THE UNITING Church called for compassion and a renewed commitment to our international obligations on World Refugee Day, Monday 20 June. Uniting Church President, Rev AIistair Macrae, said it was important to remember this is not a new issue. “This year we rightly celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and 57 years since ...

HUMANITARIAN AND advocacy groups are marking the 22 March commemoration of World Water Day with renewed focus on the need for "water justice." "The global water crisis is going to be one of the ‘hot topics’ and key issues of the 21st century," Luciano Kovacs, the North America Regional Secretary of the World Student Christian Federation, told ENInews. "Water could ...

BUSY COMMUTERS in some cities in the United States had the church come to them on Ash Wednesday. In the second year of "Ashes to Go", priests and ministers of various Christian denominations distributed ashes to surprised passersby on urban streets and at train stations and bus stops on 9 March. On Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, Christians ...

Former Trinity Theological College principal and current Grace College principal Dr Sue Fairley will be the first female World President of Camps Farthest Out (CFO) International. “Becoming the first female World President is quite daunting but at the same time extremely exciting,” said Dr Fairley. “I feel very humbled to have been chosen for this position. “When I made my speech ...

WET weather and muddy campgrounds didn’t dampen the fun for nearly 150 kids enjoying the Redlands Uniting Church day camps at Mount Cotton this week. It was a case of continuing a steadfast family tradition for many of this year’s kids, including three generations of one family all attending. Rhonda Lynch has been a team leader at Redlands day camps ...

REV ALISTAIR Macrae, President of the National Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia, has today called on Uniting Church people to consider their vote carefully and prayerfully this Saturday. Mr Macrae said, “In an election campaign dominated by sound bytes and negative campaigning, I urge Uniting Church people to resist thinking small and instead, think big. This is a time ...

BRISBANE LORD Mayor Campbell Newman commended the church for its role in assisting his council to create an inclusive and harmonious environment in the city last month during his annual prayer breakfast at City Hall. The breakfast was packed with representatives from churches and Christian ministries and organisations. “The churches particularly are the social glue holding our city together,” Councillor ...

The UK’s first ever atheist advertising campaign launches today, with official support from Professor Richard Dawkins, best-selling author of The God Delusion. The campaign will feature adverts across London’s bendy buses. The slogan on the buses will read: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” This appears to be a tactful retreat from Professor Dawkins’ previous ...

FOR FIVE days late this month, Brisbane will become a refugee camp. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Australia is launching the first Australian tour of Refugee Camp in Your City, an outdoor, interactive event that re-creates a refugee camp and its facilities where Australians cannot avoid its impact. Open to the public and fully interpreted by Australian returned field workers, the ...

For the first time in more than a century, the United States Supreme Court has agreed to examine whether a form of execution, in this case lethal injection, violates the nation’s constitutional ban on "cruel and unusual punishment". The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Amnesty International and some religious groups have organized events to draw attention to the issue. ...