Month: May 2016

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News & Announcements

Yokai: a war cry for hope and healing

Yokai, a new hub for healing programs and centres for survivors of the Stolen Generations, three years in the making, was launched on Friday 13 May. The project is an initiative of the Bringing Them Home Committee WA, in which the Uniting Church WA’s Social Justice Board and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (WA) are active participants. It was launched on the 20th anniversary of the death of Rob Riley, a well-respected WA Indigenous activist.

Yokai, a Nyungar war cry, aims to support and address the needs of people who have been affected by the policies and practices of removing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from their families – the Stolen Generations.

Jim Morrison, co-convener of the Bringing Them Home Committee, said that Yokai will empower members of the Stolen Generations and their families to heal themselves by encouraging partnerships, allowing for grieving, reconnecting with language and spirituality and building leadership.

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Social Impact

Homeless charities call for targets to halve homelessness by 2015

The largest providers of homelessness services across Australia joined forces to call on all political parties to make reducing homelessness a national priority.

In a joint letter to the four party leaders, the major charities Anglicare, Mission Australia, Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul, UnitingCare Australia and Wesley Mission demanded a commitment to halving homelessness by 2025.

The organisations have also launched a petition to generate public support for the campaign during the Federal Election and invited the party leaders to a forum with their clients in June.

On any given night over 100,000 Australians are homeless – including over 44, 000 children or young people. And each year more than 200,000 people seek help from homelessness services.

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News & Announcements

Meeting costs in the aged care environment

Being acutely aware of the challenges faced by providers of age care services, it is abundantly clear that most people are completely unprepared for the move into such facilities from both a personal and financial perspective. In this article we explore the challenge of funding aged care with the view to getting people thinking about it now rather than waiting until the move is imminent.

There are already over one million retirees accessing aged care services in Australia. The move to aged care for a family member can be a very difficult process as the increasing cost structure raises questions as to the funding mechanism especially as the individual typically has strong ties to the family home. The costs of residential aged care are multifaceted and generally involve one or more of the following fees:

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Stories & Feature Articles

Taking a stand: love in action

Since January 2015, representatives of Northam Uniting Church have visited people detained at the Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre.

The weekly visits to a few men have become a Bible study and support group for people from China, Sri Lanka, Iran, New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Some are Christians, some Muslim, some have a Hindu background. All speak English; some speak it well, some are beginner learners.

Body and sign language, as well as drawing pictures, are much needed extra means of communication. We talk about the Lectionary readings for the coming Sunday, so the men can get ready for church (a maximum of four people a week are allowed to go) or to prepare their own worship at the centre.

The readings are read and interpreted in the context of – indefinite for some – detention. They trigger childhood memories, comparison of how Christmas and other feasts are celebrated, stories about work and life in now far away countries, and accounts of how the men are treated while waiting for a visa or a day in court.

Waiting.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Out of The Ordinary: twelve Australian Methodist biographies, edited by Patricia Curthoys and William W Emilsen

Out of the OrdinaryThis wonderful book acknowledges the skill and dedication of some of the lesser known Methodist leaders whose contribution to the faith should be better known today. We benefit from their work. This book provides a message of hope and encouragement.

The twelve biographies, each expertly written, show cumulatively the wide range of Methodist impact on Australian society.

The editor’s note the twelve were engaged as missionaries, preachers, educationalists, administrators, ecumenists and social reformers.An example of this diverse work and the importance of making the most of each opportunity was Alice Mofflin (1878–1961). She is the sole West Australian in the book.

Rev Dr Alison Longworth shows how she was active in creating WA institutions for childcare, healthcare, women’s fellowship, and overseas missions. She was an example of how a female layperson could be a pioneer in many fields.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Grounded: Finding God in the world – a spiritual revolution, by Diana Butler Bass

Grounded Finding God in the World – A Spiritual Revolution, by Diana Butler-BassThe news headlines are clear: religion is on the decline in the West as many people leave behind traditional religious practices.

