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 ...
Thousands of Uniting Church members are joining forces with Christians across Australia to speak up against human trafficking and slavery on Abolitionist Sunday 23 November.
Following in the footsteps of those whose faith inspired them to seek a legal end to slavery more than 200 years ago, these modern-day Abolitionists are saying ‘no’ to a world where millions of men, ...
By Penny Mulvey
Pornography is an artificial digital drug which is having a dramatic impact on the male brain, a Christian neuroscientist told a Melbourne seminar in June.
More than 200 predominantly young men and women attended the event titled Grey Matters: How a porn saturated culture is affecting our brains, jointly hosted by Guilty Pleasure and The Roundtable, an ...
The Uniting Church in Australia has called for the immediate and safe return of 45 Fijian peacekeepers taken captive in the Middle East.
The peacekeepers, who are part of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), were captured by Syrian rebels last week in the Golan Heights area between Syria and Israel.
The Uniting Church in Australia has welcomed an announcement by the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection that some children in detention will be released into the community, and asked for reassurances on the conditions of their care
“We hope that the increased support and protection announced today will be sufficient and ongoing,” said Uniting Church President Rev Prof ...
The Uniting Church in Australia has welcomed the Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s announcement that he is taking proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act off the table.
“I thank the Prime Minister for his leadership on this matter and pay tribute to all the community leaders who stood together to oppose the changes,” said Uniting Church President Rev Prof ...
