Features

Scores of churches around Australia this week are displaying large posters with the words, “Jesus loves Osama.” The poster is part of a series of advertisements designed by Outreach Media (http://www.outreachmedia.org.au/) to promote what it sees as “the heart of the gospel.” But the notion that the Son of God would demonstrate affection for the world’s most wanted man, and ...

During much of my time at Primary School I participated each Monday morning in a ceremony that involved the raising of the Australian Flag and the repetition, with corresponding gestures, of the words: I am an Australian I love my country I salute her flag I honour her Queen I promise to cheerfully obey her laws I was proud to ...

After years of ignored warnings, when predictions of imminent ecological cataclysm were dismissed as fringe opinions of feral dissidents, environmentalism is now all the rage. Spurred on by the immense success and world-wide appeal of Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, environmental issues have dominated the airwaves and print media over the past eight months, tapping into the public’s latent ...

As a building designer familiar with the Building Code of Australia (BCA) John Crossley from the Vineyard Community of Faith and Knox Moorooka Uniting Church Congregation is concerned about the “obesity” of our current suburban building practices. He explained to Journey that one issue that is not covered by the BCA is how large a house does a family need, ...

UnitingCare has announced the proposed sale of Townsville’s Wesley Hospital, to the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, which is owned and operated by the Townsville Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy. The Council of Synod and the UnitingCare Board recently approved the sale which is subject to formal approval by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), was. Uniting HealthCare has operated ...

The team at Journey, Bruce, Osker and Mardi, wish you and your family a safe and blessed Christmas and a happy new year. Read on for The Christmas message from the Moderator of the Queensland Synod Rev Dr David Pitman  and the President of the Uniting Church in Australia Rev Gregor Henderson. __________________________________________ The Christmas Message from the Moderator of the ...

Following the successful Christmas promotion campaigns in 2005 and 2006 the Uniting Church in Queensland will be launching similar resources for the Easter season. The Queensland Synod’s Communication Services Unit will be partnering again with congregations to produce high-quality, low-cost resources for Easter outreach in local communities. Communications Manager Mr Bruce Mullan said they will need 40 congregations to sign ...

The most recent analysis of Australian religion indicate that religion in Australia is growing and increasingly popular. Monash University academic and UNESCO Chair in Interreligious and Intercultural Relations Prof. Gary Bouma this week released his new book, Australian Soul: Religion and Spirituality in the Twenty-First Century, published by Cambridge University Press Australia. Bouma says while it’s long been assumed that ...

The Moderator of the Uniting Church in Queensland Rev Dr David Pitman has called on the Premier to reconsider the construction of a new Super Prison. “I am dismayed at the determination of the government to proceed with the construction of a 4000 bed prison,” Dr Pitman said. This is the worst way of dealing with the corrective services needs ...

The Queensland INCorrections Network, a statewide coalition of church, legal and social justice organizations, has called a proposed 4000 bed prison in Gatton unsafe and unnecessary. Minister Judy Spence stated last week that she will be announcing the government’s preferred site for hosting the prison very shortly and then engaging in community consultation. Coordinator of the INCorrections Network Matilda Alexander ...