Hi Tom, There is provision for the receiving of members on transfer - it is regulation 1.1.21
It will be necessary to satisfy oneself locally that a person has been a member of another denomination. However there is no hard and fast rule on this although some sort of certificate is usually available. Now to the important part. I believe that it is vitally inportant that some sort of orientation / induction process take place prior to making a decision about accepting the person into membership. In fact I think it would be better to do it even before a formal request is considered ie for people who are thinking about transfering to the UCA. This process can be used to encourage disciplines of the faith but (given the current times) to also work on their understanding of the privileges and limitations of the congregation. Yes I am talking about polity / ethos lessons. Perhaps what we need at this time are opportunities all over the country for people to meet and be led in thinking about what kind of the church the UCA is. Why is it that the Assembly believes we can / should have room for individual conscience on important matters? What does that say about the kind of open / respectful / humble community of faith we seek to be? This can provide a great opportunity to bring people together across the congregation to talk about what they value about the UCA. It can be a time of creating / naming images that can sustain people in the fellowship of the Uniting Church. Something like a short series for people being received on transfer could be a marvellous vehicle through which we articulate the vision of what it means to be the UCA. That is certainly what we need at this time - an identity that is not defined by doctrinal purity but more by the quality of our relationship with Jesus Christ and how much we show that character in our relationships with others. Just a thought. Terence -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Tom Stuart Sent: Thursday, 4 March 2004 7:45 AM To: 'insights' Subject: Church Membership We have a number of people who wish to become members of the Uniting Church. They previously were members of a different denomination. They are not interested in maintaining membership of the other denominations (I think one was struck off when they started attending the Uniting Church!). How do they become members? We provide for Members in Association but that assumes the person wish to maintain their membership with the other denomination. We have Confirmed Members but these people have already a confirmed status in the past congregations (actually adult baptism). Further, is there some sort of recognition of membership available for them as there is for Members of Association? Tom [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.milman.uniting.com.au Ph: 6862 5502� Mobile: 0427 625 502 14 Bushman St Parkes NSW 2870 � 'Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable'. I prefer to die living than to live dying! "War is a poor chisel with which to carve out the future." - Martin Luther King, Jr ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------
