Living our mission

Forty years ago, the inaugural Assembly of the Uniting Church issued a Statement to the Nation. This statement outlines the Uniting Church’s desire to be involved in “social and national affairs”. The Church engages with our neighbours worldwide but particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. The statement commits the Uniting Church to basic Christian values of the “importance of every ...

The energy and joy of Yurora

I’m writing this column the day after Yurora 17 (NCYC). I am tired of body but full of joy as I reflect on this inspiring gathering of a thousand young people from across the Uniting Church.

Yurora 17 was a diverse community made up of young people and adult volunteers all seeking a better understanding of God’s passion for ...

God’s sense of Christmas time

Christmas is fast approaching.

Every Christmas-countdown calendar, every new Christmas product on the shelf, every Christmas catalogue mocks my lack of preparation and fills me with an ever-growing sense dread about what I still need to do before Christmas.

In the popular imagination and the life of the church, Christmas is the pinnacle as the year comes to an ...

Forgotten meaning of Halloween

With Halloween goodies and Christmas delights jostling for space on the shelves of our supermarket, it can be hard to remember that the season of trick-or-treating has its foundation in the Christian celebration of All Saints and All Souls.

Traditionally Halloween is the vigil day before All Saints day. All Saints day is the day to remember that all ...

Caring for carers

I have written and spoken before about my partner Michael’s depression and anxiety and his death. With Mental Health Week approaching, I offer a brief reflection on some of the beliefs and attitudes I have experienced that make having a mental illness or caring for a family member with a mental illness more difficult.

People who have mental illness ...

Safety lesson is one we need to learn

Over the last few weeks I have spent considerable time thinking about safety, security and what it means for us to become a safer church. Some of this thinking has arisen from meeting with survivors of abuse.

Their courage in telling their stories and holding us accountable for what they suffered demands that we work as hard as we ...

Love, light, life

Goodness is stronger than evil;
Love is stronger than hate;
Light is stronger than darkness;
Life is stronger than death;
Victory is ours through Him who loves us.  – Desmond Tutu, An African Prayer book

Over the last few weeks I have found myself returning again to this powerful prayer written by ...

Lessons from Synod

One of the things I value about the Synod’s Vision and Mission Principles is that they tell us who we are, and call us to more truly become who we are, for the sake of serving the reign of God.

At the recent Synod meeting there were many moments where I saw the already and the still-becoming nature of the ...

It is written

I am writing this in an in-between time. I have finished my placement at the CTM and am awaiting my installation as moderator. I am in a time of learning and preparation and my mind and heart are pondering what it might mean to be moderator for the next three years.

Over the last few months I have often been ...

Farewell

Famed writer, Annie Dillard wrote in her bestselling novel Pilgrim at Tinker Creek: “Time is the one thing we have been given and we have been given to time.”

Well my time as moderator has almost given out. This will be my last Crosslight reflection as moderator and I take the opportunity to thank all those who ...

Also with you

As moderator, I have been attending settlement conferences with survivors of past sexual abuse – particularly those who were wards of the state in the 1950s and ’60s. The experience has challenged me to think deeply about the significant physical, emotional and spiritual impact on those abused.

During the sessions, various lawyers painstakingly articulate the abuse. There is no glossing ...

Effective visiting

I have a booklet that was published by the Joint Board of Christian Education way back in 1986. It was part of a Uniting Church Elder Series and the subject matter was ‘Effective Visiting’. The co-authors were Rev John Billington and Rev Willis Jago (both now deceased).

John Billington wrote on Visiting the Healthy and Willis Jago wrote on ...