Tag: Church and Community

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Stories & Feature Articles

Open doors in the city

For many years, churches in the Perth CBD have been opening their doors and offering a place of sanctuary where people can take time out of their busy day to pray, meditate, nurture their spirituality and seek assistance as needed.

The three Uniting Churches, Wesley, Trinity and Ross Memorial, which make up Uniting Church in the City (UCIC), are open to the public every weekday to provide an oasis of peace in the midst of a busy city. Uniting Church in the City’s vision to be vibrant and distinctive worshipping communities working collaboratively to touch hearts and transform lives through Christ is evident in  this simple, but much needed, missional activity.

Workers, residents, shoppers, tourists and people seeking historical information visit the churches regularly. Many come seeking a quiet space whilst others come to view the architecture of the buildings and to trace family histories. Some come seeking assistance or just a kind, listening ear. Volunteers offer a welcoming face; greeting visitors with a friendly smile, answering questions and giving directions.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Being messy, being church

With the full support of Rockingham Uniting Church, my home congregation, I flew to Melbourne to attend the Australasian Messy Church Gathering, in February. Having only a small idea as to what Messy Church was about, along with fellow youth leader, Kelly Crothers, I was keen to find out more with the hope of bringing this concept back to our church.

The gathering was held in the Centre for Theology and Ministry in Parkville, a magnificent heritage building that was itself inspiring. In attendance were people from all over Australia, New Zealand, UK and Malaysia. We were very blessed to have Canon Lucy Moore, the founder of Messy Church from The Church of England, as the special guest and keynote speaker. Lucy’s enthusiasm was infectious.

The other keynote speakers were Rev Greg Ross, a Uniting Church WA Minister who has a long established Messy Church in Bunbury; the talented Rev Brenton Prigge a former Uniting Church WA Minister who played guitar and sang hymns that he had written; and Rev Debbie Smith from New Zealand who spoke to us about maximising the potential of your Messy Team. At this point, I realised how important having help and working as a team will be.

We learnt the values of Messy Church and that it is not just for children. It is a Christ centred church in its own right for all ages, gathering together to enjoy creativity, celebration and hospitality. Sharing a meal isan important part, as Lucy said, “You can’t share the abundance of Godwith a biscuit.”

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Stories & Feature Articles

Louise Pekan: living the love of Christ everyday

Pastor Louise Pekan loves babies, families and communities. She’s also passionate about encouraging others to be leaders in their own contexts, so it’s no surprise she’s begun working with families and children in and around Melville as the new Community Engagement Pastor at Melville Uniting Church.

After hearing at a Presbytery of WA meeting recently that the Uniting Church WA has been in steady decline for a number of years, Louise – alongside the Melville congregation – is ready and  prepared to try a new way of being church. While these ideas may be new to some, Louise has already seen the success of community engagement projects she’s run in Perth, as well as been a part of in Chicago in the United States of America, where she lived on and off for five years.

As Melville Uniting Church started thinking about selling up and joining other nearby congregations, Louise, with the help of Rev Mark Illingworth, Pastoral Relations and Placements Co-ordinator at the Uniting Church WA, will instead work with them to create meaningful networks with the local community. And as I sat with her over coffee, it was pretty clear she not only has the  experience to do this, but also has a deep passion for hospitality and building a space where all are welcome.

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News & Announcements

Easter art engaging with the life and journey of Jesus

Uniting Church in the City (UCIC), Wesley Perth, one of the oldest and most iconic churches in Perth, is for the ninth time preparing to present the Stations of the Cross Art Exhibition in the lead-up to and over Easter.

Curated by Claire Bushby, the exhibition will feature newly commissioned artworks by fifteen Western Australian contemporary artists. The fifteen artworks correspond to the traditional Easter story and ritual of the ‘Stations of the Cross’. While pertaining to a religious narrative of the final days in the life of Jesus, participating artists each interpret a single ‘station’ through their personal and unique understanding of Easter and the human experiences  and themes that underlie it. The exhibition will bridge between sacred stories and the issues and events that are present in our contemporary world.

The vision of Rev Craig Collas, minister at UCIC, is an open one – he hopes audiences of all spiritual persuasions can enjoy the imagination, imagery and conversation that the unique works of art will offer.

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News & Announcements

Throwing the Gospel into our community

Rev David Kriel was inducted into his new ministry role with Trinity North Uniting Church on Sunday 4 March at St Stephen’s School Duncraig.

Rev Greg Ross led the reflection. He handed out a piece of plasticine to  members of the congregation, inviting them to shape it, meditatively, how they please. He then gave examples of people responding to God’s call to do something different, people who were brave enough to step out of their comfort zones and into the unknown, while holding the hand of God.

He shared the story of Florence Nightingale, “who lived out her lifelong calling or mission to change her society so that it truly reflected the prayer of Jesus – may your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven,” Greg said.

