Insights - March 2014

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Welcome from the Moderator Unleashing your passion

“W

hat are you passionate about?” This was the first question asked of the Moderators on the Q&A panel at Yuróra NCYC 14.

It was an appropriate question, especially given that the theme of the NCYC festival was expressed by the Dharug word, ‘Yuróra’, which means ‘passionate’.

Rev. Dr Brian Brown Moderator

The Moderator is elected to give general and pastoral leadership to the Synod, assisting and encouraging expression and fulfilment of faith, and the witness of the church.

I have often said I am passionate about our Uniting Church ethos. I am passionate about being the church that God is calling us to be — a courageous, inclusive and just church that reaches out to all in the name of Jesus and for the Common Good. At our best, we are a community of faith that especially notices the plight of the poor and marginalised and acts to alleviate their poverty and alienation.

We also seek to challenge the unjust structures that keep them there.

Yet being part of Yuróra challenged me on the difference between being passionate about something and being passionate in the way we go about living in our passion.

The very way the festival was organised allowed for and encouraged a flow of energy and organic integration of activities that were at first unsettling to my ageing and ordered soul.

While an esteemed theologian from UTC delivered a challenging and enlightening bible study in the college chapel, happy and energetic chatter abounded in the sacred space of the Commons Café. Here, three Synod staffers were attempting a serious conversation while just a table away, a group of young delegates were having a loudly hilarious game of cards. As the leaders of one of the smaller community gatherings were praying among their group, others, seemingly unaware, were chatting on the sidelines.

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More than once I had to resist the urge to suggest to someone that a more moderate tone and volume might be appropriate. The learning curve was steepening a few degrees on what it means to ‘be passionate in’ rather than ‘be passionate about’.

The critically teachable moment, however, came one morning in the chapel service. Seeing her friend arrive, a young woman in the congregation rushed for the door and virtually crash-tackled her friend to the floor. That might not have been so dramatic had not the friend been holding a cup of coffee. Amazingly, only a small amount of coffee was spilt.

My first reaction? Disapproval! Did that young woman not realise how dangerous it was to tackle her friend like that? Someone could have been hurt or even burned! Tut tut.

It was only later, in a reflective moment during the main stage worship, that it hit me: how amazing must it be to have a friend who is so passionately pleased to see you that she throws all caution to the wind in expressing how she feels?

Was God not also doing that in entrusting Jesus to passionate engagement with God’s beloved creation?

I will probably never achieve the level of liberation of self-expression and unselfconscious energy that I admired at Yuróra. I do, however, sincerely hope that I, and those like me, will at least have the good sense to not get in its way. Or better, to ‘get in its way’ a bit more, and perhaps from time to time allow ourselves be swept up in the passion of it all.

Thank you, Yuróra.

You can follow the Moderator on Twitter @BrianBrownUCA Insights March 2014 3

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Contents

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26 Cover story The National Christian Youth Convention (NCYC) is a week-long youth event that’s held every two years by the Uniting Church in Australia. It is a festival for young people (aged 16 – 25) and their leaders, who come together to celebrate Christian community and to experience Jesus, to act in faith, and to shake the church and beyond.

Regulars 3 from the Moderator 5 letters 6 news

30 updates from the General Secretary 32 fellowship news

Editor Adrian Drayton SUB-EDITOR Sarah Sullivan Design Brooke Lyons Editorial/advertising/ PRODUCTION inquiries Phone 02 8267 4304 Fax 02 9264 4487 ADDRESS Insights, PO Box A2178, Sydney South, NSW, 1235 email insights@nsw.uca.org.au web www.insights.uca.org.au

Insights is published by the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of New South Wales and the ACT. Articles and advertising content do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or of the Uniting Church.

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Subscriptions Australia $38.50 (incl. GST); overseas $50. © 2014. Contents copyright. No material from this publication may be copied, photocopied

35 belief matters 37 culture watch 38 entertain me

or transmitted by any means without the permission of the Editor.

Circulation 18,000 ISSN 1036-7322 Commonwealth of Australia 2014

28 The Uniting Church in Australia is one of this country’s largest denominations. Our vision is that it will be a fellowship of reconciliation, living God’s love, following Jesus Christ and acting for the common good to build a just and compassionate community of faith.

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News

Adieu to Rev. Henderson After more than four decades in ministry, in December of last year the Rev. Gregor Henderson was farewelled at Canberra’s Wesley Uniting Church.

