Month: February 2015

Ministry to fire affected communities

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 12, 2015

The Uniting Church community in South Australia has banded together to support those experiencing hardship and loss from the bushfires across the Adelaide Hills. With 32 homes destroyed, the physical impact is clear. The emotional hardship is not so visible, and the recovery process for those who have lost their homes will be long and difficult.

Relief and outreach centres have been opened around the fire zone to assist the recovery by providing practical help through chaplaincy and pastoral support. Local residents are coming together in their time of need at the Golden Grove Relief Centre and the One Tree Hill Institute, where chaplains are on the ground.

National Disaster Recovery Officer of the Uniting Church, Rev Dr Stephen Robinson, emphasised the need for support long after the bushfires have been put out.

Tags Disaster Relief, Remote and rural communities

News & Announcements

Alan celebrates

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 11, 2015

Rev Alan Matthews will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of his ordination, in March. Throughout his ministry, Alan has held placements in Birmingham, England; Victoria, Australia; Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory; and Nedlands, Swan View and Cockburn in Western Australia. He has also had an active involvement with Uniting Church in WA Presbytery and Synod, including in the areas of social justice, Christian unity and world mission.

He retired from ministry in 1992, but since then has kept active in the Uniting Church including taking services in various congregations and representing Frontier Services.

Tags Our People and Agencies

Education & Training

Faith Formation follow-up

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 9, 2015

In a follow-up from John Roberto’s visit to Perth last year for the Faith Formation 2020 workshop, Craig Mitchell, national director of Formation, Education and Discipleship (FED) at the Uniting Church in Australia, will be holding a workshop in Perth designed to refresh and build on what was learnt. Due to the onset of technology, there have been significant changes to the way we communicate and learn. We now live in a ‘mobile revolution’ where mobile devices have changed the way we access information, making it portable and personal. Thanks to social media, anyone can now be a ‘content creator’ and engage in online conversation on any topic.

Tags Training

News & Announcements

Conclusion of placement for pastor Elaine Ledgerwood

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 8, 2015

It was a warm, pleasant Sunday afternoon on 11 January 2015 when Rowthorpe Uniting Church gathered in the Sutton Community Centre to recognise the conclusion of three years of the part-time ministry provided by Dr Elaine Ledgerwood and to hand over pastoral responsibility for the congregation to Rev Dr Alison Longworth.

The service was led by Elaine who preached on the Baptism of Jesus. Elaine identified baptism as a symbol of God’s grace and of new beginnings. Elaine shared that for her the day was a time of looking for new ways to live out her calling while Alison has emerged from her recent retirement to this new experience of parttime supply ministry.

Tags Our People and Agencies

Stories & Feature Articles

Moderator’s column: Moving towards Christ and community

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 6, 2015

A few weeks ago, I had a ‘near miss’ experience. I was driving to an unfamiliar destination and was running late. I was trying to glance at my street directory, as well as keep my eye on the traffic – multiskilling is not one of my gifts. As a consequence to my haste, I nearly clipped a parked car. I pulled over for a moment of reflection, knowing I needed to slow down and get myself a GPS.

One of the enemies of a well-formed Christian life is the foe of too much rush. Going too fast through life eventually ends up in relational collision or spiritual burnout. One of the arts of staying spiritually centred and balanced, is the art of spiritual reflection. At best, this is a daily discipline that includes taking time out for intentional prayer, meditative attention to Scripture and seeking both the refreshment of the Spirit and the discernment of the will of God. I find without moments like this woven into my day, I am reduced to being in Eugene Peterson’s words, “the busy pastor, rather than the contemplative pastor”.

Tags Theology and Spiritual Reflections

News & Announcements

UnitingCare welcomes new support for people with severe symptoms of dementia

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 5, 2015

The Government’s announcement of $54.4 million in funding that will go over four years to a new initiative to support people with severe symptoms of dementia in residential care facilities is very good news,” said Lin Hatfield Dodds, National Director of UnitingCare Australia.

“Our agencies provide the largest share of aged care in the country and we are consistently hearing that the challenges of caring for people with dementia are growing. Additional support to assist residential care providers in meeting this challenge is most welcome.”

Approximately 1 in 4 people aged 85 and over have dementia. With an ageing population it is expected that by 2050 nearly 900,000 Australians will be living with dementia. At the moment, more than half the permanent residents in Government-funded aged care facilities around the country have been diagnosed with dementia.

Tags Ageing and Community

News & Announcements

Uniting Church in Australia stands for mercy

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 4, 2015

The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) has joined churches, NGOs and others in voicing concerns about Indonesia’s resumption of the death penalty.

UCA President Rev Prof Andrew Dutney is one of 14 organisational leaders who’ve written to both the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia and to the Australian Foreign Minister, expressing grave concerns for at least 11 people facing imminent execution.

Signatories to the letter are asking Indonesia to commute the death sentences to terms of imprisonment. They’re also asking for a moratorium on all executions in Indonesia with a view to abolishing the death penalty. Two Australian citizens Myuran Sukamaran and Andrew Chan are among those facing imminent execution.

Tags International

News & Announcements

New leadership for the UAICC

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 4, 2015

The National Conference of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress has made two new leadership appointments.

Rev Dennis Corowa is the new National UAICC Chairperson. Dennis is also currently Chairperson of the Queensland UAICC Regional Committee (Calvary Presbytery), Dennis has been involved with Congress since 1985, working in congregational ministry and school and prison chaplaincy. He is one of the authors of Rainbow Spirit Theology. He has a vision for First Peoples to claim their strength and dignity, and life in all its fullness, and to struggle against all that stops people claiming that life.

A new Deputy Chairperson was also appointed – Rev Garry Dronfield of NSW-ACT Congress. Garry is a Bundjalung man, presently ministering at Sylvania Uniting Church.

Tributes were paid to outgoing Chairperson Rev Rronang Garrawurra of the Northern Regional Council of Congress whose work in the last three years has been widely acknowledged across the Uniting Church.

Tags First Peoples, Our People and Agencies

Stories & Feature Articles

Act, reflect, connect: Getting the balance right

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 4, 2015

At 11.45 every morning, three soothing bells chime out from my iPhone. “Do you want to meditate?” comes the helpful enquiry from my screen, sent each day without fail by my ‘Mindfulness’ app (with handy alerts and tools to track my progress as an enlightened member of the human race).

I glance at my screen. “Seriously? Meditate now? I’m driving/typing/hanging out washing/reading at my child’s school/masterminding the incoming reign of peace and justice for the world. Maybe later…”

The philosopher Socrates famously suggested that the unexamined life was not worth living. It’s a pretty bold statement. Are we all to be philosophers, floating through life clad in yoga pants, clutching our Mindfulness apps and gazing earnestly at our navels? Or did Socrates have something more balanced in mind?

Church communities have typically been big on reflection – worship, preaching, Bible study and prayer all encourage us to examine our lives carefully. For me, no matter what chaos the week has held, our lay preachers seldom fail to produce the gem of an idea to polish throughout the week. Too often, though, nothing much happens beyond mental activity. I find it relatively easy to ponder. It’s harder to act. And there’s been no shortage of criticism fired at the church over exactly this tendency.

How do we get the balance right between thought, belief and action?

Tags Easter, Lent Event, Theology and Spiritual Reflections, UnitingWorld