Tag: Ministry

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News & Announcements

Ministry into the unknown

Rev Simon Goddard, a Baptist minister from Fresh Expressions UK, will be visiting Perth to share his experiences and knowledge in pioneering ministry and church leadership.

Simon will be a keynote speaker at two events in March: The Pioneer Ministry Gathering; and Tools for Resilient Church Leadership in Changing Contexts, which will also feature Rev Dr Adam McIntosh, the Associate Director of Mission (Pastoral Care) for the Uniting Church Queensland, and Peter Kenyon, from the Bank of IDEAS.

Brought to you by the Uniting Church WA’s Thrive Mission Committee, these events will encourage those attending to explore Pioneer Ministry, while sharing their own experiences and learning from each other.

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News & Announcements

Ministry Expo excitement

Friday 30 August promised to be stormy and yet, the evening was remarkably clear given a week of passing rainfalls.

After much activity in terms of advertising via radio, social media, the Uniting church WA website, posters in the windows at St Andrew’s Uniting Church, the Uniting Church WA Ministry Expo was set up and ready to go.

Some local congregation members arrived first, and slowly the building filled with 42 adults and 12 children.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Ministry Expo set to inspire new ministry leaders

Are you feeling a call to ministry but haven’t quite made the leap?

The Ministry Expo will be a great place to get that conversation going.

Held on Friday 30 August, the Ministry Expo is a chance for people to explore the different types of ministry in the Uniting Church WA, how they can prepare themselves for ministry, and where it could lead them.

Rev Dr Anne Wright, Director of Education and Formation at the Uniting Church WA, said the Ministry Expo is an opportunity for our next generation of ministry agents to learn more about the process and begin the journey.

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Stories & Feature Articles

New opportunities for pastoral care

Aged care and retirement may be the new growth industry for rural communities in the future. People who have spent most of their life in rural and regional areas tend to want to retire and remain where they are, close to family, friends and familiar surroundings.

The opening of a new multi-million dollar Primary Health Care Centre in the Wheatbelt town of Cunderdin, along with eight new Age Appropriate Houses, will be a major boost to services that can be provided to the local people and those from adjoining communities.

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Education & Training

Renew your passion at Passing the Baton

Two hands passing the baton for a relay race.

Passing the Baton, an annual training day and expo for people involved in children and family ministry, is coming up soon on Saturday 23 February, 9.00am to 4.00pm, at Mt Pleasant Baptist Church.

Passing the Baton is an ecumenical event organised by the Children’s Ministry Network (CMN), of which the Uniting Church in Australia is a member.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Stories at the centre of life and work

If you get the chance to meet the Uniting Church WA’s new Presbytery Minister Mission, Rev Alison Gilchrist, you’ll soon find out that she’s ready to get into the thick of it and get the job done – she’s a ‘doer’.

Alison was ordained in the Church of England and came to Perth six years ago to work with the Anglican Diocese of Perth. Having started her role with the Uniting Church WA in September last year, Alison has already begun making her mark, with the introduction of the ‘Light on Every Street’ campaign. The campaign saw congregations sharing the light and love of God in the lead-up to  Christmas by giving candles and postcards with a message to people in their communities.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Embracing intergenerational ministry

Dr Holly Catterton Allen is a leading academic researcher, author and teacher in the field of intergenerational ministry. In July this year, she spoke at the two-day ‘Embracing Intergenerational  Ministry Workshop’ at the Centre of Theology and Ministry, Uniting Church Victoria and Tasmania. A group of six from the Presbytery of WA travelled to Melbourne to attend.

The ecumenical event included representation from the Church of Christ, the Salvation Army, the Baptist Church, the Anglican Church and the Uniting Church, with both lay and ordained leaders in attendance. Holly was also the speaker at conferences in Adelaide and Sydney.

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Education & Training

VET training brings hope to Christian education

Dr Elaine Ledgerwood began her new role at the Uniting Church Centre in August as Presbytery Minister Education and Training.

Elaine will be working in the VET sector (Vocational Education and Training), helping people gain a Certificate 4 in Christian Life and Ministry. Initially, this will be through the Adelaide College of Divinity, tailored to suit the Uniting Church WA. The course is aimed at people who want to explore and deepen their Christian faith, as well as those who want accreditation as a lay preacher.

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Stories & Feature Articles

A mandarin is not a failed orange

What do Katanning WA and Lincoln NZ have in common?

During April, both hosted gatherings of people passionate about ministry in rural settings. One over-arching message is: small and rural matters!

Setting the scene for the 100 delegates in Lincoln for the International Rural Churches Association (IRCA), Dr Rosemary Dewerse told us the story of Parihaka. This Maori village was being claimed  by colonisers. In 1881, as armed cavalry rode in they were met first by children sitting in the road singing, then teenage girls skipping and then gifts of food. Eventually two Maori chiefs, Te Whiti and Tohu, along with many others, were imprisoned, but their commitment to nonviolent resistance did not waver.

Te Whiti’s conviction was that taking up arms would lead to more deaths, so instead they persistently pulled up surveyors’ marker pegs, built their own fences and ploughed up the settlers’ roads.

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News & Announcements

Funding boost for chaplaincy in WA schools

YouthCARE, a provider of chaplaincy services in Western Australian state schools, welcomes the announcement by the Federal Government to continue chaplaincy funding.

$247 million will be allocated to schools across Australia as part of the National School Chaplaincy Program.

In his budget speech, Treasurer Scott Morrison announced the Federal Government would be “extending the National School Chaplaincy Program on a permanent basis, with a special new anti-bullying focus”.

YouthCARE Chief Executive Officer, Stanley Jeyaraj, said the decision provides certainty for a large number of state schools in WA to access chaplaincy services.

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