What’s coming up Service of Solace (Blue Christmas) Christmas can be a challenging time for a number of people: loved ones lost, difficult memories, hearts that are broken and loneliness. On 15 December Albert Street Uniting Church is holding a Service of Solace at 11am. This service is designed to help people grieve, to remember, to let go and be ...

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 ...

Felipe Beltran reflects on our wonderful Uniting Church bush chaplains who minister to those living in remote Australia. I caught up with Frontier Services bush chaplain Pastor Cain Hartigan and his wife Jacki at the Birdsville Races earlier this year. We talked about the needs of people in the Cunnamulla-Burke and Wills Remote Area, where rural communities are losing key ...

What’s coming up Solidarity Sit-Down The next Solidarity Sit-down will be held on Friday 29 November from 1–3pm, at Queen’s Gardens, Corner Elizabeth and George Streets in the Brisbane CBD. Attendees will sit shoulder to shoulder and hear from people on the frontline of the climate crisis and donates will be collected to support those impacted by and fighting the ...

Week in review Rewriting the fairy tales of disability This article describes a book that is as unusual as it is timely. It is at once both autobiography and social history. In the book, Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability and Making Space, Amanda Leduc considers the way in which fairy stories (and their modern kin: Disney films, superhero and fantasy ...

What’s coming up Mosaic – annual Brisbane multicultural festival Join Multicultural Development Australia and the Brisbane Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support (BRASS) Network this Sunday 13 October from 10am–5pm, for #MOSAIC: a world music, dance and cultural spectacular that celebrates the creative and rich talents of our diverse communities. The MOSAIC Festival celebrates who we are in Queensland through dance, ...

What’s coming up Acknowledgement and lament – childhood sexual abuse The Uniting Church in Australia Assembly is calling on faith communities to mark the anniversary of the National Apology to Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse. This can be done by holding a service of acknowledgement and lament on or near 20 October using the resources. Against Our Oath This ...

Remote Queensland can be a challenging environment—socially, financially and emotionally—to live in (and make a living from), but Outback Futures is helping residents build resilience and strengthen their communities by providing mental and allied health services. Ben Rogers reports on the not-for-profit organisation and how Toowong Uniting Church was an integral part of its creation. To understand the genesis of ...

What’s coming up Season of Creation – September This month of reflection and action has been prioritised by the Queensland Synod as a key social responsibility event. All congregations and communities are invited to participate through prayer, action and advocacy. The Synod of Victoria/Tasmania has an excellent series of resources for The Season of Creation, which runs from 1 September ...

What’s coming up Calling all people of the Uniting Church and friends! Assembly calls us all to participate in the Climate Strike on 20 September. Why? “Climate change is the singe greatest threat to livelihoods, security and well-being of peoples across the world. The people of rural Australia, the island nations in the Pacific and the world’s poorest are being ...