Diana Butler Bass, leading commentator on religion, politics and culture, argues that what appears to be a decline actually signals a major transformation in how people experience God.

The distant God of conventional religion has given way to a more intimate sense of the sacred that is with us in the world. This shift – from a vertical understanding of God, to a God found on the horizons of nature and human community – is at the heart of a spiritual revolution that surrounds us.

The book concludes with the ‘Commons’ where Diana argues religion has abandoned its prophetic and creative vision of humanity’s common life’, in favour of an individual quest to get to heaven. In the process, community became isolated behind walls of buildings where worship experiences corresponded to members’ tastes, preferences and political views. A sad mistake, for at the very centre of every religion there stands some great communal vision of God, the world and humanity.

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News & Announcements

Immersed in the story

Last year, Bicton Uniting Church went on a journey. Using ‘The Story’, a resource for congregations and faith communities to explore the Bible together, they experienced growth and strength in their church community.

‘The Story’ has multiple curriculums, each aimed at a specific age or group, and each with 31 chapters. Every week the groups explored a chapter – meaning they were all studying the same text, but within their own contexts.

Rev Zak Cronje, minister at Bicton Uniting Church, said that it brought families together and meant that children and parents, as well as other different groups within the church, could respond to each chapter together and ask deeper questions.

“It did something fantastic in the congregation because all of a sudden people realised they were talking about the same thing,” Zac said.

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News & Announcements

Beth Shalom raising the roof

To encourage, listen and engage with their young people, Beth Shalom Tongan Uniting Church recently purchased a range of music instruments for the purpose of starting up a band. Many of the young people have musical gifts and skills that they wanted to use in the congregation to express their love of Christ.

Using a $4,500 grant from the Uniting Church WA’s Innovative Opportunities Unlimited Fund (IOU), Beth Shalom purchased an acoustic guitar, bass guitar, speakers, a mixer and a microphone. The band was formed, raising the roof each Sunday. Before each service, the band plays up to an hour of praise music, celebrating and worshipping God.

At the recent Summer Spirit event, held in February at All Saints Floreat Uniting Church, the group performed with high energy, enthusiasm and talent, and showed all those present, from the wider Uniting Church WA, just how loud church can be.

Kalo Fotu spoke on the importance of listening to their young people and engaging them as active members of the congregation. Whether a project succeeds or fails is not the point; it’s about giving young people a chance to express themselves.

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News & Announcements

Dreaming of unity: Pilgrimage launched in Perth

The Council of Churches WA Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was launched today at the Bell Tower in Perth, with a performance from the Scotch College Pipe Band.

Deacon Theo Issa, president of the Council of Churches WA and member of the Syrian Orthodox Church, launched the week.

“We launch this pilgrimage in our beautiful city and at one of our city’s landmarks. This event allows us to appreciate what our city can offer us and the beautiful churches it has within our borders,” he said.

Rev Steve Francis, moderator of the Uniting Church reflected on ‘What is pilgrimage.’ He shared that a pilgrim is someone who is on a journey with God.

“God was calling them [pilgrims] and wherever they would arrive they would share the love of God with others,” he said.

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News & Announcements

Reaching out in the church

The Daring Conference is a biannual national gathering of LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) people within the Uniting Church in Australia. This year, the three-day conference will be held at the Centre for Theology and Ministry in Melbourne from Friday 10 June to Monday 13 June.

It is organised by Uniting Network Australia, a network of LGBTI people within the Uniting Church and their families, friends and supporters.

The 2016 theme is Daring to Reach Out: Honouring our Diversity. Damien Stevens, co-convenor of Uniting Network, said the theme explores the challenges and opportunities for LGBTI inclusion within the Church’s culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.

“When we look at issues around LGBTI identity and inclusion and mix it with faith, we often find that spirituality and faith are very different between the privileged, white ‘out and proud’ movement and culturally and linguistically diverse people,” Damien said.

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