Queensland Synod News

ON 22 July 2012, Indooroopilly Uniting Church in Brisbane welcomed leaders of the China Christian Council at the 6pm evening service. This first visit to Australia by the China Christian Council was arranged by UnitingWorld following an invitation by the Uniting Church of Australia past President Rev Alistair Macrae. It comes after the Uniting Church's historic visit to China in ...

"WALKING on country" is a concept which speaks to every Australian about the powerful ties that bind us to land and lore. For Indigenous people, it means literally walking on their traditional homelands, and connecting with the memories, legends and laws. Sharing that sense of belonging can transform both the teller and the listener. Members of The Gap Uniting Church ...

THE ties that bind the Uniting Church in Australia to our Pacific neighbours run deep. The Australian Methodist Church began missionary work in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the nineteenth century and in the Solomon Islands in 1902. And through the decades which followed and the challenges posed by conflicts, political change and natural disasters, strong links have been forged ...

ON 22 June, Uniting Church Prison Ministry celebrated 35 years of ministry by recognising the dedication of two long serving prison chaplains. Mrs Pat Imhoff was honoured for her 25th anniversary of service and Rev George Tully for his 26th anniversary. Speaking of the calling to prison chaplaincy, Prison Ministry Coordinator Beatriz Skippen said, “Whenever we serve the needs of ...

DR Aaron Ghiloni has joined Trinity Theological College as Director of Studies – Mission, Ministry, and Leadership, and Director of Field Education. Dr Ghiloni's work is in Christian theology in dialogue with the humanities and social sciences. His new book John Dewey among the Theologians is a conversation between educational theory and Christian doctrine. He teaches the college's popular "Theology ...

THE upcoming 13th Assembly will feature a number of items of business relating to marriage. Although no proposal will change the existing doctrine of marriage in the Uniting Church in Australia, a range of views are held by many in the church. We present here a statement from Rev Bruce Cornish of the Northern Presbytery. A meeting of the Uniting ...

THE Governor-General, Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC CVO, congratulated award recipients in The Queen's Birthday 2012 Honours List on Monday 11 June. The diversity of service across all fields of endeavour was recognised with a range of awards within the Australian Honours System. These awards include the contributions from the community as well as Defence, Police, Fire and Emergency ...

COLD weather did not deter enthusiastic attendance by people from all denominations at the annual Queensland Churches Together and Churches Together Indigenous Peoples Partnership (CTIPP) Service of Reconciliation. The service was held at St John the Evangelist Anglican Church, Enoggera, on 31 May, during National Reconciliation Week, with over one hundred people in attendance. The Malu Kiai Torres Strait Island ...

THE new Moderators of two of the Uniting Church’s important Pacific partners will visit Queensland in July as part of a leadership development program sponsored by UnitingWorld. Bishop Bernard Siai, Moderator-elect of the United Church in Papua New Guinea, will take up his post as Moderator in October 2012 leading a church of around 600 000 members spread across most of PNG. UnitingWorld Associate Director (Pacific) Mr Bruce Mullan said the United Church in PNG ...

ON 17 May Trinity Theological College, representatives of the wider church, family, friends and former students marked the retirement of Rev Dr Neil Sims, 39 years after his ordination. Dr Sims joined the Faculty of Trinity in 1997 and is the longest serving faculty member. He has been responsible for teaching in the area of Ministry and Mission as well ...