Posted in Culture
Individuals and congregations within the Uniting Church SA have a long history of supporting a wide range of issues related to justice.
Recently the Uniting Church SA Transforming Justice unit, part of the Mission Resourcing team, conducted a survey to identify those issues that Uniting Church SA members believe are a priority.
The survey, which was widely distributed online, aimed to identify current levels of support for a range of social justice issues, and inform priority setting for justice issues in 2016/17.
After receiving over 250 responses from Uniting Church members and friends, the results of the survey have now been compiled.
Just over 19% of respondents indicated a sense that God is leading them to be very active on the issue of refugees and asylum seekers. This means 35 individuals have expressed their willingness to be active in leading and empowering others to address this issue.
A further 40.98% of participants reported feeling called to a higher level of support for asylum seekers and refugees. These individuals indicated their willingness to take action by writing a letter, attending a forum or other event, developing a Bible study or sermon, or encouraging others to take action on this issue.
The Mission Resourcing team intends to build on the support for this issue as they develop strategies for 2016.
Other Uniting Church resources and information
Statement on asylum seeker and refugee policy
“Shelter from the Storm” is the Uniting Church in Australia’s statement on asylum seeker and refugee policy, adopted by the Uniting Church in Australia at the 14th Assembly in July 2015.
This policy will be used as the basis for the Uniting Church’s advocacy work in 2016.
Website updates
The Transforming Justice section of the Uniting Church SA website is currently being overhauled. The team has created updated content for the refugee and asylum seeker page, including new resources for individuals and congregations, events details and news updates.
Syrian refugee resettlement
Last year, the Uniting Church President launched an appeal for assisting the Uniting Church in supporting the resettlement of the Syrian refugees across Australia. This provides an avenue for people in the wider Uniting Church to support organisations, agencies and congregations across Australia working to resettle Syrian refugees.
Offering sanctuary
A recent High Court decision led a number of Uniting Church leaders to offer sanctuary to asylum seekers facing deportation to offshore detention. New Times online has featured several articles on this topic:
Churches offer sanctuary – published 05/02/16
Sanctuary for asylum seekers is an offer with ancient pedigree – published 08/02/16
Providing sanctuary – published 12/02/16
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The new 'normal’ that we have entered into can certainly bring changes to how we as a church undertake international mission. However, despite this challenge we encourage reflection on the importance of partnerships, solidarity for social justice issues and ecumenical sharing.
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A UnitingCare Emergency Relief Centre was needed in the Port Adelaide-Enfield area of Adelaide. And that's when Lefevre UC and volunteers from Port Adelaide UC stepped up.
A couple of years ago I was participating in a course which had a smattering of people from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) background. I would have said that they were good participants in class discussions but not the most active ones, and I gave little thought to it.
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