Month: November 2016

Love, care and non-judgemental acceptance

Post author By revivewa
Post date November 28, 2016

Edith Smirk is a Uniting Church chaplain at Bentley Health Service. She reflects on her role offering pastoral care to people living with mental illness.

People with mental [illness], like other people, have a need to relate to a god or a philosophical world view that allows them to place themselves and their lives within a larger context. However, for a person who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia this can be problematical for a number of reasons. For one thing, the onset of the disease often occurs during the same period of life when religious and philosophical beliefs are in great flux. For many during the early stages of their illness, they may believe they have been specially chosen by God. When auditory hallucination is experienced, these beliefs are usually reinforced. It is important not to encourage such beliefs, just be present. E Fuller Torrey MD 2006

Jesus listened and told stories. This is something I can do. Just to be there and to listen non-judgmentally is the greatest gift we can give at times. Working in mental health can be very challenging and at the same time very rewarding; I believe for me it has been a true calling. I believe God has in some way been preparing me for this role throughout my life.

Working with the patients brings me such joy. Hearing their stories sometimes touch on my own. Jesus knows our pain, he suffered and was tempted by the devil, he knows our weaknesses and by trusting in the Lord we grow strong. When we reach out to Jesus, he touches our hand, and his hand touches God, which gives us life, love and hope. And it is this hope and love I try to bring to our patients.

Tags Theology and Spiritual Reflections

News & Announcements

People, Places and Planes: Presidential Field Notes and Reflections, by Rev Dr Andrew Dutney

Post author By revivewa
Post date November 24, 2016

Rev Dr Andrew Dutney was the president of the Uniting Church in Australia from 2012– 2015. This book is a chronological account of his very readable reflections and statements during those three years.

One theme is the Uniting Church’s inclusiveness and therefore diversity. Indeed Dutney regards inclusiveness as one of the Uniting Church’s best characteristics.

Second, the congregations continue to decline. The broader context in which those congregations developed has itself changed: Australia is now a “multicultural, multi-faith, hyper-capitalist, globalized, digital civilization”. Therefore the Uniting Church is having to find a new way of living in a new world.

An interesting statistic is that the Uniting Church has more than 2 000 congregations – more than twice the number of McDonald’s outlets. So it still has a large base from which to begin its reinvention for the new era.

Finally, the saga of the iconic Frontier Services dominated much of Dutney’s time as President. He was there for the centennial events in 2012 and two years later for the transfer of much of its work to other Uniting Church agencies. Frontier Services had become over-extended (especially in aged care). Dutney handled the process well.

Tags Books, Films, Art, Awards and Recipes

News & Announcements

Voices raised for our Pacific neighbours

Post author By revivewa
Post date November 23, 2016

Over 200 Christians from all around Australia, representatives of Pacific communities and members of Parliament gathered in front of Australian Parliament House this morning calling on Australia to be a better neighbour to our Pacific brothers and sisters. The gathering was part of Micah Australia’s Voices for Justice event.

Speakers from Fiji, Tonga and Kiribati shared their experiences of climate change, and the effect it is having on their lives and communities. They called on politicians to make a greater commitment to climate change action and aid focussed on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) for developing nations in our region. Prayers were said for our churches, our nation, our nation’s leaders and our world.

Rev James Bhagwan, a leader from the Methodist Church of Fiji, greeted the crowd with a traditional greeting – “Bula!” – as a reminder of the importance of place and relationships. He called on the Australian government to love and care for all people, including our Pacific neighbours.

“To love and care for only a few is not to love at all,” he said.

Tags International, Multi-Cultural, Multicultural

News & Announcements

Christians march with Pride

Post author By revivewa
Post date November 23, 2016

Northbridge lit up with glitter and colour on Saturday night, 19 November, as Perth’s annual Pride Parade, a celebration of the LGBTI community, took to the streets. Marching through the centre of Northbridge, the party went into the night, with the theme Love Wins.

Faith groups joined the parade including Jews for Pride and Christians with Pride. A passionate group of Christians marched, mostly members from the Anglican Diocese of Perth or the Uniting Church WA.

Fr Peter Manuel, from St Andrew’s Anglican Parish Subiaco, said it was important for Christians to march in the parade to show their support for the LGBTI community.

Tags LGBTQIA

News & Announcements

Hope and healing for Mogumber

Post author By revivewa
Post date November 23, 2016

In October, those with a connection to the closed Mogumber Native Mission site gathered to share stories of the past and hopes for the future of the site. The site closed in 1974, but prior to this was a government settlement housing Indigenous Australians, many who were part of the Stolen Generations.

