Worship Services
An All-Age celebration
9.30am each Sunday of the year we gather for worship:
to worship the God of Jesus;
to worship in a way that seeks to be inclusive, all-age, relevant, meaningful and respecting the diversity found within those who gather;
as a faith community, a community that seeks in our day and time to be disciples (followers) of Jesus – in his life, death, resurrection, ascension and ongoing presence through God’s Spirit;
as a diverse group of people: different ages, different life stages and lifestyles, different theological leanings, different hopes and fears, different cultural or social backgrounds, different educational backgrounds, different passions, gifts, abilities – all come together in an act of Worship.
Each week the reading and sermon are based on the Lectionary. (A lectionary is a series of readings from the Scriptures designed to be used from week to week as the basis for preaching and worship. The use of a lectionary enables congregations to hear and engage with a breadth of the Scriptures across a defined period of time. In the case of the Revised Common Lectionary promoted by the Uniting Church, that period is a three-year repeating cycle.)
Worship – Guiding Principles
Each Sunday Queanbeyan Uniting church meets to worship the God revealed to us in Jesus.
Our aim is to create worship experiences that encourage all people (faith seekers, the young in faith, those of mature faith) to hear the Gospel of Jesus in ways that transform their lives and thus enable a full participation in God’s transformation of all creation.
The worship we seek to provide at Queanbeyan Uniting Church each Sunday is designed to bring us, as disciples, closer to God, so that we grow to worship God in Spirit and in Truth.
As we build our relationship with God we come to learn:
Who we are (the beloved of God, along with all creatures);
Whose we are (God’s); and
How we are to live (as children of God.)
When we create a service of worship, we do so listening to :
The Spirit of God;
Scripture and the teaching of Jesus;
The traditions of the Church;
The invitation of the Spirit of God, active and real in our day and time
As we do so, we consider the recipients of the message:
The community of Queanbeyan Uniting Church; and
The society within which the community lives.
The Spirit of God
We believe The Spirit is the ever-present reality of creativity and inspiration, always dynamic and free, always inviting us to new experiences of our faith.
Scripture and the teaching of Jesus
The Hebrew Scriptures present a dialogue between those who support the formal and formalised Temple-based worship and those who see it as a corrupt and corrupting aspect of the national life of Israel.
The Gospels tell us very little about Jesus participation in the worship life of the community (Israel) of which he was a citizen. The few references of Jesus in the Synagogues of his day tend to describe incidents in which he read from the Hebrew Scriptures and taught (Matthew 9:25; Luke 4:42-44). This seems to usually have resulted in him creating unrest and anger amongst those who supported the established system (Mark 3:1-6; 11:15-18; Luke 4:16-30). At other times Jesus is openly critical of those whose professions served the current system of worship (Matthew 23:1-36).
Jesus seems to have been quite critical of religion that is self serving and that reinforces differences as being bad or evil. Jesus saw faith and genuine worship where the “religion industry” could not see it. He called for worship to be in Spirit and Truth (John 4:21-24), i.e. of a quality that reflected the presence of the Reign of God. He indicated to the Samaritan woman that there would come a time when worship would not be linked with any particular place or building – neither Jerusalem, the Holy Mountain (nor our local church buildings?).
In the writings of the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 11:17-34; 14:1-40) and the Letter to the Hebrews (10:25) we see an emphasis on the gathering of the people as an expression of the new reality in Christ, the Reign of God. God was worshipped properly only when each member was included without prejudice or favour. This approach reflects the emphasis of the prophets Isaiah (58:6,7) and Micah (6:8) and demonstrates that for the early Church worship was primarily a corporate, communal activity rather than a private, personal, internal experience.
Communion
We celebrate Communion as part of the morning service on the third Sunday of each month. Communion is open to everyone, all are welcome at the table to share in the bread and cup (grape juice) – no matter what age, church membership/involvement, or life situation – it's a moment where we celebrate the generous and abundant love of God for ALL the world.
Playroom
We have a great parent/infant-friendly space, where parents and infants can relax and still engage with the worship service. We never insist that parents and infants use this space however we do find that some parents feel less stressed when they think that their child is not ‘disturbing others’ (which is not something the congregation is actually worried about!). There is a toilet and change table directly off the playroom.
The second photo shows the outlook from the playroom.
Morning Tea
Following morning worship we all share morning tea – everyone is invited to be part of this important community time.