In the last edition of Revive, we printed an opinion piece submitted by Rev Ken Devereux, Uniting Church Chaplain at Royal Perth Hospital, supporting the drafting of a Parliamentary bill for Voluntary Assisted Dying. Premier Mark McGowan introduced a Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill to the Parliament in August this year.
This edition, Prof Brian Hill, member at Billabong Uniting Church, responds to the current conversation.
One Sunday afternoon our front doorbell rang, and in came Kelvin Woodward, Treasurer of our congregation, Kardinya Uniting Church.
“Hi Betty,” he said. “Are you still collecting used stamps?”
“Yes,” I replied, “For Frontier Services!”
When Kelvin said he had a few boxes for us, I gestured with my hands a box the size of a shoe box.
“No,” Kelvin said, spreading his arms wide to indicate a very large box.
The Uniting Church WA has a number of positive international partnerships that congregations and individuals can support through the International Partnership and Development Commission – formally known as the UnitingWorld WA Commission. One of these partnerships is with the Methodist Church of Sri Lanka; the Uniting Church WA has currently agreed to help financially support their ‘Interfaith Preschool Project’.
South Perth Uniting Church and Wesley College recently teamed up to hold a Bollywood Dinner raising funds for this goal – building a partnership, not only with the Methodist Church of Sri Lanka, but with each other. Ten Wesley College students participated on the night, welcoming guests, serving food, clearing tables and selling raffle tickets. The school also provided the venue and decorated it in stunning Bollywood style.
Armadale-Kelmscott Uniting Church partnered with Good Samaritan Industries (GSI), a Uniting Church WA agency, to hold their very first Smarty Pants Swap Shop in early August.
The congregation invited members of their local community to drop in and donate good quality, clean clothes they no longer need. They were then invited to take what they would like from the already donated items.
Members of St Andrew’s Uniting Church have well and truly settled into their new home in East Perth, with new life blooming and exciting projects on the horizon.
A dedication service for their new Bennet St building was held in June, with a dedication also being made for the Rev James Reid Memorial Room. James Reid was a minister at St Andrew’s Uniting Church in Perth’s CBD from 1959 to 1971.
On Saturday 19 October, the congregation are holding their first major event, the East Perth Urban Village Festival, in Wellington Square. The festival will bring businesses and services in the community together with family friendly activities such as camel rides, a drumming circle, giant games, as well as food and information stalls.
At its 43rd Annual Meeting of the Synod of WA, held last Friday 13 to Sunday 15 September, the Uniting Church WA discussed its position on Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD).
Members held a lengthy and meaningful discussion that was marked by the sincere respect displayed between people of differing views. No formal position was taken on the matter with the Synod deciding to extend its deliberation period. The Synod did formally recognise that, “Within the Church there is a diversity of faithful Christian understandings and responses to dying and to voluntary assisted dying.”
We live in a time where obsessions abound; fabulous fashion, funky food, fierce football and flourishing finance. We may argue that these obsessions are fairly harmless and mere cultural shifts in an ever changing secular society.
May I invite you to consider another obsession that I think is bringing with it some negative consequences to our quality of life and the common good? I am referring to the current obsession with the body.
During its 70th year celebrations, not-for-profit aged care provider Juniper with the Premier of Western Australia, Hon Mark McGowan MLA opened its latest residential aged care service, bringing a further 120 places for older people in need.
Opening the Juniper Chrystal Halliday residential aged care facility in Karrinyup, Chris Hall, Juniper CEO, said the organisation had invested more than $100 million in the past 18 months to meet demand for quality services across WA.
After a short hiatus, Revive magazine is back in print with a brand new look. We’ve made a few changes to the structure and layout of the magazine, as well as the distribution; we’ll now be printing four times a year, instead of six.
One of my favourite additions to Revive is the recipe section on page 25. Not because I love cooking (actually, I hate it!), but because I love church morning teas. My brother, Phil, often jokes that being at a church event is the only time we ever get to eat curried egg sandwiches anymore. And I think he’s probably right.
During September, the Uniting Church WA supports the Season of Creation through Sustainable September. You can get involved by downloading and using resources, available online at ecochurcheswa.net/worship.resources
As one of the Biblical scholars intimately involved in The Earth Bible project, Rev Dr Vicky Balabanski shares her thoughts on Christian faith and its connectedness to all of creation.