News from Uniting Church SA
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Tuesday 2 December 2025
2026 Calendar – Order yours now!
A reminder that the discounted ‘Early Bird’ price of $10 for the 2026 Calendar will be available until the end of this weekend. So get your orders in soon on the link below!
But if you miss out, don't despair – full price is only an extra $2, which is about 1/3 of a cup of coffee at an Adelaide coffee shop.
We’re expecting the first copies to be available from Synod office on Monday 8 December, with the balance arriving on Wednesday, when we'll also start posting them out. If you're planning come in to collect yours, it might be best to give us a call on 8236 4200 just to check availability. Please pay for them online though, as we're not able to take payment over the counter.
Christmas worship times
Thanks to all those who have sent us your Christmas worship times. If you haven't yet done so, please email engagement@sa.uca.org.au so they can be featured on the Synod website at UCA SA – Christmas Services 2025.
For all other Christmas events, please list them in the usual way via our Events submission form at UCA SA – Submit an event.
Christmas 2025 Resources – Now available!
To support our congregations, a Christmas PowerPoint template and other resources are now available on our website.
International Day of People with Disability – December 3
Tomorrow (Wednesday December 3) is the International Day of People with Disability, an opportunity to be part of creating an inclusive and diverse community for the 5.5 million people living with disability in Australia.
Anna Wilson, our Graduate Disability and Advocacy Officer, has prepared a series of resources for congregations to use in celebrating this day, which can be downloaded from the link below. The resources are available both in PDF format and as editable Word files to help you incorporate them into your worship materials.
International Volunteer Day –
5 December
UN Volunteers coordinates International Volunteer Day to recognise and celebrate the vital work of volunteers, not just of UN Volunteers, but of volunteers worldwide. Each day, volunteers contribute their time, skills and heart to strengthen inclusion, support climate action and progress the Sustainable Development Goals.
Update on Screening Services – Changes to Vulnerable Person and Probity Checks
Applications for Working with Children Checks (WWCC) are continuing as normal (Screening – Safe Church).
However, Vulnerable Person and General Probity Checks are currently on hold.
Over the weekend, the Department of Human Services made changes to their screening services with immediate effect and will only be processing checks that meet legislative background check requirements – that is, they will only process Working with Children Checks and Aged Care Sector Checks, not Vulnerable Person and General Employment Probity Checks.
The UCA SA Synod is actively reviewing how we manage Vulnerable Persons and Probity Checks screening and will provide an update as soon as possible.
Queries may be directed to the Screening Team on ssu@sa.uca.org.au or phone (8236 4200).
Memorial service makes space for love and grief after suicide – President Rev Charissa Suli
Uniting Church President Rev Charissa Suli offered this pastoral reflection following the Wesley Mission LifeForce Suicide Memorial service in Canberra on Monday evening:
I had the privilege of representing the Assembly at the Wesley LifeForce Memorial and Sunflower Ceremony in Canberra on Monday evening. It was an honour to lead the final blessing and lead the sunflower ceremony and to stand alongside families, Elders, frontline workers, and communities who continue to carry the deep grief of losing someone to suicide ...
UnitingWorld – Philippines typhoon appeal
Help bring urgent aid to families in the Philippines
Two powerful typhoons, Kalmaegi and Fung-Wong, have forced over a million people from their homes, leaving hundreds dead and communities devastated. Our partner, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), is providing emergency food, clean water, temporary shelter, hygiene kits, and solar power to isolated areas.
The need is overwhelming, and resources are stretched. You can help bring hope and life-saving support to those affected.
Support the Christmas Bowl
For 76 years, Australians have given to the Christmas Bowl as an act of faith, generosity, and hope. Born in the aftermath of World War II, it began as a simple idea: churches across the country joining together at Christmas to share what they could so that others, far away, could have food, shelter, and safety.
Today, the Christmas Bowl continues to carry the prayers, gifts, and compassion of Christians across generations. It is a tradition that has quietly reshaped lives in places most of us will never see.
Your gifts have supported refugees, rebuilt homes after disaster, and reminded people in crisis that they are not forgotten. From Gaza to Ethiopia, from remote Pacific islands to communities recovering from natural disasters, the Christmas Bowl is more than an appeal. It is the wider church’s legacy of love in action.
Please join us in praying and acting for peace in the world. Because everyone deserves a safe place to belong.
Events
Online Morning Tea with Anna Wilson
Hello! It's Anna Wilson, the Graduate Disability and Advocacy Officer!
I am hosting another morning tea for anyone who would like to get to know me more and ask questions about my role. There were some excellent questions asked at the last morning tea held back in August, so I thought I'd host another one if people had more questions for me! I want to continue to work with congregations to find the best way for people with disability to be included and be able to participate in and contribute to congregational life.
