Month: July 2014

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Stories & Feature Articles

Action: What else are we called to?

Paul Tillich once said, “Here and there in the world and now and then in ourselves, is a new creation”. One could not have a better summary of our life in faith. Every ounce of who we  are as God’s people has to be reflected in action. Who we are, how we live and who we belong to are all tied up in the life we lead, both as individuals and as a church community. We  do not exist as human beings with little boxes for this or that, but as a complete integrated package. Heart, mind, soul, hands and feet.

Jesus, for so many people an object of worship,  but not a political or social activist, focuses our attention. We do not belong to Jesus because he saves us for a life elsewhere. We belong to Jesus because he shows us how to live here and now with God as our centre, how to live with love, and how to live in community with others. You only have to read the Sermon on the Mount to understand his vision for a new social order. As Lorraine Parkinson suggests, it is a blueprint for the best possible world.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Moderator’s column: Prayerful action

The focus for this edition of Revive concerns Action! The Uniting Church in Australia has a strong reputation in the community for action, especially in areas of social justice and  rightly so, although I have the feeling that for many of us a lot of that action is by proxy. On the whole I think we are pleased to see election resources published, wellinformed critique  made of public policy by the President and the occasional public demonstration such as that in which the 13th National Assembly engaged on the steps of Parliament House  in Adelaide nearly two years ago. I think more widespread in the Uniting Church, as far as the practical engagement of members is concerned, is quiet, behind-the-scenes service to  those in need through our many and varied community services.

So why does the church engage in such action? Is it coincidence that those who are committed to church membership are also concerned about the struggles of those who are doing it  tough? Or is there a fundamental connection? I think it is the latter.

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News & Announcements

Yokine Evening Fellowship turns 50

Back in 1964, when the Yokine Uniting Church was young, they had a large Sunday School with the juniors and intermediates meeting in the hall and the kindergarten children  meeting in the kindergarten building across the road.

The minister at the time was Rev Syd Saggers and his wife, Jessie, noticed that most of the young women would dash across the  road straight after church to pick up their children from the kindergarten building without getting a chance to know one another. There was an afternoon fellowship but many of the women couldn’t attend at this time. Jessie decided to start an evening group so the young women could meet, worship and socialise together  whilst husbands were on babysitting duties.

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News & Announcements

WCC announces September Interfaith Summit on Climate Change

The World Council of Churches (WCC) announced it will hold an Interfaith Summit on Climate Change on September 21-22 in New York City. At the summit, organised together with Religions for Peace, more than 30 religious leaders will take a united stand to encourage international and political leaders to address concretely the causes and consequences of climate change.

The interfaith summit is being held immediately before the United Nations (UN) Climate Summit, called by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, to galvanize and catalyze climate action, bringing bold announcements and actions that will reduce emissions, strengthen climate resilience, and mobilize political will for a meaningful legal agreement in 2015.

WCC members said they hoped their united voice would be also heard at the upcoming Conferences of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Lima in December 2014 and in Paris in 2015.

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News & Announcements

Music scholars a blessing

The 2013 Wesley Scholars pictured here with Angela Currie, (right).
The 2013 Wesley Scholars pictured here with Angela Currie, (right).

I am very fortunate to have inherited the Music Scholarship Scheme at Uniting Church in the City, Wesley Perth. It is a really lovely idea and I feel very blessed to work with these young musicians. This year we have five scholars who work on a roster of playing on Sundays, playing music for reflection at the start of the worship service and during the offering. In the past some have played with the choir. We have made a string quartet up and they have accompanied the choir and the singing scholars with excerpts from, for example,  Messiah.

The other lovely thing that shows, is that scholars from the past tend to have a lot of Wesley members coming  along to their recitals at university even after they have left Wesley. The  scholars aren’t necessarily Christians but they do tend to say, especially at the end of the year, ‘Wesley is special, it’s so nice performing here and it’s lovely performing in a place  where we aren’t judged.’ It seems to be a very positive experience for them and of course they get paid.

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News & Announcements

Chief governing body of the WCC begins its first meeting

Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general secretary. Photo: Peter Williams WCC

The first full meeting of the new Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), a chief governing body of the Council, began on 2 July in Geneva, Switzerland. Prayers, official addresses from the leadership of the WCC and welcome greetings from the Swiss churches marked the opening of the WCC Central Committee meeting – all set to focus on the theme ‘pilgrimage of justice and peace’ through the coming week.

The WCC Central Committee will hold meetings every two years until the next assembly. The committee which consists of 150 members from all global regions is responsible for carrying out the policies adopted by the WCC 10th Assembly, reviewing and supervising WCC programs and the budget of the Council. The 10th Assembly took place at Busan, Republic of Korea in October and November 2013.

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