Tag: Our People and Agencies

Rev Judy Sanderson was ordained as a deacon and inducted into St Stephens Applecross Uniting Church on Sunday 7 August.

After a welcome to country from Rev Sam Dinah, minister with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC), Rev Bev Fabb, deacon and Interim Director of Education and Formation, preached on Micah 6:6-8.

“And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8. 

Bev reminded those gathered that to be called into the ministry of a deacon, is to be called into ministry with the outsider, the broken, the hurting, poor, desperate and rejected.

“Deacons are called to notice desperate people reaching out to touch them,” Bev said. 

On 1 July this year, UnitingCare West will celebrate its 10th anniversary. UnitingCare West is an agency of the Uniting Church WA, delivering a range of community services to some of the most vulnerable people in WA.

The organisation has experienced a huge amount of growth in these years, and has become an important part of life in Western Australia. Of course, the history behind UnitingCare West goes back long before 2006, as many of the services run by the agency began their life in Uniting Church WA congregations. Some go back prior to the 1977 union of the Uniting Church in Australia.

In 2005, fourteen Uniting Church WA congregational community services considered joining together to become UnitingCare West, with eight finalising the agreement. Over the years, more have come on board and services have grown. Chris Hall was the first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UnitingCare West, with Rev Des Cousins the first chair of the UnitingCare West Board.

As our social environment changed, three of the original programs which came into UnitingCare West at its formation have ceased, two of which because government picked up the service and it was no longer needed.

Sue Ash AO, current CEO of UnitingCare West, came into the role in 2011. She explained that the formation of the organisation has been successful in its intention to grow service delivery in WA.

On Sunday 17 April at York Uniting Church Rev Ruth Vertigan was inducted into the role of rural ministries co-ordinator in the Uniting Church Western Australia. With the noise of roaring motorbikes in the background (there was a motorbike show on in the centre of town) people from all over regional WA gathered at the historic York Uniting Church to join in celebrating Ruth’s induction. There were people present for Kondinin, Goomalling, Narrogin and Quairading, as well as locals from York, the building was packed.

Rev Alistair Melville, UCWA’s rural ministry associate in Narrogin, opened the induction service with a call to worship and the beautiful church building was filled with voices raised in worship. The moderator, Rev Steve Francis acknowledged the traditional owners of the land and payed respects to their elders past and present. Steve also thanked the York congregation for their hospitality and he acknowledged the many people who had traveled to be there, he also acknowledged associate general secretary (justice and mission) Rosemary Hudson Miller, attending as the representative for the general secretary Rev David De Kock.

Rev Geoffrey Lilburne preached a sermon on Psalm 103 and Jesus’ prayer for believers in John 17. He expressed that while it is a hard task to serve rural communities, as many rural towns are diminishing in size, Ruth is ideally suited for the role. Geoffrey said of her ‘Ruth is not a fair-weather minister’ and recounted the many times in her life when Ruth has shown determination and faithfulness. Geoffrey noted that the promise in Psalm 103:17 “But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him…” speaks to the generational hope of rural communities, that they exist from generation to generation, and that the hope of those communities is in the constant love of God.

The service of induction followed and afterward Ruth gave her response saying she approached her new placement with gratitude and said she felt a great deal of peacefulness in this new placement that “it feels like the right place”. She also acknowledged the service of Rev Loraine Stokes who filled the position previously. Ruth expressed that she wanted those worshiping in rural communities to know that they are not alone or abandoned. She used the analogy of God, being an ocean of grace and mercy, and that sometimes it feels (in rural communities particularly) that you are swimming alone in the ocean, but Ruth wants to remind those swimmers that they are not alone, there are other swimmers in the ocean, and it is the ocean of God’s grace and mercy that connects us.

Following the induction ceremony an afternoon tea was held in the church hall, there was much conversation and fellowship.

Rev David de Kock was inducted as general secretary of the Uniting Church WA on Friday 8 April at Applecross St Stephens Uniting Church.

The service was attended by representatives from all over the church both locally and nationally including congregations, schools and agencies. During the service, many of these people presented symbols, representing the diversity of the placement and those that David will have pastoral responsibility with. Symbols included a Bible, water, bread and wine, as well as a cup, books, wheat, a juniper plant and a mini Good Samaritan Industries donation bin.

Rev Steve Francis, moderator of the Uniting Church WA delivered the sermon, and talked about renewal in the church, encouraging those present to let go and to think creatively.

On Sunday 13 March, St Peter and Emmaus Church was packed as Rev Dr Sonny Rajamoney was inducted into service as minister of the Word. The service of induction began with songs of praise, sung with gusto by the congregation and guests. Rev Jeni Goring, the Anglican priest in service at St Peter and Emmaus, gave a call to worship followed by the acknowledgement of country by Bishop Jeremy James. Uniting Church WA moderator, Rev Steve Francis, gave a welcome and greeting in which he acknowledged the special guests present, including the chair of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Congress WA, Rev Sealin Garlett.

Steve then gave his sermon, entitled ‘Something beautiful for God’, he took inspiration from a statement from Mother Teresa,  “Each one of us has something beautiful to do for God.” Steve went on to express that God is calling all of us to do something beautiful.

The main points of the sermon were that God is the one who calls us. That we are called to follow Christ and within that call there is often another call to service in our lives. That the call to serve Christ often happens in ordinary circumstances, he expounded that in the groans of the world around us (referring to Romans 8) we can see the needs that we are called to serve. And even in our own internally groaning we can feel the call of God on our lives. Finally, Steve encouraged the congregation that God doesn’t just call us, but he equips us too, that we are given the tools to live out the call on our lives, and the support we need.

Rev Emma Matthews was inducted into Nedlands Uniting Church over the long weekend. On Sunday 6 March, Emma was officially welcomed to the congregation during a bilingual service, in both Mandarin and English.

Having served as the chaplain at Penrhos College – a Uniting Church WA school for girls in kindy to year 12 – since her ordination as a deacon in 2011, Emma will now serve at Nedlands where she will focus her ministry on working with children and young people as well as training for small group leadership, preparing people for baptism, preaching and organising retreats. Prior to ordination Emma worked in lay ministry in Sydney, Brisbane and a small farming community in south-east Queensland.

Rev Stephen Larkin, also a minister at Nedlands Uniting Church, preached during Emma’s induction service. He spoke about the importance of living in word and action.

“All are called to proclaim the love of God in word and deed,” Stephen said. “That’s what it says on the back of the Nedlands Newsletter. The ministry leaders are not Stephen and Emma, or the council. The ministry leaders are the members of the congregation. And the ministry leaders – that’s all of us – need to be using both their wings.”

The new general secretary of the Uniting Church WA, Rev David de Kock, joins the team at the Uniting Church Centre today. He comes to the role with new ideas and a passion for living out Christ’s call.

David came to Australia seven years ago from South Africa. He became a follower of Christ in his late 20s, after marrying his wife, Margie. David and Margie’s three adult children and six grandchildren have all also immigrated to Australia in recent years.

David answered his call to ministry after a significant time in his family life.

“I was called to ministry shortly after choosing to follow Jesus but resisted for nearly 16 years. In the meantime Margie was diagnosed with terminal cancer which became a special faith forming time for us,” David said.

“With the prayers of the church to support us we faced a series of tests all confirming the diagnosis, and then, without any treatment, the cancer disappeared and she has not been troubled since. It was a turning point and I was ordained to ministry in the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa in 1993.”