About Us

Our Vision
Our vision statement sets our direction as a church: ‘Reflecting God’s love in the Neighbourhood.  This vision has two important components: God’s Love and  Neighbourhood.  We pray that in our ministry we are, in various ways, reflecting God’s love through the ministry of Christ in all we do, particularly through our relationships.  The focus and attention of our ministry is on our Neighbours or Neighbourhood, the place and the people within whom we live and work. 

Our Mission
Our mission (or purpose) is in keeping with the Constitution of the Uniting Church in Australia:

Para 4. The purposes of the Church are to provide for the worship of God, to proclaim the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to promote Christian fellowship, to nurture believers in the Christian faith, to engage in mission, to assist in human development and toward the improvement of human relationships, to meet human need through charitable and other services and to do such other things as may be required in obedience to the Holy Spirit.

To this end, Manly Uniting's mission is focused on three areas: human development (mind, body, spirit), building relationships, and responding to our Neighbourhood's needs.  Central to Manly Uniting is worship, which, in keeping with our overarching relational vision, has a more intimate, personal and contemplative style. 

Our Strategy
This is principally accomplished through our member-based Missional Enterprises, which form a key aspect of our mission focus.  To retain a more personal and intimate focus, our worship is intentionally smaller gatherings. In other words, it is more relational-focused than event-focused.

Our Structure
Almost all of the activities undertaken in the Church premises are run, operated and overseen by the church.  Consequently, we see all participants as ‘members’ of the broader and diverse Manly Uniting Church neighbourhood community.  Membership does not necessarily mean Christian, but it may do so. The church is overseen by the Church Council, which sets the vision and mission of the Church.  An ‘Operations Team’ execute the mission and works as a team by a mixture of employed and volunteer leaders overseen by the Minister. For areas that require qualified and registered professionals, such as fitness, qualified staff are employed or contracted.  The Wellness space is occupied by qualified independent businesses.  Where possible, volunteer staff are engaged, deploying them in key ‘staffing’ operational functions with leadership responsibilities.