Vision
What we value
The following list is taken from our submission to Stage 1 of the UCA's Act2 project
- A community that lives out the Basis of Union in worshipping, witnessing and serving as a fellowship of Christ in hearing God’s Word, celebrating the sacraments, building each other up in faith, hope and love and sharing in the wider responsibilities of the church
- The opportunity to look at different aspects of our life in our local and world community
- The tools and the support we receive from one another in fellowship and worship to live out our faith
- Uniting Church tradition of theological inquiry, of liturgy and of community involvement
- A ministry that connects with and contributes to the wider community
We also value Uniting Church structures for the oversight, the resources and the opportunities they provide to ministers and congegations
Current goals
Parish Council is presently working with a set of suggestions that emerged at a workshop held in late 2023 to contribute to Stage 2 of the Act2 project.
The main suggestions made were to:
- Strengthen our links with the 3 local prisons
- Reach out to new arrivals in the expanding towns in the district
- Continue to contribute to the local art and music scene
- Develop the Harcourt Church sensory garden for reflection.
- Develop Castlemaine’s church grounds for community
- Open our church doors to the public more frequently
- Provide a better welcome to visitors and new members
- Build an eco-ministry of art & music at Yandoit
- Work with other churches in Castlemaine to offer more ecumenical activities eg stations of the Cross, Vigil with the Anglicans
- Strengthen children’s ministry
- Offer a book club
- More strongly engage with the Jaara people
- Identify map and affirm the gifts and skills of members
- Make significant contributions to the welfare of refugees, and to the housing crisis