The Rev. Henderson was general secretary of the Church’s National Assembly for 12 years from 1989 to 2000 and president from 2006 to 2009. He also served as a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC), including a recently concluded term on the WCC central committee.

During that time he was instrumental in introducing a Ministerial Code of Ethics and strengthening the Uniting Church’s regulations against sexual misconduct. He also had a major role in the introduction of consensus 6 Insights March 2014

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decision-making across all councils of the Church.

He increased the participation of members of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress in the Uniting Church’s triennial Assembly meetings and was heavily involved in ecumenical work through the National Council of Churches in Australia as well as through the Christian Conference of Asia.

The Rev. Henderson will continue his work with the WCC, in the role of consensus facilitator at the meetings for the next eight years, and will remain involved in the life of the Uniting Church. He is co-convenor of the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network and chairs the board of Frontier Services – the Uniting Church’s remote and regional ministry and community services arm. insights.uca.org.au

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News Resources for A Destiny Together Week of Prayer and Fasting Worship and prayer resources for the A Destiny Together: Justice for First Peoples Week of Prayer and Fasting (17-23 March 2014) are now available online.

There are many ways Uniting Church congregations and members can participate in this event, and these resources are there to assist.

A short video message from Rev. Prof. Andrew Dutney, Uniting Church President, which gives further insight into the Church’s commitment to the process of reconciliation and renewal and the motivation for this Week of Prayer and Fasting, is also available.

Please visit the Assembly’s website - www. assembly.uca. org.au/adestinytogether for resources for the Week of Prayer and Fasting.

New guidelines for SRE teachers New Department of Education and Communities (DEC) guidelines for Special Religious Education (SRE) in NSW have been introduced, and it’s important that all SRE teachers are aware of and abide by these guidelines.

To receive authorisation to teach SRE, two types of training are required: Safe church (Child Protection) training and SRE classroom training. Furthermore, new teachers must have a Working With Children Check (WWCC) clearance before they can be authorised to begin teaching.

Current teachers have until the end of 2014 to obtain their new WWCC clearance (see WWCC for NSW on page 7).

For information about the new SRE guidelines and the WWCC, visit www.childrensministry.org.au or contact Emma Parr on 02 8838 8977 or emmap@nsw.uca.org.au.

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UnitingCare launches THE BIG MOVE Martin Place in Sydney’s CBD will be transformed into a festival of colour and movement when UnitingCare launches THE BIG MOVE on Monday 17 March, from 10:30am.

THE BIG MOVE encourages everyone to Live Life! Try something new!

The inaugural event aims to raise awareness and funds for dementia research and support for carers during NSW Seniors Week (15-23 March).

While the main event will be held in Martin Place, local events will run simultaneously at UnitingCare centres across NSW and the ACT. Each will feature over 55s, their friends and families participating in a large group dance routine that will energise the body and stimulate the brain.

Everyone can participate no matter whether they are mobile or not. We are tailoring the action to suit all abilities and levels of flexibility.

UnitingCare Ageing Director Steve Teulan says dementia is a growing problem.

“One in 10 people over 65 in Australia are estimated to have dementia, with the highest incidence estimated in people over 85 years (3 in 10 people). As the population continues to age, we can expect to see increasing numbers of people living with dementia” Mr Teulan said.

“UnitingCare Ageing prides itself on developing dementia-friendly physical and social environments across our services.”

“We want as many people as possible to participate in THE BIG MOVE. Everyone in the community and, in particular from Uniting Church congregations, is welcome to come along and make this a real celebration, as well as helping raise funds for a good cause.”

If you would like more information about how to get involved in the event, or to support this initiative in your local community or congregation, please email: thebigmove@unitingcarenswact.org. au or call 02 9376 1400. insights.uca.org.au

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Concern for asylum seekers on Nauru

asylum seekers to a country where they will be harmed.

UnitingJustice Australia is deeply concerned for the safety of asylum seekers given the current crisis in the Nauruan legal system.

“We must ensure adequate safeguards are in place for asylum seekers at all times, including the application of the rule of law in transfer countries.

The latest amendments to the Immigration Act in Nauru grant the Minister for Justice and Border Control the power to deport individuals without notice or grounds for the decision, and deny those deported the right of appeal.

“These recent changes could see vulnerable men, women and children, who we are bound to protect both morally and legally, deported without notice into dangerous situations in countries like Afghanistan and Sri Lanka”, said Rosemary HudsonMiller, Acting National Director of UnitingJustice.

“Transferring asylum seekers offshore doesn’t excuse Australia from its human rights obligations and Australia cannot knowingly send

“UnitingJustice has previously called for these centres to be closed and for those detained there to be brought to the Australian mainland.

