Category: Stories & Feature Articles

Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Wall of destruction

A picture of the Separation Wall, taken through a car window on Cathie Lambert's travels.

As I was about to complete high school, I remember watching footage and seeing photos of jubilant people clambering over what was once the Berlin Wall and taking chunks of cement as souvenirs. At the time I did not understand what this really meant for the people of Germany or what they had been through in the previous four decades. My recollection is only the smiles of joy and the moments of reconciliation. Little did I know that, in my life time, I would see another wall, twice as high and four times longer, constructed for similar reasons in another part of the world. In my travels to Israel and Palestine Territories last August I saw the monstrous wall of separation and heard stories of its impact upon the people.

Continue reading “Wall of destruction”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

On the road to Jericho

Who is my neighbour? This is the question asked of Jesus by an expert in the law, and it provides the setting for Jesus’ telling of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The story is played out on the Jericho Road. It had a nickname in the time of Jesus – the ‘Way of Blood’. A remote road that for centuries had been a place of robberies, the Jericho Road is a symbol. It is the strip of  suffering.For Jesus, and still today, it is a symbol of the suffering in the world.

Continue reading “On the road to Jericho”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Neighbours on the street

From left to right: Sarita Rivers, Ben Dettmer, Jesse Hands and Laura Short ready for the evening's visitors.

Within a period of eight months, UnitingCare West, a community service provider of the Uniting Church, has come into contact with over 180 families who are at risk of  homelessness in Perth. That is over five families a week in crisis situations. Responding to this need, UnitingCare West opened the Family Foundations Service to support families  who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless in Perth and the surrounding suburbs.

Continue reading “Neighbours on the street”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Building relationships, growing leadership

Libby Weeda cooking up a feed at Poulton's Pool.

Revive has previously reported on the relationship between All Saint’s Floreat Uniting Church and the people of Mowanjum, a remote Aboriginal community near Derby. Volunteers from the congregation have been running school holiday programs for the Mowanjum kids for several years now, in response to disturbing statistics on youth suicide in the area. The  program has had a positive effect in Mowanjum, and people from the Floreat congregation are also seeing effects among their own community.

Continue reading “Building relationships, growing leadership”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

More than a guest

Following a visit to Scarborough in 2012 from UnitingWorld representative Lee-Anne Burnett, the Scarborough and Waterman’s Bay Congregations agreed to sponsor a student  from the Indonesian province of Papua to be a part of a group of students undertaking a three-month intensive English language course in Perth early in 2013. A good grasp of English enhances the employment prospects for Papuans.

Continue reading “More than a guest”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Moderator’s column: Yearning for a simpler life

Whilst living in the Middle East in 1980 I mail-ordered my first personal computer. That is, I ordered a kit to build a Sinclair ZX80 personal computer, along with a correspondence  course on BASIC programing (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code). With my trusty soldering iron in hand I swiftly – and to my surprise successfully – assembled the  computer, plugged it into the TV aerial socket, powered it up and, armed with my correspondence course, entered the brave new world of personal computing.

Continue reading “Moderator’s column: Yearning for a simpler life”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Relief for the Philippines

When Super Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in early November, thousands of people were killed, and many more injured, displaced and left to rebuild their lives.

Since launching the Philippines Typhoon appeal not long after the tragedy, UnitingWorld has received over $30,000 from the generous support of individuals, businesses and congregations within the Uniting Church in Australia.

Continue reading “Relief for the Philippines”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

A simple act of humanity

The actor Aaron Pedersen got it in one.

When Australians get a chance to come together and vote at a referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our Constitution, he said earlier this year, it  would be “a simple act of humanity.” He’s right.

Continue reading “A simple act of humanity”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

All-age ministry continues at Trinity North

Richard TelferFirst Third’s newest team member may be recognisable to some, as Trinity North Uniting Church welcomed Richard Telfer to their ministry team in November. Richard has previously worked as a First Third specialist for the South Metro region but had to return to Sydney for family reasons. Now back in Perth, Richard is excited to be able to share his knowledge of First Third theology and principles with the Metro North region, specifically with the Trinity North congregation.

Continue reading “All-age ministry continues at Trinity North”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

The Good Life: What makes a life worth living? by Hugh Mackay

The Good LifeIn his introductory chapter Hugh Mackay looks at the Utopia complex being sold to us by business, the media and general societal pressure. He suggests that the pursuit of  happiness can actually make you miserable. We seem to think that happiness is our default position whereas often we grow through pain. Wholeness can involve the whole range of emotions and  experiences.

Continue reading “The Good Life: What makes a life worth living? by Hugh Mackay”