April 22, 2026
By Matthew Julius, Growing in Faith Circle Panel Member
The National Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is starting a new project of “Liturgical Renewal.” The word ‘liturgy’ refers to Christian worship, and is part of the “core business” of the Assembly (alongside doctrine and governance). This project seeks to foster renewal through building shared understanding about how we worship, why we worship, and, most importantly, who we worship.
‘Liturgy’ is often translated as ‘the work of the people.’ The origin of the word is more specifically associated with ‘public works’ (the Greek here is leitos + ergon = leitourgia), originally public monuments like statues or stadiums. Perhaps a better translation of liturgy might be the Church’s ‘public work,’ our task in worship is to make public an encounter with God. This is the beating heart of worship: an encounter with the life-giving God, whose Spirit makes Jesus heard and known.
This project is about celebrating the diverse expressions of worship across our church, which in their own ways help make public an encounter with God. Our hope is to reflect our church’s diversity in how the Assembly speaks about and resources worship into the future.
This has to begin with acknowledging that this hasn’t always been the case. The Assembly’s resourcing of worship has often favoured patterns of worship which emphasise scripted forms of prayer, and more traditional forms of gathering. This approach is understandable: there is so much beauty and wisdom in the ecumenical tradition, and sharing common words and patterns of worship with others is a powerful symbol of unity. (We are still the Uniting Church!) At the same time, the face of the church has changed: the centre of gravity for the church has moved to the Global South, and there are significant movements within contemporary evangelicalism and pentecostalism which are renewing parts of the Uniting Church. These changes challenge us to consider how our worship can continue to be a symbol of unity with new ecumenical partners, without stepping away from long-standing relationships with existing partners.
The Word of God on whom salvation depends is to be heard and known from Scripture appropriated in the worshipping and witnessing life of the Church.” `~ Basis of Union ❡ 5
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We are also challenged about whether we have lived up to all of our commitments as a church in how we approach worship: Has our commitment to covenanting and walking together truly changed our Church? Beyond acknowledging Country, have we allowed ourselves to renew our love for the Creator and God’s good creation by listening to the wisdom of First Nations members of our church? And what have we been willing to share in return?
Have we truly lived out our claim that, “We are a multicultural church”? Not simply by offering translations of resources developed from the majority culture centre, but allowing minority culture communities to reshape inherited practice.
Does our commitment to worshipping as a symbol of Christ’s reconciling unity and love for all people truly extend to all? In particular, to those who have historically been excluded from churches, and alienated by inherited language? The last Assembly resolved to commission guidance on “language which welcomes and affirms transgender, gender diverse, and intersex people.” (Assembly Minute 24.21.07) How might our language make public God’s reconciling love for all people?
Our diversity must be seen as an instrument of our unity, because our unity is a proclamation of Jesus: who reconciles all people to God and to one another. Our diversity is not a challenge to our unity, but a gift from God, and that’s where our worship begins: with the life-giving God, the Creator who makes us all unique and who draws us all together.
Whether your community is bound together by a deep connection to Country, drawn from across the moana, or shaped by stories of migration old and new — or maybe your community is “a colourful mess” (to quote the Moderator from my Synod, Rev. Salesi Faupula). Whether your church has organs, guitars, drums, or just voices. Whether the Spirit lingers with you during the week as you craft every word, or the Spirit inspires you with fresh words at the moment you begin to pray. Whether you have always felt welcomed and accepted by our Church, or you have had to struggle to find love and acceptance. Whether your theology is conservative, progressive, evangelical, liberal, pentecostal, liberationist, or something else entirely — or, if we’re honest, a mixture of everything!
Everyone is invited to participate in this project of liturgical renewal, because everyone is invited to worship the life-giving God we meet in Jesus.
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