Religion News Service continues to deliver interesting content. On his blog, On Freedom, Brian Pellot examines the role of digital media in the growth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. According to Brian, Missionary Chat has been a wild success since its launch in 2008. “Hundreds of baptisms have resulted from conversations that began on Missionary Chat in the ...

The UK’s first ever atheist advertising campaign launches today, with official support from Professor Richard Dawkins, best-selling author of The God Delusion. The campaign will feature adverts across London’s bendy buses. The slogan on the buses will read: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” This appears to be a tactful retreat from Professor Dawkins’ previous ...

Eight Australians and two New Zealanders attended the World Methodist Evangelism Institute 8th International Conference in Atlanta, Georgia Three hundred people from 68 countries took up the opportunity to understand better the issues of evangelism and church growth from a mainline church perspective. Among them was Rev Ken Anderson who spent many years at the Robina Uniting Church in Queensland ...

Summary Synod Standing Committee Update – February 2023 The Synod Standing Committee (SSC) meets on the first Thursday of every month. Updates from the Moderator and General Secretary The Moderator presented the Moderator’s Medal to Heather Opekar of Victoria Point and shared it in the celebration. The Moderator also spoke at Rev. Ray Thompson’s funeral; he was the eighth Moderator ...

Despite what you may have heard, the current status of Christianity around the world is not all doom and gloom: there are still regions experiencing rapid Christian growth and their stories provide useful lessons in how we may be missionally fruitful and socially transformational. Simon Gomersall writes. Brave is the person who attempts to predict the future. Or foolish. I ...

Queensland Synod General Secretary Rev Heather den Houting provides an update on the Project Plenty visioning exercise. “If you think the institutional church will look like this in five years’ time, then you haven’t been paying attention.” This is one of my mantras in 2020, and a sentiment that is being reflected in the What we heard report emerging from ...

Simon Gomersall—Director of Activate (Gap Year Program) at Trinity College Queensland—sat down with students towards the end of the year-long program to reflect on their experiences. Activate is for people between 18 and 30 years who want to study theology and apply their learning in real-world contexts. Students complete a Diploma of Ministry, undertake numerous life-skill programs, develop ministry skills ...

Toowong Uniting Church is reaping the benefits of connections with international students by providing an avenue to explore faith and transition into life in Brisbane. James O’Callaghan reports. It may seem like a world away from the glitzy buzz of Shanghai, Tokyo or Seoul but for some international students the inner city Brisbane suburb of Toowong has its own distinct ...

The Journey team selects stories that got us talking this week.   Spiritual case for faith in space In light of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the United States’ moon landing, ABC News examines the role faith has played in the lives of those venturing into space. Most famously Buzz Aldrin, before making his moon walk, took communion and later read from John’s ...

The Journey team selects stories that got us talking this week.    Reap what you sow with a nice cup of joe Laist reports on efforts by a Korean church in California to attract new congregants with coffee. The Ignatius Café offers the kind of beverages you’d expect from a popular coffee house but the establishment’s owner is actually the St Agnes ...