Queensland Synod News

Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali of Rochester, who earlier this year caused anger by suggesting that some Muslim communities were ‘no go areas’, has created a fresh argument by claiming that the collapse of a ‘Christian nation’ has left Britain in a moral vacuum. The comments come in an article for the debut issue of the new political magazine Standpoint – which ...

An interfaith television game show, believed to be the first in Britain, in which Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh contestants compete against one another for cash prizes is to be broadcast weekly from the London studios of the Islam Channel from mid-June. The producer of the show says that two teams of four will answer rapid and multiple choice ...

Only a fortnight after releasing their debut album of plainchant, the Cistercian monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz in Austria have reached number one on the UK Classics charts and number nine in the pop, rock and and dance charts. The surprise hit band was discovered after Universal Music launched a search for sacred singers in February this year, through adverts placed ...

If the Dalai Lama wasn’t a revered spiritual leader he’d make a great "ham actor", Anne Treneman, a columnist with London’s The Times newspaper wrote about one of the world’s best known and most celebrated religious leaders, as he entered the final stage of an 11-day visit to Britain. "He’s a Drama – Lama, that’s for sure," said the columnist ...

The US Internal Revenue Service has cleared the United Church of Christ of violating tax laws when it allowed Democratic Party presidential hopeful Barack Obama to address the denomination’s 2007 general synod. "We have determined that the activity about which we had concern did not constitute an intervention or participation in a political campaign," the IRS said in a 13 ...

The Methodist Church in Zimbabwe has condemned mounting post-election violence which has left at least 50 people dead and displaced thousands of villagers, according to rights groups and the main opposition political party. At the same time police tried to prevent worshipers entering Harare’s Christ Church in the suburb of Borrowdale despite them being granted a court order to pray ...

After decades of debate, Australian Anglicans have one female bishop, and they will get a second within 10 days of the first woman’s consecration. On 22 May, West Australian Archdeacon Kay Goldsworthy was consecrated Australia’s first female bishop. Canon Barbara Darling’s consecration was to follow on 1 June in Melbourne. Supporters of the move described it as a breakthrough for ...

Support is desperately needed as the crisis in Zimbabwe continues to deteriorate The peaceful environment which initially surrounded the 29 March national elections in Zimbabwe has changed significantly, going from bad to worse, and Uniting International Mission is asking people to maintain their interest, support and prayer. Following recent conversations with leaders of the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe and the ...

God… has given us the ministry of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18) The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) continues to offer prayerful support for National Sorry Day. President of the UCA, Rev. Gregor Henderson, said that, ten years since its inauguration, National Sorry Day reminds us that there is much still to do in the reconciliation process.  “We have commended the ...

The appeals court in the state of Texas has ruled that the authorities and a lower court judge were wrong to order the seizing of more than 450 children from a ranch run by a polygamist religious group in the west of the U.S. state. The latest court ruling came during the biggest custody case ever in the United States, ...