Queensland Synod News

UnitingCare Health is one of only 10 organisations in Queensland, out of 99 throughout Australia, to achieve an Employer of Choice for Women citation this year. Awarded annually by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace agency the citation recognises organisations for achieving “outstanding outcomes for women”. This year six new prerequisites were introduced to the selection process which ...

The United Methodist Church, one of the largest Protestant denominations in the United States, gathers for its once-every-four-years churchwide meeting this week. It is expected to debate a number of controversial issues, including divestment in the Middle East, and ministerial ordination and sexuality. The meeting is likely to debate the issue of transgender, following a 2005 denominational court decision that ...

In a media-saturated culture, Pope Benedict XVI’s 15-20 April visit to the United States is being judged by whether it got "good reviews", and early reactions have been favourable, with commentators remarking that Benedict, who heads the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, addressed the issue of clergy sexual abuse head on. "That he took this risk impressed me," wrote Peter Steinfels, ...

National Director, UnitingCare Australia Lin Hatfield Dodds has announced she will not be participating in the Olympic Torch Relay in Canberra on Thursday. Ms Hatfield Dodds who is also President of the Australian Council of Social Service and ACT Australian of the Year said it had been a very difficult decision that she had not taken quickly or lightly. “While ...

The Moderator of the Uniting Church in Queensland has today welcomed Thursday’s announcement that the Government will put an immediate two year freeze on any new poker machines. “After years of what seemed like a never-ending increase in poker machine licenses in Queensland it is welcome to see the government recognise the harm caused to problem gamblers,” Dr Pitman said. ...

Members of the clergy are being bullied by parishioners while the Church is doing little to prevent it, a trade union has claimed. Unite says vicars are experiencing psychological, emotional, verbal and physical abuse, whilst bishops are not doing enough to protect them – often ‘hiding’ instead of acting. The Church of England acknowledged bullying did happen but said it ...

The Archbishop of Perth, The Most Reverend Roger Herft, this morning announced the appointment of Australia’s first woman bishop. Archbishop Herft said the way was cleared for women as bishops in October 2007 with the ruling that such appointments were in accord with the constitution of the Australian Church. This appointment was a logical progression of that decision. “We expect ...

South African churches have urged President Thabo Mbeki to work vigorously to get Zimbabwe to release full election results without delay, while Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu says Robert Mugabe can still redeem himself by stepping down as president. "The delayed release of the results creates unnecessary tension and insecurity for millions of voters and may undermine their ...

An independent US federal body that monitors religious freedom is urging President George W. Bush not to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing unless there are discernible changes in China’s policy towards Tibet. The Washington-based Commission on International Religious Freedom, in a 4 April statement, said that if Bush should decide to attend the games, he ...

The Texas children’s service system is taking swift action to find homes and resources for the more than 400 children removed since 4 April from the Yearning For Zion Ranch located outside Eldorado, in the second largest US state. The ranch is the headquarters of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints movement, which allows its members to practice polygamy. The FLDS ...