This will be held online on Monday December 8th at 11:30 am. Please bring a cup of coffee along and find the Zoom meeting link below.
The Shared Table Christmas Market – Sunset Rock Uniting Church
Get into the festive spirit at The Shared Table – Sunset Rock UC as they gear up for a cheerful community morning filled with local creativity and Christmas joy. There’ll be plenty to see, taste, and enjoy, including coffee, BBQ, local crafts, handmade gifts and so on.
Bring your friends, family, and Christmas spirit for a relaxed, fun-filled morning in the Adelaide Hills. Perfect for finding those unique gifts, supporting local makers, and soaking up the holiday atmosphere.
When: 9.00 am – 1.00 pm, Saturday 13 December 2025
Where: Sunset Rock Uniting Church, 40 Spencer St, Stirling SA 5152
Minim Choir and Friends – Celebrating music, faith and story
Minim Choir, the choir of the Centre for Music, Liturgy and the Arts, will sing under the leadership of Rev Jenni Hughes. Minim is an impressive ensemble whose music expresses the joys, sorrows, love and hope of life.
Robin and Dorothy Mann have sung together for decades, including in the band Kindekrist. Robin is a renowned hymn and song writer and co-wrote Outback Christmas with Professor Norm Habel.
Leigh Newton, also a well-known writer of worship music, is loved for his Australian carol collections Christmas in the Scrub and Christmas in the Shed.
When: 3.00 pm,
Sunday 14 December 2025
Where: Bridgewater Arts Centre / Bridgewater Uniting Church, 407 Mount Barker Road, Bridgewater
Emerging Leaders Retreat Jan 16–18
Are there people in your congregation between the ages of 18 and 30 who are already showing leadership? Please encourage them to apply for the Emerging Leaders Retreat.
This retreat aims to develop life-long leadership, supercharge leadership skills, activate spiritual gifts and fire up a faith that lasts in the future moderators, chairpersons, coordinators, ministers, missionaries, theologians, chaplains and church planters in our Church – whether that's in vocational ministry or not.
When: 16 to 18 January 2026
Where: Adare Camp, 20 Wattle Drive, McCracken SA 5211
Cost: $65 per person
Upcoming events
December
3 – International Day of People with Disability
4 – Is making meaning a continuing task
6 – Christmas Market
7 – Christmas Hymnfest at Spicer
7 – Lessons and Carols with the Cantabile Singers
10 – Feeling Blue Christmas Service
13 – Create @ The Corner – Vinyl Record Wreaths
14 – Spicer Carols in the Amphitheatre, Stepney
14 – Carols and Nativity Play at Sandy Creek UC
15 – Blue Christmas – Morilta Uniting Church
19 – The Sounds of Christmas at Newland UC, Victor Harbor
21 – Carols Service
25 – Christmas Day Lunch
January
News from the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia this week includes:
Reflection of the week
Expanding Beyond Ourselves
Author Stephanie Duncan Smith writes of Mary’s yes to God as a choice for expansion over contraction, mirroring God’s own yes in creation:
Genesis tells the story of God’s radical choice for expansion over happiness, and the world is born. Advent echoes and reprises this divine choice, and the world is reborn. First, life from the womb of God, now, life from a woman who made a radical choice for expansion, not just over happiness, but over personal comfort, safety, and reputation. Expansion was the call, and against its many risks, the mother of God said yes stretching her body as well as her imagination for just what kind of hope this might be, growing now within her.
Richard Rohr
Romans 15:7
Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Prayer of the week
In our prayers this week, let us remember all those impacted by devastating floods in Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
God of hope and harmony,
We pray for safety, shelter, and strength for all who suffer.
Let rivers of compassion flow through your people, that we may rebuild what is ruined and restore what is broken.
From the stump of despair, you promise new life, a branch of justice,
a root of peace.
let your Spirit of wisdom and understanding rest upon us.
Teach us to live in harmony,
to welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us.
In a world fractured by fear and pride,
make us signs of your coming reign,
people of mercy, seekers of justice,
bearers of hope that overflows for all nations.
Prepare us, O Lord, for the One who comes, not with domination, but with delight, not with violence, but with vision – Jesus Christ, our peace and promise.
Amen.
Resources to help people worship and pray together as a gathered community or at home. These resources are generously prepared by Rev Cheryl Wilson.
Positions and placements
Activity Facilitator – Beyond Limits Outdoor Education – Open now
Kitchen Hand / Housekeeper – Tarooki Campsite – Open now
Customer Service Officer – Tarooki Campsite – Open now
Centre Manager, Tarooki – Robe – Open now
Administrator Human Resources (Ministry Placements) – Closes 8 December
Ashford Hospital Chaplain – Closes 12 December
UC eNews is the weekly email newsletter of the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of South Australia. If you’d like to include content in UC eNews or on the Synod of South Australia website, please submit it by COB Mondays.
