Our vision is to be a growing and loving community touching the lives of people in the Tuggeranong valley.
We seek to engage our community of Tuggeranong in vital ways that speak of God’s love and generosity. This engagement has led to a number of ministries and activities.
We believe that Jesus Christ is at the heart of our life together, calling us to gather in worship and into service to those who are vulnerable and in need. Our Sunday morning service provide a different emphasis for varying spiritual needs. An important part of Sunday activity is gathering after the worship to share over coffee or tea, to engage each other meaningfully and share our journey with each other.
Prayer is important to us. Members of the congregation participate in the the worship services through prayers for the world and the community. A group of people gathers regularly to pray for our church, for renewal, and in sharing to deepen their spiritual journey.
Another key aspect of our life is sharing and growing together in small groups, or cells. Over half our number choose to be part of a small group and have found this to be a wonderful way to build friendships, to grow in faith and understanding and to share more deeply about the important things of our life journey. Some of our meetings are for in-depth Bible study with scholarly input and leadership from the Rev Elizabeth Raine, supported by Rev Dr John Squires with plenty of opportunity for sharing. Some of these studies have been part of NSW Synod lay ministry training.
Rethinking our focus
Recently our congregation has examined its mission priorities, and identified three key areas for our attention. These are:
- Mission and outreach – Consolidating and refining the current outreach activities of the church to ensure our resources and people are well managed.
- Enhancing our prophetic voice – cooperating with other congregations on common issues; being active in advocating for justice issues; using our building and signage to advocate for issues; looking for opportunities to connect with organisations sharing our interests.
- Discipleship and Faith Formation – Being intentional in encouraging and fostering spiritual practices; building linkages in existing partnerships and mission activities; Outreach to others with whom we have existing connections; in conjunction with our ministry agent, develop actions to grow our congregation.
These areas arise out of the core of our life together – faith in the the person of Jesus Christ and a desire to follow in His Way, a life of worship and prayer together, the care and nurture of the community of faith, and the way of organising our faith community (its governance). As we look to the future and aim to grow a thriving community of faith, these areas will drive our priorities in mission and outreach.
Organising our life
Our faith community is organised by a church council – a body of elders and leaders elected by the congregation to help the congregation shape its vision and work to build up the mission and life of the group. Within this council there are people providing leadership for mission and service, property, communications, safe-church practices and finance. The elders meet separately to focus on the spiritual health and nurture of the congregation, and report to church council.
The Uniting Church
Tuggeranong Uniting is a congregation of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA). The UCA was formed in 1977 by the coming together of the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches. The missional and ecumenical vision of the UCA is beautifully articulated in The Basis of Union