AFTER FIVE days, members of the 29th Synod of the Uniting Church in Queensland closed the meeting in worship on Wednesday 12 October, 2011, at Alexandra Park Conference Centre on the Sunshine Coast. More than 340 voting members from all over the Church in Queensland joined visitors, staff and volunteers to celebrate the work of God through the Church and ...

The second day of business at the 29th Synod meeting of the Uniting Church in Queensland (Sunday 9 October) closed with a celebration of ministries. Since the 28th Synod meeting, in 2008, nine ministers retired, 14 passed away, 11 were ordained, and one youth worker was commissioned. Minutes of Appreciation were given to retirees Rev David Bernard, Rev Dr Robert ...

On Sunday 9 October, members of the 29th Synod experienced worship as Messy Church. Led by FUN (For Under Nineteens) Synod delegates and the South-East corner youth and children’s workers, people roamed between 13 different activities based on the reading John 15:1-17 (The Vine and the Branches). Synod Bible study leader, Rev Wendi Sargeant, reminded members that “it’s OK to ...

On the first day of business of the 29th Synod, Saturday 8 October 2011, immediate past Moderator, Rev Bruce Johnson, reflected on his three-year term and the lessons learnt along the way. He said three words that summed up his term as Moderator were debt, disaster and discipleship. Mr Johnson began as Moderator in 2008 at the 27th Synod when the ...

IT’S NOT every day you see a music video featuring the people the song is about, especially when the song is about a young Filipino prostitute. But that didn’t stop Brisbane band, Remember Seven, launch a video clip for their song Red Lit Stage in September. Indeed, the band usually goes against the norms of the music industry, not because ...

UnitingCare Australia welcomes the Federal Government’s clean energy legislation which will be tabled in the Parliament today, and encourages all politicians of goodwill to support the Bills. National Director Lin Hatfield Dodds said the legislation will help shift Australia to a low carbon future, while helping low income Australia adjust to the change. “We support this action to reduce carbon ...

WITH THE refugee ‘issue’ in Australia, it seems like you can only be ‘bleeding heart’ pro or a ‘get lost, we’re full’ against – or so most media outlets, bumper stickers and political powers would have us believe. Three Australians keen to invest in a more constructive dialogue are Darren Hassan, Brad Chilcott and Benson Saulo. They have found their ...

NOMINATIONS FOR the 2011 Moderator’s Community Service Medal close on 19 August so get in now if you know someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the Uniting Church’s mission in community service in Queensland. Logan volunteer and quiet achiever Viliami (Willie) Afeaki was presented with a Moderator’s Medal in 2010. He was nominated by Rev Dr Apichart Branjerdporn, ...

DURING THE first week of July The Gap Uniting Church’s Rev Richard Cassady was accompanied by 40 members of the congregation as they journeyed to the Ingham region in Far North Queensland to go ‘Walking on Country’. The group was welcomed as family and hosted at cattle station and tourism location, Mungalla Station, which is owned and managed by the ...

JOURNEY SAT down with the organisers of Summer Madness and asked them about their experiences of being young adults in the Uniting Church. We started by asking if young people are the future of the church. This is what they said. Stephen Rothery: Young people are not the future of the church, they are the church of today! We need ...