The Uniting Church in Australia joyfully welcomes the safe release of the 45 Fijian peacekeepers serving in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the border of Israel and Syria.
The peacekeepers, referred to as the Golan 45, safely crossed into Israeli-held territory on Thursday, having been held captive by Islamist militants for two weeks.
This mother and daughter were among thousands to flee the Islamic State after militants overtook Iraq’s second city of Mosul, finding shelter and clean water at a temporary displacement camp next to a Kurdish checkpoint in Kalak, Iraq. This edition of Crosslight is dedicated to children both here in Australia and around the world who are innocent victims of ...
By Chip Henriss
Pax Christi, an organisation that has for more than 40 years played a vital role in promoting issues of peace and disarmament, is looking to its future.
Its dedicated members, who have engaged with issues such as the Vietnam War, nuclear ...
Uniting Church leaders from across Australia joined interfaith and ecumenical friends last month in a statement of solidarity with Australia’s Muslim community.
Uniting Church in Australia President Rev Professor Andrew Dutney was one of more than 150 faith and community leaders who declared: ‘We’ll Love Muslims 100 Years.’
The statement is a reference to the banner headline in the Weekend ...
The Uniting Church in Australia has expressed its deep concern at the continuing persecution of Christian minorities throughout the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Syria.
The President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Rev Professor Andrew Dutney, said the communities were being impacted by war or directly persecuted to the point of annihilation.
Earlier this year Uniting Church members wrote letters to the Victorian Government, at the urging of the synod’s Commission for Mission, asking that the Government not allow pokie venues to introduce controversial loyalty schemes.
The forthcoming Synod meeting will be held at La Trobe University in Bundoora from 19-24 September.
The theme for the meeting is Movement & Rest: signs of God in us.
Over the six days of the gathering members will receive and discuss more than 50 reports as well as a range of proposals from Presbyteries, congregations, facilitation groups and ...
Provisions that protect the community from racial hatred remain in place, for now, following the Federal Government’s announcement to shelve plans to amend Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
Uniting Church President Rev Prof Andrew Dutney welcomed the announcement that proposed changes to the Act were taken off the table.
By Audrey Schueren
A record turnout of more than 150 people attended the Justice and International Mission (JIM) unit’s 2014 convention on Saturday 9 August.
The theme was “We’ve Boundless Plains to Share,” and focussed on refugees and asylum seekers.
The event, held at the Centre for Theology and Ministry, commenced with some powerful poetry, stories and a song ...
The synod’s Commission for Mission has requested Uniting Church members to engage in letter-writing to the Thai and Australian Governments regarding Burmese asylum seekers being been sold into slavery in Thailand.
In Burma, in October 2012, “ethnic cleansing” and crimes against humanity were committed by security forces against the Rohingya ethnic group. Hundreds of Rohingya were murdered and more than ...
The Assembly Standing Committee of the Uniting Church in Australia has revised and updated the Church’s policy on managing complaints of sexual abuse and misconduct by members or adherents.
The policy clarifies and supports the standards of conduct that the Uniting Church expects of its members, whose behaviour should be and be seen to be beyond reproach.
By Penny Mulvey
The 16th public hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, relating to the Catholic Archdiocese’s Melbourne Response, concluded in Melbourne late last month.
This was the first public hearing held in Victoria although counsel assisting the Commission, Gail Furness, made it clear it would not be the last, and that other issues ...
