Month: June 2018

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News & Announcements

Community Iftar dinner building dialogue and solidarity

The Uniting Church WA Ecumenical Affairs Commission hosted an Iftar dinner on Saturday 9 June at St Peter and Emmaus Church in Joondanna, with members of the Muslim community in Perth, through the Intercultural Harmony Society. The evening was a fantastic opportunity for members of the Christian and Islamic faiths to come together and share a meal, conversation and some of the common aspects of the two faiths.

This year, Ramadan is held from Wednesday 16 May to Thursday 14 June. During this time, many Muslims fast from dawn to sunset as part of their spiritual reflection. Fasting during Ramadan is a time of discipline and personal reflection on time with God. The Iftar dinner is the breaking of the fast, held at sunset each day during Ramadan, beginning with a call to prayer. Iftar dinners are often spent with friends, family and community, making it a great time to share together with members of the Uniting Church WA.

Rev David de Kock, General Secretary of the Uniting Church WA, welcomed guests before Ismail Yildiz recited the call to prayer. After the meal, verses were read from the Bible and the Quran, followed by a reflection from Saliha Yildiz, year 8 student at Fountain College, on what participating in Ramadan means to her.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Transform Tranby, transform lives

When ‘Big Kev’ found himself down on his luck and without a place to call home, he turned to UnitingCare West’s (UCW) Tranby Centre. All he wanted was a simple breakfast, a hot shower and someone to listen to his story. He was homeless, but at Tranby he found a spark of hope. That spark became a flame when our team was able to connect Kev with vital government services and eventually, to secure a small unit – his own home.

Fast forward two years and Kev still visits Tranby most days, offering advice and listening to other people’s stories. He is one of a group of people from all walks of life who have, or are still  experiencing homelessness, working with UnitingCare West on an ambitious project to ‘Transform Tranby’.

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Social Impact

Moderator’s Column: Christ the controversialist

Some people love a good controversy. They write letters to the newspaper, attend rallies, join movements and engage in vigorous debates.

I am not such a person. I have, however, attended a number protest marches. My first was at the age of nineteen when I joined a couple of hundred other Christians, carrying crosses near a nuclear shipyard that planned to name a new nuclear submarine ‘Corpus Christi’, Latin for ‘the body of Christ’. We could not reconcile giving such a sacred name to a weapon of mass destruction.

More recently, I spoke at a rally on behalf of the suffering Rohingya people, and at Palm Sunday peace rallies I have felt compelled to join many other people giving support and solidarity to  poorly treated refugees.  I have reluctantly at times engaged in controversial issues, sometimes forgetting that Christ, who I claim to serve, was controversial. It seems that on some of the issues of the day, Jesus entered the controversy.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Deidre’s discipleship

Dr Deidre Palmer chooses her words carefully when asked about her call to church leadership.

“I’m probably more called to discipleship than leadership,” she says. “As an educator, as someone who contributes to people’s formation in faith, I see leadership arising from inviting people into a deeper relationship with God. So, I actually think leadership grows out of discipleship.”

Youth worker, Christian educator, academic, theologian, social worker, counsellor, Assembly Standing Committee member, Working Group Chair, Moderator. From 8 July 2018, Dr Deidre Palmer will extend her invitation to discipleship to the whole of the Uniting Church in Australia and beyond in the role of President. When Deidre receives the symbols of ministry from outgoing President Stuart McMillan at St Michaels Collins St in Melbourne, she will become the Uniting Church’s 15th President and the second woman to take-up the role. Dr Jill Tabart being the first, serving as President from 1994 to 1997.

‘Abundant Grace Liberating Hope’ is the theme Deidre has chosen for her term.

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News & Announcements

Mandola Art Award winners announced

West Australian artist Mikaela Castledine has taken out the $25 000 St John of God Health Care Prize at the 2018 Mandorla Art Awards with her work God is in the House.

The judges commented that the work is a beautifully crafted piece that takes ordinary found objects and through the artistic process turns them into the sacred. The humble materials of glass, beads and thread have been made into something much more significant. The feminine craft of the work speaks to the human desire to create architectural forms. The forms are clearly recognisable as ecclesiastical but from a range of different faiths.

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News & Announcements

Uniting Church opts in on Redress

The President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Stuart McMillan, announced yesterday that the Uniting Church will opt in to the Federal Government’s National Redress Scheme for people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse.

“We acknowledge the impact of child sexual abuse in the lives of those who have been abused in our institutions or those of our predecessor churches. To each survivor and all of their families, I am truly sorry,” said Stuart.

“It is our sincere hope that this National Redress Scheme will allow survivors of institutional child sexual abuse to access support to help them in their lives,” he said.

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