Category: News & Announcements

Hands-on ministry in Meeka

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 20, 2018

Rev Mitch Fialkowski was inducted in Meekatharra as Patrol Minister, or ‘Bush Chaplain’, in the Remote Area Ministry Murchison Patrol in December.

Mitch has been working in the region for around five years with Frontier Services. His role was previously under the umbrella of the National Assembly of the Uniting Church, however recent changes at Frontier Services mean Mitch’s role is now within the Uniting Church WA, and is supported by fundraising though Frontier Services.

Rev Steve Francis, Moderator of the Uniting Church WA, and Rev David de Kock, General Secretary, travelled up to Meekatharra for the service, where Steve preached. Rev John Dihm, Remote Area Minister based in Tom Price, made the seven and a half hour drive to Meekatharra to attend the service and present Mitch with a beautiful stole.

Tags Church and Community, Ministry, Remote and rural communities

News & Announcements

Moderator’s Column: Training versus trying

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 17, 2018

A very belated Happy New Year!

As I write this we are two weeks from 1 January, the day that some of us made New Year resolutions. Typically at the beginning of a new year we start to think about some changes that might help that year go better than the old one.

According to my Google research, the big four resolutions are: aiming to be fit and healthy, vowing to lose weight, trying to enjoy life more (less stress) and spending time with people we care about.

Other standard resolutions include spending less, getting more sleep and watching less television.

I wonder if you made a resolution. Mine was not so much a resolution but a reminder verse for the year: “. . . the joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10). I started to think about how this sense of the joy of God might become increasingly part of my daily life. That started me thinking about the difference between trying and training.

Tags Our People and Agencies, Theology and Spiritual Reflections

News & Announcements

7 ways to fast for Lent

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 13, 2018

Lent, a 40-day spiritual season for Christians around the world, begins on Wednesday 14 February. It is a time to fast, reorder our lives and take stock of our relationship with God. If you are planning on fasting this Lent, here are some ideas to get you started.

Tags Easter

News & Announcements

Deep Listening with those on the edge

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 10, 2018

The inaugural Deep Listening Festival is hitting the South West in April and is packed full of storytelling, art, music, workshops and time to reflect. It will be held at Margaret River Uniting Church from Friday 6 to Saturday 7 April.

The festival is inspired by the Sacred Edge Festival of Queenscliff Uniting Church in Victoria, which Revive has reported on in the past. However, it will have a local voice.

Rev Cathie Lambert, Minister at Margaret River and Augusta Uniting Churches, said the festival is designed to encourage us to listen to the stories of people on the edge. The name is inspired by the Indigenous word ‘Dadirri’ which is a practice of deep listening based on respect.

“The way to get to know people and to get to know what their struggles are, to connect more as a community and to understand each other better is to listen to each other,” Cathie said. “The idea of this festival is not to problem solve, but to listen to the stories of people who are on the edge. In doing that we learn to appreciate their perspective and understand their situation better.

Tags Church and Community

News & Announcements

Review: Property and Progress for a Pilgrim People, by Michael Owen

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 8, 2018

Morning Star Publishing, 2017

In the Uniting Church ‘the Congregation is the embodiment in one place of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church’, ‘the primary expression of the corporate life of the Church’ and is responsible for ‘providing facilities and resources in support of the work of the Congregation’ [BoU §15(a); UCA Constitution sec. 22; Reg. 3.1.1 (c)(iv)].

In his new book Property and Progress for a Pilgrim People, Michael Owen reflects on recent policies, regulations and decisions relating to property in the Uniting Church. A congregation’s property is held by a synod property trust for the beneficial use of the congregation. A congregation is financially and practically responsible for its property. But to whom does a congregation’s property really belong? The National Property Policy (2011) says it belongs ‘to God’, to the ‘whole people of God’ and to the ‘Uniting Church in Australia’. Owen argues from the Basis of Union and from the Regulations that it belongs to the congregation.

