Rev Elizabeth Raine was inducted into an Intentional Interim Ministry Placement at Victoria Park and Districts Star St Uniting Church on Sunday 29 October. She will serve with the congregation for up to 25 months. The event was also celebrated with a Zimbabwean congregation which meet at the church.
Rev David Kriel, Mission Planner for the Uniting Church WA, preached at the service on the importance of community. He shared a Zulu philosophy, ‘Ubuntu’, which means ‘I know myself through you.’
“We are the body of Christ; we are community,” he said. “And through community we can do a lot of good things. Great things can happen when we exercise that philosophy.”
He added that the church is a community which also reaches out to the community.
Elizabeth was ordained in 1994 and has served in a number of placements, helping congregations to reflect on their life and plan for their future. She was the minister at Wauchope Uniting Church, NSW; has been an Educational Consultant for the Arts in Action program in Epping; a Tenancy worker with UnitingCare; a chaplain; an Academic Associate in the School of Theology at Charles Sturt University; and a Lecturer in Biblical Studies at the United Theological College. She has a heart for sustainability and social justice, and a love for ancient music.
She said that her role will be to help inspire enthusiasm, develop skills, new faithfulness and help the congregation to understand their identity in the Uniting Church in Australia.
“Interim ministry doesn’t give you clear answers, but it does give you a journey,” she said.
