WHAT do you get when you mix 50 dozen scones, fencing wire, a Skype connection, and a stack of $20 notes inside a school hall? You get the Toowoomba Uniting Churches' combined celebration recognising 100 years of ministry in remote Australia, which began with John Flynn, the man on the $20 note. Members of the Lifeworks, St Stephen's, Wilsonton, Meringandan, ...

HUNDREDS of Christians from across Australia converged on the nation's capital this week for an event called 'Voices for Justice' that urged politicians to play their part in halving global poverty by 2015. Voices for Justice is organized annually by Micah Challenge Australia. The Australian campaign is part of a global network inspired by the prophet Micah's call to "do ...

PAST Director of Pilgrim Learning Community Rev Dr Rob Bos is taking up the challenge in his retirement of training ministers in the Solomon Islands. He has just left for a one month teaching stint at Seghe Theological Seminary in the Solomons, where he will focus on how Scripture can be used to respond to issues affecting Solomon Islanders today. ...

ON 8 September, the Sunshine & Cooloola Coasts/Caboolture Suicide Bereavement Remembrance Day was held at Picnic Point, Maroochydore, to remember those who have been lost through suicide in the local communities and to acknowledge those bereaved family, friends and associates who have been left behind. The Uniting Church is in its second year of the 'Suicide: It's No Secret' campaign. ...

LATELY I have been on the road visiting Presbytery meetings, attending the Assembly meeting and talking to people about our shared journey: Together on the way, enriching community. When people ask me how we are travelling, I ask them what they have been doing. They have told me many inspiring stories about living out the church's Call and Vision 2020. ...

A YOUNG man who attended a Lutheran school was going out with a girl who was educated in a Roman Catholic school. He was amazed to discover that she had never heard of Martin Luther or the Reformation. What do you think should be taught in a church-based school? What do you hope the graduates of our Uniting Church schools ...

BISHOP Munib A. Younan, president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), has called Norway a beacon of hope and inspiration for the way it has dealt with the horror and pain of last year's massacre. Younan, the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land, was speaking on 30 July at the week-long St. Olav Festival ...

CHAPLAINCY is never an easy gig. It is a unique and challenging frontline ministry that throws up constant surprises to those brave enough to listen to the call. Nowhere is this more true than at the Christmas Island Detention Centre, where Rev Malcolm Bottrill, a retired minister from the Presbytery of North Queensland, is taking over from Rev Christine Senini ...

WE wanted to do an epic journey – or another one in Lyn's case – and Everest Base Camp was definitely off limits! A chance conversation with then Archbishop Battersby gave us the idea of a pilgrimage, which seemed to fit our criteria of "epic-ness". We were never going to manage 36 days off together, but there were 20 days ...

URGENT relief aid is under way for nearly two million refugees, mostly women and children, fleeing increased fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to church and agency officials. The people were displaced following clashes between the March 23 (M23) rebels and the Congolese army, the FADRC (Forces Armees de la Republique Democratique du Congo). The conflict started ...