Features

Young leaders talk about faith Four emerging leaders in the Uniting Church talk to Journey about their passion for living out the gospel. Stephen Longbottom, 29, lives in Toowong, Brisbane and has a background in corporate accounting and finance. At Toowong Uniting Church I participate in a leadership residency program, coordinate our English as a Second Language program and help ...

Christmas marks the time God physically became part of the human story. What does it actually mean to live out the spirit of Christmas? Rohan Salmond explores. Gleaming light softly illuminates a huddle of people gathered around a sleeping baby as he lies nestled in a small box of yellow straw. Three bearded men in crowns and turbans and a ...

A renewed passion for planting new communities of faith is taking root in the Uniting Church Queensland Synod. Rohan Salmond explores. There was something different about the 31st Queensland Synod in Session. While synods are usually fairly sedate—sometimes even ponderous—on 14 and 15 October 2014 members of Synod raced from room to room talking excitedly in groups about the future ...

Multicultural advocate Lesley Bryant talks to Dianne Jensen about her passion for building trust in fractured communities. When Lesley Bryant first learned about her Samoan great-grandmother, it seemed like a romantic addendum to an ordinary family history. Years later, she came to understand how the legacy of Queensland’s dark history of indentured South Sea Islander labour had affected her own ...

For every death by suicide, Lifeline estimates that every day as many as 30 people make an attempt, and 250 make suicide plans. Ashley Thompson speaks with Christians affected by, and called to care for, those living with suicidal thoughts. Trigger warning: What follows is a retelling of people affected by suicide and/or involved in crisis support. If you should ...

Former South Sudanese refugee Maria (Nyaluit) Phalpang belongs to the Uniting Church Nuer faith community in Brisbane. She tells her story to Dianne Jensen. Maria (Nyaluit) Phalpang has travelled a long way from her childhood home of Bentiu in Unity, a predominantly Christian state in war-torn South Sudan. Faith, family and a passion for education have sustained her on the ...

Whenever two or three people gather to eat and drink together as part of worship, café church is happening. Dianne Jensen talks to three Queensland congregations exploring fresh forms of this ancient model of being church. It’s family friendly, low key, and a lot harder to slip into the back row unnoticed. Café church is a contemporary reimagining of a ...

Build the Future managing director Melanie Minichiello talks to Dianne Jensen about her passion for helping young people re-connect with society. Gratitude. It’s as old-fashioned as a hand-written thank-you note, but youth advocate Melanie Minichiello says being grateful is a key ingredient in happiness and wellbeing. “Gratitude allows us to look beyond ourselves and to gain perspective and balance,” says ...

The dreaded “F” word: bra burnings and angry women are so last century yet the stigma around feminism remains. Ashley Thompson speaks with four Christian women reclaiming feminist values for ministry and mission. Simply put, feminism is a stand for the political, economic and social equality of the sexes. It is the belief that men and women should have equal ...

The ministry of lay preacher lies at the heart of the Uniting Church’s vision of a Christian community which celebrates the gifts of every member. Dianne Jensen reports. Caroline Holmes from Fitzroy North Rockhampton Uniting Church has clocked up 53 years of lay preaching, and she is busier than ever. She is one of an army of lay preachers who ...