Outcomes of the Affinity Ministers Conversation and next steps

Held at LifeGate church on October 25, 2011

51 people were present, representing 34 churches, which is 27% of churches and 47% of our total membership.  This included staff members (Stirling, Conference, M&M, GMP and CCCA), several Council members, Past President Robyn Millership and Hery Susanto from Indonesia.

All present sensed it was a free and open conversation. The primary outcomes were:

1. Participants affirmed the need to ‘pray fervently’ with intent and passion for Conference and all those within it (referring to Acts 12, Dwelling in the Word).
2. Participants affirmed Council for its initiative and the work completed so far, with a clear majority affirming the process and the time taken. The group recognised the need to clarify ‘what to do from here’ to implement the Affirmation and to appropriately keep the process moving to fulfil the Resolution of the 2011 AGM in a timely manner.
   In saying this, the group acknowledged that no process is perfect and that every process or method is helpful until it’s not…and that while affinity comes best from relationship, some came late to the conversation, or didn’t engage it fully.
3. The group expressed its trust in Council for the next steps, and encouraged Council to appoint ‘a broad group’ to draft a final version of the document, honouring the intent of Affinity 3.0, and to fulfil the Resolution of the 2011 AGM. 
   The group indicated it would like to see a simpler document with a clear separation between the ‘Affirmation’ (Beliefs and Values) and the ‘technical, legal, property, governance’ (or ‘Living Out’) sections, and (by implication) was asking Council to include that in any Terms of Reference for the Drafting Group. The possibility to ‘customise’ the ‘Living Out’ section was seen as a positive, as was seeing it as an expression of ‘equal partners’.
   An important underlying issue named was ‘trust’ (i.e. can we trust ‘Conference’?), the group considered if there was a need (if the ‘Affirmation’ of each church is presented as a public and corporate act) for a public, prayerful acknowledgement of a ‘broken trust’, and a commitment to move beyond it by establishing a sense of ‘equal partnership’ through the ‘Affirmation’.

A helpful way to view the ‘Affirmation’ in the light of our deeper story could be:

• In Essentials Unity—beliefs, practices and values, fostered by Conference leaders
• In non-Essentials Liberty—local church autonomy, a diversity in shape of church, ministry and mission
• In all things Love—an overarching principle expressed in interdependence

Council at a subsequent meeting agreed to invite a broad range of people to form a ‘drafting group’ to produce a final draft of an ‘Affirmation’ document to fulfil the Resolution of the 2011 AGM. The drafting group that was able to meet on November 16 consisted of Blair Davis (Castlemaine), Greg Gow (Footscray), Steve Jackson (Parkdale), Robyn Millership (Doncaster), Marshall Muller (Hobart); and Craig Brown, Paul Burnham, Paul Cameron and Michael Vanderree. A final draft will be ready for the December 14, 2011 Council meeting.