Features

While Australians still delight in white weddings and happy-ever-after romantic movies, divorce rates are rising and more people are choosing never to marry. Journey asks what is the place of marriage the new millennium? The last four decades have seen a sharp decline in marriage rates and significant changes in relationships sparked in part by the introducation of the oral ...

JOURNEY ASKED Broadwater Road minister Rev Bruce Johnson how the Uniting Church determines what is the will of God. It was no surprise that Mr Johnson began with a quote from the Basis of Union to explain that when we want to explore how the Uniting Church seeks to govern its life, we have to begin with our understanding of ...

WHILE OFTEN regarded as a “second” strand of ministry and not as central to the church’s life, the kinds of ministry that Chaplains offer to the sick, the poor and prisoners were of particular concern for Jesus. Many Chaplains claim the ministry in which they find themselves is closer to the New Testament patterns than are the ministries typically exercised ...

There seems to be no limit to the places where Chaplains serve. Journey asked some of the 100 Queensland Uniting Church Chaplains to share their stories. Aged care chaplaincy Rev Pam Batson, a Chaplain with Blue Care aged care facilities, invited us to go with her into the room of a dying resident. “There is much that can happen at ...

Finding a college to live in while studying can be a daunting task for school leavers, but the right college can enhance a student’s experience of University or further study.  Some of the most respected student colleges in Queensland are affiliated with the Uniting Church in Australia. With five colleges in Brisbane, (four of which are at the University of ...

With a critical shortage of ministers available to serve in congregational placements and over 100 chaplains serving in the Queensland Synod, Journey asks, “Is this the best way to do the church’s work?” Once seen as ministry in the army, hospitals or schools chaplains now serve in a vast range of settings including universities, prisons, colleges, aged care facilities, police, emergency ...

Journey highly commended in religious press awards The controversial "The Church Needs You" cover of Journey (September 2005) was highly commended by the Australasian Religious Press Association (ARPA) at its Annual Conference in Adelaide in August.  The judges described the front page as having eye-catching artwork and standing out from the crowd.  The original artwork of the then Moderator Rev ...

MUSIC HAS always been prominent in worship in the Christian church and was originally used to convey doctrine and later to tell biblical stories to the uneducated masses. To some, music enables spiritual experience. The western Christian worship music we know today grew from ancient Greek and Jewish traditions (the Psalms) and largely influenced and shaped what we now call ...

CONTEMPORARY Christian music is a big industry. In the United States, it’s grown by 80 per cent over the past decade, with 43.4 million units sold in 2004 representing 6 per cent of total music sales – ahead of jazz, classical, Latin and soundtracks. No figures are available for Australia 10 years ago, but in 2004 Christian music sales here ...

The Moderator of the Uniting Church in Queensland Rev Dr David Pitman, has called on the government to provide just and fair compensation to those whose stolen wages were controlled by a succession of Governments In a submission to the Senate Inquiry into Indigenous Stolen Wages Dr Pitman has asked the government to provide a public forum in which Indigenous ...