Category: News & Announcements

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News & Announcements

Action called following leaked Nauru files

Around 70 people gathered at the office of Julie Bishop MP, minister for foreign affairs, in Subiaco this morning to send a message to the Australian Government that the abuse and conditions detailed in recently released Nauru files must end.

They also called on the government to take responsibility for the culture of secrecy that has been created around immigration detention, and to shut down Australia’s offshore detention camps.

Last week, The Guardian Australia published more than 2 000 leaked reports of assaults, sexual abuse, self-harm attempts, child abuse and terrible living conditions from inside Australia’s detention centre in Nauru.

Peaceful protesters at the event, organised by the Christian group Love Makes a Way, placed paper dolls as a symbol of the people who have been affected by abuse. Attendees wrote on each doll excerpts taken directly from the leaked reports. People present took turns in reading out the harrowing accounts.

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A Safe Church welcome

The Uniting Church in Australia is often praised by its members and the wider community for its diversity.

With diversity comes a range of different opinions and viewpoints, and with all those differing opinions, people can be left vulnerable, abused, and out in the cold.

Safe Church training has been developed by the National Council of Churches in Australia  (NCCA) to help churches create a welcoming and safe environment for all people who come into  contact with it. While the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has increased the need for awareness, the training is not just about children; different cultural groups, the elderly, people living with a disability, people identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer (LGBTIQ), people with differing theological opinions and those suffering from mental illness are all vulnerable to abuse.

The work of the church is to share the teachings and love of God in word and action. While sometimes that can be harder than we want it to be, it’s still our purpose.

Cindy Gorton is the Safe Church/Royal Commission officer for the Uniting Church WA. She’s been busy this year running Safe Church workshops all over the state.

She said that a safe church is one where people feel able to express themselves and be who  they are. This happens when a range of things are put into place; vulnerable people need to be protected, leaders need to be aware of safe practices, and church programs need to be planned and run inclusively.

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Messy gifts of the spirit

Rev Greg Ross, minister with the Wellington Regional Mission, has recently returned from the Mission Shaped Ministry Intensive and the International Messy Church Conference in England, UK. While there, Greg, with travel companion Rev David Kriel, mission planner for the Uniting Church WA, spent time with Dave Male, national adviser for pioneer development for the Church of England and also a member of the Fresh Expressions team, and Lucy Moore, founder of Messy Church.

Both conferences were run by Fresh Expressions, an ecumenical organisation resourcing new ways of being church.

Bunbury St Augustine Uniting Church, part of the Wellington Regional Mission, has been running a vibrant and popular Messy Church congregation for the last seven years.

Messy Church is a welcoming gathering for people of all ages inviting people to explore Bible stories, create craft, join in meaningful conversation and share a meal together. It’s a Fresh Expression of church which is reaching out to people across the world.

In Bunbury, the congregation started with about 25 people attending, and has now grown to about 50–70 attendees at each monthly gathering. Many of those had either never previously attended church, or had left the church for a significant period of time and have started attending  again.

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Ordination into ministry with the outsider

Rev Judy Sanderson was ordained as a deacon and inducted into St Stephens Applecross Uniting Church on Sunday 7 August.

After a welcome to country from Rev Sam Dinah, minister with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC), Rev Bev Fabb, deacon and Interim Director of Education and Formation, preached on Micah 6:6-8.

“And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8. 

Bev reminded those gathered that to be called into the ministry of a deacon, is to be called into ministry with the outsider, the broken, the hurting, poor, desperate and rejected.

“Deacons are called to notice desperate people reaching out to touch them,” Bev said. 

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Emily Evans elected to WCC Executive Committee

The Uniting Church will be represented by a youthful voice at the World Council of Churches (WCC) with the election of Emily Evans to the WCC Executive Committee.

The Executive Committee is the top governance body of the WCC and implements strategic objectives set by the Central Committee. It meets twice a year and oversees council finances, monitors ongoing program work and appoints leadership staff.

Emily was one of 11 new members elected to the Executive Committee at a meeting in Trondheim, Norway in June. She has worked with the Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania’s Justice and International Mission unit and has been a member of the WCC gender advisory group. She was elected to the Central Committee in 2013 and is on the WCC’s ECHOS Commission, which consists of 20 young Christians involved in the ecumenical movement.

During the week-long meeting, the Central Committee approved a range of reports and decisions. These included statements on the global refugee crisis, the human rights situation in West Papua and a call for prayer following the recent Brexit vote. As a relative newcomer to the international ecumenical movement, Emily hopes to achieve greater understanding of the role and responsibility of the WCC.

