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PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY
Progressive Christianity is about re-assessing Christian faith in the light of contemporary life. We don’t look at the world in the same way as the people who wrote the Bible. In the Bible, the earth is pretty much flat and institutions such as slavery are tolerated. We need to re-visit Christianity in ways that are appropriate for our context. This is not about watering it down, but about being confronted and empowered in fresh ways by God’s liberating activity in our time.
Who We Are
We are a community of people who gather to worship God and explore our Christian faith in a critical manner relevant to our context. Conscious of the particular challenges involved in witnessing to the life of Jesus Christ in the inner city of Sydney we seek to shape our lives in the following ways.
We seek to be an open and welcoming community of all people, especially those marginalized in our society due to their sexual orientation, gender, race, age, poverty and mental or emotional well being. We look for the full participation of all people in the life of the Church.
We are committed to working for justice, particularly with those who are marginalized in the inner city, such as people without homes of those left in poverty, aboriginal people and those who suffer racial prejudice.
We seek to actively explore the resources offered through all forms of human creativity, particularly as expressed in the arts, in support of our faith and mission.
Worship Life
In our worship life, we use the best liturgical resources from around the world, and some liturgies written by our own members. We encourage all members to be involved in leading worship, including the opportunity to create liturgies and deliver sermons.
The 7.30pm service is relaxed, featuring challenging discussions in a contemporary liturgical and musical setting. The service emphasises our coming together as a community, and thus involves high levels of interaction and shared leadership. We intersect with Eastside Arts through the Chapel of the Human Voice, which features beautiful sung meditations from Taizé and other places, as well as acapella events using music from across the globe.
Our midweek study group holds discussions, movie visits and other cultural sessions in the quest for an informed faith and a deepened community life.
We also organize many occasional social opportunities, such as shared meals, to complement our worshipping life.
For more info contact our Pastoral Assistant Ms Barbara Schneider.
Oasis - Worship in the Spirit of Taizé
Taizé is the name of a small village in France. During the horrors of World War Two, a young man, Brother Roger, was called to create in this village a community dedicated to ‘live out’ the reconciliation and trust taught in the Gospel in the midst of a divided Europe.
The Taizé community has grown in extraordinary ways since World War Two, and now comprises members from a wide range of Christian denominations and over thirty nations. Special meetings attract tens of thousands to share in the singing, prayer, silence and reflection that have become trademarks of the community.
‘Worship in the spirit of Taizé’ for us here at Paddington brings the themes of reconciliation and trust into our focus - themes relevant for the Australian community now more than ever and also for us as individuals. The ‘worship’ involves singing chants with minimal accompaniment, Bible readings, spaces of reflective silence and prayers for the world.
Oasis is run on the first Sunday of every month at 7:30pm, with song practice from 7pm.
Sanctuary @ paddington
Sanctuary is an alternative worship space in the heart of the bustling Paddington Markets. Making use of a series of prayer stations, Sanctuary provides a space for non-linear, self-directed worship and meditation.
Some images of Sanctuary can be seen here.
Sanctuary is run on the first Sarurday of every month, from 10am - 1pm. Because it is non-directed and non-linear, you do not need to come from start to finish - you can spend as much time here as you want.
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