Category: Education & Training

A Commencement Service to mark the beginning of the year for Education and Formation within the Perth Theological Hall was held on Friday night, 23 February. The Induction of Rev Dr Anne Wright and Rev Emma Matthews as Presbytery of WA Ministers, Formation and Discipleship, was also held during the service. Anne and Emma will provide education, training and leadership for the formation of candidates and for the equipping  of disciples for ministry and mission in the contemporary context of the church in WA.

Rev Dr John Squires, Director of Education and Formation for the Uniting Church WA, led a reflection on changes taking place in theological education.

Uniting Leaders 2017 (UL17) is a conference providing opportunities for Uniting Church members to grow in their leadership skills and connect with other church leaders who are passionate about evangelism, mission and growing the church.

Geared towards all lay and ordained leaders in the life of the Uniting Church in Australia, it is also the second President’s National Minsters Conference for 2017. It will be held at Hope Valley  Uniting Church in Adelaide from Tuesday 22 to Thursday 24 August. UL17 will feature worship, keynote addresses and workshops with guest speakers, and opportunities for peer learning, networking and connecting with others in church leadership.

During Easter, we often reflect on ‘new life’ or ‘new beginnings.’ At Trinity Residential College, a Uniting Church WA college for university students in Perth, staff and students are all too familiar with the stress and excitement that a new beginning can offer.

Trinity Residential College is located across the road from the University of Western Australia, and provides accommodation for students studying at any university in Perth.

Hayley Winchcombe and Ben Perry are resident advisors at Trinity College. This means they live and study at the college and, having spent a few years there, are now working as advisors to new   students who are just coming in. They help new residents with any queries that might come up, from how to use the airconditioner, to where they can buy a sim card for their phones. They know  all too well how hard it can be to adjust to this kind of change; moving away from home, family, friends and high school, to a new city and a new self-determined study routine.

Hayley moved to Trinity from Dunsborough to study French, and politics and international relations. Ben hails from Albany and is studying psychology. They both said that activities organised  during ‘O Week’ or Orientation Week, were important for building their new life at Trinity.

Rev Dr John Squires was inducted into the role of director of Education and Formation in the Uniting Church WA, on Friday 24 February at Uniting Church in the City, Wesley Perth. John’s role also includes being the principal of the Perth Theological Hall (PTH).

The service also celebrated the commencement of PTH.

John was ordained as a minister of the Word in 1980, since serving in a wide variety of placements. He has served in city and rural congregations, and as the vice principal at the United Theological College, Sydney.

As well as having published articles and book chapters on a range of topics, John has also completed doctorate study at Yale University in the USA, and has been a research scholar at Durham University and the University of Cambridge in the UK. He has also been the associate head of campus at Charles Sturt University.

Rev David de Kock, general secretary of the Uniting Church WA preached at the service.

In his response, John acknowledged the local Nyungar people and shared that Australians have a lot to learn from our Indigenous people in the areas of caring for country, honouring the land and welcoming the stranger.

He then recited the words agreed to at the 2009 Synod which established the Commission for Education for Discipleship and Leadership (CEDAL) and said he has enthusiasm and hope for his new role.

The service for the commencement of the academic year for candidates for ministry at Perth Theological Hall was held at Uniting Church in the City, Wesley last Thursday 25 February.

The intimate service began with Rev Craig Collas acknowledging the Nyungar heritage of the land on which the service was held, followed by a call to worship from Psalm 63 and the voices of the attendees rising in worship through the historic rafters of Wesley Church.

After the singing of worship and a prayer of praise and confession, the candidates were brought forward to be prayed for by Craig and Rev Prof Bill Loader. The candidates present were Justine Wall, Paul Montague, Sophie Lizares-Bodegon and Judy Sanderson; Reuben Edmonds joined the candidates on stage for prayer as he enters his period of discernment.