Category: News & Announcements

English immersion for global communication

Post author By revivewa
Post date October 25, 2016

Two female ministers from the Gereja Kristen Protestant Bali, the Protestant Church of Bali (GKPB), are visiting Perth from 30 July to 8 October as they take part in a ten-week English immersion experience.

Rev Ayu Wandira and Rev Betha Meidywati had quite a large English vocabulary when they arrived in Australia, but needed assistance to put those words into full sentences. With support from the WA Uniting Church Adult Fellowship (UCAF) and the GKPB Women’s Fellowship, Ayu and Betha have grown immensely in their English language skills while staying in Perth.

Rev Janelle McGregor, chairperson of the WA UCAF, has been teaching the pair English using work sheets, exams, Bible reading and other methods. Janelle has a teaching background with experience in teaching English as a second language (ESL). She said that the recent Bishop of GKPB has been keen to support women in ministry. Bishop Suama has taken on the role in September, and is equally as supportive.

“He’s particularly conscious of the fact that women, female clergy, don’t have the professional development opportunities that men have because women have all those sorts of social issues in a very patriarchal society, even as professional women. So he is very keen to have an ongoing program,” Janelle said.

Tags International

News & Announcements

UnitingCare West releases its RAP

Post author By revivewa
Post date October 23, 2016

In September, UnitingCare West released their innovative Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

The RAP recognises the “special and unique spiritual connection to lands, waters and country” of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. UnitingCare West also acknowledges that policies and exclusionary experiences of the past have had negative impacts on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This plan is a tool for addressing areas to improve and invest in, in order for UnitingCare West to deliver services in a culturally appropriate way and to ensure that it is a place where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people feel welcome as clients, volunteers and staff.

The current RAP Working Group will continue meeting until the end of 2018. The goal actions in the RAP are diverse,serving different, specific purposes from developing mutually beneficial relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to investigating opportunities to improve and increase their employment outcomes within the UnitingCare West workplace.

Tags First Peoples

News & Announcements

Hall restoration makes space for growing congregation

Post author By revivewa
Post date October 20, 2016

This year GKI Perth Uniting Church (Indonesian) has been undergoing a restoration of their church hall; the Mosman Park building had previously become dilapidated and had largely fallen out of use.

Leo Thamron, GKI Church Council secretary, said the church has seen such growth that the restoration was necessary to increase the space to accommodate the growth.

“GKI has been growing significantly over the last fifteen years or so and what happened was that we renovated the basement of the other building but that was still not enough,” he said.

“The short-term plan is to use the hall to accommodate the Sunday School children. Medium to longer term, the plans are for the building to host cultural events… not just for the Indonesian community but for the Mosman Park community as well.”

Tags Church and Community, Multi-Cultural

News & Announcements

Anti-Poverty Week 2016: Interrupting the poverty of family violence

Post author By revivewa
Post date October 19, 2016

It is currently Anti-Poverty Week across Australia. Running from Sunday 16 October to Saturday 22 October events will be held all over the country to raise awareness of poverty and its causes in our nation.

In Western Australia an Ecumenical Anti-Poverty Week Worship Service was held this afternoon, Wednesday 19 October, at St George’s Cathedral in the Perth CBD. The service focussed on domestic violence as a contributing factor to poverty in Australia.

The service was hosted by the Anglican Social Responsibilities Commission and supported by a number of ecumenical organisations including the Uniting Church WA. After a welcome to country from Indigenous Elder Ben Taylor there were two talks on domestic violence and its causational relationship with poverty.

Basil Hannah, chief executive of Parkerville Children and Youth Care, spoke about the effects of domestic violence on children that oftentimes result in living in poverty. He expressed that children affected by trauma have long term consequences. The physical, mental and emotional damage done can result in serious health issues, often misdiagnosed.

“Children affected by trauma are often misunderstood” and this often exacerbates the issues the children face. More than 600,000 children in Australia live below the poverty line. Basil asked “Where is the ongoing outrage?” Basil said.

Tags A Helping Hand, Poverty

News & Announcements

Call to let faith communities help resettle asylum seekers

Post author By revivewa
Post date October 18, 2016

“Let Australia’s Faith Communities help settle and care for those asylum seekers still on Nauru and Manus Island.”

That is the request to the Government from the Board of the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA), meeting today in Sydney.

“Hospitality and compassion are shared core values of the major world religions, notwithstanding our many mistakes and failures,” said Bishop Philip Huggins, president of the NCCA, and Sister Elizabeth Delaney, general secretary, today.

“We are writing to the Prime Minister and Minister of Immigration and Border Protection, asking that they meet us so we can clarify how together we can co- operate to settle and care for these people.”

