JourneyOnline
The October edition of Journey magazine is now available to download.
The heart of community
Click to read October Journey
When I was in Sunday School, it was drilled into me that church is not a building, it is a community.
Church can happen anywhere, “wherever two or three are gathered in my name”. It is a body and a family which grows and changes, reflecting Christ’s love and glory.
Our cover story this month is a profile of Maria Phalpang (page ten), a former South Sudanese refugee who is part of the Nuer faith community at St David’s Uniting Church in Coopers Plains. She describes how although her family is separated by oceans, her faith community is “like our family … where we come together as one person and one community” in love and support, especially during crisis.
Support during crisis isn’t just important for refugees. Mental Health Week runs from 5–12 October, and we spoke to some people in the Uniting Church and its agencies about how their lives have been affected by struggles with mental health and how we can support each other in this important area (page 12).
We also have a feature on café church, a highly accessible form of worship that has been growing increasingly popular. There’s no better way to form a bond with someone than over a meal or a cup of coffee. Read on page six to see how these communities of faith have been strengthened by including food and drink all throughout worship.
However you worship, and whoever is part of your community, Jesus is at the heart of all we do. Through him the bonds of friendship and faith grow strong.
Rohan Salmond
Cross-platform editor
