Tag: Church and Community

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News & Announcements

God’s garden flourishing in Mundijong

On Sunday 29 October a group from Mt Pleasant Uniting Church travelled to Mundijong Heritage Uniting Church for a day of fellowship and worship.

The visit was the second this year by the Mt Pleasant group. On this occasion, the day was celebrated by a beautiful shared lunch which was provided and cooked on-site by the visitors, using produce from the community garden which is situated in the grounds surrounding the church.

The community garden was a starting point for the revitalisation of the abandoned Uniting Church building some nine years ago, following a community meeting to discuss the state of the building and grounds. The garden now flourishes and is a gathering point for gardeners each Saturday morning. It is an open garden and is used frequently by locals as a meeting point, a picnic spot or just somewhere to sit quietly and take time out in the day.

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News & Announcements

Reformation 500 celebrations

'Martin Luther' is seized

The churches of Dongara/Port Dennison came together for a special one day event in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation. More than 200 people arrived at the Irwin Recreation Centre in Port Denison on Sunday October 29 for the R500 festivities.

On 31 October 1517, Martin Luther publicly declared his protest about certain actions of the church officials of the day. R500 allowed people an insight into some of the characteristics of the society of that era. Many people came in medieval-style costume to add to the atmosphere and fun.

From 9.30am, a display of stories and character studies of key players in the Reformation was available in the Function Room. Wendy Small, from the R500 planning team and a member of Dongara Uniting Church, said these people were nobles, church leaders, and princes who held the strings of social and political power in the towns and villages in Germany. While some supported Luther, many were opposed to his ideas. Quiz and puzzles and colouring sheets relating to the information were available for keen ‘detectives’.

At the same time, medieval re-enactment group Twin River Guard (TRG) from Geraldton had replica weapons, armour and costumes typical of the late medieval period for visitors to view and discover how these were used in everyday life and in combat. Einar, from Twin River Guard was dressed for the day in a suit of full armour. He said the weight and type of metal used was equivalent to that which a knight of his build would have worn. At 15kg it added a challenge to movement and stamina of the wearer, and Einar and his team told us, “Combat action would necessarily be brief and intense, as combatants could not sustain fast and furious action for any extended time.”

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News & Announcements

Star Street on a journey

Rev Elizabeth Raine was inducted into an Intentional Interim Ministry Placement at Victoria Park and Districts Star St Uniting Church on Sunday 29 October. She will serve with the congregation for up to 25 months. The event was also celebrated with a Zimbabwean congregation which meet at the church.

Rev David Kriel, Mission Planner for the Uniting Church WA, preached at the service on the importance of community. He shared a Zulu philosophy, ‘Ubuntu’, which means ‘I know myself through you.’

“We are the body of Christ; we are community,” he said. “And through community we can do a lot of good things. Great things can happen when we exercise that philosophy.”

He added that the church is a community which also reaches out to the community.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Moderator’s column: Renewal begins in worship

Occasionally people ask me what is the best part about being Moderator of the Uniting Church WA. Usually, quick as a flash, I say “Sunday mornings.” That’s because I have the enormous privilege of visiting, preaching and worshipping at many different congregations across the state.

Sometimes, I find myself in a small rural community, meeting in a home, hall or sanctuary. On other occasions, I am in a suburban gathering of the faithful with pipe organ or guitars and drums. I also receive the great honour of worshipping in other languages in our migrant ethnic, intercultural communities.

As celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the Uniting Church in Australia reminded us, “All of this is us.”

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Events

Understanding data to find new pathways

The National Church Life Survey (NCLS) and Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census data provide a wealth of information to the community, which churches can use to help guide them in strategic decisions.

Rev David Kriel, Mission Planner for the Uniting Church WA, and Rev Dr Elizabeth Raine, a past member of the NCLS Board of Governors and the NCLS Research Committee, will lead two  workshops in October: Understanding your congregation using NCLS data and Understanding your community using Census data.

