News, Notices & Prayer points - 24 October 2018

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News & notices – 24 October 2018

Below are the news and notices from congregations, the SA Synod and the wider Uniting Church submitted for the Wednesday 24 October edition of UC e-News.

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Prayer Points for the week

  • For the children on Nauru, for their families, and for those who are struggling to live with the lack of medical attention, inaction from the Australian government, and the limited and shrinking resources available.
  • For the victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. For those who were never heard or believed. For those who never received justice.
  • For the upcoming November Presbytery and Synod meeting. That it will be a safe and respectful gathering where people feel love and heard.

 

 

Last Week to order Christmas Postcards and Posters

Orders for the 2018 Christmas postcards and posters will close on Monday 29 October at 5pm. If you need more time, late orders may be arranged by contacting the Uniting Church SA communications team direct on 8236 4230 or email via the communications email address listed below.  

Orders can be placed online here.

 

Christmas service details

All congregations and faith communities are invited to share their Christmas service and event details on the Uniting Church SA website. Please list the service dates, times, locations and titles (e.g. Blue Christmas, Carols Service, etc.) and email them to the Communications team: Turn on Javascript!

 

Service of Induction and Commissioning for Mission Resourcing – 1 November at 7pm

Rev Mark Shultz to be inducted to serve as the Team Leader of Mission Resourcing.

Rev Dr Paul Goh to be inducted to serve as Justice & CALD Multicultural & Cross Cultural CMC Officer in Mission Resourcing.

Siti Rogoimuri to be commissioned to serve as Covenanting and International Mission Officer in Mission Resourcing.

The service will be on Thursday 1 November at 7pm and will be held at the Uniting College (312 Sir Donald Bradman Drive, Brooklyn Park).

Light refreshments will follow the service

 

Freedom Bells - Church Bells for Refugees

Churches around Australia are being invited to ring their bells 95 times on Fridays at midday until November 20 (International Children's Day) or until the children are brought off Nauru. 

This activity is being organised by Rural Australian's for Refugees (RAR).  RAR members Marie Selstrom and Jamie Kronborg can be contacted on by 0417 398 528 or 0409 912 967 or via Turn on Javascript!.

For more information, please visit the Freedom Bells website.

#KidsOffNaruru Prayer Vigil

The stories of the mental and emotional trauma experienced by the children who have been held in immigration detention on Nauru are harrowing.

Join us on Friday 2 November at 6:30pm as we come together with others from across Australia to lament and witness a better way for this children. This is an opportunity to unite as one to remind ourselves and our leaders that followers of Jesus will not remain silent about the gross injustice committed against these children and their families on Nauru.

The Adelaide Vigil will be held at Mary MacKillop Plaza (next to St Francis Xavier Cathedral, adjacent to Victoria Square). #KidsOffNauru is an initiative of Love Makes a Way.

For more information, please contact Rev Sandy Boyce on 0409 283 004 or Turn on Javascript!

Apology renewal to survivors of child sexual abuse

Assembly have just released a news item on the Assembly website, renewing the UCA apology to survivors of child sexual abuse in the wake of Monday’s National Apology. Read teh news item here: https://assembly.uca.org.au/news/item/2896-national-apology

Adelaide West Men’s Choir presents Singing by the Sea

Hosted by the Noarlunga Uniting Church, Adelaide West Men’s Choir will be performing a number of family-friendly and exciting songs. The concert will be held at 2pm on Sunday 18 November at Noarlunga Uniting Church (23 William Road, Christies Beach).

Tickets will be available at the door.

Admission: $12
Concession: $10
Children under 15: free

Craft Fair & Exhibition

Blackwood Community Classes presents Craft Fair & Exhibition. Held at Blackwood Uniting Church (266 Main Road, Blackwood) on Saturday 10 November from 9am – 4pm, the event will feature an Art & Craft Exhibition, handmade crafts and plants for sale, a Community Café, and more!

For more information contact Blackwood Uniting Church on 8278 7699 or visit their website.

Graduate Diploma in Spiritual Direction – information evening

Do you have a heart for accompanying others in their spiritual walk?

In a fast-paced and consumerist culture, people of all walks are hungering for a grounded spiritual journey. Spiritual direction is an ancient practice where through hospitable conversation, one person helps another discern and respond to God’s presence in the sacred stories of daily life. Grounded in the Christian tradition, Tabor’s Graduate Diploma in Spiritual Direction forms people for this ministry.

Everyone is invited to attend a session to learn more about earning a diploma in Spiritual Direction at Tabor College. Ministers, Pastors and other leaders may find this course of particular interest. The information evening will be held on Thursday 8 November 2018 from 7:30pm – 9pm held at Tabor (room 2), 181 Goodwood Road, Millswood.

RSVP no later than Monday 5 November. For more information, please call (08) 8373 8777. To RSVP please Turn on Javascript! Russell Bartlett.