“Moses,” Greg continued, “that historical figure who had his life completely transformed from being an adopted royal Egyptian prince who committed murder in a fit of supposedly justified rage to being the fearless leader upon which the nation of Israel was built, is one such figure from the foundation stories of our Judeao Christian faith who demonstrated that your life could be transformed, and that making change and being a leader of people was incredibly frustrating and exhausting.”

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News & Announcements

Byford celebrates

On Sunday 10 December, Byford Uniting Church celebrated its 90th anniversary with a special Thanksgiving Service. The service also celebrated the work of the congregation’s Crisis Care volunteers, who provide support to people in the community who may be experiencing domestic violence and other forms of crisis.

The foundation of Byford Uniting Church was laid in 1927, with Mr and Mrs Abernathy mentioned on wall plaques still on the church today. Mrs Scott and Miss Cole have also been acknowledged, though without plaques, as two pioneers of the church building being built. On 31 March 1928, the church was  opened by then Moderator of the General Assembly of WA (Presbyterian), Rev George Tulloch.

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News & Announcements

Hands-on ministry in Meeka

Rev Mitch Fialkowski was inducted in Meekatharra as Patrol Minister, or ‘Bush Chaplain’, in the Remote Area Ministry Murchison Patrol in December.

Mitch has been working in the region for around five years with Frontier Services. His role was previously under the umbrella of the National Assembly of the Uniting Church, however recent changes at Frontier Services mean Mitch’s role is now within the Uniting Church WA, and is supported by fundraising though Frontier Services.

Rev Steve Francis, Moderator of the Uniting Church WA, and Rev David de Kock, General Secretary, travelled up to Meekatharra for the service, where Steve preached. Rev John Dihm, Remote Area Minister based in Tom Price, made the seven and a half hour drive to Meekatharra to attend the service and  present Mitch with a beautiful stole.

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News & Announcements

Deep Listening with those on the edge

The inaugural Deep Listening Festival is hitting the South West in April and is packed full of storytelling, art, music, workshops and time to reflect. It will be held at Margaret River Uniting Church from Friday 6 to Saturday 7 April.

The festival is inspired by the Sacred Edge Festival of Queenscliff Uniting Church in Victoria, which Revive has reported on in the past. However, it will have a local voice.

Rev Cathie Lambert, Minister at Margaret River and Augusta Uniting Churches, said the festival is designed to encourage us to listen to the stories of  people on the edge. The name is inspired by the Indigenous word ‘Dadirri’ which is a practice of deep listening based on respect.

“The way to get to know people and to get to know what their struggles are, to connect more as a community and to understand each other better is to listen to each other,” Cathie said. “The idea of this festival is not to problem solve, but to listen to the stories of people who are on the edge. In doing that we learn to appreciate their perspective and understand their situation better.

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Events

A new church of humility

Rev Lindsay Cullen during the baptism of Charlotte at Bellingen Uniting Church, NSW. Lindsay believes that change is essential for growth.

Summer Spirit, a Uniting Church WA event, will be held on Saturday 17 February at All Saints Floreat Uniting Church. This year, the event will explore ‘A  different church for a different world,’ in response to the Uniting Church WA’s new Strategic Plan.

Rev Lindsay Cullen, one of the new National Consultants in the Assembly Resourcing Unit of the Uniting Church in Australia, will be sharing his thoughts and expertise on how the Uniting Church WA can become that different church at this year’s Summer Spirit.

The world has indeed changed a lot over the last 40 to 50 years. Lindsay explained that in the Western World, the church has gone from having a strong  voice in the community, to now having a voice more on the margins.

“I think we see all around us that the world is constantly changing. And in particular, in the last 40 or 50 years, we’ve seen not only the changing of western societies, but also the changing place of the church in society,” he said. “In the past, the church was seen as one of the central pillars of society and a natural place where people congregated and where people would turn for spiritual sustenance or to ask big questions of life. I think, we’re seeing very clearly, that is changing and shifting and the church finds itself much more on the margins of society.

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Events

Visiting theologian attracts lively discussion

In October, the WA Progressive Network hosted a conversation at All Saints Floreat Uniting Church with Prof Hal Taussig, a scholar of ancient texts and a Visiting Professor of New Testament at Union Theological Seminary in New York.

The seminar attracted people from the Uniting, Seventh Day Adventist, Church of Christ and Catholic churches and some who don’t belong to a church.

The conversation at Floreat was an extremely interesting event. There was plenty of time for questions
and comments which Hal used to adjust his presentation.

The ten new books outside the canon from archaeological digs in Egypt, which his book The New New Testament includes and discusses, were selected from a group of 47 possible choices by invitees, including John Dominic Crossan, two nuns who had worked in Rome for the Pope, and two people from the Jewish faith.

Geoff Taylor