President Rev Charissa Suli addresses Synod 2023 tonight.
In delivering her report to Synod 2025, President Rev Charissa Suli has called on Victorian and Tasmanian members of the Uniting Church to embrace the opportunities offered through multiculturalism.
Recognising 40 years of the Uniting Church being a multicultural Church, Charissa said she was “profoundly moved by how our diversity reflects the life of the Spirit”.
“Our intercultural gatherings – Tongan, Korean, Fijian, Samoan, Chinese and many more – are not simply cultural events; they are acts of worship,” she said.
“They embody Pentecost theology: many languages proclaiming one Christ, God meeting us in our particularity and weaving us into deeper communion.”
“I have witnessed the Spirit breathing life through our CALD communities – raising new leaders, inspiring fresh expressions of discipleship, and reminding us that growth is alive in our midst.
“These communities offer not decline but renewal – rich in hope, resilience, and Gospel imagination.”
Charissa invited members to continue to keep the Church’s multicultural flame burning brightly.
(“Intercultural ministry) is not easy, and it requires humility, mutual transformation, and systems that truly reflect shared leadership,” she said.
“I encourage this Synod to invest deeply in second and third-generation leaders and to engage migrant-ethnic communities as co-creators of the Church’s future.”
Charissa said that during her term as President she had seen a Church whose members had “a deep hunger for spiritual renewal”.
“Our Church is at a turning point. There is a longing not just for structure, but for Spirit – for a faith that breathes, heals, reconciles and transforms,” she said.
“Across my travels, I have encountered communities yearning for deeper connection with Christ, for courageous leadership, and for a renewed sense of purpose.
“Young people are holding on for space to speak and lead. Our Church is beautifully woven – rich with diversity across culture, generation, and
tradition.
“But some threads – those of exclusion, fear, racism and complacency – need to be rewoven into a fabric of grace, justice, and radical hospitality.
“Spiritual renewal is not a luxury, it is essential. It is the call to return to Christ – to prayer, Scripture, and the sacraments – and to let the Spirit shape us again.”
As the Church as a whole embraces the Act2 Project, Charissa said it offered the opportunity for Synod of Victoria and Tasmania members to work through the challenges that lie ahead.
“We face many challenges as a Church across our life,” she said.
“We need to be honest about those challenges as we have been through the Act2 Project and find ways to come together and support each other to
continue to give expression to the mission to which God calls us.
“The Synod of Victoria and Tasmania has an important role to play in this work as one of our largest and most well-resourced Synods.
“We will need to work in new ways and share our common life and wealth in more radical ways to give full expression to being a truly national Church.”
