Daring Statement 2002

Uniting Network Daring Statement, Melbourne June 10th, 2002. UNITING NETWORK

Daring to Celebrate

Melbourne 7 June – 10 June 2002

For four days members of the Uniting Network for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people, their families, friends and supporters within the Uniting Church in Australia, have met together in Melbourne.

Together we have wept and worshipped; shared songs and stories; listened to and learnt from each other.

In the face of

* the exploitation of our gifts and graces,

* dishonesty and double standards within the church,

* betrayal and hurt, false labels and definitions,

* vilification, loneliness and despair and

* stories which can never be told:

We celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Assembly Standing Committee Minute 82.12: ‘the sexual orientation of a candidate is not and has not been in itself a bar to ordination.’

We celebrate the congregations and communities that have welcomed us all as members of the Uniting Church, and the congregations that have called ordained gay and lesbian ministers to minister to them.

We celebrate our heroes, people who have led the struggle for an inclusive church.

We celebrate the presence among us of people from other denominations.

We celebrate our courage, our strength, our gifts and our graces, as given to us by God.

We celebrate our community, which allows us to lean on each other’s strength.

We celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Uniting Church in Australia, which are our home and a place that welcomes us to Christ’s table.

Most of all, we celebrate our relationship with the God who created us, who loves us, and who strengthens and guides us on our journey.

We invite the church to join with us in the joyful and painful journey towards true reconciliation in Jesus Christ.

May the Holy God surprise us on the way, Christ Jesus be our company and the Spirit lift up our lives.

10 June 2002

This statement is authorized by the Uniting Network and may be reproduced only in its entirety.

For further information contact The Secretary, Uniting Network