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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.
Our Ministry Team
Minister: Rev Ben Gilmour was inducted into Paddington in July 2011. Ben is keen to explore emerging models of church with ancient & new spiritual practices in an inner city context. Ben would love to hear from you (email).
Mission Development Manager: Justin Whelan has been coming to Paddington Uniting since 1994 and has recently taken up this new position to help the community explore new and fresh ways of engaging in God's mission in this place. Justin is always free for coffee and a chat (email).
For more information, contact us.
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 10am Sunday service is held on 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month, shifting to weekly from March 2012. This gathering is a kid-inclusive, relaxed, social space where we explore life and faith together. We follow a short, simple liturgy but the emphasis is on building an inclusive community.
The 7.30pm service is also relaxed, and features 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.
Sunday evenings in 2012 will have the following pattern:
Taizé – 1st Sunday of the Month
Reflections, Word and Song – 2nd Sunday of Month
Multimedia Reflective Worship – 3rd Sunday of the Month
Communion Sunday – 4th Sunday of the Month
Community Meal – 5th Sunday of the Month
Tangents
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 call it "Tangents" because, well, we let the conversation flow where it will! You can learn more about Tangents, including themes for upcoming evenings, at the Tangents website.
We also organize many occasional social opportunities, such as shared meals, to complement our worshipping life.
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. We are belssed to be led by Tricia Watts, a well-known singer, composer and music teacher.
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. 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.
Some images of Sanctuary can be seen here.
Sanctuary is currently on hold but will return in 2012.
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