National News

UNITINGJustice Australia, the justice policy and advocacy unit of the Uniting Church in Australia, is dismayed at reports that the federal Labor caucus is moving to include the Australian mainland in the Migration Act excision zone. Rev Elenie Poulos, the National Director of UnitingJustice, expressed extreme disappointment in the enactment of this recommendation of the Houston Panel Report. "This is ...

THE Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce welcomed the support of the Australian Greens for the Australian Government's historic gambling reform legislation, introduced in the House of Representatives on Thursday 1 November. Taskforce Chair Rev Tim Costello said the National Gambling Reform Bill 2012 is a solid platform for further reform. "The federal government–funded National Gambling Research Commission, negotiated by the Greens, ...

MANY different faith communities left the car at home last week to walk, ride and even skateboard to worship. Ride to Worship Week is an initiative by multi-faith organisation Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC) which was held last week across all states. In rural communities some biked kilometres up to 12 kms from home to worship. Many had ...

"IF you are a fancy worship leader you are getting in the way," was the message of South Australian minister Rev Deane Meatheringham to the annual conference of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations (ACC). Held from 13 to 15 September in the Adelaide Hills, the 2012 gathering with the theme "The Heart of Worship" brought members and interested people together ...

ONE person in four will experience some form of mental illness in their lifetime. Church communities have a unique role to play in Mental Health Week, 7 to 13 October, explains Jane Frazer Cosgrove, a facilitator with the Nouwen Network, a grassroots support group that seeks to raise awareness in faith communities about mental illness. "This year's Queensland theme for ...

CORRUPTION is one of the major contributing factors in ensuring millions of people remain trapped in poverty. Governments, businesses and churches across the globe are being challenged to expose and tackle it. Last week in London, a coalition of Christian organisations called "Exposed" officially launched the start of a year-long global awareness-raising campaign that aims to mobilise 100 million Christians ...

THE 21st century global village provided the theme to this year's Sea of Faith in Australia (SoFiA) 2012 conference, held on the Gold Coast in early September. Imagining and awakening to the future and to the challenges of finding community in our multifaith world were threads running through the conference, which was attended by members of the SoFiA network from ...

Contemporary Judaism is complete, comprehensive, has its own integrity, and does not await fulfilment through any other religion, explained Rabbi Morgan to members and guests at the gathering of the Council of Christians and Jews in Western Australia on Thursday 9 August at St Peter's and Emmaus Church in Perth. The gathering focused on discussing the Uniting Church's document, "Jews ...

ATTENDING the Voices for Justice conference was an amazing experience of public action as part of how Jesus calls us to live. Two hundred and eighty Christians from different denominations around Australia came together in Canberra from 15 to 18 September for this national gathering of the Micah Challenge. As Christians, it is up to us to be agents of ...

"MY altar can as easily be a rock, a fallen tree, or someone down on their hands and knees making a table for a bride and groom to sign the marriage register on," says Pastor Dennis Cousens, deacon with Cunnamulla Uniting Church. "My gathered congregations are often in a pub, community hall, backyard or by a riverbank, which is the ...