South Sydney Uniting Church is ecumenical (e.g. supporting the National and World Council of Churches) and inclusive,
affirming the gifts of people of all ages, cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations and identities. We seek peace with justice,
and the integrity of creation. We celebrate a service of Word and Sacrament (Eucharist) each Sunday at 10am.

"We acknowledge the traditional owners of this land: the Gadigal people of the Eora nation."

56a Raglan Street
Waterloo NSW 2017
Phone/Fax: 02 9319 1373

Map

Rev. Andrew Collis
Mobile: 0438 719 470

All Welcome
The church, hall and garden are accessible by way of paths and ramps. The toilets, sinks and shower, located in the hall, are wheelchair accessible. Please ask if further assistance is required.

The Orchard Gallery (artist run space) invites applications for exhibitions

Local healthy food. Subscribe & Pick Up Right Here At The Church
Tuesdays 5:30-6.30pm.

The South Sydney Herald Independent Newspaper

Donations in support
of our ministries are gratefully received
UCA South Sydney
BSB: 634 634
Acc: 100048727

Church and hall bookings
On Sundays, the church, hall and garden are used exclusively for the worship and ministry activities of South Sydney Uniting Church. From Monday to Saturday we offer our church and hall for the use of others. Read More

WELCOME BACK. With the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions, and the development of safety plans that minimise the risks of transmission, in-person activities are resuming at the church. We welcome participation both in-person and via Zoom. Please be assured of our commitment to maintaining connection, following safety protocols and providing pastoral care. Click here for specific guidelines.

Homily

Ordinary Sunday 11, Year B
South Sydney Uniting Church
June 13, 2021

1 Samuel 15: 34–16:13;  2 Corinthians 5:6-17;  Mark 4:26-34

‘In the event of something happening to me’

“[W]e must not seek Christ’s presence in the dense reality of unbroken bread”, writes theologian G.P. Ambrose (The Theology of Louis-Marie Chauvet, 2012). It’s a concise and insightful comment. We can sometimes think of revelation as something like a perfect loaf of bread, as alluring as it is contained, steaming hot on the plate, straight from heaven’s oven. Sometimes we think of revelation in lumpish terms – lumps of information, lumps of legal or moral “stuff”. There is another way to think of revelation, though.

Revelation is a break with convention. Revelation interrupts. Revelation deconstructs. Revelation is the cross or crisis that calls us to account, to responsibility. Revelation, to paraphrase songwriter Leonard Cohen, is the crack-ing of everything – the crack-ing that lets the light in. Revelation is experienced as shock, as amazement, as movement, as conversion. In other words, revelation is an event. We must not seek Christ’s presence in the dense reality of unbroken bread, but in the event of bread broken and given.

 “In the event of something happening to me” is the opening line of a song (1967) by the Bee Gees about a mining disaster in New York (1941). It’s a song about resisting or overcoming despair, yearning for life. It’s a great opening line.

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