Tag: Youth

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News & Announcements

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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News & Announcements

Youthful members unite

The Uniting Church in WA supported three youthful members to the recent 14th Triennial Assembly Meeting. They share their experiences with Revive.

Kelly Crothers
Rockingham Uniting Church

One thing that was constantly discussed at the Assembly was a reading from Luke, chapter 24, verses 13-35. In that reading, two men were walking to a village called Emmaus, and on that road  Jesus greeted them, but their eyes did not let the men recognise the newly resurrected Jesus.

During Assembly, when we discussed heavy issues such as same-gender marriage and relationships, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, and the rights and  recognition of the Aboriginal and Islander peoples of Australia, sometimes it felt like there was no spirit around us, nothing to support us and guide us, and I asked “where are you?”

The answer is  simple. He was there the whole time.

I didn’t realise it, I was blind, the same way the two men on the road were when they encountered Jesus. They didn’t realise that he was there  all along. And there were moments amongst the  angst, hurt and loneliness that his presence felt so real and more present than it ever has in my life before. Speaking to other members of the youth, I know they also felt his presence and his  absence during the Assembly.

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News & Announcements

Papuan students experience WA’s wheatbelt

Eleven students who took part in the Australian Papuan Cultural Exchange Program, hosted at All Saints Floreat Uniting Church, took a weekend away from their studies to travel up to the northern wheatbelt town of Coorow in March and experience some of Australia’s rural lifestyle. The program hosts students from West Papua in Perth while they build up their English skills.

Inez Davies, a member of Coorow All Saints Uniting Church, learnt about the program whilst attending a Summer Spirit event years ago in Perth. The Coorow congregation, a joint Anglican and  Uniting Church, have followed its progress and offered support – this year by hosting the group in their home town for some time out from their busy schedule. The students arrived for  lunch on Saturday 29 March at Inez’s farm, followed by a drive around the property to see some of their crops. Dinner was provided in town by the congregation before an evening of music and  joy.

“We were all just sitting around talking and they all burst into song,” said Inez. “My son took his guitar and he yodelled for them and they were absolutely ecstatic.”

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News & Announcements

Students grapple the big issues

Now in its fourth year, the One World WonTok Youth Conference uses a series of hands-on activities to engage students from Uniting Church and Anglican schools in complex issues of poverty  and development.

This year, students created solar cookers from South Sudan, played an interactive computer game on farming in developing countries, lived a precarious existence in the fictitious Tie Islands, brainstormed a sanitation project in rural Papua New Guinea and grappled with the complexities of universal education. The students also met with Gideon Bustamante, a project officer from  the Anglican Board of Mission’s church partner in the Philippines; and young volunteer, Alex Baker, who shared his recent UnitingWorld volunteering experiences in the Solomon Islands and North India.

The One World Wontok Conference is a unique collaboration between the Anglican Board of Mission and UnitingWorld. The conference ran from 28 April–8 May, visiting Anglican and Uniting Church schools in the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne.

For more information visit http://www.unitingworld.org.au/one-world-wontok/.

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News & Announcements

Pilgrimage of a lifetime

In November and December this year, a group of twenty Christian young adults will travel to the Holy Land on an adventure and spiritual journey like no other – and you could be part of it. For  two weeks the group will be visiting historical and biblical sites, and will return home forever changed by the experience.

The Young Adult Pilgrimage to the Holy Land will be jointly led by Rev Dr Ian Robinson, chaplain at the University of Western Australia (UWA) and spiritual retreat leader; Rick Morrell, First  Third co-ordinator at the Uniting Church in WA; and Rev Dr Emanuel Audisho, multicultural ministry co-ordinator at the Uniting Church in WA; with the help of John Snobar from Christian Pilgrimage Inc.

Beginning in Jordan, the pilgrimage will travel through Israel and Palestine, touring ancient cities and visiting significant sites such as where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, where Jesus met  the woman at the well, and Capernaum, where Jesus based his public ministry. Along the way, the group will be meeting a range of people, from locals to fellow pilgrims, and encounter new  cultures and languages.

Ian Robinson has been on such a pilgrimage five times, and is excited to share the experience with a new group of young Christians. He believes the trip will be a life  changing experience for those who are up for it.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Messy Church Mix-Up

On Sunday 3 May, 10.00am, in Busselton, something really mixed-up was happening at Bryant Memorial Uniting Church. This was not normal.

