By Robert K. Johnston and J Walker Smith Wild Canyon Press, 2001 RRP $21.95 Reviewed by Con Graves. Con switched to a life of voluntary simplicity aimed at reducing his impact on the earth and reducing stress in his own life and the lives of those around him. He worships at Newlife Uniting on the Gold Coast. This book is ...

YOU SHALL love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength. (Deut 6:5; Matt 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27) This, we are told, is the first and greatest commandment. It has been the subject of much thought and prayer for thousands of years. But what does it mean ...

Not content to confine its muscle to the field it knows best, the Fiji military has moved in on the Methodist Church, attempting to influence Church leadership decisions and interfering in the life of the Church. A recent showdown over the Methodist Church Annual Conference has ended with the Military Government cancelling the Conference for the third year in a ...

RECENTLY THE Federal Government signalled its intention to implement a regime to “put a price on carbon”. The Uniting Church, through me as President, and UnitingJustice and UnitingCare, welcomed that announcement. I know there will be some of our members who take a different view. But our position on this is consistent with our previous commitments and with the broad ...

IN APRIL the centenary celebrations of worship at the Lifeworks Uniting Church in Toowoomba, were enjoyed by all who attended. The gathering brought back many ministers who had served in the parish and also parishioners from far and wide. The celebrations were opened by Moderator, Rev Bruce Johnson, on 30 April who challenged the congregation to look forward, not back, ...

EMMANUEL UNITING Church at Enoggera has established an unusual partnership with the Noro Church in the Solomon Islands. Discussions with Uniting World followed visits to each church; Rev David Fender visited Noro and then Rev David Vakipide spent six weeks at Emmanuel. One evening in Brisbane Rev Vakipide visited the 46th Brisbane Boys’ Brigade Company and announced that he had ...

IT MAY only be August but the Synod communications team has been hard at work consulting with as many people as possible to help decide on the 2011 Christmas postcard artwork. This year the slogan is: Faith Hope Love (but the greatest of these is love). The back of the card will say “experience Christmas with us” and have a ...

This year Journey explores questions from the pews, namely from a (fictitious) person exploring faith and the Uniting Church. This month Nova B Lever asks: Isn’t ‘church’ the people? I AM AMAZED by the impact of generous people. I was a guest at a Rotary club dinner a few weeks ago, where the group of 45 members gave away $35 ...

WHEN I was about 19 years old, at the end of the year I dyed my hair bright purple. I wasn’t a rebellious teenager but I never wanted to be just like everyone else my age, I wanted to do something a bit different, and this was it. But I was terrified of what people at church would say on ...

ANNE AND Geoff (not their real names) have a familiar story to tell. Highly involved in their church communities, between them they have run youth groups, taught Sunday School, been on the Church Council and even ran a bible study at their home. Then, an internal congregational issue not only drove them away from that congregation, but church in general. ...