Queensland Synod News

The 16th-century Reformation figure Jean Calvin is often portrayed as a stern Protestant but an exhibition in Geneva of selected passages from his writings shows a dimension of the reformer that many people do not know. The exhibition features Calvin texts displayed as 13 calligraphy drawings created by artist Bridget Dommen of Geneva. One of the texts reads, "It is ...

UK research indicates one in four young people from across all religions are being bullied because of their religious beliefs. That is finding of a report by Beatbullying, the UK’s leading bullying prevention charity, published today. The findings will contribute to concerns that faith schools are fuelling serration on the basis of faith. The report also addressed the bullying of ...

Unity College has made another step forward in ecumenical relations with the establishment of a cultural exchange programme with a school of the Free Wesley Church of Tonga. Eight Year 10 students responded to the challenge to experience a very different culture first hand and travelled with teachers Carmel O’Brien and Karen Harrison plus Caloundra Uniting Church member Wilma Hewitt ...

Where does a parent, school principal, police officer turn when a fourteen year old boy is on the edge of self harm, being expelled or generally going off the rails? The expert jargon says ‘at risk’ boys need to ‘reconnect’. Roy Devine is more into actions than jargon and for nine years he’s headed up Scripture Union’s Connect programme, taking ...

“Peacebuilding is like giving a dangerous animal food to eat at the risk of your life,” said Nigerian Pastor James Wuye. He and Imam Muhammad Ashafa have been on a long journey over the last decade from being warring enemies to struggling to come to terms with their religion’s call to forgive and make peace. In recent decades tens of ...

Ten years from now… Caleb Patch of Year seven believes graffiti art and skating will become a more popular and accepted culture. Flynn Winterton of Prep pictured himself flying a kite. And Chris Beasley, Year nine, sees the destruction of our natural environment as a major issue. These were some of the many thought provoking ideas that emerged from the ...

The Uniting Church presented a paper on ‘Unity and Mission’ at the World Council of Churches Uniting and United Churches Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, October 29-Nov 4. Twenty churches from 25 countries met at the 8th consultation of United and Uniting Churches held every seven years. Conversation centred on the South African struggle to merge former Apartheid separated churches. ...

When twins Kate and Jess Stewart first came to Wesley Mission Brisbane at age 14, both were suffering extreme anxiety and as a result were unable to speak. Today the girls are confident public speakers, have control of their anxiety and are looking forward to commencing a Bachelor of Psychology at University. During high school, severe bullying had pushed the ...

A member of the (Anglican) Church of England’s general synod who supports a greater female role in the church has predicted that within 10 years half of all full-time clergy will be women, but says moves to consecrate female bishops is not keeping pace. The prognosis came from U.S-born Christina Rees, a writer, broadcaster and public speaker and chairperson of ...

Lifeline Fiji is down and almost out. So Lifeline Queensland is trying to raise $100,000 to give them a hand. Richard Johnson from Lifeline Coral Coast, based at Bundaberg, has been to Fiji to provide local people with training and support. His needs assessment says the biggest issue is youth suicide, and he cites ANU research suggesting the youth suicide ...