On the first Thursday of the recent school holidays, the Uniting Generations Network held a Music Jamboree event at Nedlands Uniting Church which was very much an intergenerational afternoon.
With 12 children attending, there was also one teen aged helper, along with parents, grandparents, and leaders of varying ages.
In May this year, Dr Deidre Palmer, who at the time was the President of the Uniting Church in Australia, invited young adults of the Uniting Church WA to join her for a conversation. This would be one of eight entries into her project, ‘Around the Table’, which aimed to collate and represent the direct experiences of young people across the Uniting Church in Australia.
This year, Kids Camp Out (KCO) was postponed in March due to significantly lower registrations. Unfortunately, this was not unexpected as the number of campers have been noticeably declining over the past five years due to Uniting Church WA children growing up and being in high school, with some now being young adults.
KCO has been a Presbytery wide event for primary school aged children in the Uniting Church WA for around 40 years.
Years ago, Alison Xamon began to envisage a new kind of ministry. A church community that would be truly welcoming and safe for all. A group that would see the fight for justice as simply part of being Christian.
It was a type of worship that Alison longed for, but over time it became clear that if she really wanted it to happen, she would have to make it happen. So, she did.
Rev Steve Francis, Ex-Moderator of the Uniting Church WA, is the new Chaplain of Tranby College, a Uniting Church school in Baldivis WA. Steve began the role in term 4, 2020, after he completed his role as Moderator in September.
Before serving a double, six-year term as Moderator, Steve served as the Minister of Nedlands Uniting Church, a large multicultural congregation, for twenty-three years. He has previously also worked as the State Youth Director for the Uniting Church WA.
Like many young adults who’ve recently finished school, Tom Broadbent is figuring out where he wants to head in life. There are three things he knows for sure he wants in that journey though: travel, surfing and Christ.
From his hometown of Busselton WA, Tom spent 2020 merging these three passions – with some limitations to the ‘travel’ part – through a yearlong diploma in leadership through Christian Surfers Australia and Alphacrusis College, based in Sydney. In what could be described as a ‘gap year’, has been a chance for Tom to build his leadership skills, share the gospel and live in the present on some of the world’s best beaches.
I’ve never met anyone who loves horses as much as Minna Sanders. And from this love of horses, a beautiful endeavour has grown.
Minna, having just finished Year 12 at Seton Catholic College, recently won a Good Sammy Business Start-up Award. This bubbly, passionate teenager was one of six recipients who received a cash grant to go towards setting up her own business.
Good Samaritan Enterprises (previously Good Samaritan Industries), is a Uniting Church WA agency providing employment options for people living with disability. They’re lovingly known throughout WA for their ‘Good Sammy’ op-shops, but they also provide a range of services helping people find meaningful employment. The award has been a huge asset for Minna, who will use the grant for advertising and supplies for her micro business – Minna’s Creations. She is now well on her way to getting her pyrography woodwork into the market.
More than 200 members of the St Stephen’s School community enjoyed a night under the stars at the School’s inaugural Community Campout.
Although temperatures dropped below zero, nothing could dampen the warmth and community spirit of the event. St Stephen’s School has owned the 115-acre property in Dwellingup, which was recently renamed The Kaadadjan Centre, for several years. It is opposite Lane Poole Reserve and is bound by the Murray River, Bibbulmun Tracks and Munda Biddi Trails. It has been used mostly for Outdoor Education and camps, but the school has been working to open it up to more curriculum areas for learning and enjoyment by the wider school community.
After months of planning and preparation, the South Perth Early Childhood Centre, of South Perth Uniting Church, opened their new nature playground, on Wednesday 23 October.
Despite the short bursts of rain, kids and adults alike took joy in exploring the playground and enjoying new adventures.
A nature playground is a specially designed playground which encourages children to play in elements of nature, such as climbing trees, playing in gardens and even getting dirty in the mud. In August 2018, the South Perth Early Childhood Centre was granted $65 000 from Lotterywest to build theirs.
More than 80 people gathered at Beldon Uniting Church for an intergenerational Seniors’ Morning Tea in November. Organised by the Caring Hands group of the church, guests were invited from various aged care residential sites, and treated to a range of entertainment.
Children from the Beldon Early Learning Centre, an outreach of Beldon Uniting Church, performed a selection of nursery rhymes, and children from the local Beldon Primary School performed some drumming. The school is located across the road from the church and they share a relationship through the school chaplain. A local ukulele group also performed.