Author: revivewa

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Stories & Feature Articles

Education journeys in the North West

Just four weeks before this edition of ‘Revive’ went to print, Gail Cresswell packed up her things in Margaret River, in WA’s south west, and moved to Mowanjum, a remote Aboriginal  community in the north of WA on the outskirts of Derby. With a passion for education in Indigenous communities, she is starting up a Montessori program for kids under three.

Montessori is an alternative form of education that encourages independence by creating an environment for children to learn at their own pace. Gail said that the system focuses  heavily on learning by observation and involves lots of one-on-one interaction. “It’s about each child,” she said. “It’s a learning journey for each child.”

“It’s about the kids learning to be resilient and learning to be responsible to themselves.”

It is also a system that has been highly successful in Indigenous communities around Australia. Towards the end of August, Gail and her assistant, Daphne Gilbey, a member of the  Mowanjum community, will be attending the Thursday Island Montessori Summit where they’ll be exploring the benefits of the Montessori approach in Indigenous cultures.

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Action: What else are we called to?

Paul Tillich once said, “Here and there in the world and now and then in ourselves, is a new creation”. One could not have a better summary of our life in faith. Every ounce of who we  are as God’s people has to be reflected in action. Who we are, how we live and who we belong to are all tied up in the life we lead, both as individuals and as a church community. We  do not exist as human beings with little boxes for this or that, but as a complete integrated package. Heart, mind, soul, hands and feet.

Jesus, for so many people an object of worship,  but not a political or social activist, focuses our attention. We do not belong to Jesus because he saves us for a life elsewhere. We belong to Jesus because he shows us how to live here and now with God as our centre, how to live with love, and how to live in community with others. You only have to read the Sermon on the Mount to understand his vision for a new social order. As Lorraine Parkinson suggests, it is a blueprint for the best possible world.

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Moderator’s column: Prayerful action

The focus for this edition of Revive concerns Action! The Uniting Church in Australia has a strong reputation in the community for action, especially in areas of social justice and  rightly so, although I have the feeling that for many of us a lot of that action is by proxy. On the whole I think we are pleased to see election resources published, wellinformed critique  made of public policy by the President and the occasional public demonstration such as that in which the 13th National Assembly engaged on the steps of Parliament House  in Adelaide nearly two years ago. I think more widespread in the Uniting Church, as far as the practical engagement of members is concerned, is quiet, behind-the-scenes service to  those in need through our many and varied community services.

So why does the church engage in such action? Is it coincidence that those who are committed to church membership are also concerned about the struggles of those who are doing it  tough? Or is there a fundamental connection? I think it is the latter.

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News & Announcements

Yokine Evening Fellowship turns 50

Back in 1964, when the Yokine Uniting Church was young, they had a large Sunday School with the juniors and intermediates meeting in the hall and the kindergarten children  meeting in the kindergarten building across the road.

The minister at the time was Rev Syd Saggers and his wife, Jessie, noticed that most of the young women would dash across the  road straight after church to pick up their children from the kindergarten building without getting a chance to know one another. There was an afternoon fellowship but many of the women couldn’t attend at this time. Jessie decided to start an evening group so the young women could meet, worship and socialise together  whilst husbands were on babysitting duties.

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News & Announcements

WCC announces September Interfaith Summit on Climate Change

The World Council of Churches (WCC) announced it will hold an Interfaith Summit on Climate Change on September 21-22 in New York City. At the summit, organised together with Religions for Peace, more than 30 religious leaders will take a united stand to encourage international and political leaders to address concretely the causes and consequences of climate change.

The interfaith summit is being held immediately before the United Nations (UN) Climate Summit, called by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, to galvanize and catalyze climate action, bringing bold announcements and actions that will reduce emissions, strengthen climate resilience, and mobilize political will for a meaningful legal agreement in 2015.

WCC members said they hoped their united voice would be also heard at the upcoming Conferences of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Lima in December 2014 and in Paris in 2015.

