Category: News & Announcements

Ordination joy: a life-long calling

Post author By revivewa
Post date July 12, 2017

In the presence of family, friends and members of the Uniting Church WA, Rev Justine Wall was ordained as a Minister of the Word on Sunday 9 July, 2.00pm, at Uniting Church in the City, Wesley Perth.

Rev Trevor Waters, Chair of the Uniting Church WA Pastoral Relations Committee, read Justine’s Narration of Steps, detailing her call to ministry.

“Justine first heard the call to ministry in her teens, but belonging to a denomination which at that time didn’t ordain women, she dismissed her sense of calling as wistful thinking,” he said.

“God’s call came again in her twenties but at that time, Justine was too busy establishing a family and pursuing a career in teaching. Her nagging feeling that God wanted her to serve in ministry was totally inconvenient.”

While in her thirties, Justine stepped into a school chaplaincy role, beginning her ten-year journey towards ordination. In 2016, she took 12 months leave from her role as Chaplain at Tranby College to complete her studies, and for the birth of her child.

Tags Church and Community, Our People and Agencies

News & Announcements

2016 Census: Church in transformation

Post author By revivewa
Post date June 28, 2017

The 2016 Census figures released yesterday show that a majority of Australians (57.7%) still identify as Christian amid a long term trend of falling religious affiliation.

When asked to list their religious affiliation, more than 13.5 million Australians chose Christianity, almost twice as many as chose the No Religion response.

More than 870,000 people – 3.7% of all respondents listed their religious affiliation as Uniting Church. This 2016 figure is down by a total of 195,611 from the 2011 Census – and down from 5% as a total of all respondents in the 2011 survey.

It is the first time in the Uniting Church’s history that the Census figure has slipped below one million, although other major Christian denominations have also experienced drops in membership in line with the generally ageing demographic profile of Australian Christians.

Despite the drop, the result will most likely see the Uniting Church in Australia maintain its position as the third largest Christian grouping in Australia and the third largest religious grouping overall.

Tags Uniting Church

News & Announcements

Uniting Church WA says uranium is best left in the ground

Post author By revivewa
Post date June 20, 2017

Rev Steve Francis, Moderator of the Uniting Church WA, says that he is very disappointed that the Western Australian Labor government will allow the four inherited uranium proposals to proceed. While Rev Francis welcomed the reintroduction of a ban on all future uranium mines, allowing the existing proposals to proceed was still a matter of great concern.

“For a Labor government to allow uranium mining to proceed while it maintains a moral and ethical opposition to the approval of new uranium proposals is, in our view, a hollow moral position.”

The Uniting Church in Australia is committed to the development of environmentally benign, renewable energy sources and the cessation of uranium mining. Recognising the complexity of the issues the Uniting Church has called on individuals, churches, industry and governments to work together to end involvement in the nuclear fuel cycle.

Tags Environment

News & Announcements

President’s 40th anniversary message: established in love

Post author By revivewa
Post date June 20, 2017

The Uniting Church in Australia will celebrate its 40th anniversary on Thursday 22 June. Stuart McMillan, President of the Uniting Church in Australia, shares his 40th anniversary message.

People of the Uniting Church in Australia, you have been planted with roots deep into the good soil of the gospel: you’ve been established in love. May the love of Christ dwell in your hearts and may this love that surpasses knowledge enable you to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

I’m Stuart McMillan the National President and this is my prayer for you, the people of God of the Uniting Church in Australia. On this our 40^th Anniversary, God’s word of grace to us from the Basis of Union is: Christ constitutes, rules and renews his church.

The reconciliation and renewal of the whole creation – this is the mission of God and in Christ we are collaborators.

I’m here in Kurrajong on the lower slopes of the Blue Mountains in Sydney’s north-west. I want to pay my respects to the Kurrajong Clan Nation, their elders past and present and all descendants of these sovereign First peoples.

Tags Uniting Church

News & Announcements

To be a witness: Indonesian National Conference

Post author By revivewa
Post date June 18, 2017

The Indonesian congregations of the Uniting Church, with different ethnicities and backgrounds, gathered here in Perth for the 14th Indonesian National Conference.

GKI Perth Uniting Church (Indonesian) in Mosman Park, the only Indonesian speaking congregation within the Uniting Church WA, was given the privilege to host this important biennual conference. It ran from 5 to 7 May, attended by eight Indonesian speaking congregations from multiple Australian states. We all came to share stories and brought messages from our home congregations.

The theme of this year’s conference was ‘To be a witness.’

“Have we become a witness of Christ in our family, in our church, and in our community?”