Bev Port-Louis, one of the main organisers of the gathering, is a Nyungar elder with strong connections to the site at Mogumber; her grandmother is buried there. Bev is a member of the Bringing Them Home Committee WA, of which the Uniting Church WA is also a member.

“The area where Mogumber sits is in Yuet country and that’s where I grew up,” Bev said.

Bev was approached by Rev Dennis Doust, a retired Uniting Church WA minister, and others who had previously worked at Mogumber, about holding a day for healing. She felt that many of the staff who worked at Mogumber also needed healing, as some felt concerned that they had been part of a hurtful past.

“A lot of the staff now are in their 60s and early 70s and they were teachers there and had other positions. I didn’t want them to have a conscience to think that they did anything wrong because it’s not their fault how the place got set up,” she said.

Tags First Peoples

Stories & Feature Articles

Parables from the edge

Post author By revivewa
Post date November 19, 2016

Port Hedland looks like a dot on the north-western edge of this large red country. I arrived there with no answers for Port Hedland and my questions were a jumble. In my backpack was the poster I had made to remind me of why I had come: “Go, not to collect experiences, but to be transformed.”

I was sent to Port Hedland for a supervised rural placement from mid-July to early August, the best time in the year because that was when it was cool. Eight months of the year, temperatures soar, starting from 38 degrees. The harsh environment has been said to draw more than the average share of misfits, mercenaries, mavericks and missionaries – people who were running away from something or someone, debts, crime and failed relationships.

It was as I expected: Martian landscape, remote, sparsely populated and industrial.

What caught me by surprise was its strange beauty, an immense, seemingly empty space, suffused with untamed, quiet power. At the beach at Cooke Point one morning, the moist sand bore the contours of the waves. The sky sent an echo in scallops of white cloud. At my feet, shallow streams of water gargled softly. I could have just walked across the water to the next little patch of sand, but didn’t – rather, couldn’t. Almost shouldn’t.

Tags Theology and Spiritual Reflections

Stories & Feature Articles

Dolls to love and cherish

Post author By revivewa
Post date November 16, 2016

Pinjarra Uniting Church’s Adult Fellowship (UCAF) recently made use of their annual craft get together to create dolls for children in South Africa, through the Uthando Project.

The Uthando Project sends handcrafted, donated dolls to children living in orphanages in KwaZulu Natal, a province of South Africa, who have been affected by HIV AIDS. This area is currently suffering a pandemic of the virus.

This WA based project works in partnership with non-government organisations in South Africa to deliver dolls to where they are best needed. Children can then use ‘play’ to enjoy life, but also to express the emotions and grief of losing one or both parents. Uthando, a Zulu word, translates in English to ‘love.’ Gill Muir, from Pinjarra Uniting Church, said their UCAF group wanted to provide the children with something they could cherish.

Tags Church and Community, Faith In Action, International

News & Announcements

US refugee deal raises hope and questions

Post author By revivewa
Post date November 15, 2016

The president of the Uniting Church in Australia, Stuart McMillan, has welcomed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s recent announcement of a ‘one-off’ agreement with the United States to resettle refugees currently detained on Nauru and Manus Island.

While details of the arrangement remain vague, Stuart has welcomed the thrust of the announcement.

“The Uniting Church has long campaigned for an end to the inhumane detention of people on Nauru and Manus Island,” said Stuart.

“In that there is hope that people might soon be able to start rebuilding their lives, I welcome this as a positive development,” he said.

UnitingJustice Australia National Director Rev Elenie Poulos is calling for more details about the agreement.

“There are many unanswered questions,” said Elenie. “How many people will the US take? What will happen to refugees who miss out on a place? Are those people from Nauru currently in Australia for medical treatment included in the agreement?

Tags Refugees and Asylum Seekers

News & Announcements

Prayers for New Zealand

Post author By revivewa
Post date November 14, 2016

The President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Stuart McMillan, has called Australians to keep New Zealanders in their prayers after a series of powerful earthquakes hit the east coast of the South Island overnight.

Two people are confirmed to have died and there has been extensive damage to roads and infrastructure.

“Right now our sisters and brothers in Aotearoa need our prayers as they confront the effects of another serious earthquake,” said Stuart.

“Our ecumenical friends in the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand begin their annual Assembly this week. We have informed them and the Methodist Church of Aotearoa and New Zealand of our prayers and concern.”

Tags Disaster Relief, International, Natural disaster