Category: Stories & Feature Articles

Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

The fullness of life in the hardest of soils

‘I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance’. (John 10.10)

‘What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.’ (John 1.1)

What is it about what we know of Jesus’ life that some of the closest people around him made these sorts of claims? That he ‘gave life’; that his ways among people were ‘lifegiving’? And of  course within this, remembering that some of the more powerful and influential people around him experienced him as death-dealing. One of the most poignant and paradoxical stories of Jesus’ life as a life-giver is the story of his time in the wilderness – a place symbolically devoid of life – and the spiritual and physical  challenges he faced there. The stories depict Jesus emerging from there ready for ‘life’. These truths or wisdoms now forged deeply within his soul, undergirded a way of life by which he  ‘gave life’. These were not easily come by.

Is it possible that in the place of death-dealing wilderness, Jesus learned the secrets of ‘life-giving’? Contemplating the profound questions of  sustenance, the nature of relationship and spirit? Are these the questions we must contemplate when considering what might be life-giving for our souls, and where and how we search  for that? And what might come from ways of being in our spirits, being in our relationships and being in the world that are life-giving?

Continue reading “The fullness of life in the hardest of soils”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

U-Team competes and connects

This year, Nedlands Uniting Church, in partnership with Mt Pleasant and Billabong Uniting Churches, embarked on the 28th annual State Youth Games. State Youth Games is run by  Youth Vision (Churches of Christ WA) and is a sporting weekend for young adults aged 16-28. The Uniting Churches (known as ‘The U-Team’) took over 30 competitors to Bunbury for the annual June long weekend event. Tournaments are held in a range of sports including netball, soccer and basketball, as well as genuine sports such as Uno, chess, dodge ball and even  tenpin bowling.

The U-Team placed 9th out of 20 different churches and were among the smallest teams in the top ten. We placed first in four events and in the top five in a total of eight events. We  finished first in badminton and indoor soccer for the second time in our four years of attending, as well as first in tenpin bowling for the fourth consecutive year. We also won the inaugural orienteering competition.

Continue reading “U-Team competes and connects”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Thinking big and breaking silos

Since the last edition of Revive, Rev David Kriel, mission planner at the Uniting Church in WA, has collected and analysed all the data from interviews with people around the church and the Listening Workshop, held in April. Some changes have been made to the process. The original plan of Scenario Planning has been postponed until after John Roberto’s visit to Perth, where some of his methods will be adapted to meet the needs of the Uniting Church in WA. The process is now moving to a method of System Thinking.

Using the data collected, David has discovered four key issues which members of the Uniting Church feel the church needs to focus on. They are: communication, lay education and leadership, community services and evangelism and discipleship. The next step is to identify the relationships between these issues, creating ‘loops’ of ‘cause and effect’. David has  created four loops all with interdependent relationships to each other. In responding to these loops, David said the church needs to be proactive, rather than reactionary.

Continue reading “Thinking big and breaking silos”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Choose life

It seems to me that the notion of some choices being ‘life-giving’ and others being the opposite is pretty well established in our secular context. I have heard the expression used in relation to lifestyle choices  concerning such aspects as diet, recreation, vocation and voluntary service towards others. Sometimes actions can be described as life-giving in the most literal sense, as when someone is rescued or revived  from an accident of some description, or helped to turn back from a path of self-destruction. Here, we do well to remember that many people have been robbed of all that is life-giving by the abusive actions of others towards them. In such circumstances, it may be something as simple as the  unconditional acceptance by another that is life-giving.

Through the gift of faith, and the guidance of scripture, we can learn much about the Christian understanding of what is life-giving. What we find  there is striking affirmation of these understandings that are widespread in the secular context. It is as if, as human beings, we are hard-wired to know what is good. The difference is, of course, that in the Christian understanding the source of life is God and that which is life-giving is that which accords with the kind of life that God intends for us. We find this spelled out in the book of Deuteronomy as Moses  speaks with the Hebrew people about how God expects them to live when they enter the Promised Land. “Choose life”, he concludes, “so that you and your descendants may live ….” (Deuteronomy 30: 19b)

Continue reading “Choose life”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Yearning for nature: Is there respect?

In Australia’s cities, it’s so easy to spend days or weeks without really connecting with the natural environment. Not only that, but how many of us actually know how the ecosystem works, or where our place in it is? Even in rural areas, it could be said that we dominate the land without really living with it.

Over time we’ve lost a vital connection to the earth and the natural system with which we once lived. Rev Dr Geoff Lilburne has a passion for theology of the land and has published works in the areas of contextual and eco theology. Geoff said that while we place a lot of importance on our history – or timelines – we also should be thinking about the space that we exist in.

