It was a perfect day with perfect weather with everyone enjoying the 90th anniversary at Dowerin Uniting Church on 30 March. The birthday cake was cut by Aileen Thornett, a member of the Dowerin congregation, in her role as the Shire of Dowerin’s Citizen of the Year.
On Sunday 8 June the Uniting Church in Australia congregation in Mandurah held a special Breaking of the Ties service as they said farewell to Rev Ian Pearse. Ian has accepted a call to Bacchus Marsh in Victoria.
Ian and his wife Bev have been in placement in Mandurah for 5 years serving the community. Ian was a member of the Interagency Group who organise the annual Christmas Hamper distribution, Youthcare who support the Chaplains in schools, Peel Homelessness Night shelter group and Rotary. He supported the Mandurah Rainbow lunches providing a range of care for those who attended.
Juniper, a Uniting Church in WA agency and one of Western Australia’s largest providers of retirement, residential and home aged care, brings a free information session for seniors, families and friends to help people maintain a healthy weight.
Ever wanted to know the difference between a portion and a serve and how it can enable you to lose weight? Or how to read those confusing numbers in food packaging?
The Uniting Church in Australia and some of its agencies have spoken out against the recent Federal Budget announcements. Rev Prof Andrew Dutney, president of the Uniting Church in Australia, said that the recent funding cuts would hurt some of the most vulnerable Australians.
“The Federal Budget lays out an extensive range of program cuts and structural changes,” he said. “Cutting more than half a billion dollars from Indigenous programs, tough new conditions for youth support, and making all Australians pay to see a doctor are just a few of a number of measures that have the potential to harm those who really need our help.”
Sunday 4 May was a significant date in the life of Willetton Uniting Church and in the ministry of Rev Caroline Gepp. It marked the conclusion of her 10 year placement with this congregation. Caroline conducted a special liturgy of Eucharist and as part of the service the moderator, Rev Ron Larkin, presided over the formal release and breaking of the ties from her induction vows made at Willetton 10 years ago.
With a full church and some joyful singing – not to mention the sumptuous morning tea – the occasion was well and truly marked. Caroline leaves with the love of the congregation and the expectation that her future ministry will be fulfilling.
Two weeks ago I was in Papua New Guinea visiting a UnitingWorld water and sanitation project in a picturesque village at the eastern-most point of the mainland. Whenever I travel, I always find it quite jarring to see such beauty and such struggle co-existing together. The people of Papua New Guinea are strong and resilient, their country one of the most beautiful and resource-rich in the world. Yet, we’ve heard much in the Australian media recently of their many challenges. While the tension between hope and hardship may be an ongoing reality for humanity, the lives of many of our Papua New Guinean neighbours could easily be improved.
Rev Dr Jason John has devoted his life to environmental issues with university degrees in zoology and environmental studies. Add in an ordination and you have a ministry with a passion to care for creation.
With a PhD in evolution, ecology and theology, Jason is well equipped as the keynote speaker at the upcoming God of Sea and Sky conference, this July. Eco-theology may sound like a relatively new term to some, but Jason says the concept isn’t new – it’s just new to us as a culture born post-industrial revolution.
“Eco-theology, or eco-faith, is primarily the reminder that there are these very strong links between our relationship with our creator and our relationship with creation,” he said. “In a sense, it’s not something new. It’s a reminder of something we’ve forgotten.”
There are plenty of references in the Bible to do with caring for creation, and many cultures – regardless of religion – did so for thousands of years. In our modern world, however, we seem to have lost the way. It’s the creation story that Jason wants to shake up. He believes we have a new creation story: one where God is present throughout evolution and one where humans, as we know them now, are not the end goal. In his book, Worshipping Evolution’s God, Jason explains how science has taught us that life has existed billions of years before us, and will exist for billions of years after we’re gone.
On Wednesday 16 April a group of 11 Christian leaders from a range of denominations were arrested in Subiaco, Perth. Their crime? Speaking up for over 1,000 children who are held in indefinite detention in Australia. Otherwise known as trespassing.
The group, including Paul Montague, First Third specialist for the Metro South Region of the Uniting Church in WA, were arrested in the office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, as they prayed and asked for a response to the question: why are kids in detention?
A similar event was also held in Immigration Minister Scott Morrison’s office a few weeks prior, and just days before going to print, two nonviolent sit-ins were held resulting in arrest, one in Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s office, the other in the office of the leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten. Included in these arrests was the moderator of the New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory Synod, Rev Dr Brian Brown, past president of the Uniting Church in Australia, Rev Alistair Macrae, and three more Uniting Church ministers.
The chamber is full of representatives from countries located all over the globe. They mingle about the room, negotiating amendments to Resolution 2155 of the United Nations (UN) Security Council: The question of the rules of war. A young man with a suit and pony tail announces it is time to sit back down for the debate, and a representative from China stands and puts forth her case.
I’m sitting in the Legislative Assembly at Parliament House of Western Australia where 15 teams from schools across WA, including three teams from Presbyterian Ladies’ College (PLC) a Uniting Church in WA school, battle it out in the finals for UN Youth’s Evatt competition – a model UN debate. Sam Herriman, a 19-year-old media and communications student from the University of Western Australia, strolls around the room making sure everything is running smoothly and occasionally collects notes from members of the Council.
Burmese people have lived through decades of conflict. Hundreds of thousands have fled their homeland for neighbouring Thailand and now live in refugee camps along the Thailand– Burma border. Some have been living in the camps for decades.
Act for Peace, the international aid agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia, works in the Thai/Burma border refugee camps and is challenging Australians to make a difference to the lives of these refugees. In a new initiative called the ‘Act for Peace Ration Challenge’ they are asking members of the Uniting Church and communities around Australia to eat the same rations as a refugee from Burma during Refugee Week, 15-21 June, and get sponsored for doing it.