We echo those calls now. This step is now even more urgent now given the judicial crisis in Nauru.”

UnitingJustice Australia is the national social justice policy and advocacy unit of the Uniting Church in Australia.

Stations of the Cross — an Easter Tradition A tradition that began at St Ives Uniting Church, continues this year as a cooperative venture between Northmead Creative and Performing

Arts High School and Northmead Uniting Church. There is a lot of excitement in bringing the work of 15 leading Australian artists to the Parramatta region. The exhibition will be in the auditorium of the Northmead Creative and Performing Arts High School in Northmead.

The Franciscan Stations of the Cross date from the 13th century.

They offer people a way of making a symbolic pilgrimage in which they might ‘walk the way of the cross’ with Jesus.

Each artist has had nine months to think about their particular station and to make their own response.

There is an expectation that the artists will hear and respond to the questions about life that are implicit in the station that they have been allocated. The exhibition is a fascinating exercise in itself as fifteen different voices all work together around a common theme.

Artists participate because of the way in which the questions stimulate their normal art practice, and also because this is a cooperative rather than a competitive public exhibition.

Exhibition attenders will experience high quality art works and be challenged to think differently about the subjects around Easter.

This year’s artists include an Archibald Prize winner, Archibald finalists, and three winners of the Blake prize.

The exhibition will be opened by Joanna Capon OAM, who is curator of the art collection at the Children’s Hospital in Westmead, at a reception 6.30-8.30pm Friday 4 April. All are welcome at this reception.

The exhibition will be open each day 10am-4pm until Easter Sunday 20 April. Curator Doug Purnell will offer guided tours at 2pm on each weekend plus Good Friday, and for groups by appointment on 9630 4116.

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News A new workshop that focuses on building partnerships A strengthening of ties between Uniting Church congregations and UnitingCare is one of the expected key outcomes from a series of free workshops jointly organised

by UnitingCare’s Community Development team and Institute of Family Practice (IFP).

The workshops will focus on techniques to build strong internal and external partnerships.

Participants will learn how they can work together more closely and effectively to improve their services and outreach to local communities.

The workshop will run for three hours with morning tea included.

Dates are: 11 March – Uniting Church, 222 Pitt St, Sydney, 8 April – Campbelltown Regional Mission, Corner Allman Street and Oxley Bypass, 7 May – IFP office, Level 4, 146 Marsden Street, Parramatta.

Cherrybrook Uniting celebrates 125 years This year marks the 125th commemoration of the opening of the Church building at 134 New Line Road, Cherrybrook — 28 kilometres north-west of Sydney’s CBD. Cherrybrook Uniting Church first opened its doors in January of 1889. Today, this stately old building, flanked by the heritagelisted stone chapel, houses the former West Pennant Hills Methodist and Bethlehem Presbyterian congregations, united under the Uniting Church banner with Rev. Gary Holdsworth as the serving minister.

The land upon which the church now sits was donated by John and Mary Pogson, and construction of the original chapel, now known as the Wesleyan Hall, commenced in 1845.

In February 1846, the chapel opened its doors, welcoming more than 140 visitors on its inaugural day.

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quotation of £875 from Mr. A Ross of Granville, to build a new and larger church adjacent to the chapel. This church, opened on 26 January 1889, was dedicated by five ministers and witnessed by approximately 350 people. Final cost of the building was close to £1,000.

In 1996, the Bethlehem congregation of Thompson’s Corner merged with the Cherrybrook Uniting Church congregation. The proceeds of the sale of the Bethlehem Church funded the addition of the Bethlehem Hall and car park in 2006.

Join us in celebration!

If you would like to join on this special day to commemorate and celebrate the rich history of our church, we’re hosting a commemoration service on the grounds of the church on Sunday, 9 March at 2pm.

For more details, please contact either Mrs Betty Maher on (02) 9484 1395.

For more details, contact Chris McAlpine: cmcalpine@ unitingcarenswact.org.au or 0448 640 050.

Serving those who serve others Who cares for the paramedic who sees trauma in their everyday working life?

The answer is the Rev. Glen Renton, the Minster at Thornleigh Hillcrest Uniting Church who has been serving with the NSW Ambulance Service as a Chaplain for the past ten years.

The Rev. Renton attended the “Thank a Paramedic Day” at the Riverside Theatres in Parramatta in November last year.

This day recognises the work of the NSW Ambulance Service for its role in the community.

