Queensland Synod News

Uniting Church President, Rev. Gregor Henderson, Assembly General Secretary, Rev. Terence Corkin, and National Director of UnitingJustice, Rev. Elenie Poulos, have had an encouraging first meeting with Dr Brendan Nelson, leader of the coalition. “The meeting was held as part of UCA’s ongoing commitment to engage with the political life of the country via both the government and opposition,” said ...

Poland’s Roman Catholic priests have been warned to stop using the Internet to plagiarise sermons for their Sunday Masses. "A sermon is a composition – as such, it comes under the law on authors’ rights," said Professor Tomasz Naganowski, an expert on media law at Poznan’s Higher School of Social Learning. "If someone’s preaches someone else’s sermon and fails to ...

The World Council of Churches says it has reached an agreement with United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, for the two international bodies to work more closely on several global issues, particularly climate change. "Global warming will only be resolved through a global common response and we need your help," Ban Ki-Moon said to WCC general secretary, the Rev. Samuel ...

An Oxford University centre is from the middle of 2008 to award its first grants to international research bodies that will participate in a 1.9 million British pound (US$4 million) programme examining how people come to believe in God or gods. The Cognition, Religion and Theology project, funded by the John Templeton Foundation established by the 95-year-old US-born billionaire who ...

The US Internal Revenue Service is investigating whether a speech at the United Church of Christ’s 2007 general synod by Barack Obama, who is seeking to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, amounts to denominational engagement in "political activities". "We are confident that the IRS [tax service] investigation will confirm that no laws were violated," the Rev. John H. Thomas, ...

Governor of Queensland Quentin Bryce could hardly have imagined 50 years ago as she launched the first door knock appeal in Brisbane to raise money to build a new hospital, that she would be back in 2008 to launch St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital 50th Anniversary celebrations. Who better than the Governor to open the proceedings and unveil a plaque ...

Protestants in the United States may soon become a minority in a country long perceived as predominately Protestant, according to a new study of the US religious landscape. The study by the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, and released on 25 February, found that the number of Protestants in the United States now makes up about 51 ...

The new leader of Roman Catholics in Germany has sparked controversy after being quoted as saying that priestly celibacy is not theologically necessary. Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg made his comments in an interview with Der Speigel weekly publication after his election on 12 February as the new chairperson of the German (Catholic) Bishops’ Conference. "Of course the link between ...

Lifeline Counsellors sprung into action in Mackay after after a severe weather system dumped more than 600 millimetres of rain in just six hours cutting off power, forcing schools and businesses to close down and flooding 200 houses in one suburb alone. Acting Lifeline Community Recovery Coordinator Richard Johnson said Lifeline activated the Community Recovery team in Mackay as soon ...

Christian-led women’s groups in Japan have joined protests against an alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl by a US Marine that was followed by a second such allegation against another US serviceman on the main island of Okinawa in the southwestern islands of Japan. "We the people and women of Okinawa Prefecture have been infuriated by the vicious incident again," ...