News, Notices & Prayer points - 11th April 2023

Posted Apr 11, 2023 in News

News & Notices – 11th April 2023

Below are the news and notices from congregations, the Synod of South Australia and the wider Uniting Church for Tuesday, 11th April, 2023 edition of UC e-News

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Prayer Points

We pray:

For those who lost their lives on Australian roads this Easter weekend. May their families find God’s comfort amidst their grief, and may we all be aware and alert on the road.
For our region’s native wildlife, many of which are at risk of extinction due to climate change and human interference. We remember God’s call to look after the earth and all living creatures who inhabit it.
For children and teenagers eagerly awaiting the beginning of the school holidays this week – may they enjoy time with friends and family, and a relaxing break from their studies.

Voice Banners now available

The Synod of VIC/TAS has designed a banner in support of the Voice to Parliament and the banner has been endorsed by the National Assembly. There are three colour options for those congregations that wish to display a banner in support of the Voice to Parliament. The three designs are available to view at this link: UCA SA - Voice to Parliament Resources

If you would like to order a banner please email the Engagement Ministry Centre at Turn on Javascript! and include the following details with your order:

Name of congregation
Name of contact person at congregation
Type of banner required e.g. corflute, canvas
Size of banner, please include number of eyelets required
Indicate colour choice of your design
Clearly indicate any additional words you would like included in the design.

There is no design fee, however there will be a print and postage and handling fee associated with all requested. Once an order is received, Engagement will let you know the print quote cost for your banner, before progressing your requirements.

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Call for Expressions of Interest: Missional Renewal Pilot

Mission Resourcing is seeking to identify three to five congregations for the first round of Awaken Adelaide cohorts for a Missional Renewal Pilot project: Intercultural Neighbourhood Congregation Pilot.

Awaken Adelaide is a six-month process for congregations to learn about new ways of being a church in an increasingly multicultural neighbourhood. This will be done through a cohort learning experience with neighbouring congregations and CALD faith communities to build missional partnerships in local communities.

A one-page flyer can be downloaded at this link: Intercultural Congregation Pilot Flyer-final.pdf

A four-page leaflet can be downloaded at this link: Four Page Awaken Adelaide flyer.pdf

Congregations are invited to submit expressions of interest at this link: Expression of Interest (office.com) by 31st May, 2023. For further information and enquiries, please contact Paul Goh Turn on Javascript! Mobile: 0416 564 193.

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United by Faith Blood Drive 1^st April – 30^th June 2023

We now have a wonderful opportunity to come together with other faith-based communities across Australia and take part in the annual ‘United by Faith’ Blood Drive. Here in Australia, we need 33,000 people each and every week to donate to ensure that we keep up with the needs of Australia. Of these donations over 34% are used towards cancer treatments and 19% Anaemia, this is something that many people are unaware of. Here in Australia 1 in 3 people will need blood during their lifetime however currently only 1 in 30 donate so it is so important that we work with wonderful organisations like Uniting Church of South Australia to ensure supply.

Please visit this website www.lifeblood.com.au to find out more about how Lifeblood helps the community. Most are aware of how we work in the area of blood donations but may not be aware we also have a breast milk donation program, work in the cutting edge area of Microbiome, tissue matching for organ transplants and also work with the wonderful bone marrow program here in Australia.

Donating blood is an easy process and only requires an hour of one’s time. Bookings can be made to donate at any Australian Red Cross Lifeblood location - appointments are available throughout the day, including evenings and weekends. For those who are a little anxious about giving blood for the first time, there’s an option to donate with Uniting Church of South Australia friends and family members. All donors will be warmly welcomed by Lifeblood’s professional and friendly nursing staff.

How can you get involved?

Visit www.lifeblood.com.au and follow the prompts OR
Call Lifeblood’s call centre on 13 14 95*

*For those with eligibility queries, we recommend booking through the call centre

What about Lifeblood Teams?

Teams are a wonderful thing where organisations like yours come together as one and show their support, its so simple to join your team and then you can track how many lives you are saving through our web site or through quarterly updates that we will supply to your SA regional team in Adelaide.

To make your donation count towards Uniting Church of South Australia ‘tally’ (donation count), and towards this blood drive, you can do the following:

Online – in the account settings area, select ‘My Teams’ and then select The Uniting Church in Australia (Synod of SA) as your team OR
Simply advise the donor centre staff when donating – they can update your profile for you.

There are 5 Lifeblood Donation Centres located across Adelaide and there is also a mobile unit and pop up sites that visit communities across the state and again you can find all of these on the website. site.

