Sydney, November 3: Church

With less than a week before the elections, I wanted to go to church. Last year, Robyn from Melbourne steered us away from Presbyterian churches in favor of Uniting churches. Since Robyn used to worship with us in the States, we trusted she understands our worship style. The Uniting Church began in 1977 as a new church that united the Congregational, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches into one church that now includes over 1400 churches, and they worship in over 45 languages including Aboriginal ones. Armed with this knowledge, I looked for one that met near the Opera House so we could attend worship. As a sanity check, I asked Michael, our tour guide, for recommendations. St. Stephen's Uniting Church was at the top of his list. Given they were a quick 15 minute walk away and had a service starting in 20 minutes it was a heaven sent match.

With all of its wood paneling, stained glass windows, and an organ, the interior is classic British church style. The wooden Celtic cross in the center was covered with Christmas garlands to highlight the circle. The pews had numbers on them. The exterior was currently undergoing renovations, but I presume it is also looks like what I would identify as a church. On the way out, I noticed it used to be a Presbyterian church. Most of the congregation was dressed nicer than we were, mostly suits and dresses, with one man in sporting gear as if he ran there. 

We were there on All Saints Day, a day that seems to vary in importance based on the church. Growing up I don't feel we made a big deal about it in our Dutch Reformed church, but maybe we did and I was too young to appreciate the significance. As an adult, I often tear up thinking about the "saints" that went before us (I think of "saints" as loved ones who have passed away, those strong in their faith who helped me to grow in mine).

My notes show there were about 30 people in the choir, ten worship leaders, about fifty more in the congregation.   

Communion was served. They noted this was the first week they were returning to using communion glasses since the pandemic. I remember when our church made the switch back. It felt as if we were returning to normal.

A few more notes:

1) Chocolate was given to visitors and people celebrating. It did help me feel welcome.

2) The children's message was a cartoon video about Jesus raising Lazarus from
the dead. I did not see any children in the sanctuary, and the message felt long. It was from a series called: Stories of the Bible.

3) I was curious about the order of worship. Ours follows "the grid" each week, with the same basic order (unless something special is happening). This one seemed to be all over the place. It opened with the acknowledgement of country before singing the doxology, followed by the call to worship and words of assurance then announcements. It felt as if they tossed the pieces into a hat and pulled them out at random.

Speaking to Caroline after church she said they change the order of worship every week. At least the prelude was at the beginning, and postlude at the end.

4) The bulletin had a note with an update on the eastern façade restoration and conservation that included: please do not approach the builders directly except to politely say hi. Following was: "a huge thanks to the co-operative people who are able to put up with some construction noise. The ability for the work to continue uninterrupted will be to your advantage in time and money. We might be in for a wet eight months, so if work can be done while there is no rain, we will make hay."

From church we walked back to the hotel to change into shorts, and visited the grocery store. I love seeing grocery stores in foreign countries.