Opinion

 IT ISN’T listed in the traditional lists of Christian virtues but in formulating a contemporary list a strong biblical and theological case could be made for living sustainably. The developed world’s greed (one of the seven deadly sins) is placing the planet in peril through massive over consumption by the rich. The gap between rich and poor is increasing, species ...

This year Journey explores questions from the pews, namely from a (fictitious) person exploring faith and the Uniting Church. This month Nova B Lever asks: How do small churches celebrate communion? MY SON and I were driving home from a visit up north and stayed overnight in a small town where we went to worship on Sunday morning. We’re still ...

I’VE ALWAYS been an armchair greenie. I have the passion for it, but perhaps lack the conviction to be a model environmental citizen. But this year all that was going to change. I bought a bike so I could ride to work rather than drive, but the mountain between home and the office has dissuaded me somewhat. Then the dog ...

SOME YEARS ago I heard an interview with a farmer who said he had changed from being a cattle producer to being a “preserver of soil”. For years he had focused on producing cattle as efficiently and cost effectively as possible. He kept data about the amount of fertilizer he used to keep his farm producing. He knew the most ...

THERE ARE many courageous people in this world whose stories are inspiring. On a personal level I have been inspired by the person who was my supervisor during the field year of ministry training, Rev Dr Norma Spear (although she was still working on her doctorate in those days). Norma was the minister of the Glebe Road Uniting Church congregation, ...

WHO INSPIRES me? My grandmother who died when I was 18. She was a strong, gentle woman who had a close circle of friends and was deeply involved in her Church and community; one of my first role models of an independent woman. It was Kierkegaard who said that life must be lived forward but it can only be understood ...

IN 1994 I attended the Uniting Church’s National Assembly in Sydney at which Dr Jill Tabart was inducted as President. Jill’s election to President was unusual in a number of respects – she was a woman, a lay person and a Tasmanian. She remains the only woman and the second lay person in the Uniting Church’s history to have held ...

IT TAKES an average of seven attempts for an Australian, English or American person to move permanently out of a relationship characterised by domestic violence, according to the most recent studies. Many years ago it took me fewer than seven attempts to throw my daughter’s father out for good. Several weeks later he broke through our back door with a pickaxe, ...

I REMEMBER that my Grade Three teacher had to resign because she was getting married. On parade we gave her a shiny new electric kettle, but I now realise that the gift was little compensation for giving up the vocation for which she had trained. Later I learned that her wages would not have been equal to the Grade Four ...

I SAT in a church service a few years ago and the person giving the message that day talked about the reasons we celebrate Mother’s Day. I found myself getting angry as I thought of the people for whom this would not be the case. My Mum died very suddenly of an asthma attack. I miss her every day. We ...