The Uniting Church in Australia is the third largest Christian denomination in Australia and the first church to be created in Australia.
On any Sunday more than 2,500 congregations worship at a Uniting Church. Our churches can be found deep in the heart of our cities, or in our most isolated and outback towns. Many congregations have existed for years while others are new and worship in different ways. Even though our congregations can be vastly different, each is a community in which people seek to follow Jesus, learn about God, share their faith, care for each other, serve the local community and seek to live faithfully and with real joy. For more information about the Uniting Church visit the UCA website.
New Lambton Uniting Church is located in the main street of the New Lambton commercial precinct. New Lambton boasts a village like atmosphere, with access to transport, located central to other Newcastle attractions including two major shopping centres, Blackbutt Reserve, sports & entertainment stadiums, beaches, schools and John Hunter Hospital.
Christian Faith
New Lambton Uniting Church is part of the Christian church. Although Christians come from all walks of life and cultures we are united in a number of important ways. Firstly, Christians are people who try to follow Jesus, the Christ. We believe that Jesus shows us who God is more clearly than anyone or anything else. It is through Jesus that we can understand that God loves us and wants to be connected to us. In Jesus we find a way of relating to God. Importantly, we do not believe that this is the only way to understand God – we know that people see God in nature, the immensity of the universe, in families and other intimate human contact. And yet there is something special about Jesus – the way that he lived a life of servant leadership and sacrifice; the way he healed and transformed lives in community and love – which inspires us and gives us our example for living good lives. In Jesus, we see that God loves and forgives all people and works with us, around us and through us to renew the world.
At New Lambton Uniting Church, we do not believe that Christians are any better or holier than anyone else. Instead, we believe that despite our weaknesses and sin God can work through us for good purposes. Our spiritual life gets its strength and direction from the Spirit of God. We gather together to work for justice and the richness of life for all people. In our congregation we support each other practically and through prayer. And when we meet for worship we read the Bible and pray together we ask for God’s guidance and strength to live lives of gratitude, humility and joy. God loves all people and all people are welcome in the church.
Ministry Team
At New Lambton Uniting Church all members are welcome to serve in the ministry of the church. We do, however have a ministry team that helps to bring continuity to the life of the congregation. Our ministry team is comprised of Rev. Mitch Forbes, Bec Westphal (Children’s and Family Worker), and Mel Langi (Youth Worker). The team is ably supported by the hard work of many in the congregation using individuals skills and gifts in various areas to create meaningful worship, active social engagements, pastoral support and undertake numerous administrative functions.
Rev. Mitch Forbes
Mitch has had been an ordained minister for 10 years and joined New Lambton Uniting church in 2023. He has worked in small and large churches in Newcastle and Sydney, he planted a semi-liturgical church called NewCity (that he still runs alongside New Lambton Uniting Church), he has taught in the gap year program at the NSW Baptist theological college and was an itinerate speaker for a bit.
Mitch is never scared to ask difficult questions of the Christian tradition and sit uncomfortably with ambiguity and uncertainty. Alongside all that, he remains convinced that Christianity and the gospel of Jesus is beautiful in its simplicity and its intellectual complexity. He believes that Christians should always value and encourage uncertainty, humility and questions as well as faith, hope and love. More than that, for Mitch, faith and hope are built out of the building blocks of uncertainty and deep questioning. Mitch believes that, at its best, Christian faith is more about honesty, authenticity, doubt, faith, love, generosity, kindness, justice, grace and creativity than it is about having neat answers to theological questions.
Mitch is married to Kristen and has 3 beautiful kids, Harper, Lara and Leo. He loves reading, listening to lectures and podcasts, audio books and music, and is up for a chat about pretty much anything with pretty much anyone.
Bec Westphal
Bec has significant experience working with children, both in church settings and other contexts. She is passionate about forming fun and meaningful relationships with young people, and works to help them connect the faith story to the challenges and joys they face in their day-to-day lives.
Mel Langi
Mel, short for Melenaite (mel/e/night/dare), is passionate about leading and creating environments for youth to grow in their spirituality and faith. She has worked alongside youth leaders and ministry teams for many years, and the joy of working with others is what she finds most fulfilling.
