Op shop rises from the ashes

 

The Bridgewater Gagebrook Uniting Church has re-opened its op shop doors again after the building was severely damaged by a deliberately lit fire on 6 April.

About $35,000 damaged was caused to the Tottenham Rd property, located in Hobart’s northern suburbs. The fire and smoke damage destroyed all goods housed inside.

The congregation has spent about 10 weeks ...

QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY GONGS FOR 10 CHURCH MEMBERS


Eleven people connected with the Uniting Church in Victoria were recognised in the Queen’s Birthday honours list released on Monday.

Julie Cox (pictured) was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) while the remaining 10 received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).

Ms Cox – a former teacher and director of special education ...

ReGen rejects ACL views on helping drug users

UnitingCare ReGen, the lead alcohol and other drug treatment and education agency of UnitingCare Victoria & Tasmania, has  responded to claims made in last Friday’s Herald Sun that a change in the Victorian government’s opposition to the establishment of a pilot Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) in Richmond, “would enrage Christian groups” (‘Services back injecting room’, 02/06/17).
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Breaking the fast and building understanding

On Thursday St Thomas’ Uniting Church in Craigieburn will host an Iftar dinner, the traditional Islamic breaking of the fast meal held at sundown during the period of Ramadan.
Twelve people will attend from St Thomas and 12 from the local Turkish Muslim community.
Diners will sit at six tables with an equal representation of Christians and Muslims.

The ABC’s War on Religion


FRIDAY FORUM
YOUR VIEWS ON THE NEWS

MATT PULFORD

The ABC is failing Australia’s faith communities with its contempt for religious programming.

This is a particularly painful admission for me as a lifelong believer in public broadcasting and an ABC employee of more than 10 years.

Over the last three years program changes driven directly by ...

John Cleary laments the ABC’s loss of belief


John Cleary says he looks back on his career as a religious broadcaster with a personal sense of fulfilment but fears his old employer has lost its sense of purpose.

Cleary wrapped up a 30-year career producing and presenting religious programs for ABC radio and television last December with the axing of Sunday Nights, the four-hour nationally ...

Taylor-made message of resilience


PENNY MULVEY

Undeterred by the sudden arrival of wintery weather, 80 people attended the UCA VicTas moderator’s luncheon panel at St Stephen’s Wodonga titled ‘Courage roars quietly’.

Facilitated by Rev Sharon Hollis, the three-women panel had the audience enthralled as they discussed keys to resilience both as individuals and as a community.

Various experts describe finding resilience ...

Young Muslim helps JIM conference build bridges

DENISSE SANDOVAL

When Anam Javed from the Islamic Council of Victoria heard about the Manchester bombing last Monday, she braced herself for the deluge of hostile phone calls the organisation would inevitably receive.

Anam is secretary of the Islamic Council of Victoria and she spoke about the challenges of living in Australia as a young Muslim woman at the ...

Filipino churches speak out against martial law


The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) has called for peace and interfaith unity following the declaration of martial law on the island of Mindanao in southern Philippines.

Violence erupted last week when the national army attempted to capture Isnilon Hapilon, who authorities believe is the main ISIS leader in the Philippines. The ISIS-inspired Maute group stormed the ...

Stark vision of beauty


The side wall of the Uniting Church’s synod offices at 130 Lt Collins St is being turned into a visual meditation on what we see and what we don’t.

Artist Al Stark is into the second week of transforming the Coromandel Place laneway wall into a giant mural and thinks the project will be finished in another ...

Dying with dignity Bill fails in Tasmanian parliament


For the third time in a decade, the Tasmanian parliament has rejected a Bill that would have allowed adults to voluntarily end their lives, under certain conditions, with a lethal drug.

Co-sponsored by former Labor premier Lara Giddings and Greens leader Cassie O’Connor, the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill (2016) would have enabled Tasmanian adults to gain access ...

Piecing together life stories

SYNOD’S Victorian Archives is making it easier for those who were in the care of church-affiliated babies and children’s homes to find out more about their past. Archives was awarded a federal government grant as part of the national Find & Connect project, which has funded casual staff to index the records kept from babies and children’s ...