Launch of Uniting in Worship 2
Brisbane, Wesley Hospital October 11, 2005

Rev. Dr Dean Drayton

14 October 2005

As we meet to launch UIW2 we must thank the Assembly Working Group on Worship for the tremendous job they have done, building on the work of the Assembly Commission on Liturgy. Would the members of both groups please step forward so that we may express our gratitude for their long hard and distinguished work.

But this occasion must also recognise the magnitude of the task that has so admirably been led by the Rev. Paul Walton. He has brought leadership and wisdom to this Working Group, as well as his own distinctive creativity as a writer, poet and liturgist.

And too, last but not least, how well Mediacom have worked to bring this quality production to us, as a handsomely presented book, and as an intriguing CD and DVD. We acknowledge the contribution Tony Nancarrow has made to this project with his efficient and responsive Mediacom team, and I am aware that only Dr’s orders could keep him from being here tonight.

The focus of our attention now turns to this great resource Uniting in Worship 2. Uniting in Worship 2 is not just a re-working of Uniting in Worship, it is a revolution in the resourcing of congregations throughout the Uniting Church and beyond.

In the last 17 years the covenant with the UAICC and the growing development of a multicultural church led to a new appreciation of the diversity and range of backgrounds of people in our congregations.

At the same time the digital revolution has brought DVD and digital projectors into the worship service. Many congregations now have a worship committee that helps prepare the service. And we have become far more aware of the range of settings in which worship occurs. I have worshiped on a concrete slab, a community hall, a city centre cathedral, and a suburban chapel in the last few weeks

There can be no one size fits all any more, but a need to find a balance between structure and freedom. So this next step in providing a leaders book and CD and DVD turns out to be more than another step – it sets a new way before us for considering our worship. Three registers of voice, a wide range of resources, the ability to choose the sort of imagery we use, and indeed the chance to modify and personalise for a particular congregation.

Here is the best of tradition reshaped in the light of today, together with a remarkable series of worship resources, some for the first time, others tried and true from various congregations, now included them in this fantastic range on the digital format.

I was fascinated by the media response. The Australian imagery bowled them over. In the Saturday Sydney Morning Herald the following Call to Worship was printed out for all to read:

O God, we gather at your waters as a hot and bothered crowd gathers on the beach on a sweltering, summer day
O God, we drink at your fountain as a parched dog laps at the fresh, running water of a bush creek.
O God, we await our refreshment as a tired worker watches the changing of a shift
Quench our thirst, satisfy our longings. May we be refreshed and restored in you.

And the service for healing for those whose marriage has ended. They went to this service because it had to be controversial. But they too learnt that this was not about prescriptive services but a resource for people in their pain. Listen to what the article stated.

"The service for separating couples is not meant to be a divorce blessing but rather a public expression of grief, regret, affirmation and forgiveness, involving the partners and any children in an intimate ceremony conducted by a minister at home or in church."

This moved beyond the initial interest in morality, to the way the resources give us all an opportunity to mark profound life events in or beyond the congregation.

It is clear that the excellent work of the National Working Group on Worship will lead congregations throughout Australia and beyond to explore both our tradition and the language and experience of the world in which we now live and worship.

And now to the formal launch. In the name of Christ and for the sake of God’s Mission I formally launch Uniting in Worship 2.

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