Tag: Intercultural

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The presence of Christ in the Middle East

A delegation of Uniting Church leaders travelled to Lebanon in January with the aim of building relationships with churches in the region.

The delegation included Stuart McMillan, president of the Uniting Church in Australia, Rob Floyd, national director of UnitingWorld, and three Uniting Church ministers from the Middle East,  including Rev Dr Emanuel Audisho, multicultural ministry co-ordinator for the Uniting Church WA.

The group met with the leaders of the Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East, the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon and the National Evangelical Church of  Beirut. They also visited a range of historical sites, including one of the ancient jars from the biblical story of the Wedding at Cana (John 2) and one of the earliest memorial sites of the Armenian  Genocide in Antelias.

While in Lebanon, the group also spent some time at Fondation le Grain de Ble, a program for local refugee children which provides camps, clubs, sport, literature, games and entertainment for  refugee children in Lebanon, with an aim to share God’s love.

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Moving from tolerance to acceptance

Cultural barriers were demolished and stereotypes quashed when girls from the Australian Islamic College (AIC) spent a day at Methodist Ladies’ College in April, and MLC girls paid a return visit in August.

Eleven teenagers from the school in the northern Perth suburb of Dianella spent a day with their hosts discovering that they were more similar, than different.

MLC Principal, Rebecca Cody, also met with AIC’s Principal, Wahaj Tarin. She said the relationship between the two schools gives the students the opportunity to move beyond stereotypes.

“I think that all great schools learn from each other, so this is merely an example of a learning conversation between two schools. It’s also an opportunity for our girls, and Mr Tarin’s girls, to seek to understand  each other,” Rebecca said.

The relationship between the schools was borne out of discussions between MLC Chaplain, Rev Hollis Wilson, and AIC Islamic Study teacher, Fazida Razak, at a series of interfaith meetings over a few years.

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Beth Shalom raising the roof

To encourage, listen and engage with their young people, Beth Shalom Tongan Uniting Church recently purchased a range of music instruments for the purpose of starting up a band. Many of the young people have musical gifts and skills that they wanted to use in the congregation to express their love of Christ.

Using a $4,500 grant from the Uniting Church WA’s Innovative Opportunities Unlimited Fund (IOU), Beth Shalom purchased an acoustic guitar, bass guitar, speakers, a mixer and a microphone. The band was formed, raising the roof each Sunday. Before each service, the band plays up to an hour of praise music, celebrating and worshipping God.

At the recent Summer Spirit event, held in February at All Saints Floreat Uniting Church, the group performed with high energy, enthusiasm and talent, and showed all those present, from the wider Uniting Church WA, just how loud church can be.

Kalo Fotu spoke on the importance of listening to their young people and engaging them as active members of the congregation. Whether a project succeeds or fails is not the point; it’s about giving young people a chance to express themselves.

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Second generation Tongans let their light shine

If you want to be inspired about the work of the Uniting Church, go to the Tongan National Conference (TNC) and meet the Second Generation.

Every June more than 1000 Tongan members of the Uniting Church in Australia gather at the foothills of the Blue Mountains in Sydney for three days of fellowship and sharing.

A standout feature of the weekend is the contribution of the young people, the “second gen”, to every aspect of the conference.

From the rousing opening worship the second gen have a hand in everything, from the music and technical operations on stage, to leading faith discussions and providing input into decision-making.

This year more than 400 Tongan young people from 20 congregations all over Australia attended the TNC from 5-8 June.

The annual gathering is clearly a much-anticipated highlight for Tongan youth each year. Youth groups spend many months rehearsing choir and cultural performances for the different parts of the TNC program. This year there was even a video countdown to the conference on the TNC Facebook page.

Rev Charissa Suli heads up the Second Gen Leadership Team which includes representatives from every state and the ACT. Her role is to mentor and grow emerging leaders.

“TNC is a fun-spirit filled weekend that inspires young Tongan people to keep finding Christ in their lives,” said Charissa.

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Cool Burn: sharing in diversity

This September, the Cool Burn Intercultural Youth Camp will engage youth from around the church with an inspiring and relationship-building experience. This is the second time the camp has  run; with last year’s event a successful and engaging time for those involved.

A joint initiative of Uniting Church in WA’s Multicultural Ministries and First Third, the camp invites young people aged 13 and over to come and share time with God and with people from different cultures within the diversity of the Uniting Church in WA. Running over the weekend of 19–20 September it will be a fun and reflective time including loads of activities, worship and  sharing between cultures.