The Rev. Renton received the new Chaplaincy Medal, recognising contributions made by members of the NSW Ambulance Chaplaincy Team and their years of service. insights.uca.org.au

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Violence on Manus Island The Uniting Church in Australia has expressed sorrow over the tragic loss of life on Manus Island.

“The Church is deeply concerned about the death of one asylum seeker and the injury of so many others,” said President of the Uniting Church, Rev. Prof. Andrew Dutney.

“Sadly this tragedy was both predictable and preventable. The Australian Government has placed vulnerable people in a situation where their basic needs are not being met.

“These individuals have fled violence and horror in their homelands – and have now been exposed to it yet again as a direct result of Australian Government policies.”

Rev. Elenie Poulos, National Director of UnitingJustice Australia, has reiterated the Church’s call to end offshore processing.

“The Uniting Church has always been opposed to the offshore processing of asylum seekers. We have been increasingly alarmed at the effects of the harsh and punishing conditions on Manus and Nauru. Australia must protect people not place them in situations of harm.

“The warehousing of asylum seekers in inadequate facilities in these offshore centres is entirely unacceptable. It is a breach of our obligations under international law and diminishes us as a nation.

“The Government must move immediately to close the centres and transfer all asylum seekers to safety here on the Australian mainland. We cannot continue to risk the lives of asylum seekers for the sake of these inhumane policies,” said Rev. Poulos.

Visit www.unitingjustice.org.au for updates on this issue. While you’re there, consider following the Rev. Poulos’ blog and Facebook page for more information.

Fairfield Trolley Run Fairfield Uniting Church joined with organisations across Sydney to support people struggling to make ends last Christmas.

Each year the Fairfield City Council holds a charity trolley run, which sees the Fairfield community collect food, toys, blankets and other items for people who are homeless and in need.

Last December, more than 200

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trolleys were walked down Ware Street to Fairfield Uniting Church on William Street. Ware Street was entirely blocked off during the parade, and the police and the Army Marching Band led the walk as hundreds of people watched and waved from the footpaths.

The hall of the Uniting Church was filled with trolleys thanks to the generosity of Fairfield residents and staff and other local organisations.

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From the General Secretary’s desk We’re on a mission to bring people to God’s love

I

would like to share with you the work that Synod staff have been doing on developing our leadership charter. Last month I shared information on our vision.

This month I would like to share my comments on our mission.

On Our Mission, the Charter says: As a Synod team our mission is to inspire, empower and support the Uniting Church in all its varied expressions to live out our Christian faith. We affirm that this means supporting the goals of: 1. Bringing people to God’s Love

Rev. Dr Andrew Williams General Secretary The General Secretary is appointed by the Synod to provide leadership to the Church by actively engaging in strategic thinking about the life, direction, vision and mission of the Church.

2. R esponding to human need and strengthening community 3. T ransforming unjust social structures 4. Continuing to learn and grow 5. Protecting and renewing creation The Synod exists to serve the Church, to enable the wider witness of the Church to be effective. It has, according to the Constitution, “General oversight, direction and administration of the Church’s worship witness and service within its bounds”. The Regulations suggest there are three broad areas for the Synod to work in. The first is the “Promotion and encouragement of the mission of the Church”.

As we wrestled with these lofty statements, we tried to find language to express the mission of the Church.

We turned to the ‘5 marks of mission’, which were originally developed by an Anglican consultative committee.

Our list reflects the 5 marks without using the exact language of the original. For example, the original first mark is, “Proclaim the good news of the kingdom”. In our discussion there were those who had trouble with the term ‘kingdom’ and we tried to express that concept in a way that would speak to a broad audience.

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More interestingly, the language has changed from ‘proclaiming’ to “bringing people to…”

Are we afraid as a Church of being ‘tellers’ of the good news? We are well known as a church of action and activity, particularly in serving those in need. Perhaps we have been less clear about our proclamation – declaring what we believe.

Are we afraid as a Church of being ‘tellers’ of the good news?

At some point we must all give an account of the faith that is in us – and we need to find some words to describe it. “Bringing people to God’s love” is our way of saying we want people to know the love and forgiveness that we have known in Jesus. We want to introduce them to the One who has changed our lives and our world. This is the first mark and many believe it is the cornerstone of what we are about as a people of God. The question in all of these five marks is: how do we do it?

I am completely convinced of the urgency of the task. Our Church needs to grow. To do that, we need to recapture the passion of sharing the good news. Proclaim it. Live it. Bring people into God’s presence. Bring people to God’s love.

