Queensland Synod News

The United Reformed Church in Great Britain has condemned as "an offence against God" the assassination of Gayle Williams, a 34-year-old Christian aid worker in Kabul, and the chilling comments of those who said they killed her. The Rev. John Marsh, moderator of the general assembly of the United Reformed Church, said in a 21 October statement, "It is deeply ...

The Uniting Church in Australia has today reaffirmed its opposition to the death penalty, amidst speculation that the execution of three men responsible for the 2002 Bali Bombings is imminent. Uniting Church President, Rev Gregor Henderson, said that while the Church condemns terrorism and continues to pray for those affected by the horrific and devastating events of October 2002, the ...

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 ...

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, has said the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, had told him that federal assistance would be provided to rebuild churches and Christian houses destroyed in violence against Christians in eastern Orissa state, and peace will be restored in the region. Singh gave the assurances when Kobia called ...

The Uniting Church National Assembly has launched a new and improved website (www.assembly.uca.org.au) together with new sites for most Assembly agencies and working groups,. “The sites have been rebuilt into a content management system that allows each of the Assembly agencies and working groups to easily maintain their sites and add and delete content so our sites are now offering ...

After generations of warring, looting and a vicious daily cycle of violence and retribution, the enemy tribes of the Papua New Guinea Southern Highlands have signed permanent peace treaties. The ‘Tari District Peace Agreement’ was negotiated through peace-building activities by a dedicated team of local volunteers working for the Australian organisation Young Ambassadors for Peace (YAP), a program of Uniting ...

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, has said during a visit to India that "one of the greatest problems facing the world today is religious extremism." Kobia expressed his concern following a recent outbreak of violence against Christians in Orissa state in eastern India, and while he was visiting the national headquarters of ...

Leaders of churches and related organizations warned on World Food Day that the global financial crisis may have even more drastic consequences for the world’s poorest people than for its major economic centres. "The global credit crisis will have dramatic consequences for the poorest, because those who fund them are hit by the breakdown," said John Nduna, director of Geneva-based ...

Poland’s Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference has for the first time issued guidelines for dealing with Catholics who wish renounce their baptism and leave the church. "The duty to stay in communion with the church is violated in the most radical way by a Catholic who carries out an act of separation from the church community, either as an apostate who ...

When the Uniting Church organised its yearly Palm Sunday peace march in Melbourne, the last participant it expected was a spy from Victoria Police’s secret intelligence unit. But that’s exactly what happened according to a report in The Age Newspaper (16 October 2008) The Palm Sunday event, held each March since 2003, has been attended by tens of thousands of ...