THE Queensland State Budget delivered on 11 September announced funding cuts to the community services sector. Community service providers and unions say Queenslanders should expect widespread effects as programs providing vital services in health, education, tenancy advice, job placement and training, and youth and family support are cut or have their funding reduced. CEO of UnitingCare Queensland Anne Cross commented ...

Circle of Belief Productions, 2010, DVD RRP $29.95 Reviewed by Fa Ngalaufe. JESUS Freaks traces a journey of spiritual transformation in the wake of tragedy. On 9 December 2007, the Colorado dorm of US organisation Youth With A Mission (YWAM) woke to a gunman opening fire, killing two and injuring two others. Although Jesus Freaks doesn't detail this event, it ...

“FITTING in” is not a phrase that sits well with Az Hamilton, former 96five family radio announcer, Compassion Australia advocate and founder of youth social justice project Just Motivation. The organisers of the Queensland Synod youth camp Summer Madness went in search of a guest speaker to inspire and motivate high school-aged youth, aiming to find someone local and relatable ...

TEN young adults came together from around Queensland for the third annual Stretching Faith theology weekend held from 7 to 9 September at Alexandra Park Conference Centre on the Sunshine Coast. Kate Wilson, who was supported by the Central Queensland Presbytery to travel from Mackay for the weekend, was enthusiastic about the opportunity. "It's networking, it's learning, and stretching my ...

Church House Publishing (London) 2010, RRP $34.95 Reviewed by Wendy Scott, Kenmore Uniting Church. This book is the result of a very thorough research that stretched over five years in London. It is very precise in its findings, as an academic work should be. If you want an accessible paperback giving insight into the beliefs, mindset and culture and attitudes ...

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. ...

SOME people on the dole are living in such poverty that their chances of getting a job are seriously limited, according to a new report released by the Major Church Providers (MCP) of social services in Australia. The report by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) at the University of Canberra, launched at Parliament House in Canberra ...

TALKING to so many educators for this issue could not help but make me think about how much I am learning myself every day at work on Journey. It made me reflect, too, on how we really do learn in community with others whether in dedicated classrooms or lecture halls, or in the midst of the communities we find in ...

AT the 13th Assembly meeting, delegates from the National Young Leaders Conference presented the statement, “Reconcilation People”, which addressed key justice issues identified by young people within the Uniting Church. The statement was prepared in February at the National Young Adult Leaders conference, when 75 Uniting Church young people from across Australia gathered in Sydney. The conference was hosted by ...

Even Before Publishing, Capalaba Qld, 2012, Reviewed by Wendy Scott, Kenmore Uniting Church elder. THIS book is hot. It will sear all your preconceived notions of “good Christians”. Though The Bud Be Bruised is a true story with names changed and some characters morphed together for a more cohesive narrative. It is raw without being offensive. It would be a ...