Month: June 2015

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News & Announcements

English classes for more opportunity

Throughout March and April this year, 11 students from West Papua immersed themselves in Australian culture as part of the Australian Papuan Cultural Exchange Program. Through this  program, the students, aged between 18–25, are able to build-up their English language skills, giving them more opportunities back home.

The idea originally sparked within All Saints Floreat Uniting Church after a visit to The Evangelical Christian Church in the Land of Papua (GKI di TP), a partner church of the Uniting Church in  Australia. In its third season since 2010, this year the program was run with the assistance of many Uniting Church congregations across WA, including Scarborough, Trinity North, North  Midlands and Foothills St Martins. From teachers and conversation partners to host families and bus drivers, this program is no easy feat to pull off – but its rewards are immeasurable.

Whilst in Australia, the students lived with host families in Perth, spending their days learning English in a classroom held at the Floreat church. It’s not all hard work though, as they also spent  time exploring some of the city’s attractions, as well as heading south to Busselton and north to Coorow for some fun and time-out.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Messy Church Mix-Up

On Sunday 3 May, 10.00am, in Busselton, something really mixed-up was happening at Bryant Memorial Uniting Church. This was not normal.

The usual crowd for a Sunday morning service  were all there, but this was not what they were used to; it was not Sunday church as they knew it. For a start, the music was different – instead of the usual piano and organ, there was a band –  and look, are those our ministers with the guitars? Yes, Rev Brenton Prigge and Rev Andrew Broadbent are both up there in the band, and those  are Andy’s boys, Tom and Ned playing with them.

But that’s not all – there was no sermon; there was a Godly Play story instead. And then there were all these other wonderful young families who usually only go to church once a month on a Saturday for Messy Church. Maybe this service had been planned just for them? Maybe this was a typical Messy Church?

But no, the Messy Church people were also finding everything a bit  mixedup. There was no craft, for a start, and the whole thing was happening in the sanctuary instead of using the hall as well. And there were just pews; no tables and chairs. Not only that, but there was much more singing than at Messy Church and so many more wonderful ‘Granny and Grandpa’ type people… and after  the Godly Play story that was all about the ‘Table of the Good Shepherd,’ they had this wonderful thing where everybody was actually invited to gather around the table, just like in the  story. That never happens at our Messy Church!

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News & Announcements

Australian churches call for National Day of Prayer and Fasting

The National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) has invited all Australian Christians to participate in a National Day of Prayer and Fasting on Refugee Sunday 21 June.

The purpose of the day is to focus on the plight of asylum seekers and refugees both on mainland Australia and in offshore detention centres.

The General Secretary of NCCA, Sr Elizabeth Delaney, said, “For all who believe in believing prayer, the combined prayer of Christians from all churches is surely powerful. This, combined with fasting, prayer in action, is a concrete witness both to Christians responding to the Gospel call to welcome the stranger and our desire for unity through common action.”

Jesus taught that fasting from food and prayer is a way of accessing the power of God to enable the kingdom of God to come on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6.16-18; Matthew 17:14-21).

The NCCA has made available a range of resources for the day of prayer and fasting, including liturgy, prayers and teaching on fasting in the Bible. For more information visit http://www.ncca.org.au/.