Christine Nicholas, member of Uniting Church in the City, shares two exciting projects the congregation has been passionately involved in, despite the challenges of 2020.
The good news of Jesus Christ calls us to be a missional people – to be caught up in God’s mission in the world.
For the past two years, Margaret River Uniting Church has run an annual Deep Listening Festival. The festival invites people to step outside their normal busy schedule to engage, connect and listen. Through a diverse range of speakers, workshop presenters, musicians and artists, the festival is an opportunity to hear wonderful stories, to inspire and enrich people’s understanding of themselves and the community around them.
Rev Dr Christine Sorensen, Uniting Church WA Presbytery Minister – Formation and Discipleship, asks what does the ‘spirituality of Christmas’ have in common with ‘the spirit of Christmas’?
Spirituality is a word that has gained such currency in our modern world it means everything and nothing. One of the ways we can give parameters to spirituality is to think of spirituality as being a capacity for self-transcendence, and then more narrowly define human, religious and Christian spirituality.
Rev Steve Francis, Ex-Moderator of the Uniting Church WA, is the new Chaplain of Tranby College, a Uniting Church school in Baldivis WA. Steve began the role in term 4, 2020, after he completed his role as Moderator in September.
Before serving a double, six-year term as Moderator, Steve served as the Minister of Nedlands Uniting Church, a large multicultural congregation, for twenty-three years. He has previously also worked as the State Youth Director for the Uniting Church WA.
With Christmas just around the corner, these super tasty Tim Tam Balls will be a sure hit with guests. Lay them on the Christmas table or package them up and give them out as gifts.
They could also be quite easily decorated for Christmas; try adding a drizzle of melted white chocolate, or rolling them in desiccated coconut. Or even experiment with other flavours of Tim Tams to try something different.
Simple to make and good to eat!
A year of fundraising plans for Toodyay Uniting Church flew out of the window when COVID-19 restrictions came into place.
In fact, we had to place all our plans on hold. Gradually we are slowly resuming our activities.
I began 2020 as your Moderator-elect wondering what would unfold during the course of the year and how I might be guided by God to effectively lead this wonderful Church when I assumed office.
When the day of the Opening Worship of the 44th Annual Meeting of the Synod of WA and my Installation arrived on 11 September, the world was a very different place indeed, unlike any other we have experienced in our lifetime.
Containers for Change officially launched in October in WA, and our own Good Sammy Enterprises is playing a huge part. Good Sammy is a Uniting Church WA agency providing employment opportunities for people living with disability.
As a Super Collector, Good Sammy has 16 collection points for all your used, eligible containers. Bring in your containers and get a 10 cent refund for each, or donate your refund to a registered charity – including Good Sammy.
Dr Deidre Palmer, President of the Uniting Church in Australia has shared a pastoral letter to the church, celebrating Christmas and marking the end of 2020.
The Messy Church Summer Camp will be held for the third time in WA this January, and registrations are already flying in as families and friends choose to take some time together in a Messy Church way.
It will be held from Friday 1 to Monday 18 January at the Uniting Church Campsite in Busselton, and campers are invited to attend as many or as few days they like during this time.