Tag Archives: Dianne Jensen

Sunday-best clothes, church, roast lunches and lazy afternoons are Sunday memories for many older Christians. Dianne Jensen explores whatever happened to the Sabbath. For most Australians, the measured pace of Sunday has given way to the frenetic demand for unlimited access to entertainment, sport and commercial services. We are willing participants, giving way to the insidious tug to constantly check ...

It will take a leap of faith for our churches to grow. That’s the message from the inaugural Uniting Leaders conference held at the end of August at Newlife Uniting Church, Robina. Dianne Jensen reports. Lay and ordained leaders across the generations were encouraged to step up and out into new models of leadership at the three-day Uniting Leaders conference ...

Dianne Jensen talks to Val Webb about keeping the faith in a challenging world. If Uniting Church theologian Dr Val Webb has one message for Christians, it’s that asking questions is good for your faith. “There are so many people who think there’s only one way to think theologically, and if they can’t stomach that particular doctrinal package they have ...

Zimbabwean-born Johnson Makoti often gets phone calls out of the blue from people who have heard about the new prayer and deliverance ministry at the Atherton Uniting Church. Dianne Jensen reports. After only a year in the job, Rev Johnson Makoti’s hands-on approach to spreading the word of God has created a stir in the North Queensland town of Atherton and ...

One thing that brings children together is their love of drawing. Dianne Jensen finds out why KidzArt is booming at Southport Uniting Church. Exploring spirituality through art is just one of the things which makes KidzArt an effective mission of Southport Uniting Church. The innovative program was started four years ago by Rev Dona Spencer to provide a creative Christian ...

Dianne Jensen reports on how a partnership between the Christian church in China and the Uniting Church in Australia is flourishing at the grassroots level. An aged-care facility in a regional town in Shandong province in China seems a world away from the Wesley Mission Brisbane (WMB) Jacobs Court Aged Care Community in Sinnamon Park, Brisbane. But thanks to a ...

There’s a distinctly European flavour to God Willing (Se Dio vuole), the 2015 Italian comedy about love and faith which won Best New Director for writer-director Edoardo Falcone at the recent Italian Oscars. Dianne Jensen reviews this subtle commentary on the search for meaning in a post-Christian society. The lifestyle of the dysfunctional family at the heart of this film ...

A Wesley Hospital chaplaincy initiative is providing Uniting Church congregations with opportunities to support bereaved parents during the darkest of times. Dianne Jensen reports. Chaplain Julie Mackay-Rankin is passionate about the role of the church in supporting people through loss. Working in consultation with the midwives, Julie helps manage the Perinatal Bereavement Program at Brisbane’s Wesley Hospital, and she understands ...

Singles make up more than half of the people in churches, yet they are often sidelined when it comes to ministry and outreach. Dianne Jensen asks singles how we can change things. Many people go to church alone. While some have a spouse tucked up in bed with the Sunday paper or doing the soccer run, others attend by themselves ...

The Lives, Links and Legacy project underway at St Andrew’s Uniting Church in Brisbane city is uncovering the stories of congregation members who served in World War One. Dianne Jensen reports. When Martha Burns stepped off the yacht Greta onto French soil with Lady Rachel Dudley’s Australian Voluntary Hospital Unit in 1914, her independent ways had already flouted social conventions. ...