Liturgies 4life

I am the minister at the Jesmond Park Wallsend/Shortland Uniting Church communities in Newcastle. I am passionate about exploring life and faith with others by creating wide-open spiritual spaces in which people can “stand tall,” discover where their unique gifts fit in the joyous diversity of community, and find a rhythm to life in prayer and play that sustains the light and love they bring to the world around us. Intergenerational. Multicultural. Inclusive. Grounded. Safe. Liberating. Authentic. These are some of my core values and are deeply reflected in my liturgy and my life. I also love rainbows. And unicorns. And good books. And red wine. And supernatural tv shows. And haiku. And aerial dancing. And laughing – especially when life is tough.

Christian

July 30, 2025

Prayers for praying

This is the opening for my service on the Lord’s Prayer last week which created space for a variety of prayer forms for people to experience. #breathprayer #imaginativeprayer #confession #visiodivina Breath prayer “So I say to you:Ask and it will be given to you;seek and you will find;knock and the door will be opened to…
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July 18, 2025

Shine

An invocation of the Land and Peoples This is a prayer form of an Acknowledgment of Country (I first encountered the term in Trish Watt’s book “Sanctuary”, and it really resonated with me as an immigrant to this land now called Australia). Coming from South Africa with its history of apartheid and my formation in…
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June 30, 2025

A Service of Gratitude and Thanksgiving

#leadership #appreciation #community-building #ElijahI was recently inducted into a new placement as a congregational minister in Newcastle. It’s been nearly two years since JPUC has had a full-time ministry agent, and they have had to think creatively to sustain their worship life, as well as their ministry and mission. When we did the maths, there…
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June 17, 2025

Betrothal rites

for inclusion in a service of worshipGraham and I wrote these simple words to be used within the “community-building” portion of a regular Sunday service (i.e. after the notices and Prayers of the People) so that we could express our commitment to one another before the community of faith who will accompany us in this…
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June 15, 2025

Trinity Sunday – and ordinary grace

Watch the Triune face give three-fold shape to our faith: ev’ry day is grace. Last week, I shared on my Substack how I was wrestling with the purpose of my preaching at the moment and how identifying the purpose of it within this current season of my life would likely necessitate a change in the actual how…
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May 31, 2025

Communion: May we be one

A creative communion service for intergenerational/youth-led worship #embodiment #unity #abundance #tableofplenty #simple Based on John 17:20-26 I was asked this week if I could create a communion liturgy for a youth-led service that would reflect Jesus’s prayer for unity among his disciples and, perhaps, provide the opportunity for people to serve one another. Immediately, the…
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