The usual crowd for a Sunday morning service  were all there, but this was not what they were used to; it was not Sunday church as they knew it. For a start, the music was different – instead of the usual piano and organ, there was a band –  and look, are those our ministers with the guitars? Yes, Rev Brenton Prigge and Rev Andrew Broadbent are both up there in the band, and those  are Andy’s boys, Tom and Ned playing with them.

But that’s not all – there was no sermon; there was a Godly Play story instead. And then there were all these other wonderful young families who usually only go to church once a month on a Saturday for Messy Church. Maybe this service had been planned just for them? Maybe this was a typical Messy Church?

But no, the Messy Church people were also finding everything a bit  mixedup. There was no craft, for a start, and the whole thing was happening in the sanctuary instead of using the hall as well. And there were just pews; no tables and chairs. Not only that, but there was much more singing than at Messy Church and so many more wonderful ‘Granny and Grandpa’ type people… and after  the Godly Play story that was all about the ‘Table of the Good Shepherd,’ they had this wonderful thing where everybody was actually invited to gather around the table, just like in the  story. That never happens at our Messy Church!

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News & Announcements

State Youth Games: Bring it on!

State Youth Games is a weekend of fun, games, sport and friendship for 16–28 year olds, held annually in Bunbury over the long weekend in June. The games provide an opportunity for church  teams to come together and compete over the weekend in a range of sports and activities in a friendly and fun environment.

Run by Youth Vision, a project of the Churches of Christ, the games are open to any denomination. Cameron Barnes, State Youth Games co-ordinator, said that the games are structured in a  way that is open and welcoming, to give people who aren’t familiar with church an opportunity to hang out with Christians in a casual environment. This also gives young Christians an opportunity to invite their non-church friends along for a weekend of fun.

“I’m constantly hearing stories of people who, by their own admission, would never have set foot in a church building, but were quite happy to come along to a sporting carnival. Through State  Youth Games they discovered a community of people they could belong to, and through that community found out about a God who loves them,” Cameron said.

It’s also a way to breakout of the confining structures of youth ministry and day-to-day activities, in preparation for adulthood.

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News & Announcements

KCO: The journey

Darren, from GKI Perth Uniting Church (Indonesian), shows off his boat, made at KCO.

This year’s Kids’ Camp Out (KCO) was all about the ‘Journey’. Held over the weekend of 14–15 March at Advent Park in Maida Vale, even the rain couldn’t stop these campers, junior leaders  and camp leaders enjoying food, friendship, craft, games, storytelling, music and dancing; all while reflecting on their journey with God.

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Education & Training

Developing assets for a brighter future

Training for the 40 Developmental Assets in a congregational setting will once again be taking place in Perth. The First Third team present this valuable training, which will help people  understand the qualities that young people need to grow into caring, responsible and productive adults. Researched by the Search Institute and released in 1990, the 40 Developmental Assets  is changing the way people work with and relate to young people around the globe. This research is regularly being extended and deepened to stay trustworthy and current.

The assets outline a range of qualities that will help young people as they develop, such as support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations, time management, commitment, positive  values, social competencies and positive identity. Leading the training will be Rick Morrell, First Third Ministry co-ordinator of the Uniting Church WA and Rick Pekan, young adult and small  group coordinator at Nedlands Uniting Church. Both are experienced leaders and  trainers in the ‘Asset’ approach.

Rick Morrell believes that the training will be immediately accessible by those who are present.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Editorial: TLC – Mission accomplished

I’ve previously written in Revive about my connection to Trinity Learning Centre (TLC) as a past student when my son was a baby. It was a sad day for many other past students, teachers,  classroom supervisors, crèche staff, congregation members, committee members and volunteers when TLC closed its doors on Saturday 28 February this year. TLC, a program of UnitingCare  West, originally began out of Trinity Uniting Church (now part of Uniting Church in the City) providing education and support to pregnant and parenting young mothers. I’ve written about the  impact TLC had on my life before, so I won’t get into that again. I have a better story to tell…

At the farewell, Sue Ash, CEO of UnitingCare West, spoke about the sadness and anger people felt at the news that this amazing program was ending. She then reminded us of the success of TLC  – not just for the women who graduated, but also for the church as it filled a need. When TLC began, almost 30 years ago, there was nothing like it in Perth. Dr Harry Cohen recognised a need  for young mothers to have an opportunity to finish high school, through his work at King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women, which has a dedicated adolescent maternity ward.

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