What’s coming up Empowering people with disability International Day of People with Disability is 3 December. Roughly 15 per cent of our global population or about 1 billion people around the world live with a disability. Resources are available for communities, schools, workplaces etc. to get involved. More ideas are available here. Please remember when you are planning: “Nothing about ...
Read More »Tag Archives: social justice
5 ways to champion social justice for beginners
A concern for social justice lies at the heart of Christianity and there are plenty of causes to get behind to show you care about our world. But sometimes starting off can be the toughest challenge. Sue Hutchinson, Queensland Synod research officer, offers five ways to get started. Stay informed Join the Reach Out Speak Out Synod Facebook group, where ...
Read More »Letters May 2017
Forgotten or neglected? I noted with interest your heading “5 Forgotten hymns” on page 18 of the April edition of Journey. I believe that the heading should have been “5 Neglected hymns”. A hymn which should have been included is “Low in the grave He lay” (Methodist Hymn Book 211). My opinion is that no Easter celebration without this hymn ...
Read More »Film review: I, Daniel Blake
With more than five decades in the film and television industry, Ken Loach’s name has become a synonym for filmmaking with its finger on the pulse of socio-economic issues impacting the vulnerable and oppressed. Sue Hutchinson reviews his latest, I, Daniel Blake. Ken Loach daringly confronts a powerful and shocking social justice issue in his award-winning film I, Daniel Blake. ...
Read More »Trading fair for the future
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 ...
Read More »Seven ways small congregations can make a difference
Small congregations face a unique set of challenges, and don’t always have the resources to participate in ministry in the same way as large churches with big budgets and a large talent pool. But small churches are still an important part of the fabric of our community, and their intimate size offers opportunities that aren’t available to big communities. Here’s ...
Read More »Storing up treasures for good
Investing ethically is all well and good, but the realities of it are more complex than you may think. Mardi Lumsden explores. Prior to the last Queensland Synod meeting in May 2013 the New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory Synod in Session resolved to divest from stocks and shares in corporations engaged in the extraction of fossil fuels and to redirect ...
Read More »Never give up
Dianne Jensen talks to Dave Andrews, Charles Ringma, Lin Hatfield Dodds and Sue Hutchinson about why they keep working for social transformation. “Many people start out with the fire in their belly to set the world alight when they are young; but very few people still have the fire in their belly when they are old,” says Dave Andrews. The ...
Read More »July Journey now available
The July edition of Journey magazine is now available in PDF. You can download this edition and all previous editions back to 2005 on the download page. Keep it up! You know that feeling you get around the beginning of July? A creeping realisation which suddenly hits with a bittersweet epiphany—the year is half over! How did that happen? The previous six months ...
Read More »Voices of compassion
I have never spoken at a public rally before, but I was happy to lend my voice and prayers to support asylum seekers and refugees. But not everyone in the Uniting Church agrees with my point of view. I certainly didn’t agree with all the people in the crowd, some of whom were wearing T-shirts with slogans I couldn’t support. ...
Read More »