29 April 2026

National Update

Your snapshot of the Uniting Church in Australia

Featured Story

Finding Common Ground in the Desert Heart

This week, the Uniting Church in Australia's Northern Synod is hosting the 2026 Trans-Tasman General Secretaries' Gathering at Yulara, in the heart of Anangu Country. From 26 to 30 April, Assembly and Synod General Secretaries from the UCA are gathering alongside their counterparts from the Methodist Church of New Zealand and the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand for a time of spiritual discernment, cultural immersion, and strategic collaboration.

Staying at The Lost Camel Hotel and meeting at Sails in the Desert, delegates have shared dinner with leaders from the Northern Regional Council of Congress, walked the land around Kata Tjuta and Uluru, and engaged with key themes including covenanting with First Peoples, rural ministry sustainability, and mutual pastoral support. It is a gathering that reminds us all: we do not walk alone.

Learn more

ASSEMBLY

Assembly Strategies Explained

Assembly General Secretary Andrew Johnson outlines the Uniting Church in Australia Assembly's new strategy, built around three goals: flourishing faith, thriving communities, and liberating justice in this new video. The strategy will deepen the Church's covenant with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, renew liturgical standards to reflect the Church's multicultural identity, and strengthen local congregations through updated structures and governance. Check out the full video here.

PRESIDENT

ANZAC Day Disruption Statement

The Uniting Church has responded to the disruption of Welcome to Country ceremonies at Anzac Day services across the nation. President Rev Charissa Suli affirms that both Anzac Day and a Welcome to Country are sacred acts deserving full dignity and respect — and that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' service and story are inseparable from the Anzac story. The Church stands in solidarity with Ray Minniecon, its First Peoples leaders, and all who were hurt, and reaffirms its covenant commitment to walk alongside the UAICC in truth, justice, and healing. Read the full statement at the link.

JOB OPENINGS

Assembly Leadership Roles Open

The Uniting Church in Australia Assembly is recruiting for four senior leadership positions that will shape the national life of the Church for years to come. The roles — Director, Faith & Theology; Director, Identity & Mission; Director, Advocacy & Justice; and Associate General Secretary, Strategy & Governance — each carry significant responsibility for advancing the Assembly's strategy and strengthening the Church's theological culture, public witness, missional identity and governance. Together, these positions form a leadership cohort committed to a Church that is faithful, united and active in God's mission across Australia and beyond.

OUR PEOPLE

Meet Paul Wallbank

The Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia is delighted to welcome Paul Wallbank as its new National Manager, Media and Communications. A journalist, broadcaster, and strategic communications leader with more than two decades of experience across the ABC, News Corp, the Australian Computer Society, and his own practice, Paul brings deep editorial expertise and a genuine gift for helping organisations tell their stories well. He joins the Assembly at a significant moment in its public witness and mission, and we look forward to the clarity, creativity, and connection he will bring to this important role.

UNITING WORLD

Pacific Partners gather in Fiji to share knowledge, strengthen solidarity

Last week, UnitingWorld brought together Uniting Church partners from across the Pacific for the Pacific Regional Forum 2026 in Nadi, Fiji. Representatives from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Samoa shared confronting stories of climate change's human cost, and powerful accounts of the church's work transforming communities across the region.

In a divided and fear-fuelled world, art can open new perspectives. The Teeny-weeny Gallerini outside Port Adelaide Uniting Church sparks conversation and connection between strangers, while inviting people inside to ask questions about life and faith. Read more in the Synod of SA’s latest New Times.

May
31 Trinity Sunday

June
14-20 Refugee Week
16 Net Zero Roundtable #2
22 49th Anniversary of the Uniting Church in Australia
28 UnitingWorld Sunday

July
5-12NAIDOC Week
10Anniversary of the UCA-UAICC Covenant
16Net Zero Roundtable #3
19Intercultural Neighbouring Sunday

Click here for the Uniting Church Assembly 2026 calendar.

ACT: Family & Young People’s Ministry Facilitator - Gungahlin UC

NSW: Ministry Coordinator - Toronto UC

NSW: Team Lead for Culture of Safety - Synod of NSW and ACT

NSW: Lay Pastor - Lithgow Parish

NT: Minister - Alice Springs UC

NT: Minister - Living Water UC

QLD: Chaplain - UCQ Bluecare Aged Care

QLD: Ministry Agent - Rosewood/Walloon UC and Fernvale UC

QLD: Minister - Maranoa UC

QLD: Minister - Granite Belt Parish

SA: Community Minister - City View UC

VIC: Bush Chaplain (High Country) - Frontier Services

VIC: Park Manager - Lake Tyers Camp & Caravan Park

VIC: Administration Assistant Southern - Mornington Peninsula UC

WA: Minister - Lighthouse Church Geraldton

WA: Minister - Wagin Group of Congregations

WA: Social Justice Officer - Synod of WA

Have a role you’d like us to advertise? Send us the details!

Join us in prayer for...

for the family of Rev Dr Jione Havea and wishing them condolences for his untimely passing
the abating of the continued and growing international unrest that is impacting communities around the world including ours
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Afghanistan and Kazakhstan as part of the WCC Ecumenical Prayer Cycle.