Humans of the Uniting Church

What’s your Uniting Church story?

I grew up in the Church, the child of a Uniting Church Minister. Tragically when I was 11 years old my father succumbed to depression and took his life, leading to a difficult and troubled period as a teenager and young person, attending congregations and trying to find peace with God but struggling. The birth of my daughter as a young woman changed my life and brought me back to attending Church again, and it was through reattending that I began to experience that connection with God again, and the realisation that my social justice and environmental activism was so grounded in my upbringing and faith that it enabled me to come full circle and come back to God and the Church. I realised that although I had been lost that God had always been there.

What enlivens your faith?

Witnessing the good works that so many people do in the name of Jesus, experiencing the love and acceptance of my brothers and sisters in Christ, embracing the grace of God. Being a Christian enables so much hope for humanity.  On a very simple level, it is Chairing Presbytery and looking out over the sea of faces of the members of the WA Presbytery and realising that so many of the people I love the most in the world are all there!

As someone who has served in the state Parliament in WA and as the current mayor of the City of Vincent, what contribution to do think women make to public life?

We all have diverse gifts and graces and they should be harnessed and utilised regardless of gender. Some of the best leaders I have experienced have been women, but also some of the worst! One of the wonderful things about our Church is that we have long recognised that everyone is called to play a part in building the Kingdom of God, both within and outside of our Church. As such it is important for me to always conduct myself with honesty and integrity and to actively work for social and environmental justice. I do sometimes experience sexism within the Church but that is the rare individual and in my experience is not a systemic concern. Others may have a different experience of course and I do not deny that lived experience.

What’s one thing you love telling people about the UCA?

We are a Church of hope and justice and we seek to be a people of radical inclusion just as Jesus himself was. To love and offer grace to those who are otherwise marginalised, despised or othered is surely one of the most Christian acts we can undertake. I am truly inspired by the Basis of Union and genuinely believe it is an important touchstone for how we practice our faith as a denomination.

What’s one thing you’d like to change?

I would like people to embrace the fact that we are called to be a pilgrim people, that we need to be open to change within an ever changing world, that not moving, not being prepared to change how we worship, where we worship, how we disciple, how we do mission is to give up. I don’t feel like giving up! I am excited by change, I am excited by new opportunities.

What's one thing you would like the rest of the Uniting Church to pray for?

That within a troubled world, living within a culture which embraces the pursuit of individual hedonism and consumerism, that we may find the space to stop, reflect, and embrace what it means to be community and to serve others.

How are you marking the season of Lent?

I decided for Lent this year to give up scrolling on social media! I still have to do social media for my work but rather than wasting half an hour at the end of the day mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, or Instagram or LinkedIn, I actively turn off the phone and do something else like read a book or talk to my husband! It is actually harder than I thought it would be and demonstrates what an unhelpful habit it had become. 

What are your hopes for the future UCA?

That we can embrace our diversity and change such that there will be a place of welcome for everyone, that everyone has the opportunity to experience the love and fellowship of Jesus Christ. And that we can take this peace and grace to the broader world.