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News & Announcements

Music scholars a blessing

The 2013 Wesley Scholars pictured here with Angela Currie, (right).
The 2013 Wesley Scholars pictured here with Angela Currie, (right).

I am very fortunate to have inherited the Music Scholarship Scheme at Uniting Church in the City, Wesley Perth. It is a really lovely idea and I feel very blessed to work with these young musicians. This year we have five scholars who work on a roster of playing on Sundays, playing music for reflection at the start of the worship service and during the offering. In the past some have played with the choir. We have made a string quartet up and they have accompanied the choir and the singing scholars with excerpts from, for example,  Messiah.

The other lovely thing that shows, is that scholars from the past tend to have a lot of Wesley members coming  along to their recitals at university even after they have left Wesley. The  scholars aren’t necessarily Christians but they do tend to say, especially at the end of the year, ‘Wesley is special, it’s so nice performing here and it’s lovely performing in a place  where we aren’t judged.’ It seems to be a very positive experience for them and of course they get paid.

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News & Announcements

Chief governing body of the WCC begins its first meeting

Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general secretary. Photo: Peter Williams WCC

The first full meeting of the new Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), a chief governing body of the Council, began on 2 July in Geneva, Switzerland. Prayers, official addresses from the leadership of the WCC and welcome greetings from the Swiss churches marked the opening of the WCC Central Committee meeting – all set to focus on the theme ‘pilgrimage of justice and peace’ through the coming week.

The WCC Central Committee will hold meetings every two years until the next assembly. The committee which consists of 150 members from all global regions is responsible for carrying out the policies adopted by the WCC 10th Assembly, reviewing and supervising WCC programs and the budget of the Council. The 10th Assembly took place at Busan, Republic of Korea in October and November 2013.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Church becoming more open to change

Participants at the Listening Workshop discuss the future of the Uniting Church in WA.

“We have a strong focus on the community.”

“We do well regarding the worship on a Sunday morning.” – Rev Dr David Kriel, mission planner, Uniting Church in WA.

These are the strengths of the Uniting Church in WA which came out of the Listening Workshop, held in April. There was a buzz around the room as 80 participants who are associated  with the Uniting Church in WA participated in an informal discussion and feedback session on the future of the church. After analysing strengths and weaknesses, David found that the group felt these strengths reflect the core purpose of the church: worship, witness and service, as outlined in the Basis of Union.

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UnitingCare West celebrates 8 years

Robert Watson presents at last year's ERIIC Awards.

On 1 July 2014, UnitingCare West will celebrate its Founding Day and 8th Anniversary with an all staff and volunteer day. The event is a chance for all of those involved with  UnitingCare West to reflect on the work that has been achieved over the last year, and to celebrate the progress and growth the organisation has experienced since it commenced  operations as a newly formed community service agency of the Uniting Church in Western Australia back in 2006.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Sermon: The Hymns of Charles Wesley

Rev Geoff Blyth, retired Uniting Church minister, preached recently at St George’s Cathedral, Perth, for their celebration of John and Charles Wesley, the founders of Methodism. Following is Geoff’s sermon on ‘The Hymns of Charles Wesley.’

A You-Tube video clip turned up on our computer which caused us great hilarity and quite a deal of thought, if not nostalgia. It is called: “Methodist Blues” The singer, Garrison Keillor, makes reference to many of the characteristics of Methodism. But the lines that have stayed with me the most are these:

“Now Methodism was started by John Wesley, not Chuck Berry or Elvis Presley.”

Methodism was started by John Wesley

When I retired as a Minister of the Uniting Church in Australia in 2001 I went with my wife, Esme, to take up a one-year appointment with the Methodist Church of Britain in the Kirkoswald Circuit and the ten congregations up and down the Eden Valley in Cumbria. Not only were we exposed to the People called Methodist, we stood on the spot where John Wesley had preached to the people of Gamblesby, right there near the barn where the whole village turned out to hear him. I preached regularly at Temple Sowerby where at the chapel door there was a stone and plaque declaring that: ‘John Wesley preached here in this village on two occasions…’

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