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

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: the Ruddock Review report’s recommendations

With sections of the Ruddock Review report on religious freedom having been leaked to the media, commentary on its recommendations are rife – especially those linked to religious schools’ right to turn away gay students. Three lawyers in academia have written a balanced article on the leaked recommendations in The Conversation, which can be read here.

The Queensland Synod Moderator Rev Dave Baker also released a statement in lieu of media reports published regarding the religious freedom review, while Rev Rads Sukumar-White was interviewed on Triple J Hack, where she acquitted herself well. Listen to it here.

 

New Times print edition available now

The October/November edition of New Times is out now and available from your local congregation or faith community. It is also available online here.

The edition features different ways to serve. You will read about the invaluable work that deacons do out in the communities rather than within congregations, and how ordinary Christians are making a difference in the lives of prisoners’ kids and the prisoners themselves. We look at prayer apps on your phone, church meetings in a pub, ask for your participation in a New Times readership survey and much, much more.

We do have to issue an apology for those who have not received their copies of New Times as yet. We have had some print and distribution delays this month. Editions have now been posted and are on their way to you. We hope you enjoy this edition!

 

Calling all creative teens

Athelstone Uniting Church is hosting a one day Scripture Union M.A.D.D. retreat on Saturday 17 November. M.A.D.D is an acronym for music, art, drama and dance. It is a creative retreat which offers an opportunity for teenagers (years 7-12) to utilise their creative talents and explore what it means to be part of God's family. The day includes a series of workshops in music, art, drama and dance, in addition to games, short testimonies, and breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The cost is $65, which includes all meals and creative materials. The retreat will be held from 8am - 9pm and those interested can book online here. Go to the Facebook page for more information.

Registration deadline is 10 November.

 

A voice for First Nations in South Australia

First Nations groups in South Australia will have a new voice after representatives from across the state resolved to incorporate a new peak body that will promote the perspectives and interests of Aboriginal Nations.

Representatives from native title groups met in Adelaide on 10 October to discuss the functioning and creation of the “First Nations of South Australia Aboriginal Corporation”. The group will provide leadership, advocacy and a resource for Aboriginal Nations in South Australia.

Read more here.

Kairos Prison landed ministry

Kairos Prison Ministries goes into Mobilong Men's Prison, Murray Bridge twice a year. It takes in a team of 24 men who share the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ with 24 prisoners. Ordained clergy and volunteers are needed to spend 3 half days caring for and listening to prisoners. You will be trained both spiritually and logistically with this ministry.

Any interest you may have will be followed up over a cup of coffee so that you can ask questions, pray and discern whether this is a calling for you. Call Les Ormrod on 0404732484.

Safe Church & Code of Ethics training

A full day course in Child Safe Training is being offered on Saturday 27 October at Adare Uniting Church. There is also a three-hour refresher training session at Bridgewater Uniting Church, on Saturday 3 November. Bookings can be made online here.

There are also two upcoming opportunities to attend a Called to Care Awareness session. This is for members of Church Councils and key leaders to understand the best practice for Safe Church compliance and practices. Register attendance by sending an Turn on Javascript!, stating names and congregation represented. 

  • Sunday 28 October at Adare UC, Victor Harbor, or
  • Sunday 4 November at Westbourne Park UC. 

Sessions will run from 1:30pm to4:30pm.   

A refresher in Code of Ethics for Ministry Agents will be held on Thursday 8 November at Spicer Uniting Church, St Peters from 1:30pm.  Bookings online here.

Covenanting Activities: What’s happening in your congregation?

Rev Sitiveni Roguimuri, the newly appointed Covenanting and International Mission Officer at the Presbytery and Synod of South Australia, has invited congregations to send him any information regarding their covenanting activities.

He is interested in information regarding any covenanting-related discussions, workshops or activities that are already happening in congregations. These are events that he wishes to encourage and promote within other congregations, to raise the awareness of covenanting with First Peoples in our church.

“I am also willing to come and share with you in areas of Covenanting and work out together how congregations can be involved in such activities,” says Siti. “We love our Church (God), and covenanting activities can be a practical way of loving our neighbour.”

You can send Siti an Turn on Javascript!, or contact him on 8236 4264.

Book Launch: Receptive Ecumenism – Listening, Learning and Loving in the Way of Christ

This collection of essays is a response to the growing recognition of Receptive Ecumenism as a concept and process that has the potential to bring about the greater flourishing of the Church, both from within denominations as well as across the Church universal.

Contributors include Sara Gehlin (University of Helsinki, Finland), Denis Edwards (Australian Catholic University), Callan Slipper (Church of England's National Ecumenical Officer), Antonia Pizzey (Australian Catholic University), Doru Costache (St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College), John Littleton (Anglican Diocese of Adelaide), Vicky Balabanski (Flinders University of South Australia) and Geraldine Hawkes (SACC Ecumenical Facilitator).

The launch happens on Friday 16 November 2018, 9:45-10:45am, at Uniting College, Brooklyn Park, followed by morning tea at Adelaide West Uniting Church.

Books will be available for purchase on the day: $25.
RSVPs essential to assist with catering. Email Turn on Javascript!.


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