Editing Uniting Church in Australia (section)

{{Short description|Australian Christian denomination}}
{{Use dmy dates|date= February 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=February 2013}}
{{Infobox Christian branch
|name = Uniting Church in Australia
|image = UCA-logo.svg
|imagewidth =
|caption = UCA logo
|main_classification = [[Protestantism]]
|orientation = Calvinism and [[Methodism]]
|polity = [[Presbyterianism]], [[Connexionalism]] and [[Congregationalism]]
|founder =
|founded_date = {{Start date and age|1977|df=yes}}
|founded_place =
|separated_from =
|leader_name = [[Charissa Suli]]
|leader_title = President of the Assembly
|parent =
|merger = {{ublist|[[Methodist Church of Australasia]]|Two-thirds of the [[Presbyterian Church of Australia]]|[[Congregational Union of Australia]]}}
|separations =
|fellowships = Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress
|associations = [[National Council of Churches in Australia|NCCA]], [[World Council of Churches|WCC]], [[Christian Conference of Asia|CCA]], [[World Communion of Reformed Churches|WCRC]], [[World Methodist Council]], [[Pacific Conference of Churches]]
|area = [[Australia]]
|hospitals =
|nursing_homes = UnitingCare
|aid = UnitingCare
[[UnitingWorld]] 
|congregations = 2,000<ref name=UCASubmission/>
|members = 243,000 (2016)<ref name=UCASubmission/>
|ministers =
|missionaries =
|primary_schools =
|secondary_schools = 
|tertiary =
|footnotes =
}}
[[File:Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Australia by SLA - BCP field 2763 Christianity Uniting Church Persons.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|alt=Colour-coded map of Australia|Uniting Church members as a percentage of the total population in the 2011 census, divided geographically by local area]]
The '''Uniting Church in Australia''' ('''UCA''') is a [[united church]] in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nswact.uca.org.au/about-us/our-history/|title = UCA - Our History}}</ref> when most [[Wiktionary:congregation|congregations]] of the [[Methodist Church of Australasia]], about two-thirds of the [[Presbyterian Church of Australia]] and almost all the churches of the [[Congregational Union of Australia]] united under the UCA's [[Basis of Union (Uniting Church in Australia)|Basis of Union]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://assembly.uca.org.au/about/uca|title=Uniting Church in Australia Assembly - About the Uniting Church in Australia|website=assembly.uca.org.au|date=10 September 2019 |language=en-gb|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref> According to the church, it had 243,000 members in 2018.<ref name="UCASubmission">{{cite web |date=February 2018 |title=Submission to the Review of the ACNC Legislation |url=https://www.acnclegislationreview.com.au/uploads/content_d3eab0ab534294e74726216b2cc8ed3f.pdf |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306142534/https://www.acnclegislationreview.com.au/uploads/content_d3eab0ab534294e74726216b2cc8ed3f.pdf |archive-date=2018-03-06 |website=Review of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) legislation |publisher=Uniting Church in Australia}}</ref> In the {{CensusAU|2016}}, 870,183 Australians identified with the church, but that figure fell to 673,260 in the {{CensusAU|2021}}.<ref name=2021Census>{{cite web | website=www.abs.gov.au | access-date=2024-02-28 | date=2022-07-04 | title=Census of Population and Housing: Census article - Religious affiliation in Australia, 2021 | url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/cultural-diversity-census/2021/Census%20article%20-%20Religious%20affiliation%20in%20Australia.xlsx}}</ref> In the {{CensusAU|2011}}, that figure was 1,065,796. The UCA is [[Religion in Australia|Australia's]] third-largest Christian denomination, behind the [[Roman Catholicism in Australia|Roman Catholic]] and [[Anglican Church of Australia|Anglican]] churches.<ref name="Census2011">{{cite web|title=Cultural Diversity in Australia|url=http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2071.0main+features902012-2013|website=abs.gov.au|date=21 June 2012|publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics|access-date=May 14, 2016}}</ref> There are around 2,000 UCA congregations,<ref name=UCASubmission/> and 2001 [[National Church Life Survey]] (NCLS) research indicated that average weekly attendance was about 10 per cent of census figures.<ref name="ncls">[http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?sitemapid=2261 "Census vs Attendance (2001)"] ''National Church Life Survey''</ref> The UCA is one of Australia's largest non-government providers of community and health services. Its service network consists of over 400 agencies, institutions, and parish missions, with its areas of service including aged care, hospitals, children, youth and family, disability, employment, emergency relief, drug and alcohol abuse, youth homelessness and suicide.<ref name=UCASubmission/> Affiliated agencies include UCA's community and health-service provider network, affiliated schools, the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, Frontier Services and [[UnitingWorld]].