Making miracles
Book | Miracles: A Very Short Introduction | Yujin Nagasawa
You may know a miracle when you see one, but they are not so easy to define. Or so it seems from this book in Oxford’s A Very Short Introduction series.
Not quite down the tubes
Review by DAVID SOUTHWELL
Book | Darkest Hour | PG
Darkest Hour appears predestined to deliver a gold Oscar to leading man Gary Oldman. But for audiences the reward is a gripping and rousing portrayal of a pivotal moment in modern history, even if the film’s pivotal moment is potentially polarising.
Shepparton’s long journey to joy and song
JOAN MCRAE
It’s 4 February 2018 and 500 worshippers crowd into the splendid new worship space and gathering area at Shepparton Uniting Church. Long before worship begins at 4pm, seats in the worship space and a couple of hundred more in the narthex have filled. And still they come!
Walk for refugees
As refugee advocates prepare for this year’s Palm Sunday Walk for Justice for Refugees, a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the fate of those left behind on Manus and Nauru.
According to Guardian Australia, more than 150 refugees from Australia’s two offshore immigration centres have been resettled in the US. Approximately 2000 refugees remain ...
The promise of new life
As I was reflecting on the readings for Lent in the Revised Common Lectionary, I noticed that running through the sections from the Hebrew Scriptures is a theme of God’s faithfulness to God’s people and the way this brings joy, renewal and life.
Many of us will have taken on Lenten practices and disciplines to ...
Allan Thompson celebrates 50 years of very active ministry
NIGEL TAPP
Family folklore has it that the first time Rev Allan Thompson’s paternal grandmother held him in her arms she boldly declared that the little fellow would become a moderator of the Presbyterian Church.
“That did not quite happen…but I came close,” Allan laughed.
All together now
The Presbytery of Tasmania’s new office, on the top floor of the Pilgrim Uniting Church building in Launceston’s central business district, was officially opened by moderator Rev Sharon Hollis last month.
The Paterson St site is now home to a strong Uniting Church presence including the Pilgrim congregation, a child care service and the Northern ...
Letter to the editor – March 2018
Uniting friends
I vaguely remembering seeing a story about the Allens, however, little did I know then that by the end of 2017 I would have a sense of connectedness with them (‘Florence and Sheryil Allen avoid deportation’, February).
It was late November when I received an email, in my capacity as secretary to the church council ...
Rebel yell
Book | Rebel in the Ranks | Brad Gregory
The Reformation is sometimes spoken of as creating the proliferation of churches we see today. It can also been seen as concerning dogmatic nit-picking over religious matters that have little relevance for the majority of society outside the churches.
Miracle at Mallacoota Beach Mission
CHRIS WARD
It was 6.30pm on New Year’s Eve. I was walking with my son Lachlan along the estuary by the boats at Mallacoota in the huge caravan park.
It was a beautiful evening and my cooking duties at our Beach Mission were over for the day.
Wishing well
Review by DAVID SOUTHWELL
Movie | The Shape of Water | MA15+
The Shape of Water is, like its male romantic lead, something of an oddity.
Directed and co-written by Guillermo del Toro, it defies easy taxonomy into genre.
The film might be considered a love story where boy meets girl – if ...
