Roger and out

UnitingCare Harrison in Knox has farewelled former-CEO Roger Gough (pictured). For more than 20 years, Mr Gough has overseen the development of Harrison from an agency of 10 staff and 50 clients, to 85 staff and 200 volunteers who have helped 5000 clients this year.

Using the skills learned through a successful corporate management career, Mr Gough successfully steered ...

Australia’s shame

The Uniting Church in Australia continues to be at the forefront of advocacy for the right of people seeking asylum on our shores.

In an opinion piece published on the ABC Religion and Ethics program UCA president Rev Professor Andrew Dutney commented on the latest attempt by the Federal Government to deter asylum seekers.

“Even if the so-called PNG Solution ...

The significance of Lament

On Sunday 6 October, two of the lectionary readings come from the Book of Lamentations, a little known book of the Old Testament which captures the trauma the Israelites experienced as a result of the Babylonian exile.

Dr Elizabeth Boase, director of studies and lecturer in Old Testament studies at Adelaide College of Divinity, told Wisdom’s Feast participants in July ...

Conversation continues

Crosslight, the Listening Post website, the Uniting our future program, the Moderator and the General Secretary continue to receive correspondence questioning the failures relating to Acacia College and the subsequent property sales process.

A report prepared by the consultancy firm, PPB Advisory, outlining the failures of vision, strategy and business planning across the life of the Acacia project was presented ...

Working creatively

To say Antony McMullen, newly appointed director of Creative Ministries Network (CMN), is passionate about justice in the workplace would be something of an understatement. As a social justice officer with the synod’s Justice and International Mission (JIM) unit, his work often covered areas such as workplace reform for those in some of society’s most undervalued occupations, such as cleaners.

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Slave traders arrested in Thailand

The Democratic Voice of Burma has reported that Thai authorities recently arrested three leading members of a Burmese human trafficking gang. The gang is responsible for selling hundreds of its fellow countrymen into slavery and murdering dozens of people.

According to the Burmese embassy in Bangkok, forces from the Royal Thai Police and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) arrested ...

Books and voices that challenge

Questions relating to faith, purpose and mission were recurring themes at the annual Australian Book of the Year awards held in Melbourne last month.

Forged with Flames, a true story of courage and survival (Wild Dingo Press 2012)  by Ann Fogarty and Anne Crawford was awarded the 2013 Australian Christian Book of the Year.

This biographical account tells the deeply ...

Changing leadership at Frontier Services

After 18 years extending John Flynn’s ‘mantle of safety’ throughout inland Australia, the national director of Frontier Services, Rosemary Young, has retired.

Under Ms Young’s leadership, Frontier Services has expanded its ministry and community services, making an enormous difference in the lives of tens of thousands of Australians living in remote and regional areas.

Frontier Services employs staff in 120 ...

Ken Sumner begins role as NATISEC director

Former national chairperson and Victoria state director for the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC), Rev Ken Sumner, was recently appointed the director of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission (NATSIEC) at the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA).

Mr Sumner, who was ordained in the Uniting Church in 1998, comes from the Ngarrindjeri people ...

High cost of fashion

Specialty Fashion Group (Millers, Katies, Crossroads, Autograph and City Chic) is the latest Australian company to sign the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord. The Accord has been developed by local and global unions and labour rights organisations.

Specialty Fashion Group signed after being targeted for community action, including letters from Uniting Church members and moderator Dan Wootton. More than ...

Tackling greed and poverty

The Justice and International Mission (JIM) unit of the Commission for Mission is inviting Uniting Church members to explore social justice issues at two upcoming conventions held in Melbourne and Tasmania.

In Melbourne, at the Centre for Theology and Ministry on 5 October, presentations and workshops will cover the increasing threat corporations pose upon human rights.

“Such greed stands in ...

MLC governance review completed

The Board of Uniting Church school, MLC, last month released the independent review of its governance structure, commissioned in the wake of the furore over its termination of long standing principal, Rosa Storelli last year.

The 40 page report, by Libby Klein of Moores Legal, was considered by the Board at its August meeting, before the Uniting Church received the ...