May Crosslight now available

Cathy Raleigh (pictured left with former staff member Claire Hetzel) loves volunteering at Kildonan UnitingCare’s community garden. Cathy is one of the thousands of volunteers who contribute to the life of the Uniting Church in congregations, agencies and schools. A report looking at the profile of those who selflessly donate their time will be launched during volunteer ...

Passing the buck – Panama Papers explained

“For what does it profit a man that he should gain the whole world and lose his soul.” Mark (8:36)

TIM LAM

It has been described as the biggest data leak in history. An estimated 11.5 million files were leaked from the database of Mossack Fonseca, a little-known law firm in Panama. The Panama Papers, as they are popularly known, ...

Stop foreign aid cuts

Church leaders from 12 denominations, including Uniting Church President Stuart McMillan, have called on Treasurer Scott Morrison to stop further cuts to Australia’s aid budget.

A scheduled $224 million cut in the May federal budget will see Australia’s aid contribution fall to 0.22 per cent of Australia’s GNI (gross national income) – its lowest level in history. ...

Forest Hill twins have 99 reasons to celebrate

For almost 100 years, Uniting AgeWell residents Mary Mullarvey and Catherine Zimmer have done just about everything together.

And on 13 April, the identical twins celebrated their 99th birthday with a joint celebration with family and friends at Strathdon Community in Forest Hill.

Since birth, the sisters have shared a special bond and lived almost parallel lives. ...

Place-to-place placement

DEB BENNETT

Mobile ministry, an innovative placement idea, hopes it can soon offer support to country churches throughout the Loddon Mallee region.

Like many rural communities throughout Australia, isolated congregations in the presbytery of Loddon Mallee often rely on the efforts of lay ministers and dedicated church members to keep running. They support communities dealing with the ...

The servant community

DEB BENNETT

Last month we spoke with four Uniting Church volunteers who devote countless hours to serving their congregations and communities. Their stories reflect the experiences of the thousands of volunteers who are often described as the ‘backbone’ of the Uniting Church.

The importance of volunteers to the work of the church cannot be underestimated. This is ...

Neomad takes the Gold

EMMET O’CUANA

A few years ago Crosslight profiled Australian online comic and multimedia project Neomad.  On Friday 15 April, the science fiction adventure series won the 2016 Gold Ledger award (the Oscars for comics) for the Neomad: The Complete Collection print edition published last year.

Neomad is set in Australia’s Pilbara region in the year 2076. Its ...

Singing for social justice

TIM LAM

Uniting Church members in the Warrnambool region are using the power of song to bring about social change.

The One Earth Many Voices choir came together in 2014 and includes several Uniting Church members from Warrnambool and Port Fairy. It was formed as a response to social and environmental issues, such as refugees, climate change ...

Justice for Timor-Leste  

TIM LAM

Australia played an instrumental role restoring peace to Timor-Leste following the 1999 independence referendum. The two countries continue to maintain close political ties, but one sticking point threatens to tarnish that legacy of goodwill – oil.

As one of the world’s youngest nations, Timor-Leste is dependent on revenue from natural resources to lift its population ...

Timeless tale

Film |The Jungle Book |PG

Review by ROS MARSDEN

Keen to “forget your worries and your strife”? Then treat yourself to a night at the cinema to see the 2016 version of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.

It’s a risk turning up to watch a movie remake that formed part of your childhood and an even greater risk ...

St Stephen’s host Ni-Vanuatu nurses

ADRIENNE DYALL

In the April Crosslight, Jim Wakelam challenged readers to think about ways to respond to need. As volunteers, mistakes are made and, over the decades, many changes have occurred in the way Christians witness across the cultures: from the White Missionary days, to volunteering in work parties, to eco-tourism, cheque-book activism and more.

The motto ...