9am-1pm)

Whole Church events across the Synod in 2021

A series of whole of Church livestreamed events across the Synod will help us discover together “Where the Wild God Is”.

These events will be held in Churches across the Synod and led by the Moderator. The services will be livestreamed on the official Uniting Church Synod of NSW and the ACT Facebook page and the Synod’s YouTube Channel and will be available on both those platforms after the events for on demand viewing.

You can watch the YouTube livestream using the following URL https://nswact.uca.org.au/live

• · Wednesday, 17 February 2021 – Ash Wednesday “Into the Wilderness” – Terrigal Uniting Church, 7.30pm
• · Sunday, 28 March 2021 – Palm Sunday “Obedience in the Wilderness” – Gerringong Uniting Church, 7.30pm
• · Sunday 23 May, 2021 – Pentecost “The Possibilities of the Wilderness” – Sydney Cheil Uniting Church, 7.30pm
• · Sunday 8 August 2021 — Transfiguration Sunday “Changed in the Wilderness” – New Beginnings Uniting Church, 7.30pm
• · Sunday 21 November 2021 — Christ the King Sunday “ A Home in the Wilderness” – Parkes Welcome Uniting Church, 7.30pm

Discovering together

Whether you are nominated to membership of Synod 2021 or a member of the Church, there are many ways to be involved in Synod 2021, so that together we can discover Where the Wild God Is.