Tags Books, Films, Art, Awards and Recipes

News & Announcements

Congress National Gathering: Trauma and Healing

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 4, 2018

Aboriginal and Islander members of the Uniting Church have boosted resources for youth work, mission and evangelism at the triennial United Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (Congress) National Conference, held from Saturday 13 to Thursday 18 January in Geelong, Victoria.

Congress will employ a full-time National President and a full-time youth worker for the next three years, to build on the strong work being done by young Indigenous church leaders in local communities around the country. Congress also rang in a number of generational leadership changes, electing Rev Garry Dronfield to the new role of National President.

Garry is a Bundjalung man in placement at Sylvania Uniting Church in Sydney, who served as Deputy Chairperson on the previous Congress National Executive. Garry is well known for his association with the God Squad motorcycle group. At his installation service, Garry preached on Daniel 3:1-30, The Golden Image and the Fiery Furnace, urging Congress members to stand firm in their faith and be confident in their belief in Jesus.

Tags First Peoples, Ministry, Youth

News & Announcements

Working together as the people of God

Post author By revivewa
Post date January 24, 2018

A good crowd gathered for the first event for the local Uniting Churches in the Albany region to be held in the new Beryl Grant Community Centre in Lockyer for the Induction of Rev Corina van Oostende into the congregations of Lockyer, Albany, Mount Barker and Denmark. This centre is the first stage of aged care services to be run by Juniper, an agency of the Uniting Church WA.

After several years without a minister in placement, the atmosphere of the service reflected joy and our gratitude to Corina for responding to the needs of the local congregations. We were delighted that the Uniting Church WA Moderator, Rev Steve Francis and his wife, Kim, were able to attend and support this momentous day.

Tags Ministry, Our People and Agencies, Remote and rural communities

News & Announcements

God’s garden flourishing in Mundijong

Post author By revivewa
Post date January 6, 2018

On Sunday 29 October a group from Mt Pleasant Uniting Church travelled to Mundijong Heritage Uniting Church for a day of fellowship and worship.

The visit was the second this year by the Mt Pleasant group. On this occasion, the day was celebrated by a beautiful shared lunch which was provided and cooked on-site by the visitors, using produce from the community garden which is situated in the grounds surrounding the church.

The community garden was a starting point for the revitalisation of the abandoned Uniting Church building some nine years ago, following a community meeting to discuss the state of the building and grounds. The garden now flourishes and is a gathering point for gardeners each Saturday morning. It is an open garden and is used frequently by locals as a meeting point, a picnic spot or just somewhere to sit quietly and take time out in the day.

Tags Church and Community

News & Announcements

From the Archives: who’s the mod?

Post author By revivewa
Post date December 29, 2017

This year the Uniting Church in Australia celebrates its 40th anniversary. Throughout 2017, Revive will feature significant events in the life of the church during that time.

The role of Moderator is the spiritual and pastoral leader of the Synod. The Moderator is often a spokesperson on behalf of the Uniting Church WA and might speak out on certain justice or political issues which members of the church are passionate about. The Moderator also leads annual Meetings of the Synod of WA and provides oversight on a number of issues.

Tags Our People and Agencies

News & Announcements

Door opens on major new service hub

Post author By revivewa
Post date December 18, 2017

Leading aged care provider, Juniper, has opened the Beryl Grant Community Centre, an exciting new multi-purpose building in Lockyer, Albany, which is catering to the needs of a growing population and diversity of community organisations.

Vaughan Harding, Juniper’s Chief Executive, launched the centre and said the project acknowledges the great contribution of Beryl Grant, a female pioneer of community service in WA, and that the facility is part of Juniper’s broader plans in the Great Southern that will see the creation of a major new service hub for the community and older residents.

“With this new centre we aim to provide a high quality, thriving and welcoming community space, providing the local area with access to a vast range of activities, services and programs,” he said.

Tags Ageing and Community