The 2016 UnitingWomen conference is fast approaching! Taking place at Wesley Kent Town Uniting Church in Adelaide from Thursday 28 April to Sunday 1 May, the conference will gather together women from across the Uniting Church in Australia for a time of sharing with one another, listening to speakers and participating in workshops.
The workshops for the conference have been finalised and registered attendees will soon be invited to book their places. New Times is pleased to give you more information about the inspiring women who will lead the conference workshops and the content that will be included.
Vicky Balabanski is a Senior Lecturer in New Testament with Flinders University’s Department of Theology and Director of Biblical Studies at the Uniting College for Leadership & Theology. Vicky’s workshop will explore why feminist approaches to the Gospel are still important in a post-feminist era. She will give particular attention to Jairus’ daughter and the haemorrhaging woman (Mark 5:21-43); the dancing daughter (Mark 6:14-29), and the Syrophoenician Woman. Vicky will also lead the conference in daily devotionals with her colleague Liz Boase (below) to explore hope in the Old and New Testaments.
Liz Boase is the Head of the Department of Theology at Flinders University and a lecturer in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at the Uniting College for Leadership & Theology. After presenting an engaging workshop for UnitingWomen 2014, Liz is back to focus on the “capable wife” of Proverbs 31. Within this workshop, Liz will help participants to explore the portrayal of this woman, her role in the book of Proverbs, and whether she is a figure to be venerated or not.
Maleta Rumaroti is the secretary for mission at Kiribati Uniting Church. She will be joined by UnitingWorld senior leaders, Sureka Goringe and Sef Carroll, to explore how women’s stories create a powerful and energising source for leadership. Drawing on their own experiences and stories of leadership in the church and community, their workshop will provoke the question – where will women lead the church next?
Join Junior (Program Officer at the Methodist Church Zimbabwe) and Steph (UnitingWorld, Relief and Development Learning and Effectiveness Manager – South Asia) with hands-on activities and stories that will help participants to understand the challenges women and girls face around the world. Junior and Steph will also detail the positive, life-changing role women and girls play in promoting sustainable change in communities made vulnerable by poverty.
At the 2014 UnitingWomen conference, Roslyn and her daughter Rebecca, both from Mapuru in remote North-East Arnhem Land, shared their special journey starting Mapuru Christian School. In 2016, they will share stories of old and new, woven in time, through their craft of basket weaving.
Deidre Palmer is Moderator of the Uniting Church SA and President-Elect of the Uniting Church in Australia. Deidre’s workshop will draw on the example of Jesus as someone who welcomed people whose voice was diminished or silenced, into the community of the people of God. Deidre will explore the shape of the Christian community today and our call to prophetic lives, embodying relationships that reflect the life-giving Gospel of Christ.
Sharonne Price is a social worker, chaplain, writer, mother and grandma with a long history in the Uniting Church. Until recently, Sharonne also held the position of Executive Officer of the Uniting Church SA’s Pastoral Relations and Mission Planning team. Sharonne’s workshop will help participants hone their skills in activating and maintaining a hopeful stance. She will also use Christian framework to reflect on hopefulness – possibilities, passion, presence and call – and how it relates to the world of psychology.
Helen Whittington is a social worker and family therapist with various experience in counselling roles, particularly with children affected by abuse and trauma. She explores how to be hopeful when your working life confronts you with vulnerable people who have faced many challenges. She discusses how participants can go on supporting people to find hope, and how we can sustain hopefulness when services seem over-stretched or unjust.
Personal prayer is one of those things that is often assumed, but rarely taught. How do you pray? Join Uniting Church Deacon Jenny Walker as she encourages other to share their experiences, experiment a little, and be introduced to some alternate resources for the very personal project of private prayer.
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.
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.
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.
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