For this year’s International Women’s Day, Kate Leaney, Social Justice Officer at the Uniting Church WA, takes 5 minutes with us to reflect, and share some of her inspirations and passions.
Author: revivewa
I’ve never met anyone who loves horses as much as Minna Sanders. And from this love of horses, a beautiful endeavour has grown.
Minna, having just finished Year 12 at Seton Catholic College, recently won a Good Sammy Business Start-up Award. This bubbly, passionate teenager was one of six recipients who received a cash grant to go towards setting up her own business.
Good Samaritan Enterprises (previously Good Samaritan Industries), is a Uniting Church WA agency providing employment options for people living with disability. They’re lovingly known throughout WA for their ‘Good Sammy’ op-shops, but they also provide a range of services helping people find meaningful employment. The award has been a huge asset for Minna, who will use the grant for advertising and supplies for her micro business – Minna’s Creations. She is now well on her way to getting her pyrography woodwork into the market.
An art exhibition held at Willetton Uniting Church in February has raised over $1 500 for the Uniting Church in Australia National Disaster Relief Fund, supporting those impacted by bushfires around the country. Willemina Foeken, artist and member of Willetton Uniting Church, held the exhibition in February, with a second one to be held from Sunday 8 to Thursday 19 March, at the Diamond and Jewellery Centres of Australia (DJCA), 97c Flora Tce, North Beach, Perth.
Now retired, Willemina previously worked as a school art teacher. These days, she still teaches art, but to small groups of up to six people in her home studio. She has been passionate about drawing her whole life, and inspired by her environment.
This summer’s bushfire season has left Australia damaged and sore. In true community spirit, we’ve also seen some amazing stories of people coming together to volunteer their time, donate their money, and support each other in harsh times of need.
The Uniting Church in Australia has been, and continues to, provide a range of support for people and communities affected by devastating bushfires around the country – both in crisis care and long-term recovery. In the first 11 days of 2020, 63 Uniting Church chaplains were engaged at 36 bushfire crisis centres. Together they volunteered 1 677 hours of chaplaincy with people directly affected by the fires, some of them experiencing the worst days of their lives.
It’s always easier to cope with the Christmas season when there is someone to walk beside you.
This year, UnitingCare West and the Uniting Church community walked alongside more than 2 000 Western Australians, providing the help and material assistance to ease the stress and difficulty many families feel throughout the season.
The unprecedented demand for UnitingCare West’s support services through November and December could easily have become overwhelming if not for our Uniting Church community. Together, we supported Western Australians who are doing it tough.
The Moderator of the Uniting Church WA, Rev Steve Francis, has today called on the RSL of WA to reconsider its position to ban the flying of the Aboriginal flag and the performance of Welcome to Country ceremonies during ANZAC and Rememberence Day services.
“This is an extremely disappointing decision by the RSL WA that creates real hurt for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” he said.
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Ministry into the unknown
Rev Simon Goddard, a Baptist minister from Fresh Expressions UK, will be visiting Perth to share his experiences and knowledge in pioneering ministry and church leadership.
Simon will be a keynote speaker at two events in March: The Pioneer Ministry Gathering; and Tools for Resilient Church Leadership in Changing Contexts, which will also feature Rev Dr Adam McIntosh, the Associate Director of Mission (Pastoral Care) for the Uniting Church Queensland, and Peter Kenyon, from the Bank of IDEAS.
Brought to you by the Uniting Church WA’s Thrive Mission Committee, these events will encourage those attending to explore Pioneer Ministry, while sharing their own experiences and learning from each other.
West Australian faith-based and community groups and organisations, including the Uniting Church WA, have signed the joint RenewWA statement, calling on the State Government for reliable jobs, renewable energy and a safe future for all.
Launched at Cottesloe beach this morning, the statement reads:
“With rich renewable energy resources, abundant supplies of battery metals and potential to generate renewable-derived Hydrogen for export, WA has a bright future ahead if the benefits of a clean energy economy are supported by strong government action on climate change.
UnitingWorld’s Lent Event is your chance to join others who are pledging to live simply during the 40 days of Lent. You can sign up as an individual or with a team to raise funds for and learn about projects that are building peace between Muslims and Christians as they beat poverty together. Lent Event will be held from Wednesday 26 February to Friday 10 April 2020.
This year’s feature project is in Ambon, Indonesia, where unthinkable violence in 1999 left 5 000 dead and 70 000 homeless. UnitingWorld’s partner, the Protestant Church of Maluku, is running projects that bring people together for peacebuilding workshops and livelihood projects. The aim is to create bonds of friendship between Muslims and Christians while generating desperately needed income in a province where most people live on less than $1 a day.
How can you be involved?
- As part of a team or as an individual, take up the challenge to live simply for 40 days. The new Lent Event website allows you to easily create a personal challenge- forty days of prayer; forty days on one meal a day? Share your goal via Facebook or email with friends and family to help raise money for some of the poorest people in our global neighbourhood. Track your progress, create a blog post, engage your children and young people.
- Be inspired by stories of peace building and transformed lives, told through our weekly video series, Bible studies, prayers and reflections. You can download these directly in the one simple package here, including an inspiring promotional trailer to use with small groups and congregations.
All funds raised support Uniting Church partners in Ambon and beyond to fight poverty, raise up women and girls, build the capacity of leaders and run peacebuilding activities.
A Perth event bringing together various faith-based and community groups has raised $25 000 for bushfire relief.
Perth Unites for Bushfire Relief was held on Monday 27 January in Hyde Park, Perth. The Uniting Church WA, through the Social Justice Commission, joined the City of Vincent, Perth Mosque, Buddhist Society of WA, Haka for Life, Corroboree for Life, Manup Tutangata, Muslim Aid Australia and more.