Program

Tending to the soul in an age of self

BYO lunch or enjoy local eateries

For emerging gen leaders

Bringing it Back Together: A Response From Andrew Root

The Taste of ONE

This session will look at how we celebrate our ONEness without compromising our individuality that we have been gifted with by touching on Jesus' prayer of unity and looking at the spirit of Pentecost.

This presentation provides an introduction to trauma-informed and culturally responsive practice, with a particular focus on Aboriginal experiences and perspectives. Drawing on contemporary neuroscience, First Nations knowledge and practice wisdom, the session explores how trauma can influence the way people experience safety, trust, relationships and community.

Participants will be invited to reflect on the role of connection, belonging, culture and care in supporting well-being, and consider how communities can create environments that are responsive to the impacts of trauma. While grounded in Aboriginal perspectives, the principles explored are relevant to anyone seeking to better understand trauma and foster communities where people feel welcomed, valued and supported.

This session will explore the reality of ministry with young people and the different aspects involved in sustaining and nurturing this work within the life of the church. This will include considering the church's financial commitment to this ministry, the importance of pastoral relationships and mentoring within the faith community, approaches to discipleship and formation, and equipping leaders through appropriate training, support and development.

There's something powerful that happens when voices come together.

Join us for The Collective Voice — a pop choir-style experience where you're invited to step in, sing out, and feel the energy of many voices moving as one. No experience needed — just a willingness to show up and be part of something bigger than yourself.

Across the world, more and more people are turning to collective singing — not just as an art form, but as a response. In the face of injustice, division, and uncertainty, communities are gathering to raise their voices in protest, in hope, in healing. Singing together becomes a way of reclaiming agency, building connection, and reminding ourselves that we are not alone.

In this session, we'll learn and sing together in a relaxed, uplifting environment; exploring how harmony, rhythm, and shared breath can create something deeply moving and unexpectedly powerful.

Come and experience the joy, the release, and the unity of the collective voice.

Our relationships across the global Church are more than partnerships or programs—they are relationships through which we encounter Christ, learn from one another and participate in God’s mission together. Hear from members of recent global delegations about what they discovered, what challenged them, and what purposeful accompaniment might mean for the Uniting Church in the years ahead.

The Way of the rural Christ.

Join us as we gather in honest conversations about the realities of life in rural and remote communities. We will hear the stories of joy, hope, celebrating the faithfulness of our communities but also listen to the stories of struggle and disappointment. Together we will explore what it means to be One church, strengthening our relationships between rural and urban churches, learning from our shared experiences and sharing in God's vision for the common good.

BYO lunch or enjoy local eateries

Sometimes, the tension of our differences is exactly where the Spirit breathes.  Catching us by surprise and opening our minds to a grander, more expansive vision of God.

Together, we will look at how this sacred awe helps us recognise the Spirit is moving- vibrant and alive in and through all of creation.  We will explore how truly embracing our LGBTIQ+ siblings as a divine gift helps our communities heal, grow, and reflect the full, breathtaking image of God. 

In response to the Synod's sixth commitment to its Future Directions, this session will explore what it means to live cross-culturally as a multicultural and intercultural Church in an increasingly diverse Australia. Together, we will examine different models of intercultural ministry, consider their implications for congregational life and mission, and reflect on what approaches may best enable our churches to grow as contemporary, courageous, and inclusive communities of faith.

Working in a team ministry environment grows and stretches us in surprising ways. Rev. Mosese Taufa, Rev. Mike Hardie & Rev. Radhika Sukumar-White each serve as Team Leaders in very different contexts — a church plant in the Shire, a Pasifika/multicultural multi-site congregation in Western Sydney, and a young justice-focused congregation in Sydney's Inner West. They'll be reflecting on lessons learned in team ministry, not as experts, but as practitioners.

We tend to be well practised at thinking about our faith and engaging in spirituality through words. What if we invited our whole selves, body and all, into our experience of God?

In this gentle and immersive workshop, Rev. Greer Hudson invites participants into practices of embodied spirituality through creativity, reflection, story and movement. Together we will explore how God meets us not only in words and ideas, but through our bodies.

This workshop offers space to be playfully expressive, as well as to slow down and notice what is stirring beneath the surface. Through embodied creative and contemplative practices and, participants will be invited to be, connect and create.

No artistic, creative or physical experience is needed, only a willingness to turn up as you are.

You are invited to pause, create, play, and embody the sacred in and through your body.

How Long? Being a Faithful Church in Our Age of Sadness and Despair

We live in a disconnected, divided, and increasingly despairing age. How should the church think about evangelism in this moment — and can we even use the word? This session explores how the modern pursuit of happiness, elevated to life’s highest measure, has paradoxically left people more miserable and isolated than ever. In response, we’ll recover a theology of consolation — one where the church does evangelism not through optimism, but by walking with others through sorrow, taking the very form and action of Jesus Christ in the world.

Awe and Wonder

Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain us when the world goes dark.

Every Nation, Every Voice: Beginning with the Bible’s Ending

Where are we going — and does it change how we live now? Revelation 21 offers a compelling vision: a renewed creation, a garden-city where the glory and diversity of the nations are gathered into God’s presence. In its ancient setting, this vision is an act of resistance against evil and injustice. In this session we’ll explore how that future shapes who we are and how we might live today.

