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Rev Duncan Macleod has been appointed to the new Vision for Mission Advocate position by the Queensland Synod. Synod Secretary Rev Jenny Tymms said the appointment of a Vision for Mission Advocate is part of the Synod’s strategy to seed new mission ventures which will build intentional relationships with people of the wider community. “We are looking to establish new ...

With family values, abortion and intelligent design firmly on the political agenda the Australian community is reassessing the role of religion in Australia’s political life. While conventional wisdom was never to mix faith and politics, both the Prime Minister and Federal Treasurer have participated in media saturated attendances at the Hillsong Church in Sydney, and the Family First party with ...

An all new series of Lenten resources is being offered from the Queensland Synod for use by congregations for group study and/or personal reflection during Lent or at some other time during the year. The Agents of Grace resource is offered to Uniting Church congregations in Queensland as a four-page full colour "lift-out" in the March issue of Journey. They are ...

With the 11th National Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia to be held in Brisbane in July, there is continuing speculation about the follow-up to the Resolution 84 decisions of 2003. The resolution, which deals with sexuality and leadership within the Uniting Church, has been hotly debated and has caused a divide in the membership of the Uniting Church ...

After 16 years of living with the constant threat of deportation to a country where he had been a political prisoner, Ephrem Dehne Wold-Mariam has finally been granted a permanent Australian Visa. At the age of 63 and with deteriorating health, Mr Wold-Mariam has been granted a permanent Employer Nominated Migration Visa (Subclass 856). This visa allows him to work ...

Staff at St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital in Brisbane are preparing for their fourth annual Pancake Day on Shrove Tuesday, 28 February. Over 220 organisations throughout Queensland are joining St Andrew’s and have registered to cook, flip and sell pancakes on Shrove Tuesday to help raise funds for UnitingCare Queensland’s agencies. This year comedienne Corinne Grant (Rove Live, The Glasshouse) ...

There are almost 80 ordained deacons serving in the Uniting Church across Australia but most congregation members have never met a deacon and have no idea what they do. St Stephen was the first recorded deacon in AD 34 but his daring preaching of Christ led him to become the first Christian martyr. Another early deacon was St Laurence, known ...

In an innovative move to increase accessibility for congregation leaders outside the Brisbane metropolitan area the Synod has established a 1300 local call telephone number for people wishing to access Synod services and staff. Synod Communication Services Unit Manager Bruce Mullan explained that previously, for most Uniting Church congregations and members in Queensland, a telephone call to the Synod Office ...

The Moderator of the Uniting Church in Queensland Rev Dr David Pitman has released a statement regarding the arrival of a boatload of West Papuans understood to be seeking asylum in Australia. "Most people will be aware that a boat carrying about 40 refugees from West Papua has landed on the coast of Cape York. Initial media reports suggest that ...

After the birth of Christ, we need not look to the extraordinary, the spectacular or the miraculous to find God. God is now found where we live in our kitchens, at our tables, in our wounds, and in each other’s faces. That is hard to believe and always has been. When Jesus was on earth, virtually no one believed he ...