Tag Archives: Longreach Uniting Church

Rev Jenny Coombes—Longreach Uniting Church minister—reflects on what Christmas means for the Longreach region of the outback and what people around the state can do for those impacted by drought. It’s a time when communities manage to come together regardless of how good or bad the year has been. Christmas lights and decorations start to appear on houses in town; ...

Hope was on the horizon when winter rains brought smiles back to the faces of western Queenslanders. Ashley Thompson checks in with Longreach Uniting Church minister Rev Jenny Coombes. Although 80 per cent of Queensland remains drought declared, the Longreach community has had their spirits lifted by the wettest winter on record. “Since the rain has come, morale has lifted ...

It’s 2016, the working world has changed and “traditional” marriage roles no longer exist. Ashley Thompson explores what it means to be today’s face of the minister’s partner. It was difficult to find people willing to speak to Journey about the challenges of being a minister’s spouse. Understandably, those who aren’t retired were not comfortable publicly voicing the strains ministry ...

Longreach minister Rev Jenny Coombes provides insight into how we can care for people in times of disaster. One of the greatest stressors in my life at present is having to smile and say “thank you very much” to people who bring goods into the area—toys, pamper packs, food hampers, hay and so on—then deal with businesses who stock these ...

Everyone tells us that the country is a real picture in a good season. But as the moderator Rev David Baker, Central Queensland Presbytery minister Rev Brian Gilbert and their Uniting Communications sidekick meet with church members in Longreach, Barcaldine and Blackall, the talk is all about the iron grip of the drought. Dianne Jensen reports. Over three days barrelling ...

UnitingCare Community, in partnership with StandBy Response Service, offers postvention programs to assist families, friends and communities bereaved by suicide. Ashley Goetze reports. Queensland’s largest drought has consequences that stretch beyond its thirsty soil. According to The Australian, Lifeline figures show that where severe drought hits, suicide rates increase sixfold. Issues of guilt and shame about suicide impact the grieving ...

Uniting Church bodies across Australia have coordinated to feed livestock, offering reprieve to desperate farmers throughout Queensland. Ashley Goetze reports. Confirmed by the ABC as Queensland’s most widespread drought on record, Frontier Services and members of two churches have independently taken action to alleviate the enormous cost of providing hay to Queensland’s starving livestock. “In six to eight weeks you ...