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Dave Andrews to share Ramadan reflections on The Spirit of Things

BRISBANE Christian community worker Dave Andrews will share his reflections on Ramadan with Radio National listeners this Sunday evening. "My Ramadan Reflections" will be broadcast on "The Spirit of Things", hosted by Rachael Kohn, at 6pm Sunday 2 September, and repeated at 1pm on Tuesday 4 September. Mr Andrews visited Malaysia for Ramadan this year, and shared his reflections with ...

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National Others Week launched in Canberra

THE Shadow Minister for Families, Housing and Human Services, Hon Kevin Andrews MP, recently launched Global Care Australia's National Others Week (NOW) in a ceremony in Parliament House, Canberra. National Others Week, to be held from October 29 to November 4 this year, has been organised to encourage Australians to focus on other people instead of themselves for seven days. ...

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Asylum solution: Moral failure of the Houston report

The Uniting Church in Australia has decried the "dangerous lie" behind the demonising of asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat, describing new legislation to reintroduce offshore processing as both lacking in compassion and breaching international obligations to the United Nations Refugee Convention. Through a range of national forums, Uniting Church leaders have reiterated the church's longstanding support for ...

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Carbon price

Agencies drive energy efficiency THE Queensland Synod is looking for better and smarter ways of reducing its carbon emissions. With the recent introduction of the carbon tax and two pieces of federal legislation, the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act and the Energy Efficiency Opportunities Act, UnitingCare Queensland and Wesley Mission Brisbane have been obliged to seek ways to reduce ...

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Christmas Island

CHAPLAINCY is never an easy gig. It is a unique and challenging frontline ministry that throws up constant surprises to those brave enough to listen to the call. Nowhere is this more true than at the Christmas Island Detention Centre, where Rev Malcolm Bottrill, a retired minister from the Presbytery of North Queensland, is taking over from Rev Christine Senini ...

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School Chaplaincy Program update

THE High Court of Australia has ruled that the Australian Government direct-funding model for school chaplains is not constitutionally valid. However, the 20 June decision left open the option for the government to continue funding, either under new legislation or by a grant of funds to the states and territories. The case was brought by father of four Ron Williams, ...

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Parliament throws ‘chappies’ a lifeline

FEDERAL Parliament has acted swiftly to secure funding for the nationwide school chaplaincy program, passing enabling legislation through the Senate on 27 June. The move follows the High Court ruling on 20 June that the direct-funding model for school chaplaincy was not valid. Rev Dr Wendi Sargeant, The Uniting Church Queensland Synod representative on the Religious Education Advisory Committee, describes ...

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Thirteenth triennial Assembly in Adelaide

PEOPLE who have no business to be together will gather for the 13th triennial Assembly meeting of the Uniting Church in Australia in Adelaide from 15 to 21 July. This unsettling image of Christian community is one proposed by President-elect the Rev Professor Andrew Dutney during an interview about the Assembly theme, Life Overflowing. The church is a sign and ...

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Response to the passing of the Stronger Futures legislation

OVER the last few months, thousands of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians have raised their voices in opposition to the discriminatory aspects of the Stronger Futures legislation. During this time the Uniting Church in Australia has worked closely with our Indigenous brothers and sisters and their supporters, particularly in the Northern Territory. We have supported the work of our Northern Synod ...

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Memorial commemorates Methodist Missionaries lost on the Montevideo Maru

This Sunday 1 July, a memorial to the 1122 people who died on the Montevideo Maru, including 12 Methodist missionaries and mission personnel from Papua New Guinea, is being dedicated in Canberra. In what remains Australia's greatest maritime tragedy, 1053 Australian Prisoners of War and civilian internees died. On 1 July 1942, the Methodist mission staff were among those killed ...

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