“In our western tradition we have tended to think time and history are important, but we haven’t tended to think of ‘space’ or ‘place’ as important,” he said.

He continued, saying that it is important for churches to develop a sense of place by living locally and taking care of the spaces that we inhabit.

Part of thinking about this local space  means looking into how we consume our food. While the food we eat is possibly one of the most direct ways we interact with our natural environment, many of us have no real sense of where it has come from and the work and resources that have gone into producing it. We may rationally know that our beef is dead cow or  that our apple has grown on a tree, but for most of us, our minds simply don’t comprehend what that actually means for the producers, the economy and the planet.

Continue reading “Yearning for nature: Is there respect?”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Education journeys in the North West

Just four weeks before this edition of ‘Revive’ went to print, Gail Cresswell packed up her things in Margaret River, in WA’s south west, and moved to Mowanjum, a remote Aboriginal  community in the north of WA on the outskirts of Derby. With a passion for education in Indigenous communities, she is starting up a Montessori program for kids under three.

Montessori is an alternative form of education that encourages independence by creating an environment for children to learn at their own pace. Gail said that the system focuses  heavily on learning by observation and involves lots of one-on-one interaction. “It’s about each child,” she said. “It’s a learning journey for each child.”

“It’s about the kids learning to be resilient and learning to be responsible to themselves.”

It is also a system that has been highly successful in Indigenous communities around Australia. Towards the end of August, Gail and her assistant, Daphne Gilbey, a member of the  Mowanjum community, will be attending the Thursday Island Montessori Summit where they’ll be exploring the benefits of the Montessori approach in Indigenous cultures.

Continue reading “Education journeys in the North West”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Action: What else are we called to?

Paul Tillich once said, “Here and there in the world and now and then in ourselves, is a new creation”. One could not have a better summary of our life in faith. Every ounce of who we  are as God’s people has to be reflected in action. Who we are, how we live and who we belong to are all tied up in the life we lead, both as individuals and as a church community. We  do not exist as human beings with little boxes for this or that, but as a complete integrated package. Heart, mind, soul, hands and feet.

Jesus, for so many people an object of worship,  but not a political or social activist, focuses our attention. We do not belong to Jesus because he saves us for a life elsewhere. We belong to Jesus because he shows us how to live here and now with God as our centre, how to live with love, and how to live in community with others. You only have to read the Sermon on the Mount to understand his vision for a new social order. As Lorraine Parkinson suggests, it is a blueprint for the best possible world.

Continue reading “Action: What else are we called to?”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Moderator’s column: Prayerful action

The focus for this edition of Revive concerns Action! The Uniting Church in Australia has a strong reputation in the community for action, especially in areas of social justice and  rightly so, although I have the feeling that for many of us a lot of that action is by proxy. On the whole I think we are pleased to see election resources published, wellinformed critique  made of public policy by the President and the occasional public demonstration such as that in which the 13th National Assembly engaged on the steps of Parliament House  in Adelaide nearly two years ago. I think more widespread in the Uniting Church, as far as the practical engagement of members is concerned, is quiet, behind-the-scenes service to  those in need through our many and varied community services.

So why does the church engage in such action? Is it coincidence that those who are committed to church membership are also concerned about the struggles of those who are doing it  tough? Or is there a fundamental connection? I think it is the latter.

Continue reading “Moderator’s column: Prayerful action”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Church becoming more open to change

Participants at the Listening Workshop discuss the future of the Uniting Church in WA.

“We have a strong focus on the community.”

“We do well regarding the worship on a Sunday morning.” – Rev Dr David Kriel, mission planner, Uniting Church in WA.

These are the strengths of the Uniting Church in WA which came out of the Listening Workshop, held in April. There was a buzz around the room as 80 participants who are associated  with the Uniting Church in WA participated in an informal discussion and feedback session on the future of the church. After analysing strengths and weaknesses, David found that the group felt these strengths reflect the core purpose of the church: worship, witness and service, as outlined in the Basis of Union.

Continue reading “Church becoming more open to change”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

UnitingCare West celebrates 8 years

Robert Watson presents at last year's ERIIC Awards.

On 1 July 2014, UnitingCare West will celebrate its Founding Day and 8th Anniversary with an all staff and volunteer day. The event is a chance for all of those involved with  UnitingCare West to reflect on the work that has been achieved over the last year, and to celebrate the progress and growth the organisation has experienced since it commenced  operations as a newly formed community service agency of the Uniting Church in Western Australia back in 2006.

Continue reading “UnitingCare West celebrates 8 years”