Tags Refugees and Asylum Seekers

News & Announcements

UnitingCare announces new national director

Post author By revivewa
Post date October 18, 2016

Claerwen Little has been appointed as the new National Director of UnitingCare Australia.

The announcement was made yesterday by Colleen Geyer, general secretary of the Uniting Church in Australia, Peter Bicknell, UnitingCare Australia National Committee Chair.

Claerwen has worked in the community sector for over 35 years and comes to UnitingCare Australia from Uniting in NSW/ACT where she has held senior executive roles in service delivery, advocacy and innovation across 25 years. She has been responsible for establishing the research and advocacy capability of Uniting as well as leading a large and complex suite of programs for children, families, young people, communities and people with disability across NSW and the ACT.

Claerwen Little holds a Masters of Policy (Social Policy), is a Stanford Graduate of the Executive Program for Non-Profit Leaders and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She has sat on numerous high level Boards and is a current member of the UnitingCare Australia National Committee, a role she has filled for various periods since the 1990s. She is also the current chair of the UnitingCare Australia Children, Young People and Families Network.

Tags Our People and Agencies

News & Announcements

Uniting Church Campsite almost ready for campers

Post author By revivewa
Post date October 18, 2016

Community members are invited to the Uniting Church Campsite Commissioning Service, followed by a light lunch on Saturday 10 December from 12.30pm at 140 Caves Road Busselton to celebrate the refurbishment of the site.

For the past four years, the Uniting Church Campsite in Busselton has not been used for its original purpose, having fallen out of compliance. This year, the site has been overhauled.

Rev Hollis Wilson, chair of the First Third Working Group and chaplain at Methodist Ladies’ College (MLC), said “Our Outdoor Ed person here at MLC, Gary Howlett came to me and said ‘What about that camp site down there?’ and I looked at him and said ‘I don’t know.’

“But the beauty of being the convener of First Third [Working Group] is that it gave me an opening to find out what was going on.”

The conversation between Gary and Hollis led to the Uniting Church WA Resources Board requesting the establishment of the Camp Site Redevelopment Committee, operating under the auspices of the First Third Working Group. First Third Ministry resources ministry for people in the first third of life. Works on the site began early this year and included refurbishing the meeting facility, building new ablutions buildings and bringing the water, electricity and fire services up to compliance. Work is expected to be completed in October.

Tags Church and Community

News & Announcements

God’s creative vision: a welcome celebration for the Perth Samoan Uniting Church

Post author By revivewa
Post date October 17, 2016

The Perth Samoan Uniting Church was celebrated and welcomed as a new Uniting Church WA congregation on Friday night, 14 October at Advent Park Maida Vale. It was agreed during a special meeting of the Presbytery at the Annual Meeting of the Synod that the congregation would be received into the Presbytery.

The celebration coincided with the Uniting Church Samoan National Leaders’ Conference, which was held over the weekend in Perth.

To a packed house, including guests from the national and local Samoan community, as well as other churches in Perth, performances from the congregation’s youth choir helped to create an upbeat atmosphere, full of joy.

Rev Steve Francis, moderator of the Uniting Church WA welcomed the Perth Samoan Uniting Church into the flock.

“One of the great gifts of the Uniting Church is that we are a multicultural church,” he said. “And we are celebrating that tonight.”

Tags Church and Community, Multi-Cultural, Multicultural

News & Announcements

Mission for vision

Post author By revivewa
Post date October 16, 2016

Members of Rockingham Uniting Church have a proud outward looking tradition of supporting causes well beyond the local church.

Over the last 12 months we have risen to the challenge of no less than four special appeals. Our latest venture was in support of the Lions Eye Institute (LEI) in memory of my wife, the late Kaye Hogg for research into blinding Inherited Retinal Diseases and Macular Degeneration. Our efforts resulted in a donation of $3 000 going to the work of Associate Professor Fred Chen at LEI.

Kaye was a loved member of our congregation who inherited Retinitis Pigmentosa which eventually took her sight. Legally blind by the age of 50, it was her long held desire to donate her eyes to medical science upon death.

When diagnosed with a non responsive high-grade lymphoma and given 12 months to live, Kaye and I approached Associate Professor Fred Chen at LEI concerning her desire. Fred’s immediate response was, “Kaye, this is a unique opportunity to advance the research into Retinitis Pigmentosa that I am doing.”

He went on to explain that to be an organ donor, it is necessary to die in hospital, where organs and tissue can be harvested and preserved within one hour of death. When Kaye died in Hollywood Hospital in April 2015, Professor Chen came immediately and collected the eyes, and some skin. He already had her DNA.

Tags Church and Community, Faith In Action