South Australian moderator, Dr Deidre Palmer, will be the next president-elect of the Uniting Church in Australia following her election today.
Dr Palmer – the second woman appointed to the role following Dr Jill Tabart (1994-1997) – will begin her term at the 15th triennial Assembly in 2018.
Nominated by the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, Dr Palmer has spent ...
Victoria’s recently appointed gender and sexuality commissioner, Rowena Allen, knows a thing or two about social justice.
In fact, she feels her passion for speaking up for the vulnerable is inevitable, given her background in the Uniting Church.
The establishment of a gender and sexuality commissioner was a commitment of the Labor party prior to the state election. The role ...
Crosslight last spoke with the Major Strategic Review (MSR) team in August last year. Since then we have reported on workshops, surveys and other engagements. People have also written letters to Crosslight commenting on the MSR. Crosslight sat down with the MSR team to discuss what is happening and what has been achieved so far?
Family violence is no longer an issue to be kept ‘behind closed doors’. High profile cases, such as the tragic murder of Luke Batty at the hands of his estranged father, have brought the reality faced by many families into sharp public focus.
Prior to the last Victorian state election, the ALP promised to establish a ...
The 14th Assembly of the Uniting Church has demanded that the Australian Government adopt policies which genuinely seek to support rather than demonise asylum seekers and refugees.
In adopting a proposal from UnitingJustice, the Assembly has also called for:
As a direct result of global pressure from advocacy groups such as the Uniting Church, more than 200 companies have now signed the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord.
The Accord aims to ensure Bangladesh clothing factories are safe and that the tragic 2013 Rana Plaza collapse, which killed more than 1,100 people and injured thousands more, ...
The Commission for Mission (CFM) is encouraging support for the ‘Stop Australia being a Haven for Dirty Money’ postcard campaign. The campaign calls on the Australian Government to combat stolen money coming into Australia, in particular from developing countries.
The CFM has conducted an investigation into prominent businessmen and politicians from Papua New Guinea who have been convicted or ...
Rev Alastair Macrae introduced the Doctrine Working Group’s The theology of marriage and same-gender relationships within the Uniting Church report to the Assembly, noting that the report is based on the 1997 resolution on marriage and the Uniting Church and the marriage liturgy found in Uniting in Worship 2.
He acknowledged that the theological framework of creation/fall was ...
The Standing Committee recently approved a new strategic direction for the UnitingCare agency network as part of the broader strategic review of all activities and operations of the synod.
A new agency board will be established to oversee delivery and support functions of community services across Victoria and Tasmania.
Governance of the UnitingCare network will subsequently move from the Commission ...
The Synod Standing Committee recently made the decision to withdraw as a Supporting Church of ACCESS Ministries.
The decision, made at the Standing Committee’s 24 June meeting, comes after more than three years of consultation with groups including ACCESS Ministries, the Department of Education and Training and Uniting Church religious instructors.
The Christian Religious Education Task Group, on behalf of ...
The Uniting Church in Australia has been unable to achieve consensus on a proposal to amend regulations regarding eldership and church councils.
The results from the facilitation group on the issue of eldership in Uniting Church congregations was presented by Rev. Jenny Byrnes.
“Eleven of the 20 working groups only gave qualified support to the direction,” said Rev. Byrnes.
The power of institutions must never again be allowed to silence a child nor must it be allowed to diminish the preparedness or capacity of adults to act to protect children.
That was one of the key messages delivered by the Chair of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Justice Peter McClellan, to the 14th Triennial ...
