Day 4 Bible study: Ps Sono Weatherall calls Synod to become a praying church

Bible study: Ps Sono Weatherall calls Synod to become a praying church

Renewal is not a moment to celebrate and leave behind. It is a way of life sustained through prayer, shared community and a willingness to trust God beyond what we can achieve on our own.

That was the message from Ps Sono Weatherall as she led the Day Four Bible study at the 39th Queensland Uniting Church Synod in Session, reflecting on Acts 2:42–47 and the life of the early Christian community.

The passage describes believers devoted to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking bread and prayer. For Ps Weatherall, it offers a picture of what happens when the renewal experienced at Pentecost becomes a daily practice.

“The early believers took that wildfire, the wildfire of Pentecost, and brought it into the fireplace of daily communion,” she said.

“They turned an event into a habit.”

The challenge for the Church, she suggested, is to move beyond moments of spiritual excitement and build a shared rhythm of prayer that continues long after a gathering ends.

A congregation renewed through prayer

Ps Weatherall shared the story of Zillmere Uniting Church, where she serves in ministry through the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC).

When she began serving the congregation, one of its hopes was for a new church building. The existing building was run-down, and the congregation faced significant challenges in securing the resources needed to address its needs.

As she listened to the congregation, Ps Weatherall became increasingly aware of the emotional weight of the building’s condition. For some Elders, it evoked painful memories of Aboriginal missions, where First Nations people had been forcibly removed from their communities and families.

She recognised that renewal needed to mean more than repairing a building. It also meant creating a place where people could experience hope, dignity and the love of God.

Rather than continuing to pursue solutions through her own efforts, Ps Weatherall invited the congregation to pray and fast together.

Initially, only four or five people committed to praying regularly. They continued for months, asking God to lead them, even when they could not see what the outcome might be.

Their prayer was simple: “Father, we don't know, but You know.”

About nine months into this period of prayer, an unexpected connection emerged.

Pastor Sonny, from another Christian church, had repeatedly felt prompted to help the Zillmere congregation. After discussing this with his wife, Pastor Lisa, he contacted Ps Weatherall to ask whether the church needed assistance.

The timing was significant. The congregation had been praying and fasting for help, and the visiting church was preparing its annual We Care Week, during which members served local communities through practical projects.

With the help of volunteers, including a master builder experienced in restoring heritage buildings, the team undertook substantial restoration work at Zillmere Uniting Church. Volunteers gave their time and skills to repair the building, restore the fence, improve the grounds and establish community gardens, without charging the congregation.

For Ps Weatherall, the experience illustrated how prayer can open a community to possibilities it could not have achieved alone.

The restoration also brought together Christians from different denominations, demonstrating how relationships across the wider Church can become a source of practical care and encouragement.

“We are not God. We can't do things in our own strength,” Ps Weatherall said, while emphasising that prayer does not remove the need for people to act. The congregation had continued to pray, remain faithful and take the steps available to them.

Perceiving the new thing God is doing

Ps Weatherall connected the story to Isaiah 43:19, in which God declares: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”

She encouraged Synod members to consider what might become possible for the Queensland Uniting Church if its people continued to pray together and remain open to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Drawing on the word qavah, which she used in the sense of leaning in and waiting expectantly, she invited the Church to approach renewal with patience, trust and a willingness to surrender its own assumptions.

The story of Zillmere, she said, offered encouragement that God could work through even a small congregation with limited resources. The same spirit of prayer and expectation could shape the future of the wider Church.

She also pointed to the signs of renewal already emerging during Synod, including stories of restored relationships, changed hearts and people beginning to release unforgiveness.

These experiences, she said, should not remain confined to the Synod gathering.

The early Church in Acts did not stop living its faith after the extraordinary events of Pentecost. Its members continued to pray, share meals, care for one another and live in community.

In the same way, Ps Weatherall challenged Synod members to carry the spirit of renewal into their congregations and communities.

“The fire's here,” she said. “We are commissioned now. We're being sent and commissioned as a praying church.”

As the 39th Synod continues its work, her message was an invitation to remain grounded in prayer, to work together across differences and to trust that renewal can take root through the ordinary, faithful practices of Christian life.

“Come, Holy Spirit, come,” she encouraged the gathering. “Let us continue to pray without ceasing.”

A prayer for healing peace

Ps Sono Weatherall closed with a prayer inviting the Church to become an instrument of God's healing, love and grace in the world.

Lord fill our emptiness, disrupt our complacency, and send us out as a humble Church praying without ceasing.

To share your healing peace to the world, Lord.

To share your love and your grace and mercy with those who need it most, Father.

We ask all this in your name.

Amen.