Tag Archives: Community

Imagine filling out the most important form of your life in a language not your own, knowing that time is running out and a mistake may end in deportation. Dianne Jensen visits Indooroopilly Uniting Church where people seeking asylum are being given a warm welcome and a helping hand. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s announcement in late May that asylum seekers ...

As the Uniting Church celebrates the 40th anniversary of Australia’s first home-grown church, Journey explores three different examples of innovation and renewal in Queensland congregations. Dianne Jensen reports. Ripley Valley: a season to begin A new town is rising in south east Queensland. Ripley Valley will have a bigger downtown area than the nearby Ipswich central business district and house ...

Triple J’s annual all-ages, drug-and-alcohol-free concert One Night Stand will be heading to Mount Isa in Northwest Queensland on 22 April. Each year the free event is hosted by a different regional town, bringing around 10 000 (mostly) young people to town and injecting a lot of money into the local community. But how can churches get involved? Here are ...

Congregations in central Queensland are having their say about the ministry models they need to sustain them amid the ongoing challenges of life on the land. Dianne Jensen reports. Rev Arthur Tutin, the new Central Queensland Presbytery remote/rural ministry project officer, is the man literally behind the wheel of a two-year project to explore how the presbytery might develop and ...

There was an old bumper sticker that said, “Think global, act local”. Our faith speaks about the great universal themes of creation, of reconciliation, of salvation. The Uniting Church, particularly, is energised by the large and broad issues that humanity and the nation are facing—anthropogenic climate change, the global refugee crisis, the world economic order. Yet for many of us, ...

One of the appealing characteristics of the Uniting Church is the passion many members have for social justice. We acknowledge that from the Old Testament prophets through Jesus’ commands that we love God and our neighbour there is concern for the poor and the disadvantaged. There are 2000 verses in the Bible which speak about the poor. Many congregations have ...

Welcome to the May edition of Journey and my first in the editor’s seat. I’d like to acknowledge the fine work of my predecessor, Rohan Salmond who produced a magazine that truly lived up to its core mandates: to inspire, to provoke and to engage. The major question I ask myself as I settle in the role is, “What kind ...

Every weekend someone, somewhere is having a garage sale. And who can resist the allure of finding just what you need or a hidden treasure among the piles of household items? Journey asks churches for their tips for turning trash into treasure. Garage sales can be important fundraisers for local churches as well as great opportunities to connect with the ...

The 2016 National Volunteer Week theme is “Give Happy, Live Happy”, a message that resonates with Uniting Church members who volunteer in the Queensland community. Journey reports. Every year National Volunteer Week is a prominent opportunity to draw attention to the vital work volunteers do across the nation. This year’s theme for the week, from 9–15 May, continues on from ...

Forget the flashing lights and loud music, ministry to children and youth is about valuing people and relationships. Rev Josie Neuendorff explains. When I speak to people in congregations about children and youth ministry, I am almost always asked about what programs and activities will attract young people and keep them interested. The answer is, simply, there are none. Compared ...