Appointment of the
General Secretary
The Standing Committee is delighted to bring
th
to the 14 Assembly the recommendation that
Colleen Geyer be appointed as General
Secretary from the 1 January 2016.
The conclusion of Terence Corkin’s term as
General Secretary on 31 December 2015,
after fifteen years of distinguished service and
leadership, necessitates the appointment of a
th
new General Secretary by the 14 Assembly
to succeed him. A Nomination Committee was
appointed by the Standing Committee in July
2014 to facilitate this process. In March 2015
the Nomination Committee reported its
unanimous recommendation to the Standing
Committee. In an unusually long selection
process the Nomination Committee was
conscious of Ms Geyer’s deeply prayerful,
sustained discernment process. In a strong
field of applicants Colleen Geyer’s experience,
ability, achievements and especially her clear
sense of call to this ministry stood out to the
Nominating Committee. The Standing
Committee enthusiastically affirms her sense
of vocation to the ministry of General
Secretary at this critical time in the life of the
Uniting Church and the Assembly.
Colleen Geyer is the Director of Mission at
UnitingCare Queensland. She has previously
held the positions of Director of Mission at
BlueCare, Associate Director at UnitingCare
Australia, Registrar of Coolamon College, and
National Consultant for the Assembly Gospel
and Gender Unit. Her academic qualifications
include a Graduate Certificate in Executive
Leadership (University of Queensland
Business School, 2010) and a Bachelor of
Theology (Brisbane College of Theology,
2003).
Ms Geyer is currently a member of the
Executive Leadership Team of UnitingCare
Queensland and the Governance Committee
of the UnitingCare Queensland Board; the
Queensland Synod Chaplaincy Commission,
Placements Committee and Discipline
Procedures Review Task group; and she
chairs the UnitingCare Queensland Human
Research Ethics Committee and the
UnitingCare Australia Ministry & Mission
National Network. She chairs the Board of
Jabiru Community Youth and Children’s
Services Association Inc, and is a member of
the PASCOP (Pastoral and Spiritual Care of
Older People) Inc. National Board.
Ms Geyer has a deep understanding of the
vision, values and processes of the Uniting
Church. She has had leadership roles in three
Assembly agencies (Gospel & Gender,
Coolamon College, UnitingCare Australia),
worked within the Queensland Synod (Social
Responsibility Advocate, Director of Mission
Blue Care, Director of Mission UnitingCare
Queensland), served on various committees,
commissions and reference groups for the
Assembly and the Synod, led the Review of
Specified Ministries for the Assembly,
contributed to the missional focus and
facilitated the development of the first Strategic
Plan for Australian Regional and Remote
Community Services. She has been a Church
Councillor and an Elder.
Ecumenically Ms Geyer has worked as the
Christian World Service Coordinator with
Queensland Churches Together, been a
member of the Queensland Churches
Together Indigenous Peoples Partnership.
She is a current member of Queensland
Churches Environmental Network and the
Roman Catholic/Uniting Church National
Dialogue. In 2014 she also participated in a
World Council of Churches seminar on Green
Churches in Geneva.
Colleen Geyer has a strong track record in
team building, strategic planning, change
management and building partnerships
between the church’s councils and agencies.
In her senior executive roles, she has
experience and demonstrated skill in
managing financial and human resources. She
has developed a sophisticated understanding
of risk management and governance. She is
also experienced in providing executive
support and guidance to national governance
bodies, and in interpreting and applying the
regulations of the Uniting Church.
Andrew Dutney
Convenor, Nominating Committee for the
General Secretary
A Statement from the Nominee, Colleen
Geyer
__________________________________________________________________________________
Reports to the Fourteenth Assembly – The Uniting Church in Australia
B22 - 1
Over the past 20 years, I have worked in
various Councils and agencies of the Uniting
Church. This has given me a broad experience
of the church, and has enabled me to develop
a comprehensive picture and understanding of
the Uniting Church. It has been my privilege to
develop and hone my gifts and skills, my
leadership abilities and style, and my
executive management capacity within the
Uniting Church. It is my faith home, as well as
my sphere of influence.
From the outset, the Uniting Church has
defined itself as a pilgrim people, always on
the way towards a promised goal. I would be
privileged to offer my gifts and graces to the
Assembly in the role of General Secretary, and
to provide leadership and support to the
Assembly as together, we look to the future
and what God has in store for our Church.
Through my engagement with the Church at
mission, I have had my faith stretched and
challenged, as well as nurtured and
encouraged. The challenges have shown me
that strength belongs to God who is faithful
despite pain and vulnerability. I have come to
a greater place of certainty that with God and
in community with others, anything is possible.
As I look back over my vocation in the church,
I feel an affinity with the role of Assembly
General Secretary. It makes sense of all that
has come before – my gifts, my skills, my
leadership, the relationships that I have built
nationally and internationally and the wisdom I
have gained. In my journey of discernment to
apply for this role, I have also had my
thoughts, my conversations and at times, my
dreams disturbed and disrupted. It has been
my experience that this usually constitutes a
call. During the interview process and the
conversations we have had, my sense of call
has deepened and been affirmed by others.
I embrace the uniqueness of the Uniting
Church as an authentic movement of God, as
well as its commitment to working
ecumenically in seeking unity and
understanding with other churches. The
Uniting Church has developed in me an
understanding of my Australian identity and
who I am in a country that doesn’t belong to
my people of origin. It has provided me with an
opportunity to meet, work with and journey
with the First Peoples of this land, seeking
always to be open to their wisdom.
As with many parts of society and our world,
the Uniting Church also looks to an uncertain
future. Statistics tell us we are changing, that
our congregations and faith communities won’t
look or be the same, that our services and our
schools are facing strategic and sustainability
challenges. Together, it is our responsibility to
look to the future with the hope that is from
God, and the realism that calls us to think
about the new.
___________________________________________________________________
B22 - 2
Reports to the Fourteenth Assembly – The Uniting Church in Australia