The Uniting Church runs on a system of inter-related councils, which means we have lots of committees. We function in local congregations, regional presbyteries, state-wide (approximately) synods and a national assembly.
At the congregational level, I am involved in a group that organises and leads the monthly evening worship service. At the Presbytery level, I belong to the Standing Committee and the Ministry and Mission Strategy Committee. I was also a member of Pastoral Relations Committee for five years and chaired it for about a year. This is the third presbytery in which I've been on the Pastoral Relations Committee). In previous presbyteries, I have also belonged to and chaired Social Justice Committees At Synod level, I am part of the Tertiary Ministry Strategy Committee. So far I have avoided any Assembly committees.
My last placement was as Outreach Ministries Coordinator for the Victorian Synod. I oversaw the work of chaplains and deacons, managed a half million dollar a year budget and represented the Uniting Church on a range of ecumenical* and interfaith committees.
As Outreach Ministries Coordinator, I was on committees that coordinated:
I was secretary to the Council for Chaplaincy in Tertiary Institutions for nearly three years.
As a university chaplain, I have been actively involved in the Tertiary Campus Ministry Association (Australia) Inc since 1994. TCMA is the peak body for tertiary chaplaincy and is multi-faith. This has involved me in:
Not surprisingly, I don't have a huge amount of time to be involved in community organisations. However, I was on the Lumen Christi Primary School Board from 1992 to 1997 as deputy chair in 1993-4 and chair in 1995-7. In Armidale, I have been a member of the UNE and Community Peace and Freedom Group since 2003, and of Armidale Women in Black since 2004.
*although some people use it differently, "ecumenical" means activities involving a number of different Christian churches, while "interfaith" indicates groups that involve people from a range of different religions.