Eastwood UC: Weaving Belonging in a Divided World
August 17, 2026
The Uniting Church President, Rev Charissa Suli, recently visited Eastwood Uniting Church in Sydney’s north west, where she preached and shared Holy Communion as the congregation celebrated its 2026 theme, TOGETHER.
The theme reflects the congregation’s rich intercultural life, bringing together English, Korean and Chinese-speaking worshippers, alongside people from many cultural backgrounds and across generations.
President Suli was warmly welcomed by Minister of the Word Rev Seungjae Yeon, lay leaders and members of the congregation. From worship to the shared meal that followed, she experienced a community marked by hospitality, participation and belonging.
“Eastwood was another beautiful expression of the witness our Church can offer,” Rev Suli said. “Here is a community learning what it means not merely to be multicultural, but to be genuinely intercultural – forming relationships across difference, receiving one another’s gifts, and discovering more deeply what it means to belong to the one Body of Christ.”
For Rev Suli, this witness speaks directly to the Uniting Church’s identity and vocation. The Basis of Union calls the Church to a unity in Christ that transcends cultural, national and racial boundaries.
“Perhaps one of the prophetic gifts the Church can offer Australia right now is not simply to speak about social cohesion, but to become communities where reconciliation can be seen and practised.”
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She also reflected on the role congregations can play in strengthening Australia’s social fabric at a time when racism, discrimination and polarisation can strain relationships.
“Week after week, people from different languages, cultures, migration stories and experiences gather together,” Rev Suli said. “We pray, hear Scripture, sing, listen, share meals and come to Christ’s table together. We learn one another’s stories and discover that difference need not become division.”
“Perhaps one of the prophetic gifts the Church can offer Australia right now is not simply to speak about social cohesion, but to become communities where reconciliation can be seen and practised.”
For Rev Suli, belonging requires more than simply bringing diverse people together. It means listening deeply, making room for different voices, recognising gifts and allowing relationships to transform the whole community.
“Together does not mean sameness,” she said. “It means learning to belong to one another in Christ while honouring the cultures, stories and gifts each person brings.”
Eastwood’s witness offers a glimpse of this vocation: a Church where strangers become neighbours, difference need not become division, and reconciliation is lived as well as proclaimed.
Read President Suli’s full reflection of her visit to Eastwood Uniting Church via the download below.
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