“This includes learning about the lives and lived experience of other member churches, gaining a deeper understanding of what true Christian unity means in the world today and bringing back to the UCA new learnings and insights,” she explained.

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Course engages the covenant

Perth Theological Hall (PTH) and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress WA (UAICC) are holding a course on Covenanting and Building Relationships with First Peoples.

While part of a requirement for ministers seeking admission to the Uniting Church, it is open for everyone to attend and will provide a sound introduction to the Uniting Church’s covenantal relationship with the First Peoples of Australia.

Held over two days, from Tuesday 30 to Wednesday 31 August, the course will strengthen and build relationships between members of the wider church and the UAICC. Stories around the campfire will enhance the experience.

The first day will be an immersion experience, engaging with Aboriginal spirituality, laws and customs, as well as sharing experiences of being Aboriginal in today’s Australia.

The second day will focus on history, including Australia’s treatment of Indigenous people, the Stolen Generations and the formation of the UAICC in the Uniting Church.

Rev Emeritus Prof Bill Loader, principal of Perth Theological Hall, said that the course is an opportunity for Uniting Church members to remember our past and look forward along our covenanting journey into the future.

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UnitingCare calls for leadership on homelessness

During Homelessness Week 2016, UnitingCare Australia calls on the Turnbull Government to show leadership on homelessness and housing affordability for low-income households.

“UnitingCare services across Australia are reporting increasing demand for homelessness services and a critical shortage of safe, affordable accommodation to house these people,” UnitingCare Australia chair, Peter Bicknell said.

“We want the Australian Government to take leadership on this critical national issue, to work with its state and territory colleagues, and the community sector, to develop a national response strategy.

“A national strategy needs to look at early intervention and responses to the full range of issues, from family breakdown and domestic violence, to mental health, drugs and alcohol, and loss of work, which can lead  to any of us finding ourselves without a home.

“Our community needs leadership from government to ensure services addressing these issues are effective and appropriately funded.

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Julie McCrossin: finding acceptance with the Uniting Church

Former ABC broadcaster Julie McCrossin is a familiar voice to the Australian public.

A self-described “refugee from Sydney Anglicanism”, Julie McCrossin has found a home in South Sydney Uniting Church. Her appearance on ABC TV’s special all-Christian Q&A panel and facilitation of the UnitingWomen conference Q&A discussion in April show her willingness to engage publically with theological issues in a fair and respectful manner.

Perhaps best known for her role on the comedy quiz show Good News Week, Julie has garnered a strong public profile from her work across radio, television and print journalism. However, to pinpoint her to one occupation would be a disservice. At 61, she is an in-demand emcee, comedian, activist and all-round passionate educator and student.

“I have an arts degree, a law degree, two educational qualifications and now I’m studying theology, so I’m crazy for university,” laughs Julie.

“I love the exchange of information and ideas with a group of people who are curious.”

Now self-employed, Julie has been everything from a board member of her alma mater SCEGGS Darlinghurst, to the voice inside your headset on Qantas’ Radio Q and an Australian Red Cross ambassador. She is also an elder, treasurer and church council member of South Sydney Uniting Church.

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A crucial inquiry into the abuse of young people in prison

The President of the Uniting Church in Australia Mr Stuart McMillan has welcomed today’s announcement of a Royal Commission into a youth detention centre in the Northern Territory.

The Royal Commission was announced by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull following the broadcast of shocking footage obtained by the ABC’s Four Corners program of the abuse and torture of detainees in Darwin’s Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.

“The treatment of these young people in detention is unspeakably appalling and a national disgrace. Such abuse is inexcusable. It must end now,” said Stuart.

“I thank the Prime Minister for his swift response. I also urge him to set terms of reference that will allow a comprehensive examination of juvenile detention, not just limited to the Northern Territory, and including the policies and practices that lead to so many young indigenous people ending up behind bars.”

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Questioning homelessness stigma

UnitingCare West has revealed a shop window in Forrest Chase, across from the Perth train station overpass, which draws attention to the growing number of homeless women in Perth.

Four well-dressed female mannequins hold up cardboard signs, stating to the shopping public “One of us is homeless”. Over three months a story will unfold, revealing which woman has become homeless due to life’s circumstances.

The public is invited to view the display and follow the story of the women via the UnitingCare West Facebook page www.facebook.com/unitingcarewest/. Each story will highlight just how quickly anyone in our society can find themselves living on the streets.

The shop window is part of UnitingCare West’s 2016 Winter Appeal which aims to raise over $100,000 to further assist people experiencing homelessness.

Currently around 10,000 people in Perth are experiencing homelessness, with around 61% being women.

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