News & notices - 7 February 2018

Posted in News

Below are the news and notices from congregations, the SA Synod and the wider Uniting Church submitted for the Wednesday 7 February edition of UC e-News.

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KCO early bird rates – closing 12 February

Early bird rates for KCO (Kids Camp Out) close at midnight on Monday 12 February. Standard registration rates will apply after that time. Register now! events.sa.uca.org.au/kids-camp-out/kco-2018

 

Religious freedom review: resources

An independent panel has begun its review of religious freedoms in Australia, to examine whether Australian law adequately protects the human right to freedom of religion.

The general public is invited to make submissions to the panel. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday 14 February, 2018. For details click here.

Local Christian leaders, including Uniting Church SA Moderator Rev Sue Ellis, recently gathered for a round table discussion about this topic. These leaders have prepared a resource to assist people preparing submissions. It is available to download from the South Australian Council of Churches website.

The Uniting Church in Australia Assembly will make a submission to the review panel. Assembly has also released a discussion guide for use by churches and members. It is available online here.

 

Train the Trainer workshop: prevention of violence against women

On the closing day of the November 2017 Presbytery and Synod meeting, a group gathered over lunch to discuss the impact of violence against women and its prevention. There was agreement that a pool of trainers/leaders available to run workshops around domestic violence should be re-established.

Uniting Church President-Elect Dr Deidre Palmer will lead a free training workshop for those who want to be part of a small group of trainers. Those who wish to undertake this training should be willing to be available to speak with congregations and groups who want to understand the impact of violence against women and its prevention.

The Training for Trainers workshop will be held on Saturday 24 February, 10am-3pm, with lunch provided. It will provide preparation for those who want to lead local small workshops based on the Domestic Violence Handbook. It will be held at Uniting Communities (10 Pitt Street, Adelaide). For more information, or to book, please click here.

 

National Weekend of Prayer: 9-11 February 2018

On Tuesday 8 May, the Federal Government will announce whether it will uphold the current funding provided for the National School Chaplaincy Programme (NSCP). The NSCP currently funds more than 3,000 school chaplains in Australia, who play a vital role in school and local communities, providing invaluable social, emotional and spiritual support to children, young people and their families. In South Australia, Schools Ministry Group (SMG) provides chaplaincy services to over 340 schools across the state. Without continued funding as part of the NSCP, this vital service will be lost.

Angela Jolly, SMG Director, is urging Christians across Australia to ask their friends, families and church communities to have a short time of prayer for school chaplaincy over the weekend of 9-11 February, 2018.

Pray for:

•   children in Australian schools – that they will be supported

•   school chaplains – for their ability to provide effective support to students and school communities

•   NSCP funding to continue, and for politicians who are currently deciding if funding for chaplaincy will be extended beyond 2018

•   deep supportive connections between churches and school chaplains.

For more information, please visit the SMG website: smg.asn.au

 

Upcoming Christian leadership course

A brand new Cert IV unit starts at Uniting College for Leadership & Theology next week! Rev Stephanie Tai will teach about what leadership is and isn't; help people to identify their unique secular and Christian leadership style; dive into the counter-cultural characteristics of a Christian leader, and much more. Contact Uniting College for more info: Turn on Javascript!

 

Request for art for Good Friday display

An Images of Easter art display will be held on Good Friday (30 March) in Henley Square from 9am-4pm. Organiser Malcolm Rawlings is asking to loan art pieces on this theme to be part of the display. For more information, please contact Malcolm on 0431 329 607.

 

Actor callout for Easter

This year, Spicer Uniting Church is again hosting their Easter Sights and Sounds performances.

Spicer is calling all budding and potential actors to help them make this year another great success. They are particularly looking for actors to play Jesus, Peter, John and James. There aren't many lines to learn.

Easter Sights and Sounds is run the week before Palm Sunday and the focus audience is primary school students (about 1,000 attend). The performances are on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings.

For more information, please visit the Spicer website here or contact Helen in the Spicer Office on 8362 3771 or email Turn on Javascript!

 

Extol Conference – registrations open

Extol is a one-night-, one-day conference being held at Journey Uniting Church from 23-24 February. It is designed to bring inspiration, solution and encouragement to worshippers, and is aimed at people leading a worship team, who are part of a team or who are starting a new team. The event will include worship, teaching, workshops and a Q&A, and input will be provided by Pastor Dean Ussher and members of Hillsong Worship. For more information or to register, please click here.

 

Reminder: 10th anniversary of the National Apology event

A community event will be held on Tuesday 13 February to mark 10 years since the National Apology to the Survivors of the Stolen Generation. Organised by Uniting Communities and other community organisations, the event will focus on healing and will feature traditional ceremony, music, art and story-telling, as well as a community BBQ. It will start with a peaceful walk from the southern side of Tarntanyangga/Victoria Square to Veale Gardens in the Adelaide Parklands.

For more information, please visit the Reconciliation SA website or contact Uniting Communities on 8202 5610. The event will be cancelled if temperatures reach above 36 degrees.

 

Bibles for Bubs

Is your church looking for a way to bless families with a newborn to one-year-old and encourage their faith development? The Bible Society is gifting 1,000 babies born between 1 January, 2017, and 7 March, 2018, a free Read and Share Toddler Bible. Parents, grandparents, great-grandparents or carers can apply for the Bible. To find about more about donating or to apply for a Bible, please visit biblesociety.org.au/bubs

 

Upcoming events

The majority of Uniting Church SA events are listed on the upcoming events list here.

Some of the events coming up this week are:

Check out the full list to see other exciting events happening in the coming weeks! Events can be submitted to the list here.

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

Australia Day Honours for UCA members

Uniting Church members were among 895 awardees who received Australia Day Honours, including Norman Ginn from Adare Uniting Church in Victor Harbor. Read more in the New Times online article here.

 

ACNC Annual Information Statement 2017

For those congregations whose financial year end is 30 June this is a reminder that the 2017 Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) Annual Information Statement (AIS) should be completed by 31 January 2018. Submit now to avoid the risk of penalties.

For those congregations whose financial year ends 31 December, the AIS is due by 30 June 2018.

A guide to completing the 2017 AIS is now available on the Uniting Church SA website here.

 

World Day of Prayer: Friday 2 March

The 2018 World Day of Prayer service has been prepared by women of Suriname, a small country in the north of South America. They chose the theme “All God’s Creation is Very Good!” Local services will be held across South Australia. At present, details are known only for the city service – it will be held on Friday 2 March from 1pm at Flinders Street Baptist Church (65 Flinders Street, Adelaide).  All are welcome to attend.

 

Child Safe Environments – Reporting Child Abuse & Neglect

Bookings are now open for full day and refresher sessions on Child Safe Environments. These courses educate participants about their legal obligation to report reasonable suspicion and concerns about child abuse and neglect. All church leaders, including Elders and Church Council members, are encouraged to participate in training and to maintain their knowledge in this area. This training is offered as part of the Safe Church program of the Uniting Church SA.

For more information about costs, dates and locations or to book online, please click here.

 

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