October Crosslight now available

Anti-poverty week runs from the 12th to 18th of this month. Sometimes the issue of poverty, particularly on a world scale, can be so overwhelming the temptation is to avoid or ignore it. But as our front page image of shows, change can happen. In North India, urban development workers from the local church, supported by UnitingWorld, are creating new ...

Ice – Beyond the Headlines

By Tim Lam

Crystal methamphetamine, more commonly known as ‘ice’, has featured prominently in news headlines in recent times. Stories of violent attacks on innocent bystanders and ice-induced psychosis are reported be occurring with alarming frequency. Crosslight attempts to sort fact from fiction.

Ice: an epidemic?           

Epidemic. Scourge. Crisis. These are some of the words used by media and politicians ...

Wesley Chapel turns 175

By NIGEL TAPP

In the 1800s, the pious Methodists of the Wesley Chapel in Melville St, Hobart, certainly did not take kindly to their members partaking of alcohol.

In fact, imbibing saw more than one gentleman find himself not only mentioned in the church’s minutes for being drunk and disorderly, but having his membership ticket revoked.

Penance and personal piety ...

Great things, great love.

By Cath Taylor

Mother Theresa is credited with saying:  “We cannot do great things, only small things with great love.”

Sometimes, perhaps we can do both.

Kakuma refugee camp is a sprawling mass of humanity on the border between Kenya and South Sudan. Under canvas and tin supplied by the UNHCR and the Kenyan government, more than 150,000 ...

Crosslight – Publication of the Year

Crosslight was named Publication of the Year at the annual conference of the Australasian Religious Press Association (ARPA) in Brisbane in late August.

The annual trophy award is one of two prestigious awards presented at the dinner ceremony; the first is the Gutenberg Award, the presidential award presented to a person or publication for overall excellence in religious communication. The ...

Graeme Clark – Hearing the Call

Interview with Mark Worthing, author of Graeme Clark The man who invented the bionic ear

By Emmet O’Cuana

On Friday 14 August I stood with a large group of colleagues, former patients, and families touched by the pioneering work of Professor Graeme Clark and chanted happy birthday on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

This was the cap to ...

UCA Support for Syrian refugees

The Uniting Church in Australia has been quick to respond to what has been termed the worst refugee crisis since the end of the Second World War.

It is estimated that more than 9 million people have fled their homes since the outbreak of civil war in Syria in 2011. Many of those have sought shelter in neighbouring countries ...

What mines are yours?

 

Jessie Cato has recently been employed by the Justice and International Mission (JIM) unit as a part-time coordinator for their Publish What You Pay (PWYP) campaign.

PWYP is an international campaign aimed at creating greater transparency in the extractives – mining, gas and oil – sector. To achieve this in Australia, Ms Cato advocates for the introduction of ...

Leading the way

Book | Women in Leadership – A Partnership between the Uniting Church and Vanuatu

Review by Randall Prior

An unexpected partnership between women in the Uniting Church and women in Vanuatu has given rise to a new publication, Vanuatu Women in Leadership, to be launched at the Centre for Theology & Ministry on 6 October.

The enthusiastic response in Vanuatu ...

Celtic pilgrimage

Beechworth has a rich history of Celtic influence and culture. The discovery of gold at Beechworth in 1852 brought many Irish miners to the area. Every November, the regional Victoria town hosts a popular three-day festival celebrating its Celtic roots.

Beechworth Uniting Church has been running an annual Celtic pilgrimage for the past 14 years. The contemplative walk takes ...

Support for human trafficking advocates

Phuket authorities recently acquitted Australian journalist Alan Morison, and his Thai colleague Chutima Sidasathian, of defamation charges brought against them by the Thai Navy.

They faced up to seven years in prison on charges relating to republishing, online, a paragraph from a Reuter’s news report. The Reuter’s article outlined reports that Thai naval forces were complicit in human trafficking of ...

Preaching to the Converted

Book | Live Love Lead | Brian Houston

Review by Emmet O’Cuana

“Your Heavenly Father didn’t create you to live a life of mediocrity. He created you to live life in the faith lane.”

I have a feeling Pastor Houston has an amazing collection of dad-jokes for any occasion.

Having read Live Love Lead I find myself at an awkward ...