News,Programs and Events
Apart from our Saturday morning and Sunday evening services, other activities take place at Paddington UC on a regular basis. Find out more about them below.
NEWS- PASTOR RAY COP30
“Our old people taught us that caring for Country isn’t a project - it’s who we are.”
​
I’ve recently been nominated as a Knowledge Holder for the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It’s an honour, but also a responsibility. My role is to carry the voices, wisdom, and ancient teachings of our Elders into global spaces - to remind the world that Indigenous knowledge systems and spiritual traditions are not relics of the past. They are guides for the future.
​
When I travel to Brazil for COP30, I’m looking forward to walking alongside other Indigenous peoples from across the world - to listen, to learn, and to share our own stories from this ancient land we call Australia. Brazil is home to powerful First Nations movements who are protecting their forests, rivers, and the breath of the Earth itself. I hope we can sit together and talk about what balance and right relationship with Creation really mean.
​
Climate work found me more than I found it. I’ve been doing this most of my life - through community leadership, ministry, reconciliation, and partnerships that lift Indigenous wisdom. I now serve as co-Chair of Australia’s Indigenous Peoples Organisation, but really, it all began with love - love for my people, for Country, and for Creation. When you love the Earth, you can’t stay silent while she’s suffering.
​
At COP30, I hope to see less talk and more action - especially actions that protect Indigenous lands and waters. We need climate justice that holds big polluters accountable and uplifts the communities already facing the hardest impacts. And I want to see Indigenous leadership honoured - not as “alternative,” but as essential to healing our planet.Faith and culture give us the moral courage to act. In my Christian faith, I return to John 3:16 - “For God so loved the cosmos…” Not just humanity, but all of Creation. And in my Aboriginal culture, we understand that everything is connected - land, sky, water, people, and spirit. When one part of Creation is hurt, we all feel it. Paul says in Romans 8 that “creation groans as a woman in childbirth.”That’s what I hear in the winds and waters of this world right now - Creation crying out. And I believe our response must be collective. Healing the Earth isn’t something done alone. It happens when we walk together - in respect, humility, and hope.
PADDINGTON MARKETS
Paddington Markets is held around the church every Saturday from 10:00am to 4:00pm. It is Sydney's longest running weekly community markets. For over 40 years it has been and continues to be Australia's most frequent and well known church fête.
PADDINGTON CHILDREN'S CENTRE
The Paddington Children's Centre is located in the original church manse and operates within the broader Uniting framework as a provider of early childhood education. It employs highly qualified staff and provides a well-resourced and maintained environment. It is a safe and welcoming place where social justice, equity and inclusion are highly valued. For more information contact office@paddingtoncc.org
