Queensland Synod News

Lifeline Community Care Queensland’s Community Recovery team has been put on alert for possible community recovery services as a result of flooding in the Whitsunday Shire. After reports of homes and shops being damaged, road closures and 200 people on Sunlander train stranded at Proserpine, Department of Communities have requested Lifeline’s Community Recovery team to standby for possible activation. Lifeline ...

A breakaway Catholic church has been formed in Zambia and is supporting a campaign by the excommunicated former archbishop of Lusaka, Emmanuel Milingo, against compulsory celibacy for priests. "The profound pain and suffering caused to the Roman Catholic priests as a result of celibacy is uncalled for," said the Rev. Luciano Mbewe, who said he was the archbishop-elect of the ...

UnitingCare Australia has today welcomed the announcement by acting Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, that the Federal Government will remove gag clauses placed on non-government organisations that have prevented agencies from speaking out in the interests of vulnerable Australians. The Federal government has annouced that it will review all existing agreements with social service providers to remove the gag  and restore ...

Malaysian Christians have protested against a government ban on the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims in the Islamic Southeast Asian nation. In a statement issued to the media on 7 January, the Christian Federation of Malaysia expressed "deep disappointment and regret" at the announcement in the first week of January by the minister n charge of Islamic affairs, ...

The Muslim Council of Britain has described as "alarming" a statement made by the Anglican bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, that some parts of the country have become "no-go" areas for non-Muslims. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper on 6 January, Bishop Nazir-Ali asserted that "those of a different faith or race may find it difficult to live or work ...

The US scientific community has begun 2008 with a strong offensive on evolution in the educational system, which often evokes the ire of advocates of creationism, a belief that humanity, life and the universe were created in their original form by a deity. The National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine released Science, Evolution, and Creationism, a book that ...

Churches in Pakistan have condemned the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto while appealing for international help in eradicating terrorism in their country. "We earnestly appeal to the national and global communities and specifically churches to pray for the welfare of the State of Pakistan which is passing through a very difficult period of its history and to encourage ...

The Uniting Church in Australia has today expressed support for the Muslim community in Sydney, following a meeting last night by some 900 people opposed to a proposed Islamic school in the south-west. President of the Church, Rev. Gregor Henderson, said the reaction by Christian Democrats MP, Fred Nile, was particularly disappointing and not one that the Uniting Church supported.  ...

Rev. Gregor Henderson, President of UCA, and Rev. Kerry Enright, National Director of Uniting International Mission, offer the attached story as a gift for both preachers and pray-ers this Christmas. It’s a powerful story about how God in Christ brings hope and peace throughout the world. We encourage every minister and lay preacher leading services this Christmas to use the ...

In December 2007 a delegation of nine Australian Church leaders visited Jerusalem and the Holy Land to: meet with and express friendship and support for Christians in Palestine and Israel; meet with Jewish and Muslim faith leaders and representatives of the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority; and help Australians more fully understand and respond to the situation in Israel ...