Parishioners ask about voluntary assisted dying
With the Voluntary Assisted Dying bill being considered by State Parliament, Broken Bay Uniting Church minister, the Reverend Patti Lawrence, has revealed parishioners have asked her about the issue.
She prefaced remarks in a recent church newsletter, saying "The Uniting Church does not have a statement on every issue."
She said the church did not have a statement on voluntary assisted dying.
An Assembly meeting in 2018 discussed a proposal for a 12-month period of consultation and discussion, she said.
She referred parishioners to a 42-page document Our Vision for a Just Australia 2021, which "includes 16 points on what we believe are key to building a just and compassionate Australia".
The 2021 NSW Synod was presented with a discussion paper about voluntary assisted dying, in which the working party acknowledged synods in different states had taken different positions - support in Victoria-Tasmania and opposition in Queensland.
The working party did not suggest the NSW Synod make a decision, but said it took a similar position to the WA Synod which "acknowledges that within the Church there is a diversity of faithful Christian understandings and responses to dying and to 'voluntary assisted dying' and we seek to live respectfully together in that tension".
Ms Lawrence told parishioners: "If you would like to know about any aspect of the Uniting Church belief, statements, or procedures, please ask, and I will do my best to answer."
SOURCE:
Newsletter, 27 Mar 2022
Patti Lawrence, Uniting Church Broken Bay