The 31st Queensland Synod meeting (10–15 October) could be characterised by an energy signifying that the church is on the cusp of something different. Members from across the Queensland Synod gathered together for the 31st Synod in Session as they discussed issues important to the Uniting Church in Queensland, ranging from statistics of church decline and hardship to inspiring stories ...

The desperate woman who pushed through the crowd to tug at Jesus’ robe took a chance that his minders were too distracted to notice. There are better ways to make your voice heard at the G20, as Dianne Jensen reports. Raising your concerns directly with world leaders such as US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel or Chinese President ...

Members of the 31st Queensland Synod celebrated the men and women in specified ministries and have retired, graduated or passed away since the last Synod meeting in May 2014. Synod General Secretary Rev John Cox read Isaiah 40:3-11 and Trinity College Queensland Principal Dr Aaron Ghiloni read Matthew 25:1-13 to begin the celebration of people committing their lives to the ...

Ashley Thompson asks newly inducted Moderator Rev David Baker some light and personal questions. Ashley: What is your passion? David: My passion? Well I really love trifle. You know, because you’re eating fruit which is healthy. So yeah one of my passions is trifle. Probably another one is curries. I love making curries. A: Spicy ones? D: Yeah, yeah, yeah ...

The trouble with the Uniting Church is that we have taken too literally the biblical principle of not letting the right hand know what the left hand is doing. Not only that, we are not good at blowing our own trumpet in the community. On the one hand, in Blackall a part-time youth worker is supported by his congregation. Scott ...

You are who you are. Ashley Thompson speaks with New York Times bestselling author Rev Nadia Bolz-Weber about why Christians should be authentic and vulnerable. You’d be forgiven thinking Rev Nadia Bolz- Weber is anti-authoritarian: the short spiky hair, striking tattoos and cynical wit—if it wasn’t for her clerical collar you’d never guess this foul-mouthed, weightlifting, mother of two is ...

The easiest way to tell what anyone believes, what they value, is to look at how they behave and how they spend their time and money. It becomes uncomfortable when, through either our own realisation or by someone else pointing it out, our external behaviours don’t match up with what we say we value. The problem is worse for those ...

Whenever two or three gather together in God’s name there will be at least that many views on how to worship. Add different generations into the mix, and being one in the Lord is a challenging task for any worship team. Dianne Jensen reports. We know that there are big differences between age cohorts, but why is it so difficult ...

Take 45 primary school children with loads of energy and a bush paddock under a wide blue sky, and you have a Uniting Church day camp. Dianne Jensen reports. “It was cold and windy, but we had an absolute blast!” says Jodie Beitz, Roma Uniting Church member and one of the directors of the day camp held in Roma in ...

We interviewed Betty about her life and faith on Friday 27 June and sadly advise that since this article was written and went to print Betty has passed away. We have been informed that Betty did have the opportunity to read the article before her passing. She died on Wednesday 6 August 2014 after a short illness. How does a self-described shy ...