Stuart McMillan (born 1955) was the national President of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) from July 2015 to July 2018. He was installed for a three-year term on 12 July 2015 at a service at Perth's Scotch College.

Uniting Church in Australia

In 1982, McMillan was interviewed for and appointed to a position as an

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

with the UCA's

Northern Synod The Northern Synod is a regional council of the Uniting Church in Australia having responsibility for the congregations and presbyteries in the Northern Territory and the northern parts of Western Australia and South Australia. The moderator since ...

, based in

Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the smalle ...

. He and his wife Ros moved from

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

in Sydney with their young family.Travelling North – Profiling the New President

UCA The fiddler crab or calling crab may be any of more than one hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae, well known for their sexually dimorphic claws; the males' major claw is much larger than the minor claw, whil ...

Assembly 2015 biography of Stuart McMillan, accessed 12 July 2015 McMillan has had many roles in the Northern Synod and associated organisations: accountant, operations manager, general manager of the Arnhem Land Progress Association (ALPA) - now the Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation, pastor, cultural awareness trainer, resource worker, community developer, and Moderator. After living and working in the Northern Territory for some time, a man McMillan knew adopted him as his brother in the

Gupapuyngu Dhuwal (also Dual, Duala) is one of the Yolŋu languages spoken by Aboriginal Australians in the Northern Territory, Australia. Although all Yolŋu languages are mutually intelligible to some extent, Dhuwal represents a distinct dialect continu ...

clan of the Yolngu nation with the skin name ''bulany'' meaning ''red kangaroo''. In order that Yolngu kinship ties were proper in terms of Stuart and Ros’ relationship, and to complete the induction, the man’s wife also adopted Ros McMillan as her sister. McMillan worked as an advisor to the former Moderator of the Uniting Church in Australia's Northern Synod, the Rev. Djiniyini Gondarra, for 12 years through the period after the High Court’s Mabo case decision established native title. McMillan was involved in researching the claimants' situations, and making trips to

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

to assist Gondarra and others as they gave their input on the drafting of the Native Title Act under the

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

, Paul Keating. The McMillans became part of the Humpty Doo semi-rural community near

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

, and its Uniting Church. After several ministers, McMillan took on the role of pastor, presiding over weddings, funerals and other activities of an ordained minister.

Moderator, Northern Synod

McMillan's wife, Ros McMillan, served as Moderator of the

, based in Darwin, from 1996 to 1999. McMillan served as moderator for five years until June 2015.

President of the Assembly

McMillan was elected as President-Elect at the 13th Assembly, held in

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

in July 2012. McMillan was installed as the President of the UCA on Sunday 12 July 2015, at the 14th Triennial Assembly held in Perth, Western Australia (12–18 July 2015). He replaced the Rev. Andrew Dutney.Welcome Stuart McMillan

Assembly 2015, 12 July 2015Uniting Hearts To Warm Perth’s Winter Spirit
Uniting Church in Australia, 10 July 2015, accessed 13 July 2015 He started his address to the installation service with the words, in the

Yolŋu language The Yolngu or Yolŋu () are an aggregation of Aboriginal Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. ''Yolngu'' means "person" in the Yolŋu languages. The terms Murngin, Wulamba, Yalnumata, M ...

, “Bala limurr roŋyirr ŋorraŋgitjlil” – “Let us return to the white ashes of the fire”, an allusion to the

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...

. As a lay president, McMillan’s role in worship will be slightly circumscribed. Under Uniting Church regulations he will not be able to officiate at baptisms or preside over communion outside his synod without the authorisation of the host presbytery.

References

External links

Installation ceremony as President of the UCA, 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMillan, Stuart (Church leader) Living people Uniting Church in Australia presidents Australian accountants Yolngu People from the Northern Territory 1955 births People educated at James Ruse Agricultural High School