Part A: Reflection on Living Faith Uniting Church

The Living Faith Uniting Church is a branch of the Union, founded on the 22nd of June in 1977. The Uniting church is a combination of the Presbyterian, Congregational Union and Methodist churches, and is in conversation with the Anglican and Lutheran churches about joining with them also. The Living Faith Church is in Carindale, on Pine Mountain road, opposite Metropol. The Church is a part of the Uniting Church Australia Synod. The service began at 8:30am on Sunday morning, the only service for the week. Despite the early time frame, all the people arrived on time. Although the Church attendance was small in number, they had enough space to accommodate for a lot of possible visitors, though sadly, many of those seats remained unfilled. Upon arrival, we were warmly welcomed by a few people, including the Minister, who after the service told us a bit more information on the Uniting Church.
The Uniting Church bases their beliefs on the ‘Basis of Union’, which is their statement of faith. The church believes in the Trinity, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Church is centred around Christ, and much like the Pentecostal or Charismatic churches, they believe in a personal relationship with God, and serving in the church. Living Faith Uniting Church believe in the Old and the New Testament, and believe it is vital for our walk in Christianity. The church believes in Baptism, that it is a move for those who confess a Christian faith, to be incorporated into Christ’s body. They take Holy Communion, and offer it to those who attend. They mostly hold similar beliefs to the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, although the actual services are held differently.
The service commenced by lighting a candle on stage, then a Bible reading, and a song. The songs were sung by a few of the church’s older ladies, to a backing track and hymn-like words, although the pace was faster. After the song, announcements were given, then sharing their experiences with God for the week. This was a time where anyone could share their story, and I found it to be a really pleasant time of the service, something where all could participate and reflect on the miracles happening within the church. They then prayed, for more revelations of God, and then took up offering. Though there were only a handful of people at the church, no more than 40, they all gave money into the offering. The offering was prayed for and blessed, something I hadn’t seen in a long time, but I felt should happen more often. The sermon then commenced, and everyone was quiet. This showed that respect was very important in the church. The preaching was Bible based, the woman told a bible story, then related it to modern day and how it applies to our lives. I found it was relevant, although I did find it a little hard to concentrate, as most of the people in the Church were a lot older than myself, so it was more related to them. The preacher included memories and stories from her own life to make the message more interesting. After the message, they prayed again, then the Lord’s Prayer. This shows that they are keeping a little bit of tradition, even with the relevance to modern day life. The service ended with more singing, and finished quite early.
The Uniting Church believes that social justice is a big part of being a Christian, and they reach out to the community in many ways. They have Chaplains in hospitals, in the military, Blue Care, and caring for young disabled people. They care for lots of different people, going overseas, to the outback, and in isolated communities.
The church was a very different experience for me, as I am very used to the fashion-forward, loud music and darkly decorated styling of Citipointe Christian Centre, so seeing a different church like this was eye-opening as to how other people worship.