Queensland Synod News

A visit from the Dalai Lama brought Brisbane’s civic and religious leaders together in June at a multifaith service of prayer for world peace. Rohan Salmond reports. The moderator of the Uniting Church Queensland Synod has gathered with the Dalai Lama along with Brisbane’s other religious and civic leaders at St Stephen’s Cathedral for a multifaith service of prayers for ...

Investigating robberies, assault, homicide and rape; police officers have heavy burdens to carry. Ashley Thompson speaks with Rev Glenn Louttit about being a listening ear to Queensland’s finest. “Police officers deal with trauma all the time but they become conditioned to it as time goes by,” says central region police chaplain Rev Glenn Louttit. “If the truth be known they ...

Church leaders from across Australia and New Zealand gathered in Brisbane last month. Rohan Salmond reports. The annual trans-Tasman gathering of church leaders took place in Brisbane in April, bringing together the six moderators from Uniting Church synods, the president of the Uniting Church Assembly, the president of the Methodist Church of New Zealand and the moderator of the Presbyterian ...

A historic combined worship service of Calvary Presbytery and North Queensland Presbytery has taken place in Townsville, furthering the reconciliation journey. Rohan Salmond writes. A combined Calvary-North Queensland Presbytery worship service was held in Townsville on the last day of May for National Reconciliation Week. Calvary Presbytery, a non-geographical grouping of Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC) congregations, has ...

Funds raised through the $10 for 10 appeal have been distributed to students to make sure they have what they need to learn. Rohan Salmond reports. Three Indigenous students have received the first round of grants through the Synod’s $10 for 10 appeal to help them achieve their dreams for the future. Tullia Wilson and Lazarus Edwards from Shalom Christian ...

What might communities of faith shaped by contemporary culture look like? Dianne Jensen reports on the Queensland launch of Mission Shaped Ministry. Fresh Expressions is the trademark concept of Mission Shaped Ministry (MSM) and it means exactly that—creating new faith communities in non-traditional settings and re-imagining the shape of the contemporary church. The ecumenical program originated in the United Kingdom ...

Uniting Church emergency aid and relief has begun to arrive in Central Queensland after Tropical Cyclone Marcia tore through the Capricorn Coast in February this year. Ashley Thompson reports. The Queensland Synod’s Risk and Insurance team has been contacted by 14 sites which sustained varying levels of insurable damage from Cyclone Marcia, totalling an estimated insurance cost of $517 000. Those ...

In the coastal community of Yeppoon, Central Queensland, the clean-up continues after tropical Cyclone Marcia made landfall at Shoalwater Bay (between St Lawrence and Yeppoon) as a category five storm, Matt Gees writes. St Andrew’s Uniting Church in Yeppoon, approximately six kilometres up the hill from the main beach, sustained minor damage. However Emu Park Uniting Church (around 350 steps from the ...

Are the people in your church representative of the people that live in the wider community? The Stats have Faces process helps churches connect with their neighbours. Journey reports. Queensland Synod Research Officer Bruce Mullan was surprised to discover that the greatest number of people employed in his suburb worked in retail and construction. “We often make assumptions about our ...

Queenslander and presbytery minister of Calvary Presbytery Rev Dennis Corowa has been appointed chairperson of the national Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress. Nigel Trapp reports. New Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress chairperson Rev Dennis Corowa is keen to see Congress operate with more independence, but not at the expense of the interdependent relationship between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous ...