Opinion

Queensland Synod General Secretary Rev Heather den Houting reflects on the devastating consequences of climate change for those in the Asia-Pacific and her experience at the 2019 UnitingWorld conference in Bali where climate justice was a key topic. I wonder why we don’t listen to our Asia-Pacific partners more closely when it comes to issues around climate change? We know ...

Leaving a legacy Some of us might shy away from thinking about leaving a legacy as it makes us think about death. But legacy is really about life and living. Thinking about our legacy helps us decide the kind of life we want to live and the kind of world we want to live in. A dictionary would define a ...

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 The theme for our 2019 Christmas campaign is “Beyond expectations”. So, I’ve been doing some thinking. What is the Lord’s plan for me? What is the Lord’s plan for the ...

While great strides have been made to address the global issue of gender inequality and gender-based violence, there is still much progress to be made, particularly in some Pacific nations where domestic violence, sexual assault and discrimination is rife. Cath Taylor reports on the issue and how the Uniting Church is helping Pacific churches to empower women and make change ...

Congregational partnerships with UnitingCare are opening opportunities to meet needs and to be known as good news people. To share in relationships and purposes of service brings life to struggling communities, to individuals and families. In this edition of Journey I highlight what began with a contact, which grew into a connection, which is helping to build community between two ...

Over the course of 2019, I want to unpack a simple mission framework in this column. The framework is represented by four words: Know, Notice, Discern, Act. Having begun with exploring the “Know” and “Notice”, let’s move on this issue to consider the third: Discern. I love the notion of wondering. Wondering what’s going on in the world we live ...

Journey jacket Our readers must have all seen the recent dust jacket or wrap-around cover enclosing the Winter edition of Journey—a unique way to launch the Queensland Synod’s Presbytery Mission Program. This jacket is a key takeaway long after the magazine is read, to get a sense of the body of mission that we wish to make possible via our ...

It is a live question to consider whether, for the first time in a long time, western Christians might be facing sufficient opposition from the prevailing culture that the first signs of “persecution” are appearing. Political correctness, for all the benefits and corrections it brings, is increasingly limiting Christian speech and action. A nurse in Britain is sacked for offering ...

Rev Jan Chalmers, one of the earliest woman ordained in the Uniting Church in Queensland, reflects on 40 years of living out her call to serve the world through the ministry of deacon. I was ordained as a deaconess in the Queensland Synod on 30 November 1979 in the Morningside Uniting Church, Brisbane. With the renewal of the diaconate, I ...

Lord, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am. (NASB Psalm 39:4) Every year there are issues that create dissention in us as a nation. This year they seem to be coming fast and plenty with the election and more recently religious freedom with the Israel Folau ...