As Donald Trump settles in as the 45th president of the United States of America, what do we really know about his faith? Ben Rogers looks at the complex relationship between Christianity, the Oval Office and the American electorate.   The 2016 presidential election provided an intriguing insight into the role of religion in America, where the credo “In God ...

The ancient Celts described spiritually significant spaces where one could catch a glimpse of the divine as “thin places”, but in the hustle and bustle of modern life is your church making the best use of its property beyond Sundays? Scott Guyatt writes. There is a Celtic saying, that heaven and earth are only three feet apart … but that ...

Nyaluak Leth talks to Dianne Jensen about the hopes and challenges facing the new generation of South Sudanese Christians growing up in Australia. Nyaluak Leth remembers holding her father’s hand as they walked to the train station on their way to St David’s Uniting Church, Coopers Plains in Brisbane. The 19-year-old student was only five when she arrived from Egypt ...

Three chaplains working in the police force, the defence force and health care talk to Journey about bringing hope to others during the Christmas season and their own hopes for 2017. Rev Doug Foster Rev Doug Foster is a police chaplain for the Far North Police District incorporating north of Cardwell, Cairns, Cape York and the Torres Straits. Journey: What ...

If you’re dismissive about Hillsong: Let Hope Rise (2016) “preaching to the converted”, you’re missing the point—because that’s actually their purpose. They are fundamentally a C2C (church-to-church) resource that is serving the global church—and this documentary, and their music, is for us. “We’re the biggest band you’ve never heard of.” Hillsong United Jad Gillies’ statement couldn’t be truer of the ...

Congregations in central Queensland are having their say about the ministry models they need to sustain them amid the ongoing challenges of life on the land. Dianne Jensen reports. Rev Arthur Tutin, the new Central Queensland Presbytery remote/rural ministry project officer, is the man literally behind the wheel of a two-year project to explore how the presbytery might develop and ...

What’s so bad about being good? Journey examines the traditional list of seven heavenly virtues, and how they might continue to guard our hearts from the perils of the contemporary age. Chastity With almost 80 per cent of couples living together before marriage, this is one virtue that contemporary western Christians can find awkward. Let’s reclaim the virtue of the ...

That’s us in the corner? The title of the secular band R.E.M.’s 1991 hit single “Losing my religion” was supposedly taken from a southern United States expression meaning “At my wit’s end”, as if things were going so bad you could lose your faith in God. So what has this to do with Rev David Baker’s statement that Australia has ...

It might be quickly catching on as an Australian calendar fixture synonymous with horror-themed costumes and teeth-rotting lollies but what should Christians make of Halloween? Rev David MacGregor examines the history behind the commercialism and the practice of “trick or treat”. What do you make of Halloween each year? I’ve long wondered that. Halloween is of course huge business in ...

The Journey team selects stories that got us talking this week. Check back in every Friday to see the latest wrap up of religious news that made us think and reflect. No more shouting to the Lord Relevant reports on Hillsong senior pastor Brian Houston’s decision not to include the popular Shout to the Lord and worship juggernaut Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) in Hillsong ...