Features

THERE’S NOTHING new about the pursuit of happiness. ABC Science writer Judy Skatssoon said in her article Hunting for happiness, “We’ve been doing it ever since we started looking for a dry cave and something good to put in our stomachs. “The ancient Greeks turned happiness into a lifestyle philosophy, with the Epicurean school advocating a simple life and simple ...

NEW ZEALAND’S second biggest city was again plunged into a chaos of dust clouds, rock slides, traffic jams and collapsing buildings, after being rocked by a 5.7-magnitude and a 6.3-magnitude earthquake within 90 minutes in mid-afternoon on 13 June. Many buildings, including churches, were damaged or have collapsed. One elderly rest home resident died in a fall, according to police. The ...

JIM HODGSON is a journalist with extensive experience in Latin America and the Caribbean. Since 2000, Hodgson has worked with the United Church of Canada’s Caribbean and Latin America desk, most recently as programme coordinator for South America and the Caribbean. During the past 25 years he has written for a variety of church-based media and worked for extended periods in ...

Power from the Holy Spirit, drawing on “the uncreated energy of God” and revealing the Word of God in Jesus Christ, is the divine blessing for which Christians give thanks on the Sunday of Pentecost. The eight presidents of the World Council of Churches, in their annual Pentecost message, write that this holy day “offers a new opportunity to each ...

AROUND FORTY family radio stations from across the nation spoke out on behalf of women and children living in extreme poverty on 12 May in support of Compassion Day. Established by child advocacy and development agency Compassion Australia, radio stations dedicate their broadcast to raising funds for the work of Compassion one day each year. Compassion Australia CEO, Dr Tim ...

AROUND THREE hundred Christians from Australia, the Pacific, South East Asia and Africa will gather in Canberra from 17-20 September for the annual Voices for Justice (VFJ) conference. Organised by Micah Challenge, a coalition of over 30 aid and development agencies including UnitingWorld, participants spend the weekend worshipping and training before meeting with politicians to ask for better aid and ...

FARMING HAS come a long way in the last hundred years. Technology has provided us with new ways to produce food but these have not always been kind to the earth. Synod Green Church advocate, Rev Judith Dalton, is keen to get rid of the idea that rural communities are ‘anti-green’. “Many farmers are deeply connected to their land and ...

THERE ARE both practical and spiritual dimensions to the way we relate to the world of nature, but is there an overriding philosophy that guides our personal theology and action? In the West, Christian scriptures have deeply influenced people’s ways of thinking about the environment. But people draw different interpretations. These range from the idea of human dominion, to that ...

THERE IS a global growing awareness of the developed world’s reliance on oil – a finite resource that many scientists say is running out. The Transition Network is a UK based initiative that helps communities “deal with climate change and shrinking supplies of cheap energy (peak oil)”. The network has now reached Australia and members of the Kenmore Uniting Church, ...

IN THE quiet suburb of Sherwood, in Brisbane’s inner south-west, the Cullen-Erickson family are your average family. Margaret and Grant, and their children, James (16) and Alexander (12), lead busy lives and are active members of Sherwood Uniting Church, a congregation known for their focus on justice and sustainability. The family have also made a commitment to lessen their impact ...