Local Church News

28-06-1934 – 3-10-2007 Ian Graham was born in New Cumnock in Ayrshire, Scotland on the 28th of June 1934. He grew up in that area, getting his schooling to the equivalent of year 10; on leaving he started work in a photography unit of a hospital’s plastic surgery department. On the 7th of April 1951 at the age of 16, ...

In October, six Uniting Church Ministers met in Caloundra to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their ordination in what was then the Albert Street Methodist Church. For some, it was a case of catching up after nearly 40 years Those in the photo from left to right (back)  Rev Dr Paul L Moore (Vic), Rev Eric Elliott, Rev Clive Ayre,  (front) Rev ...

COMMUNICATION Services Unit Manager Mr Bruce Mullan claims the new Queensland Synod website is as good as any denominational website in the world. “As well as being a gateway to the Uniting Church in Queensland, the site has an emphasis on being a place where people can find faith information,” Mr Mullan said. “There is a strong focus on developing ...

PALMER WAPAU has been commissioned as a community minister with the people of Napranum, on the west coast of Cape York. The commissioning was a community event with Mr Wapau taken to the church doorway by his family who processed singing a language song accompanied by Islander drums. He was then delivered to the Congregation’s elders who led him down ...

Ronda Downs, by day Housewife and loving Mother, but place a puppet on her left and right arm and she becomes a star to children all across the Burdekin. Ms Downs, along with Gwen Marshall and Uniting Church Minister Paul Clark, has recently completed their whirlwind seven day, 17 school, 21 performance tour of every primary school in the Burdekin ...

Playing a pedal organ powered by a vacuum cleaner was one of the hundreds of years of cumulative experience for the retired and current musicians honoured recently at North Rockhampton Uniting Church. Two current organists topped more than fifty years each in enhancing the congregation's worship with their music and in some cases the awards were presented to the family ...

SHERWOOD UNITING Church Minister Rev Heather Griffin has announced that her congregation is going green. “We strongly desire a green spiritual life for our church, one where caring for the environment is integral to our spirituality and an expression of our love for God and the Creation,” Ms Griffin said. “Many individuals in our church are environmentally conscious but we ...

A DECISION of the Council of Synod will see the annual Lent Appeal fundraising venture expanded to provide a range of resources including educational and community building resources for children, youth and adults. In the Uniting Church, Lent has traditionally been marked by prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. While some churches still observe a rigid schedule of fasting on certain days ...

OVERWHELMED BY the technology and pace of the Queensland Synod, the Youth and Sunday School Director of the United Church in Solomon Islands Caleb Saiqoro is currently in Brisbane for a month long education program. Synod Communications Unit Manager Bruce Mullan met Mr Saiqoro while visiting the Solomon Islands, saw he had a gift for understanding computer technology, and arranged ...

TWELVE-YEAR-OLD James Erickson’s cultural eyes were opened wide when a small group of young people from Sherwood Uniting Church in Brisbane spent two weeks living in North Queensland Aboriginal communities. “I learned that Aboriginal people aren’t very different from us,” he said. “While they may have some traditional music and dance they also do a lot of stuff like us.” ...