ALEX SANGSTER
‘Most of the refugees I spoke to on Manus had been drained of hope. They have a heaviness of spirit about them. Their struggle is existential: they are told that Australian public opinion is against them, detained, ignored, sent the message that they are somehow outside the scope of ordinary human kindness’ Tim Costello
Dear friends,
Please find attached a pastoral letter from the President of the Uniting Church Dr Deidre Palmer concerning the decision about marriage and same-gender marriage made at the Assembly meeting that concluded on Saturday.
I encourage you to read the letter and to share it with your congregation, faith community or organisation.
A reflection by Rev. Prof Andrew Dutney,
Professor of Theology, Flinders University
Past President, Uniting Church in Australia
The headline conceals what actually happened in Melbourne this week. Without setting out to do so, the Uniting Church recovered its stated vocation of making visible unity in diversity.
July was a busy month for Leprena, the Tasmanian home of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress.
The Leprena team was involved in several activities for NAIDOC week, which celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
DAVID GREENALL
Tongan King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipau’u thanked former missionaries from Victoria for their work in Tonga during a reception in Melbourne in June.
Their Majesties were welcomed by Synod of Victoria and Tasmania general secretary Rev Dr Mark Lawrence, who recounted the earliest connections between the Island kingdom and the British Methodist Church ...
DAVID SOUTHWELL
Every Monday morning a dedicated crew gets to work mowing, raking and gathering produce at the North Ringwood Uniting Church Welcome Community Garden.
The workers from Knoxbrooke Community tend to specialise in different tasks.
For example, Jesse can normally be found busily shredding and aerating the compost as it moves through stages ...
For those living without regular shelter through the winter months, a hospital cafeteria can offer respite and hot chocolate.
This is one of the very intimate details of what it is like to be young and homeless that can be observed at a photo exhibition being staged this month by Uniting Vic.Tas to mark Homelessness Week, ...
Uniting Church rites for same-gender marriage are being prepared for use from 29 September after the 15th Assembly decided to hold two equal but distinct statements of belief on marriage.
At the Assembly meeting in Melbourne last month, members resolved to allow UCA ministers the freedom to conduct or to refuse to conduct same-sex marriages.
When it comes to restoring, selling and giving away bikes, Peter Daly means business.
Mr Daly runs the ‘Recycle Bicycle’ program at St Stephen’s Uniting Church in Wodonga, which sells or gives away approximately 100 restored bikes a year.
The Recycle Bicycle shop maintains a stock of 40 to 50 bikes that range in ...
Uniting Church member Cath James believes marking life’s transitions for children and young people can be a vital part of keeping them involved in faith communities.
“Rituals help us mark a time and enter into something that is often too big for us to comprehend in that moment,” Cath said.
Ahead of Homelessness Week, which runs from 6 to 12 August, we talked to Mee Sook Kim from Lilydale Uniting Church. Mee Sook volunteers with ecumenical homeless shelter program Stable One.
Q: How does Stable One work?
Over the coldest 13 weeks of winter, seven churches in the Lilydale area take turns once a week to ...
BARRY GITTINS
Hannah* was a young girl in year six who needed encouragement. Every week of the school year she met for an hour with a Kids Hope Australia mentor, Sandra Savory from Crossroads Uniting Church.
Sandra listened, advised, and helped Hannah prepare for life at high school.