That is the message that was given by Rev Thresi Mauboy, the Moderator of the Uniting Church NT, in the evening devotion on the first day of the conference.

Tags Church and Community, Multi-Cultural

News & Announcements

All-inclusive games for emerging youth

Post author By revivewa
Post date June 12, 2017

Having taken part in State Youth Games for a number of years, the Uniting Church team, U Team, this year also took part in the Emerging Youth Games on 22 April at Warwick Stadium, Perth.

While State Youth Games is a weekend event in Bunbury for young people aged 16 and over, Emerging Youth Games invites kids in years 7–10 for a one-day all-inclusive event. Ten people joined the U Team this year, coming from Nedlands, Mt Pleasant and The Billabong Uniting Churches, with around 20 teams taking part.

Emerging Youth Games is organised by Youth Vision, a division of the Churches of Christ in WA. Churches from across the state put together teams who compete in a range of games designed to include people of all abilities.

Tags Youth

News & Announcements

Moderator’s column: Celebrating 40 years and asking the hard questions

Post author By revivewa
Post date June 8, 2017

Some people who hit 40, experience a midlife crisis; if they are affluent they might buy a red sports car or go on a big European trip. But, 40 years of living often also prompts us to look back with thanks and gratitude and it can be a time to ask oneself some hard questions.

For some, the questions are about weight gain, career dissatisfaction, parenting struggles or financial worries. For others, it is a time to deal with regrets, missed opportunities, failed relationships and broken dreams. After the big 40 celebrations are over, midcourse evaluations begin and new hopes for the future start to emerge.

This year marks 40 years since the Union of the Uniting Church, and it is first and foremost a time to celebrate. Forty years ago, we tended to be defined by which denomination you came from (Methodist, Presbyterian or Congregational). Now, that is in the past and is not as important as who we are in the present: Uniting.

Tags Uniting Church

News & Announcements

Calls for leadership on climate agreement

Post author By revivewa
Post date June 7, 2017

The National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) have called on Prime Minister Turnbull to show leadership in commitment to the global climate agreement, which is our best chance for the stewardship of the world around us.

NCCA President, Bishop Philip Huggins said “this momentous climate deal is bigger than just one country, one person or a handful of climate sceptics. It is about the urgent survival of humanity, the ability for all children to be able to born into and live in a world with clean air and clean water.

Sr Elizabeth Delaney, General Secretary of the NCCA, said “Prime Minister Turnbull, a man of faith, will understand that Australians are looking to him for leadership on one of the biggest threats facing us and future generations.

Tags Environment

News & Announcements

Sorry Day: learning form culture and deepening faith

Post author By revivewa
Post date May 24, 2017

Sorry Day is a time to mend relationships and acknowledge hurts. Sorry Day is held annually on 26 May to remember and commemorate the mistreatment of Australia’s Indigenous people.

It is an important moment, to remind ourselves of the importance of building respectful and honest relationships. For myself, as a member of the Second Peoples of Australia, Sorry Day is also a day to remind myself of the importance of learning from the First Peoples of this continent and its islands. There is much we can learn about relationships with others, about living in Australia, and about faith in God.

In February, I commenced in the role of director of Education and Formation for the Uniting Church WA. A large part of my brief is to encourage the people of the church, and especially the lay leaders, lay preachers, pastors, and ministers of the church, to commit to being lifelong learners. And there are many ways that we can learn: through reading, attending seminars, enrolling in courses, serving people in need, reflecting on experiences you have had or working with people who come from cultures or backgrounds which are different from our own.

Learning is something that we can always undertake. As we deepen in our relationships with the First Peoples, we can learn much. Our land is greatly blessed by the long and faithful heritage of these people. For millennia, across this continent, and in the adjacent islands, the First Peoples have cared for the land, nurtured their law, and showed resilience. They are gracious enough now to seek continued relationship with those of us whose forbears have invaded, colonised, and decimated their lifestyle.

Tags First Peoples

News & Announcements

Give refugees a fair go

Post author By revivewa
Post date May 22, 2017

The President of the Uniting Church in Australia Stuart McMillan has condemned as ‘inflammatory’ and ‘deplorable’ comments made by Federal Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.

Peter Dutton has described the 7,500 asylum seekers living in Australia as ‘fake refugees’ and given them until 1 October to formally apply for protection or face deportation.

“The Minister is playing politics with people’s lives,” said Stuart.

“It is incredibly cruel and unfair to expect these vulnerable people to undergo this process in a limited time frame with limited access to legal assistance.”

“This arbitrary deadline will push already overwhelmed legal services to the limit, forcing many to apply without any legal representation or the support of an interpreter.”

Tags Refugees and Asylum Seekers