Every woman carries a Talanoa (story) of faith, challenge, hope, and resilience. When these stories are shared, they reveal something of God’s transforming work in the world. Across generations, cultures, and communities, women have been builders of community, advocates for justice, nurturers of faith, and leaders of transformation.

Grounded in scripture and shaped by lived experience, this session will explore the many ways women participate in God’s mission through leadership, advocacy, motherhood, ministry, and everyday acts of discipleship. Participants will be invited into conversation, storytelling, prayer, and reflection on biblical narratives that illuminate the courage, wisdom, and faithfulness of women throughout God’s story. Together, we will consider how the Church can continue to be a place where women are empowered, valued, and encouraged to live out God’s call with courage, authenticity, and hope.

Connecting with the Synod theme, “Transforming Communities,” this session will celebrate the diverse contributions of women in both formal and informal leadership. It will create space for intercultural voices, shared experiences, and honest reflection, recognising that transformation often begins through faithful acts of service, advocacy, compassion, and witness. Woven throughout the session will be prayer, Talanoa, and engagement with biblical stories that remind us that women have always been central participants in God’s transforming work in the world.

Jessie Robinson, a proud Wiradjuri man will present a session on how working alongside our communities can change the outcomes for generations to come. Jessie will unpack what co-design is and how it can be a tool that can drive self-determination into action. Jessie will talk from experience and tells stories to guide us forward with community.

The power of a community unified by Christ, pursuing community and justice together.

Since it's inception the Church has faced the question: how will we respond in the face of suffering, brokenness and persecution. Drawing on Scripture, history, and contemporary movements for justice, this workshop will explore how followers of Jesus have helped transform societies across time, and what this means for the Church today. Through storytelling, exploring case studies, theological reflection, and discussion, we’ll consider what kind of Church our moment is calling us to become.

A Creative Workshop with Associate Professor Lotte Latukefu

What happens when we recognise creativity as something we don't just express — but something we share? Join Associate Professor Lotte Latukefu, Head of Performing Arts and internationally respected researcher in Higher Music Education and performance-led practice, for a deeply engaging creative workshop exploring the theme of Shared Breath. Drawing on decades of experience in teaching, performance, and research, Lotte invites participants into a space where the arts become a living, breathing connection between people.

The word "gospel" is both a noun and adjective, but the concept is deeply contested within Christian thought for political, philosophical and experiential reasons. Andrew Palmer, Ella Evans and Radhika Sukumar-White are passionate about the Gospel in their ministry contexts, and will share themselves (and invite participation) on what the gospel and (gasp) evangelism might look like, authentically, in the Uniting Church.

BYO lunch or enjoy local eateries

This session follows on from Andrew's Friday key note and provides an opportunity to ask questions and dive deeper into the themes. 

We live in a disconnected, divided, and increasingly despairing age. How should the church think about evangelism in this moment — and can we even use the word? This session explores how the modern pursuit of happiness, elevated to life’s highest measure, has paradoxically left people more miserable and isolated than ever. In response, we’ll recover a theology of consolation — one where the church does evangelism not through optimism, but by walking with others through sorrow, taking the very form and action of Jesus Christ in the world. Andrew will continue the conversation started in his keynote.

Throughout its history, leaders have helped the church respond with integrity and wisdom. They have helped the people of God to be courageous and gracious in the face of turmoil and change. In this panel discussion, we will explore the blessings and challenges of Christian ministry in times of uncertainty — helping the church to let go of that which it needs to discard, to cherish that which it needs to retain, to embrace the new work of the Spirit and to encourage unity in Christ.

The average age of a congregational attender in the UCA is now 68, with less than 10% of weekend attenders being under the age of 30. While those statistics are true, they are a flat fact with no nuance, understanding, or lived experience. We have gathered a panel of young UCA leaders to discuss their lived experience, how their faith has been formed and impacted, their perspective on today’s challenges and their hopes for the church of tomorrow! Join us!!

In this gentle, creative workshop, we'll explore Isaiah 64:8 through the process of clay, journeying from raw earth to formed vessel. Through a live demonstration and simple hands-on experience, you'll be invited to reflect on your own story with God, noticing where you are being shaped, stretched, or restored.

Whether you feel newly formed, in a season of waiting, under pressure, or carrying a few cracks, this is a quiet space to pause and notice the hands that are holding and shaping you with care.

The Big Challenge of ONE: Do we have what it takes?

Forces of fear and fracture are tearing our world apart. But God has a very different world in mind: a world reconciled as ONE to God in Christ. And God calls us, the church, to take part as ONE in that great reconciling mission (see 2 Cor 5.18-19). The big question is, do we have what it takes? The honest answer to that is no, we don’t. The forces of fear and fracture are too powerful for our best intentions and our best efforts. But God is prepared to give us everything we need to overcome those forces and to transform the world as it is into the world as it’s meant to be. In this session, we’ll look at what it will take for us to receive what we need to live into our mission together as ONE reconciling and uniting church.