GODS GOOD NEWS
Recording of our first webinar – 18 February 2021
Theology for the Common Good
Updates from Forums held on 16 September 2020 and 22 October 2020
– Clive Pearson, Keith Hamilton, Dean Drayton
Have you ever seen members of the Uniting Church wearing a black T-shirt with the words, Uniting for the Common Good, running across the chest. It is quite a fashion statement! These words were indeed the theme of a 3-year Moderatorial term of the Synod. The theme is designed to build upon a personal faith and find connections between our beliefs and practices as Christian and the big issues facing the world in which we find ourselves. It is designed to read the ‘signs of the times’.
Have you noticed that Jesus himself gave one weather report? Take a look at Luke 12:54-56. The word for ‘times’ there is kairos in Greek. It is not the same understanding of time as is to be found on a watch or a clock. It has to do with the right time, the opportune time, God’s time, One of the tasks of a public theology is to discern the signs of the times. These are moments in time that change the way in which we live. The present challenges and big issues – like the COVID-19 virus, blacklivesmatter (BLM), climate change and #metoo. These issues change from one period in time to another but the thing about a kairos moment is that a big issue breaks into our world. What do we do? Do we stay silent or do we seek to draw from the resources of our faith and seek to address the matter at hand?
Etree is an online magazine for the congregations within the Parramatta Mission, Uniting Church in Australia.
Click to view or download past editions