Welcome to the Uniting Church
Since we began in 1977, we have been following Jesus, working for justice, growing as disciples and serving communities in these lands now called Australia.
From our capital cities to the heart of the outback, you will find around 1600 congregations and faith communities joyfully worshipping in more than 45 languages, including First Nations languages. In Australia’s 2021 Census, more than 670,000 people identified themselves as having an affiliation with the Uniting Church. In the work of our agencies we serve alongside local communities and our Church Partners across the Pacific, Asia and Africa to inspire a better world.
We believe all people are made in the image of God and deeply loved. As members of the Church, we make up the one body of Christ. We encourage one another to learn more about and grow with God, to care for each other and God's creation, to seek justice and to live lovingly in the world.
Find a Uniting Church congregation or faith community in your area. We would love to welcome you.
OUR PEOPLE
Our Beginnings
In 1977, three Australian Christian denominations joined to form the Uniting Church in Australia. After many years of prayerful discernment, the Congregational Union in Australia, the Methodist Church of Australasia and the Presbyterian Church of Australia came together in the hope that they would “bear witness to that unity which is both Christ’s gift and will for the Church”.
Our founding document The Basis of Union sets out a way of living and being as a church open to constant reform under Christ and seeking a wider unity in the power of the Spirit. Uniting Church members are encouraged to participate in God’s mission in the world because:
“God in Christ has given to all people in the Church the Holy Spirit as a pledge and foretaste of the coming reconciliation and renewal which is the end in view for the whole creation.”
(Basis of Union, paragraph 3)
How Our Church Works Together
The Uniting Church in Australia is a series of interrelated non-hierarchical councils.
We take seriously our belief that every member has a part in the ministry of Christ - each of us contributes our gifts to participating in God's mission.
That is why we use a model of consensus-decision making when our councils meet. The focus is on listening to the Spirit before we speak and discerning the will of God for the Church together.
UNITING ABORIGINAL AND ISLANDER CHRISTIAN CONGRESS
In 1985, the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia unanimously welcomed and agreed to officially support the formation of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC).
OUR MINISTRIES
Uniting Disaster Recovery
The Uniting Church engages with disaster-affected people through the Assembly, its Synods, Presbyteries, Congregations and agencies through direct financial relief, disaster recovery chaplaincy, peer support, targeted recovery programs and ministries.
National Safe Church Unit
The National Safe Church Unit works to ensure the Uniting Church is a safe place for all. Created in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, it is a whole of Church commitment to ensuring safe spaces in our congregations, agencies, hospitals and schools.
Other Ministries
Learn about the other ministries and national committees of the Uniting Church.