Pull out the popcorn, it’s time for the sermon. Dianne Jensen explores how preaching styles have changed, and why good preaching still matters. When comedian George Burns suggested that the secret of a fine sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, with the two as close together as possible, he could not have imagined the entertainment ...

I'VE been introducing the Uniting Church to people for most of my adult life – its history, vision, values and structures. I even wrote a booklet called "Introducing the Uniting Church in Australia". I go to Uniting Church agencies to brief boards. I go to Uniting Church schools to do professional development with teachers. I go to Uniting Church councils ...

A couple of years ago a friend of mine told me she was giving up chocolate for Lent. I looked at her with utter incomprehension. The whole concept of Lent seemed archaic (and the concept of giving up chocolate positively barbaric). It is an attitude that is perhaps reflected by the person who recently reacted with bemusement to a blog ...

PEOPLE all over the world are searching for a sense of belonging. A National Church Life Survey (NCLS) report determined that inclusion is one of nine core qualities of vital church Life. The report, The Role of Innovation in Church Life and Health, released in March 2010, states that innovation inspires belonging when it comes to church attendance. “Research shows ...

HISTORY BOOKS are full of inspired people who have shaped our world. Explorers, inventors, scientists, artists, theologians and so many others have spent countless hours growing the seeds of ideas into tangible realities. Even today the way we communicate, socialise, even the food we eat is evolving. This is not necessarily always a good thing, but one thing is for ...

THE AUSTRALIAN population is in itself ageing but according to National Church Life Survey (NCLS) data, the church still has more people aged over 50 years and fewer under 40 years than the general population. According to NCLS data, the Uniting Church has the fewest members (8 per cent) aged between 15 and 29 of all Australian mainstream Christian denominations. ...

Eco-justice in body, mind and spiritThe call for Christians to be stewards of creation is an ancient one. Synod Green Church advocate, Rev Dr Clive Ayre, said the need to care for creation plugs into some of the key doctrines of the church. “For example a doctrine of grace, the whole idea of covenant is all involved,” he said. “James ...

National Church Life Survey (NCLS) research has found that despite considerable differences between key issues facing churches in rural and urban environments, across measures of health and vitality there is little difference between rural church attendees and the national average. Some 42 per cent of churches that took part in the 2006 NCLS were in rural settings (and more than ...

You don’t have to analyse National Church Life Survey (NCLS) data to realise that life in rural communities has different challenges from those of urban centres. In fact, the best way to understand what life is like further than 100km west of the coast is to talk to the members of our churches and agencies. In communities all over the ...

Australia runs on volunteers. These are the people who doorknock for the Leukemia Foundation, help at the Lifeline Bookfest, organise Meals on Wheels and so much more. In a Productivity Commission report released in February the Australian Government’s independent research and advisory body found that 4.6 million volunteers worked with not-for-profits (NFPs) with a wage equivalent value of nearly $15 ...