This is my Uniting Church

Share a little bit about your church community.

Nightcliff Uniting Church (NUC) seeks to be a community of God. Its values are informed by the Jesus story and nurtured by the Holy Spirit. We desire to be a faith community that values diversity, the gifts of all people and is open to different understandings of faith and mission. The ancient practices of discernment, sustainability, spaciousness, connectivity and hospitality, guide our communal life.

The NUC Community began on the land of the Larrakia people in 1963. It welcomed and supported many from the Croker Island stolen generation community.

Jesus’ vision of mercy, grace and community saw the church committed to the land rights movement in the 70’s, the peace and disarmament campaigns of the 80’s, the Reconciliation movement in the 90’s and the environmental, Refugee and Treaty campaigns of this new century.

It said YES to a Voice, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to be recognised in the constitution through a voice to parliament.                           

A weekly intergenerational worship service, reflecting on the wisdom and compassion of Christ, happens on Sunday at 10am and through an ecumenical Taizé worship service on the first Wednesday of each month at 7.30pm. 

We are indebted to the many people, family and friends of NUC, who have in faith, over many years, nurtured and grown this church community.

What are some of the things happening there that are really exciting for people?

Our worshipping community is intergenerational, participatory, creative and inclusive, reflecting a diversity of expressions of faith and theological perspectives.

Op Shop – operated by a large team of volunteers with a strong sense of belonging, to recycle and upcycle clothes & other goods & reduce landfill.

Frillys Fair Trade Café – serving coffee (and tea) with homemade cakes for a donation. This quintessentially Darwin setting (outside in the garden, in the shade and taking in the breeze under the fans) invites people to come to find and build community.

Mulch Pit Community Garden – built on permaculture principles, using working bees, sign boards and garden to plate activities, provides information on sustainable models of gardening in the top end.

What energises the faith of this community?

Sustainability - We are a church community that recognises the abundance of God’s creation, and lives with the understanding that there is enough for all.

Discernment - We are a church community that acknowledges and accepts change as we encounter the sacred.

Hospitality - We are a church community that makes a place at the table for all who come to seek and celebrate.

Connectivity - We are a church community that invites all to explore the journey of God’s grace in Christ with integrity and openness.

Spaciousness - We are a church community that works for peace, justice and freedom for all.

Where do you see God at work at the moment?

NUC Team Leadership – a permission giving model of governance that maximises the opportunity for everyone to be involved, through a series of Teams, to action the complex needs of the community, enabling people to be nurtured and to thrive.

Youth Group Bible Study – activity-based Bible study for kids culminating in the group leading worship - 2023 Palm Sunday Service and Jesus Ministry in the Garden and 2024 Pentecost Sunday and planning annual Church Camp.

We have a labyrinth in our front garden. People come at different times of the day to pause, sit, listen to the birds and watch our resident family of frill necked lizards, meditate, pray and walk the labyrinth.

Our emerging relationship with the Driana Preschool in Luganville Santo in Vanuatu.

A sister relationship with Northern Regional Council of Congress (NRCC) Congregations of Ramingining and Milingimbi in central Arnhem land.

Each year we hand print Tea Towels to fundraise for our ‘Paying the Rent’ project. A symbolic payment, which increases with CPI, is paid to Larrakia Nation as our acknowledgement that we live, worship and play on land stolen from them.  We make a similar annual payment to the NRCC to acknowledge the suffering and impact of colonisation, on all First Nations People.

Late in 2023 we celebrated the 60^th anniversary of NUC - On 24^th August 1963 this church was opened and dedicated by Rev. Henry T Wells, the president of the Congregational Union of Australia. There had been considerable curiosity in the community as the unconventional design of the Church Centre (as it was called) did not look like ‘a church’. The architect’s decision to change the floor from white cement to black using a bucket of black polish, applied by hand by a team of women, some of whom where pregnant at the time, added further intrigue. In 1967 the building was extended, changing its external appearance. However, in 1974 it was destroyed by Cyclone Tracey, but rebuilt and re-opened on 25^th June 1977 by the Rev Douglas McKenzie, Chairman for the Presbytery of Arafura of the Uniting Church in Australia.

Are there any challenges you're facing there?

Finding low-cost outlets for the increasing amount of second hand goods delivered to the Op Shop, in order to reduce the amount of goods going into landfill.

Developing life giving ways to action the UCA covenant with UAICC and support our Indigenous brothers and sisters – particularly at Milingimbi and Ramingining who face chronic housing shortages, poor health and obscenely high prices for food and house hold goods (freight costs often make it prohibitive for the church community to provide support).

Darwin continues to be a very mobile community, and while some members of our church community have been supporting the life and witness of this congregation for a long time, a significant number of families and young adults leave each year. 

What can the rest of the Church pray for there?

The significant number of families in the congregation dealing with issues of grief and loss and managing challenges with mental health.

Our deep sense of sadness following the outcome of the referendum in 2023.

That we might continue to find ways to speak into our community and hold open the many points of entry that make it possible for people to feel welcome and develop a sense of belonging.