Mosaic, Banners & Artwork
QUC Mosaic
The mosaic on the front wall of the church is based on the photo below which was taken from Bungendore Hill in 1993, looking south-west across Queanbeyan and Mount Jerrabomberra to the ranges beyond. The mosaic reminds us of our surroundings, and with the cross, it also reminds us of the many Biblical themes, including:
Psalm 121: "I lift up my eyes to the hills...my help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth."
Luke 6:12 ...Jesus went out into the hills to pray, and spent the night praying to God...
Luke 19:41 As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it.
Mark 16:6 You are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He has risen!
Isaiah 40:3 ...Prepare the way of the Lord... every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low, the crooked straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
KUCA Mural
This mural was painted by the KUCA kids in September 1991. KUCA is an acronymn for Kids of the Uniting Church in Australia and was the name given to our primary age youth group. It is on the ceiling in what is now known as the KUCA Room. To paint it scaffold was set up and the drawing was sketched on the ceiling. The children then painted between the lines. The people were our ministers at the time, Rev. Bill and Rev. Iva Fisher.
When it started to fade it was repainted in November 1997.
Banners from the Banner Group
The QUC Banner Group was formed in response to us losing all of our banners in the flooding of the church during covid. Many of the previous banners were created by people no longer here and always cheered, challenged, or moved us when on display. The need for replacement banners was discussed in the Worship Committee and the call went out for people interested in helping to be involved.
The Banner Group started the task with the “Everyone is welcome” hanging, for which people were invited to bring a square of fabric special to them, all of which were included in the patchwork display. The Christmas banner followed and now we’re onto the Easter creation.
An extra blessing for each of the group members has been a deepening of connections through new friendships and the use of our gifts for God’s people.
If you’re interested in knowing more or joining the group (all are welcome!), please contact one of the banner group, or fill in the contact us form.
Welcome Banner
In the QUC Philosophy of Ministry and Mission it states, “God is accepting and loves unconditionally” This spoke to us in regard to the first banner - “All Are Welcome Here”; so, we based that feeling on the Bible verse from 1 Corinthians 12;12 and 27:
12“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ,” and
27“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
Symbolically the squares were supplied by members of our congregation to form the patchwork effect.
Christmas Banner
This Christmas Banner is based on the Bible Verse from Isaiah 9:6 – “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given”.
December 2022
Easter Banner
Three crosses on a hillside
April 2023
Pentecost Banner
Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. May you be guided and blessed by the presence of the Holy Spirit in your daily life.
May 2023
Pictured is the tenth and final panel
Renewal Artwork
Following an exhibition by Art for Communities held an exhibition to raise funds for Queanbeyan Safe Shelter. I spoke to the organiser and artist, Vera Krisko-Jowe after the exhibition and she offered to make us a banner painting and showed me a picture of one they had done. This captured my attention.
That night I had a vision of a painting that transitioned, picking up on the renewal aspect of our vision statement, “the whole of creation, reconciled and renewed.”
My vision was of the journey from a bushfire to regeneration. I shared this with the artist, and she was very moved and wanted to be a part of it. She has had close encounters with bushfires herself and had taken lots of photos of them.
There were to be five distinct stages in this artwork (later to become a sixth) which were introduced one at a time throughout 2018/2019.
Ian Gray (former chair of QUC church council)
Art for Communities is a small group of aspiring artists offering their works to show the therapeutic aspects of creativity and the joys of being able to give back to the communities we live in.
Listen to the interview between the artist, Vera and Rev. Dr. John Squires - Pentecost - 9th June 2019 following the introduction of the final artwork.
A Bushfire – The aftermath - Stage 1 of 6
More info coming soon.
Hosanna Painting
This Palm Sunday artwork was painted by Vera Krisko-Jowe in 2018 as a gift to QUC. Vera offered to do some artwork for us following the Art for Communities exhbition hosted by QUC.
Painting
This artwork hangs in the hall to the toilets, opposite the offices. It was a gift from Art for Communities to QUC for hosting an art exhibition in March 2018. The aim of this exhibition was to support causes such as homelessness, mental health, and enhance our journeys in faith, and raise funds for Safe Shelter.
UCA Annivesary Candelabra
Uniting Church in Australia, 20th Anniversary Candles.
22nd June 1997 by Ian Gray
Each church in the Presbytery was asked to do something different for the church’s 20th anniversary service at City Uniting on the 22nd of June 1997. Our church at Queanbeyan was asked to provide the candles and a means of displaying them. This was raised at our last Elders Council meeting, where some one kindly volunteered my services. While I work as a boilermaker in a local welding shop, I am by no means artistic. It was one of those things you wanted to say no to, but felt that you didn’t have a choice. I found it a real struggle to come up with even a basic concept, so I prayed about it several times. When awakened numerous times one night by an unsettled child, this candlestick holder entered my mind and ideas started racing through my head What you see today is the result of what I would call a vision, at 5am that Sunday morning.
Starting at the bottom we see three legs, symbolizing the three churches coming into union. The material that each leg is made of is the same, yet they all have differences. In the same way the three churches had common threads, yet they all bought with them their own uniqueness and their own ideas of how things should be done. Some still carry them.
The legs then are twisted together leading to a single thread. This symbolises union.
The three candles have two meanings. Firstly the three churches coming together. They are sitting on an incomplete ring as the union was not complete. It also has a few rough edges. While union was a time for celebration, a lot of people struggled with the changes. Some found it hard to leave the familiar behind, some sadly left the church. The three candles also symbolize the God head - The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. This is the foundation of our church.
From here it spirals up to the top candle - “The Christ Candle”. Christ is the light of the world. He is at the top for all to see him. He is our guiding light.
The spiral symbolises the road we are on. On it are twenty candles symbolising twenty years. On this road are a few bumps, twists and turns. Life for Christians isn’t always smooth sailing. As a church we have had our struggles, our ups and our downs. The spiral leads towards the Christ Candle - the one we need to keep our focus upon.
The colours of black, red and white are the colours of the Uniting Church in Australia.
The more I look into it the more symbolism I find. Look into it for yourself and see what you can see.