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Volunteer Awards 2023

Volunteering brings people together – local volunteers are an integral part of our community. Mark Butler MP has launched volunteer awards inviting community groups and clubs to nominate volunteers in the following categories:

Volunteer Recognition Award: An organisation may nominate up to two volunteers to receive recognition.
Youth Encouragement Award: The Youth Encouragement Award recognised those under 25 years of age who volunteer in their local community. An organisation may nominated up to two volunteers.
Local Legends Prize: recognises and celebrates the work of volunteers that have made an exceptional contribution to their community over many years.

Nomination forms are located on the following website: Mark Butler MP > Local Legends,
Forms for each category are also available at the same link.

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Raising our Tribal Voice for Justice: An Indigenous Theological Revolution 2023 Conference

The School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Divinity is pleased to announce a four-day conference entitled ‘Raising Our Tribal Voice for Justice: An Indigenous Theological Revolution.’ This is the first ever national ecumenical platform where Indigenous theologians from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific will raise up their voices and challenge churches across denominations to call their followers to action in addressing injustice, inequality and systemic failings of churches history to protect, nourish, and benefit from Indigenous peoples and their knowledge. More information and how to book is available at this link: Raising our Tribal Voice for Justice Tickets, St John's Anglican Cathedral, Brisbane City | TryBooking Australia

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Hearts for Hospitals

Across Lyell McEwin and Modbury hospitals, padded hearts are used for emotional support. (Wooden hand crosses are also used for Christians). Patients take the hearts into tests, squeeze them through the long nights and during the wait for results. They are deeply appreciated. They are also given to staff who are struggling or to say thanks for their care and compassion.

The hospitals are looking for people who would be willing to make and supply hearts to give away. The hearts are 3 inches or 8cm and padded and many are embroidered along the seam.

Please contact Matthew Halman (UCA Chaplain) or Rev Dianna Muir (Northern Adelaide Local Health Network) phone: (08) 8182 9093 or (08) 8182 9000 (request pager 5465), or mobile 0435 154 906 during business hours.

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Through their eyes training (formally known as Reporting Child Abuse & Neglect)

Two upcoming sessions are being offered at Nunyara, Belair. Refresher session on 24^th April for those who need to renew their knowledge. Full day on April 27^th - for those who may not have completed the training or haven’t done so for several years. More details and booking information available at this link: https://safechurch.ucasa.org.au/events-calendar/.

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L’Arche Adelaide

L'Arche is an international federation of faith-based communities characterised by mutual relationships of friendship and care between people with and without an intellectual disability. These friendships are lived out through sharing daily life, with all its joys and struggles. The L'Arche Adelaide community began in 2013 and its first community house opened in January 2022. Information about the community is available at https://www.larche.org.au/finding-a-community/larche-adelaide/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/larcheadelaide/. For further information please contact the Community Leader, Tracy Tohl, mobile Mobile 0418 497 539; Email Turn on Javascript!.

The latest L’Arche Adelaide newsletter can be downloaded at this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eaR1tFaDdCMKTeMqQ4h9xbaOhL6JTD0I/view?usp=share_link

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Holding crosses

Any groups making wooden holding crosses who are able to donate some to Flinders Medical Centre, Noarlunga Hospital and Repat please contact Leanne Jenski 0409516857 or email Turn on Javascript!

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Winifred Kiek Scholarship

Applications for the 2024 Winifred Kiek Memorial Scholarship are now open and must be received by 31^st May 2023. The scholarship enables women to develop capacity in theology or for ministry. In 2024, the scholarship will be awarded to a woman from multicultural Australia. More information is available at this link: The Winifred Kiek Memorial Scholarship - NCCA.

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Uniting Church National History Society 2023 Conference

Registrations for the Uniting Church National History Society's 2023 Conference are now open. For information and details about how to register for the conference please download the promotional flyer at this link or contact Judy Orme email: Turn on Javascript!.

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Equip church leaders and pastors with skills to help them provide Pastoral Care

A set of workshops designed for those in the helping professions - which includes church leaders and pastors, as well as counsellors entitled: Reflection on Connection: Patterns of practice in supervision, spirituality, and clinical work will be held at Tabor College, Millswood, South Australia on Saturday 15th April.

This is a rare opportunity to understand and apply the skills of reflective practice in a safe, supportive environment with facilitators who have more than 40 years of counselling experience in their own practice as well as within the church context. Participants will be equipped with transferable skills with immediate impact on self and clients to help avoid burnout.

Further details about the workshop/s can be downloaded at this link, or via the website https://ccaa.net.au/events/reflection-on-connection/to or by contacting Turn on Javascript! or calling (08) 7099 2277.

