Over the Christmas and New Year period, five members of Toowong Uniting Church embarked on a short term mission trip to Thailand. Grace Branjerdporn reflects. The mission trip was called Thai’d Together to represent the sense of collaboration and cooperation that the team wanted to have with the local churches in Thailand. With only 1.2 per cent of the population identifying ...

Young leaders talk about faith Four emerging leaders in the Uniting Church talk to Journey about their passion for living out the gospel. Stephen Longbottom, 29, lives in Toowong, Brisbane and has a background in corporate accounting and finance. At Toowong Uniting Church I participate in a leadership residency program, coordinate our English as a Second Language program and help ...

What happens when we consciously imagine ourselves as part of the Christmas story? It helps us recognise Christ as he dwells among us today, writes Rev Dona Spencer. Whilst Christmas is a time when we remind ourselves that Jesus came as a baby, the challenge for me as a minister and as an artist is to make real the truth ...

The members of the last Synod in Session asked the church to prioritise ministry with children, youth and families. While my journey of faith was marked by a conscious decision to commit my life to Christ in my early 20s, the experience of Christian community as a child and a youth was profound and life changing. I look back on ...

A couple of weeks ago, one Friday night, the youth group from St Stephen’s Roman Catholic Church in Brisbane hit the streets. They introduced themselves to people and told them that the cathedral was open for prayer; that they were welcome to go in, pray about something that was on their mind or troubling them, and light a candle as ...

Queensland’s  Anti-Poverty Week launch will unveil the surprising face of poverty in Australia. Rohan Salmond reports. For more than ten years, Anti-Poverty Week has been a reminder for Australians that poverty is a real part of their community and their world. From an Australian point of view, poverty can feel like a distant, abstract problem, but for Geoff Batkin, executive ...

Active planning for safety can help us meet our mission goals and reach out to the community. It’s absolutely critical that every church is a child safe church. Here’s five tips that will help make that happen. Share guardianship Every person engaged in the life of the church needs to grow a culture of shared guardianship of children. The Child ...

Build the Future managing director Melanie Minichiello talks to Dianne Jensen about her passion for helping young people re-connect with society. Gratitude. It’s as old-fashioned as a hand-written thank-you note, but youth advocate Melanie Minichiello says being grateful is a key ingredient in happiness and wellbeing. “Gratitude allows us to look beyond ourselves and to gain perspective and balance,” says ...

When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on Earth? “We are as guarded and concerned about our place here as we ever have been. Some in our community are not sure if we’re welcome,” says a Queensland Muslim leader. “We are reaching out to our young men who are vulnerable —without work, from broken homes, seeking to ...

International student pastor Noah Kim talks to Dianne Jensen about his call to ministry in the Uniting Church. Noah Kim knows first-hand that the call to God’s service can take you far from home and well outside your comfort zone. The South Korean-born Christian received the nudge from his pastor to attend Bible college in Australia eight years ago—and has ...