Intercultural and Intergenerational Workshops on the Road
How can people of different cultures and generations live out their faith together, where everyone is welcome and valued?
Around 100 people came to three different workshops in Melbourne and regional Victoria to learn more about what it means for us to be an intercultural and intergenerational church.
A Foundation for Healing
This month marks 23 years since the Uniting Church apologised for our part in the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and their spiritual homes – their country.
Being the Church in and for the World
The Uniting Church has an important role as a participant and a contributor to the global ecumenical movement.
This was clear for Assembly Theologian-in-Residence Rev. Dr Ji Zhang after an extended study trip to Heidelberg University, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and a theological gathering with the Christian Congress of Asia (CCA) in Indonesia.
Help set new Assembly Strategy
Assembly Strategic Plan 2020-2023
In the last three years, the national work of the Assembly has been guided by its Strategic Plan.
It is time to review the current directions and initiatives and begin developing a new Strategic Plan that will guide the national work of the Church from 2020-2023.
Have you joined a Circle of Interest?
It was a sweet celebration when the seven Advocates of the Assembly Circles of Interest marked the milestone of one year of the circles with birthday cake in the Assembly office last week.
The Advocates came together in Sydney, just over a year since the Circles launched as a new platform to connect people with the national work of the Uniting Church.
UCA National Safe Church Unit Launched
President Dr Deidre Palmer has officially launched the UCA’s National Safe Church Unit which will work to ensure the Uniting Church is a safe place for all.
More than 50 people representing the Assembly, synods, presbyteries and congregations attended the launch at the Queensland Synod chapel on Friday 23 August.
Inspiring Next Gen Ecumenism
More than 80 young people from WCC member churches and partners around the world participated in a Korean pilgrimage of justice and peace that included a visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which has divided the Korean Peninsula since 1953.
Under the theme “Walking with Peace, Reclaiming Hope”, I joined a passionate group of young pilgrims from all over the world seeking to enhance global solidarity among young people and inspire them to engage in the ecumenical movement.
All One Team
Presbytery Ministers from across the country came together in the incredible, rugged natural beauty of Alice Springs for the 2019 National Presbytery Ministers’ Conference.
A group of around 50 Presbytery Ministers from around Australia with a smattering of Synod and Assembly resource people attended over four days for a time of sharing and learning from one another.
More...
Co-workers in God’s Kingdom
Twenty-three Korean ministers in the Uniting Church, along with their partners, have gathered for an important time of fellowship and sharing for the Korean National Conference (KNC) Ministry Retreat on the Sunshine Coast from 12-15 August.
The theme of the conference “Better Together, Answers in Solidarity” reflects the deep belief that it’s better to be together in God’s mission and ministry. We are working together as co-workers in the kingdom of God.
A Destiny is Born, UAICC beginnings
“Why couldn’t Aboriginal Christians, like Maori Christians, take control of their own destiny?”
This was the question left lingering in the mind of the late Rev. Charles Harris’ having returned from a Christian Conference of Asia gathering in the Bay of Plenty, Aotearoa New Zealand, early in 1982.
Pacific plea for action
The call for Australia to take stronger action to limit climate change intensifies this week as Prime Minister Scott Morrison meets with Pacific leaders in Tuvalu, a nation whose very existence is under threat from rising seas.
Ahead of the Forum, Rev. James Bhagwan, the General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches, appealed to Mr Morrison calling for Australia to do more to reduce its carbon emissions and transition to renewable energy.
Time to Choose Humanity
A new report setting out why Australia must sign on to a global treaty to ban nuclear weapons was released by ICAN this week. It comes on the 74th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombings.
The report, titled Choosing Humanity, includes a contribution by the Uniting Church outlining the UCA’s longstanding commitment to a world free from nuclear weapons.