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How to make the most of your National Church Life Survey Results (NCLS)

NCLS Research will present ‘How to make the most of your National Church Life Survey Results’ a free webinar that will guide church leaders and their teams through their Church Life Profile of results, with insights and tips for exploring their results and using them to inform their ministry. Free tickets are available at: https://MakethemostofyourNCLSresults.eventbrite.com.au

Various event dates are available in April and for further information please download the flyer at this link.

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National Lay Preachers Conference 2023

The Queensland Synod is pleased to host on behalf of the National Lay Preacher Committee, the 2023 National Conference of Lay Preachers to be held Friday 4^th August to Monday 7^th August 2023 at Alexandra Park Conference Centre, Sunshine Coast Queensland.

For Lay Preachers, prospective Lay Preachers and those interested in leading worship. Share in a wonderful few days and be encouraged, supported and challenged in your ministry. Further information is available at this link: National Conference of Lay Preachers 2023 - Uniting Church in Australia, Queensland Synod (ucaqld.com.au)

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Synod Ecumenical Relations Committee (SERC) Award South Australia

SERC is grateful to the Synod for the continued funding of the Ecumenical Award.

Each year the award is given to a congregation that has done the most to foster ecumenical relations within the local community.

SERC is now calling for submissions for the 2023 award, either in writing or electronically and should be received by the secretary, Don Hopgood, 19 Ray Avenue, Morphett Vale 5162 email: Turn on Javascript! and no later than April 30^th 2023. Please use word and pictures (if possible) to make clear what you have undertaken and the measure of your success.

The award recipient will receive $600, or this amount may be divided between two or more entrants if appropriate. All entrants will receive a certificate acknowledging their willingness to engage in ecumenical activities and these will be presented at the Synod meeting 2023.

Should you require further information about this award please feel free to contact Velvy Holden (Chairperson SERC) Turn on Javascript! or Don Hopgood (Secretary SERC) Turn on Javascript!.

SERC looks forward to receiving your submissions and hearing about the involvement of congregations in South Australian Ecumenism. We pray God’s blessing on your efforts.

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Grant Opportunities

Multicultural Grants Program 2023-24 currently has Expand Together funding open to support multicultural communities.

The Expand Together grants assist multicultural organisations to expand their capacity by upgrading community facilities or purchasing equipment to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Apply for up $100,000. Applications for Round 2 open on 1st June 2023 and close on 30th August 2023. Find out more.

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Green Adelaide – Grass Roots Grants Program

The Green Adelaide Board is again launching the Grassroots Grants program, supporting individuals, volunteers, community groups and other bodies working on local projects that contribute to improved management of the environment.

Since commencement of the program in 2020, Green Adelaide have invested in 77 projects valued at over $2 million, delivering on coastal management, water resources and wetlands, green streets and flourishing parklands, flora, fauna and ecosystem health, controlling pest animals and plants and nature education.

The total value of the Grassroots Grants Program for Green Adelaide in 2022-23 is $866,000, with grants between $2,000 and $150,000 available per application. A full list of the successful projects including Grassroots Grant information is available on their website.

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COVID-19 Update

All existing directions, frequently asked questions and other information in regards to COVID-19 guidelines can be found here: https://www.covid-19.sa.gov.au/emergency-declarations.

If you would like further assistance, please contact your presbytery or:

Sue Page Turn on Javascript! or phone (08) 8236 4217 or 0430 666 959

Philip Gardner Turn on Javascript! or phone (08) 8236 4268 or 0409 077 076.

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Sally Stamp

Sally Stamp asks that people continue to send stamps to the Uniting Church Office, to help with this ministry. The group also suggests that people consider asking local businesses to save their stamps, with doctor’s surgeries being one of the best sources of stamps! Any donations of private collections no longer required are also gratefully received. In 2022 donations were made to the following: South pacific School Aid Inc. ($4,700); Frontier Services ($1,000); and The Grove U/C Kids Craft Group ($1,000). Pick up can be arranged in metropolitan areas. Contact, Maxine Haines (Convenor) Phone: 0427 972 417, email: Turn on Javascript!.

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Together Day

Uniting Church Fellowship and Mission Support Together Day is being held at Burnside Uniting Church, 384 Portrush Road, Tusmore on Friday, 5^th May 2023. Commencing with morning tea at 10.00 am, the program commences at 10.30 am and concludes with lunch. Lunch bookings can be made by registering at this link: Together Day Tickets, Together Day, Tusmore | TryBooking Australia.

More information is available by contacting Janet Woodward on 0432 271 757.

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