Rev Dr Emanuel Audisho, multicultural ministry co-ordinator said that the camp will create lasting relationships between different cultures within the church.

“We have in our vision to encourage the youth to come together from different cultures and backgrounds, to sit together, share with each other and to have fun,” he said. “We want to let them  know that we are many people, one body of Jesus Christ and that the Uniting Church is a multicultural church, the church for all God’s people.”

The camp will be held at the Alfred Hynes Seaside Camp in Rockingham and to register, or for more information, contact Alice Boomer at alice.boomer@wa.uca.org.au or call 9260 9800.

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The church in the midst of change

UnitingWorld hosted three lunches at the recent 14th Triennial Assembly which discussed the work of our Uniting Church international partner churches.

At one such lunch, two presenters from church partners in the Pacific joined Dr Deidre Palmer, moderator of the Uniting Church in South Australia in a discussion about gender equality. Later in  the week, Deidre was voted by the Assembly as the president-elect of the Uniting Church in Australia.

Deaconess Martha Yamsiu – the gender officer for the Presbyterian Church in Vanuatu spoke of the many challenges women faced in her community. She outlined the disregard of women as religious leaders in the community and the ongoing issues around gender violence – a silent issue for many women living in Vanuatu. Martha spoke of the successful workshops UnitingWorld and  The Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu have been undertaking in Vanuatu to educate and inform men and women about respectful relationships.

The second speaker Rev Maleta Rumaroti, secretary for mission, Kiribati Uniting Church, presented on climate impact and rising sea levels in Kiribati. Changing environmental factors due to  climate change have magnified issues of gender inequality with women bearing more of a burden as a result. High tides have led to increased illness with mosquitos breeding and causing dengue  fever. This has resulted in increased workloads for women, as they take care of their partners, children, elderly, sick and the disabled.

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Partner church guests take in the sights of Perth

International guests to the 14th Triennial Assembly a tour of local Indigenous sites, visited local enterprises, and enjoyed some local multicultural hospitality on day four of the meeting.

UnitingWorld guests and other ecumenical partners found themselves warmly welcomed at St Aidan’s Claremont Uniting Church as guests of the congregation and the Western Australia  Multicultural Committee at an Assembly Multicultural Dinner.

“The most lovely food and the most lovely people!” enthused Pacific partners in particular as they tucked into traditional taro and other delicacies from their homelands. Domino’s Pizza also put in  a special appearance, as did a youth choir singing grace and Rev Steve Francis, moderator of the Uniting Church in WA.

UnitingWorld guests continued to be impressed with Western  Australian innovation and commitment on a morning tour of the Good Samaritan Industries warehouse in Canningvale. Donning bright fluorescent vests – some of which they were reluctant to hand back later – the team toured the floor of the factory which provides employment for people with disabilities, who sort and prepare donated goods for sale in iconic ‘Good Sammy’ stores throughout WA.

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Christians and Muslims: 100 years of love

Uniting Church leaders from across Australia have joined interfaith and ecumenical friends in a statement of solidarity with Australia’s Islamic community. Uniting Church in Australia President, Rev Prof  Andrew Dutney, is one of thousands of faith and community leaders who’ve signed on to a declaration that “We’ll Love Muslims 100 Years.”

The statement was a reference to the banner headline in the Weekend Australian on 9 August “We’ll Fight Islam 100 Years.”

“Recent public statements and media coverage about Muslim-Australians in some sections of the Australian media have been inflammatory and divisive,” said Andrew.

“In our multi-faith society, Jesus’ call to love your neighbour means that Christians are called to meet, befriend and care about our neighbours who are Muslim.”

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Cool Burn: Camp with a difference

Inter-cultural Camp 2014 brochureCool Burn, an intercultural camp for young people will be held from Saturday 17–Sunday 18 May. For young people aged 13 and up, the camp will be an opportunity to learn about  intercultural issues and to get to know other Uniting Church young people from a diverse range of backgrounds.

Rev Tony Floyd, national director of Multicultural and Cross-cultural Ministry with the Uniting Church in Australia will be leading a session as will local leaders such as Rev Tony  Keva, Paul Montague, Milton Wynne, Judy Sanderson and Rev David Kriel. An activity of Multicultural Ministry and First Third Ministry, Cool Burn will be full of new friendships, leadership opportunities, inspiration, activities, surprises, fun and food. You will also be able to connect to a network of other young people passionate about faith and intercultural activities.

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