Elizabeth said that NCLS data is a great tool for congregations  to understand their gifts and how to use them to connect with their local community. Not only can NCLS provide congregation profiles, but they can also provide information that is specific to the community around them.

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Stories & Feature Articles

York celebrates 165 years

On Sunday 20 August 2017 York Uniting Church celebrated 165 years of a worshipping presence in the Avon Valley town. A fairly chilly day, so typical of winters in York,  the congregation joined with many friends to celebrate and give thanks. And what a celebration!

We began with our normal 9.30am worship service which was led by Rev Ruth Vertigan, who is part of the Rural Ministry Team and is our regional co-ordinator. Ruth attended the York Wesleyan Methodist Church (as it was then known) as a child so it was fitting that she come and lead the worship service on the morning of the anniversary. After morning tea we rushed home to gather the ‘good food’ for the afternoon tea which was to follow our planned ‘Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Concert.’

This anniversary concert is a very popular event in York, and this year at 2.00pm the church rang with the sound of 130 people singing Advance Australia Fair – a rousing start to the program organised by June Dawson.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Youth group building intergenerational relationships

Arising out of a need in the congregation, the Maylands Mt Lawley Uniting Church Youth Group began in February 2016. After a year of being in operation, it is a much loved activity of the church.

Rev Kim Francis, Minister at Maylands Mt Lawley Uniting Church, co-ordinates the Youth Group alongside her son, Joel Francis, and Liz Lee, a member of the congregation, with the help of other parent volunteers. The group has about ten members, with around six attending each week. Some are members of the congregation, who also bring along friends.

Each Sunday, from 12noon–2.00pm, young people in years 6–12 share food, activities and discussion. Sometimes the group meet at the church, other times they head out and about. Outings have included activities like badminton, mini golf, kayaking, rock climbing and sailing.

Once a term they hold a cooking competition, and every week they enjoy a simple, but varied lunch together. Occasionally, they also meet with other youth groups from The Billabong, Mt Pleasant and Nedlands Uniting Churches, and they have worked through the Alpha Youth Film Series, a course designed to create conversations for young people exploring life, faith and meaning.

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News & Announcements

Closure of Ministry

A Closure of Ministry Service was held for Rev Karama Ioapo and Rev Brian Thorpe on Sunday 27 August at Trinity North Uniting Church, Greenwood Worship Centre.

Both Karama and Brian had been serving with the congregation for 17 months, Karama began as a supply minister and moved into a ministry placement, while Brian served in Intentional Interim Ministry. Karama will be moving to a placement with Frontier Services in Atherton, Queensland, and Brian while be retiring from active ministry.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Art on display at Beldon-Iluka

On the afternoon of Saturday 24 June, members of Beldon-Iluka Uniting Church shared art from their homes, brushes, chisels and needles with the wider Beldon community, as part of our 40th anniversary of the Uniting Church in Australia celebrations.

The local Beldon Primary School was excited to join in the celebrations too and their young artists put on a brilliant display of art work.

We were amazed with the talent in our area. Quilt makers, china painters, modern artists, wood workers, machine and hand embroiderers all submitted art for the display. People brought in favourite purchased art works too, some reminiscent of countries they had spent time in.

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News & Announcements

Nurturing all-age connection and community

Society around us constantly divides and labels people on the basis of their age. We are divided into generational cohorts and given nicknames that supposedly summarise our most defining characteristic: ‘Boomers’; ‘Gen Y’; ‘Millennials.’

These divisions serve political and marketing purposes, but they leave our community fractured. The Gospel of Jesus, however, reconciles us to God and calls us beyond boundaries of age, gender, ability and culture, into community together, to be formed by one another as together we love and serve a world in need.

Churches are increasingly aware of the need to recover the values, practices and skills for gatherings with all generations together. Multi-generational, multi-age, all-age, crossgenerational and intergenerational approaches offer us different ways of healing the divisions in our gatherings and create the potential for new spaces of engagement with those not yet part of a faith community.

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