Queensland Synod News

The Uniting Church is urging that the South Australian Government sign a treaty recognising Aboriginal land rights in SA. The Reverend Ken Sumner says the treaty would mirror the intentions of the South Australian Letters Patent of 1836, recognising Aboriginal rights to lands they occupied or enjoyed. He says the lack of an official treaty is leading to anti-social behaviour ...

The National Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia has today welcomed the Rudd Government’s initiative to end the detention of asylum seekers on the island nation of Nauru. Rev Elenie Poulos, National Director of UnitingJustice Australia, praised Immigration Minister, Chris Evans’ decision to provide refugee status to seven Burmese men currently detained on Nauru. “We congratulate the Federal Government ...

The first parish in England to be named the Green Church of the Year took steps to reduce its carbon footprint 18 months ago with a "walking school bus" scheme for adults to walk children to school rather than driving them there in cars.  Sixty separate daily car journeys have been eliminated since the Rev. Cathy Horder and other leaders ...

The fight against climate change has been marked by broken promises and missed opportunities, say three European bishops in a letter to political leaders to mark the opening of UN-led talks on the Indonesian island of Bali. "Every person on earth, both now and in the future, has the same right to use its natural resources in a sustainable manner," ...

Teacher Gillian Gibbons is to be released from prison in Sudan after she was jailed for allowing children in her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad. Mrs Gibbons was jailed for 15 days by a court in Sudan. Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir pardoned her after a meeting with two British Muslim peers – Lord Ahmed and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi. ...

Uniting Church President Rev Gregor Henderson is one of sixteen heads of churches who have called on the government to act on the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Iraq and the surrounding region. “Australia has a moral responsibility to help protect Iraqi civilians and those displaced by the violence,” the statement said. The heads of churches expressed concerns that the ...

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s statement that he was reluctant to speak about his religious faith while he was in office as he felt people in Britain might regard him as a "nutter" has stirred vigorous debate. The Anglican Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, said, "I am sorry that Tony Blair feels he could not talk about his faith ...

The number of Roman Catholics is diminishing in Europe. But the continent still accounts for half of the cardinals who are able to elect a pope, compared to South America, which has 42.3 per cent of all Catholics in the world, but accounts for fewer than 1 in 5 cardinal electors. Pope Benedict XVI on 24 November created 23 new ...

When Raju Lama embraced Christianity at the age of 16, his Buddhist parents were furious and virtually expelled him from the family home near the Nepalese capital of Katmandu. Undeterred, Lama, who became a Christian in 1989, began trying to persuade his parents to do the same. Ten years later that persistence paid off, and his parents converted to Christianity, ...

Church leaders have cautiously welcomed a document issued by a joint Roman Catholic-Orthodox commission dealing with the papacy, among other things, as an important move towards overcoming a 950-year rift between the two Christian traditions. "We must be clear this is only a first step, a modest step" said Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian ...