News, notices & prayer points - 10 October 2018

Posted in News

News, notices & prayer points – 10 October 2018

Below are the news, notices and prayer points from congregations, the SA Synod and the wider Uniting Church submitted for the Wednesday 10 October edition of UC e-News.

 

Prayer Points for the week

  • For those involved in the recovery efforts of the Sulawesi earthquake where the death toll is now close to 2,000, while many thousands are still unaccounted for.
  • For our Lutheran brothers and sisters as their church receives the General Synod’s decision to continue to allow only male leaders to be ordained.

 

South Australian Council of Churches seeks an Ecumenical Facilitator/Executive Officer

The role is to provide a high level of executive leadership to the Appointees of SACC Member Churches and to assist, facilitate, develop and guide in the provision of processes, resources and opportunities for ecumenism in service of the Churches.

For Position Description or more information, email Turn on Javascript! or phone (08) 8215 0300.

 

Poverty, Social Exclusion and Disadvantage in Australia report launch

The 2018 Child Social Exclusion, Poverty and Disadvantage in Australia report will be launched on Monday, 15 October, as part of the Anti-Poverty Week activities. The purpose of the report is to provide up-to-date data on the extent of child poverty, social exclusion and disadvantage in Australia and encourage prevention-focussed solutions.

Key findings include:

  • 1 in 6 Australian children (17.2%) aged 0-14 years live in poverty.
  • Too many children experience disadvantage on multiple fronts and are unable to participate fully in their community.
  • Northern Territory has the highest incidence of children at greatest risk of social exclusion (43%), followed by Tasmania and South Australia.
  • A local community’s risk of child social exclusion is highly persistent over time.

The report analyses the 2016 Census and other data to capture the multi-dimensional nature of disadvantage. It is co-launched by UnitingCare Australia and the University of Canberra’s National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM).

 

Engage Together: Growing Intergenerational Worship 

The FREE resource Engage Together: Growing Intergenerational Worship is for individual leaders and congregations seeking to be more intentionally intergenerational during a worship service. It provides tips, ideas and some practical suggestions for being more intergenerational during different elements of a typical worship service, including welcoming people, children's talks, notices, preaching, Communion, collection of offering, benediction and fellowship after the service.

The resource also includes material from Engage Together: Generating Intergenerational Worship Ideas around call to worship, music, prayer, Bible reading and take home ideas. This new resource and can be read in conjunction with Engage Together: More than Worship, More than Sunday. 

 

Reimagining Church in NZ

In the first week of October Rob Floyd, Associate General Secretary of the Uniting Church in Australia Assembly, represented the Uniting Church at the 2018 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand (PCANZ). The event was held at St Andrew's College in Christchurch. It ran over five days and involved around 300 representatives from across New Zealand.

Read Rob’s thoughts on the conference and his visit here.

 

2019 Calendars / Annual Reports ready for order

Each year the Uniting Church creates a calendar which also acts as the Uniting Church SA Annual Report. It reports on the mission and service fund, but provides far more than that, featuring a cross section of the many and varied ways we go about being the Uniting Church.

All congregations, faith communities and organisations wishing to receive printed calendars must place an order by Wednesday 31 October. Printed calendars cost $2 each (including GST).

Find out more, and place an order here.

 

Religious freedom: alleged media leaks on the Ruddock Review

The Sydney Morning Herald reported today (Wednesday 10 October) on a leak they seem to have obtained of the Ruddock Review report. The headline is "Religious freedom review enshrines right of schools to turn away gay children and teachers."

Comments from the Prime Minister has followed where he says that "the law already permits schools from refusing to accept a child based on their involvement in the LGBTQI community and that the government is not looking to change that law."

If you are interested in this topic, you may also want to read the following resources:

 

We are the Uniting Church

Have you ever taken the time to watch the UCA Assembly’s video that tells the story of how we became the Uniting Church in Australia? It is just over seven minutes long and truly worth the effort. There are also videos that documents our life, ministries and mission under tags such as ageing well, educating for life, supporting communities and more.

You can watch these videos here.

 

------------------------------------------ 

 

Didn’t read the last “News & notices”? The items below are ones you might want to catch up on.

 

Five Leaf Eco-Awards Presentation - Pilgrim Uniting Church

Jessica Morthorpe, Director of the Five Leaf Eco -Awards, will make a presentation to Pilgrim Uniting Church this Sunday, 7 October at the 9.30am and 11am services. The Five Leaf Eco-Awards are an Australian ecumenical environmental change program specifically designed for churches and religious organisations.  

Using a series of non-competitive awards the program assists, inspires and rewards faith communities for taking environmental action and becoming more sustainable in response to God’s call to care for creation. Find out more about the awards here: https://fiveleafecoawards.org.

  

Mental health is just as important as physical health

World Mental Health Day is marked every year on 10 October. In 2018, events will be held from 7 to 13 October. Communities throughout metropolitan and rural South Australia will celebrate Mental Health Week with events, exhibitions, poetry, stalls, discussions and more.

Most of the activities held during Mental Health Week are free to attend and help communities connect to spread the word that mental health is relevant to everyone. Find some events and activities near you here.

 

Anti-Poverty Week 2018

Anti-Poverty week (14-20 October) is fast approaching and you too can organise an activity or take part in one organised by others. Your involvement in anti-poverty week will help strengthen public understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty and hardship around the world and in Australia, and encourage research, discussion and action to address these problems, including action by individuals, communities, organisations and governments.

 

Friendship Program for new arrivals

Are you interested in supporting a refugee or asylum seeker to settle in South Australia? Or are you a new arrival (with a refugee background) who would like to be matched to an Australian friend to help you practice English, learn more about life in Australia and enjoy some social outings? If the answer to either of these questions is YES you might consider getting involved in Baptist Care SA’s Friendship Program.

Training sessions for volunteers will be held on Monday 29 October and Monday 5 November, 6pm - 8pm. Contact Baptist Care SA’s Friendship Program Coordinator, Bryan Hughes, on 8118 5228 for more information.

 

From Emmaus to Amsterdam: new Bible study reflects on the transforming power of walking together
“Never before had I realised the power of simply walking together on a path of peace, how it connects people in a very deep and meaningful way”, writes Rev Prof Dr Fernando Enns in the newest Bible study on the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace published by the World Council of Churches (WCC). It is worth a read.

 

More from News

Subscribe to receive News articles by email >

Comments

Comments (3)