Tag Archives: Multiculturalism

Speaking at the 33rd Synod in Session, Multi-Cross Cultural Reference Group (MCCRG) chairperson Akesa Racava outlined the ways in which the group’s work intersects with Priority Directions, specifically around discipleship and leadership development, connecting with communities and multicultural capacity building. Citing the statistic that there are over 70 cultures within the life of the church in Queensland, Akesa presented three ...

Reflecting on the past and discerning how the church faces the future was front and centre of the 33rd Synod meeting (20–24 October). The team from Journey reports. Hundreds of Uniting Church members gathered at the Alexandra Park Conference Centre on the Sunshine Coast as the 33rd Synod in Session kicked off in style with a rousing opening worship of ...

On 24 June the Queensland Synod’s Multi-Cross Cultural Reference Group celebrated the Uniting Church’s 40th anniversary with a party highlighting the rich cultural diversity within the church. Akesa Racava reports.  Turning 40 has been equally important across all cultures in the Uniting Church. For our multi-cross cultural congregations it required a celebration of colour, music, dancing, feasting and worship. Beenleigh Regional Uniting Church ...

As the Uniting Church celebrates its 40th birthday the question of who will lead the church in the decades ahead has become increasingly urgent. Journey reports on the Next Gen Arise initiative, which may just hold the answer. It’s Saturday afternoon at Kangaroo Point Uniting Church, and inside the talk is of faith and leadership as Mike Hands from Newlife ...

A multi-faith coalition of communities will come together on 25 November for the “Peace Begins at Home” walk to stop violence against women. The event coincides with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and White Ribbon Day. Journey talks with three women helping organise the event. Now in its second year, the walk through ...

Over one hundred young adults from across Australia attended the 2016 National Young Adult  Leaders’ Conference (NYALC) where the church’s multicultural identity was on full display. Journey reports. While there’s often talk of ageing within the Uniting Church, NYALC demonstrated that a new generation of culturally-diverse young people is coming through to enrich the identity (and grow the congregations) of ...

Ten of the eleven victims slept soundly as fire engulfed their Slacks Creek home on a cold winter’s night in 2011. Five years on, Ashley Thompson visits the Lale family of Sunnybank Uniting Church to remember their loss and celebrate their future. Often described as Australia’s worst house fire, the exact cause of the blaze, which ripped through the Lale ...

Enriching dialogue and diversity reigned at the 32nd Synod meeting (20–24 May) while future directions were confirmed. The Journey team was there to cover the event. The Alexandra Park Conference Centre on the Sunshine Coast was packed with hundreds of Uniting Church members from across Queensland. The tea urns were switched on and the blue and orange cards were ready ...

The 32nd Synod meeting of the Uniting Church in Queensland began on 20 May 2016 as Rev Dennis Corowa, Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress and Calvary Presbytery chairperson, acknowledged the traditional owners of the land at Alexandra Headland, the Gubbi Gubbi people. “We pay our respects to elders past and present and say prayers with all those in the future,” ...

Multicultural advocate Lesley Bryant talks to Dianne Jensen about her passion for building trust in fractured communities. When Lesley Bryant first learned about her Samoan great-grandmother, it seemed like a romantic addendum to an ordinary family history. Years later, she came to understand how the legacy of Queensland’s dark history of indentured South Sea Islander labour had affected her own ...