To me, Redfern is a place where the Church is truly alive.

As you walk in, there is a feeling of the church belonging to all the people who go there; and as you attend the Eucharist, there is a feeling of involvement in the local church and in all the major spiritual and justice issues of the day in the wider Church and world.

This is a place where the people claim the liturgy, and where aboriginal people are recognised as the real owners of the land; where women, over the years, (I began attending Redfern in 1981) have become more and more included in the liturgy and the language of the liturgy; where children are accepted as themselves and where anyone can speak to an issue which they feel is relevant to the congregation.

This is a place where the Church truly accompanies people in their joys and sorrows, where people feel they can be themselves as they worship God. This is a place where the theology of the people has been greatly influenced by the presence and words of Father Ted Kennedy: without Ted St Vincent's would not be the vibrant place that it is.