This will happen in a variety of ways, but in the end we are still left with the need for a word, which speaks to the experience. We must learn to articulate our faith to those who are unfamiliar with our peculiar vocabulary. We will need to be ready, “When occasion demands to confess the Lord in fresh words and deeds” (Basis Of Union paragraph 11).

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What is Your Yur贸ra?

A youth festival with a difference

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T

he National Christian Youth Convention (NCYC) is a week-long youth event that’s held every two years by the Uniting Church in Australia.

It is a festival for young people (aged 16 – 25) and their leaders, who come together to celebrate Christian community and to experience Jesus, act in faith, and to shake the church and beyond.

The event started in 1955 and has been hosted in a different state every two years since. Every NCYC is distinct and the experiences people take away unique. In the spirit of the event, this year’s theme was Yuróra.

Yuróra is a Dharug word from the Burrumattagal peoples — the first people of the land in North Parramatta — where the event was held between 7 – 10 January. Yuróra means ‘passionate’ and event organisers were grateful for the permission from the elders to use this word.

Over the course of four days, 1,000 youth delegates of the Uniting Church in Australia, as well as partner churches and friends, gathered at the National Christian Youth Convention in Parramatta, Sydney.

The site was transformed into the Yuróra Festival Precinct with concerts, forums, food and camping.

The event program sought to stretch and challenge the minds of attendees through theological understandings, bible study and worship – in both small and large groups.

It also focussed heavily on indigenous issues with 150 delegates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent attending. Special guests from the Pacific Islands spoke on climate change and issues of faith and social justice in a cross-cultural setting.

Other special guests included Rev. Prof Andrew Dutney, President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Rev. Rrongang Garrawurra of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, Rev. Julian Hamilton of the Methodist Church in Ireland, and musical guests, including as Fatai V (The Voice, 2012), Garage Hymnal and Compliments of Gus. Here are a few of the stories and highlights from across the four days.

On the grounds with Tilly South “Faith is a practical thing,” preached Julian Hamilton, of the Methodist Church of Ireland on the third day of Yuróra.

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“We must perform the text, and when we do God turns up.”

able to come, so I can teach them the same things.”

With a week full of worship, song, dance and social justice, mixed in with a healthy dose of yuróra, how could we not be performing the word of God?

Heartfelt speeches from young Pacific Islanders demonstrated their willingness to use the Church and their community to keep young people out of trouble and on a path to purposeful life.

As more than 1,000 delegates and volunteers pulled up outside the Centre for Ministry, Parramatta, it was clear their yuróra was calling them. And it was with this passion that the Parramatta Nepean Presbytery and the NCYC committee brought together a diversity that members of the church rarely see in their day-to-day life.

There was a wide range of speakers and events, from ‘How Green is your God?’ and ‘The face of poverty: why God cares and you should too’, to ‘Honouring Australia’s First Peoples’.

Delegates attended worship held by different community leaders from the Church, including the United Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, theological colleges and many multicultural congregations represented.

But what was most exciting was the indigenous presence on Burramatagal land. The 150 indigenous delegates had travelled from as far afield as Port Augusta in South Australia and Elcho Island in Arnhem Land.

Bradon French, NCYC chairperson, said the diversity was an integral part of the theological basis for Yuróra.

“The Uniting Church’s Basis of Union tells us that we should seek to be inclusive – of men and women, young and old and of all our different gifts and skills.

“It’s this inclusion that has driven the Yuróra spirit; bringing together people of different cultural, theological and linguistic backgrounds to worship and praise God together.

“It was amazing to see, and a humbling privilege to be part of.”

For young people from indigenous backgrounds, the vibrant mix of cultures and languages was just as exciting for them as it was for the NCYC organising team.

“I’ve really enjoyed meeting new people,” said Dre Ngatokoruo of Port Augusta, “especially meeting a range of people from different cultures and backgrounds.”

For Dre, it wasn’t just his own learning that was so important to him.

“I will try and take back the things I’ve learned here to all the kids that weren’t

But it wasn’t just the formalities that brought people together. A game of volleyball, football on the oval, and coffee at Café Commons saw delegates and volunteers from all walks of life telling stories, sharing experiences and exchanging details.

If Yuróra is the future of our Church, then it looks to be one that is multicultural, inclusive and diverse.

Songbird: The passionate voice of Fatai V I grew up in a musical family and was raised in a Christian home. Ever since I was a little kid I’ve known nothing but the love for music and a love for God. My Dad’s a Pastor and he’s been in Ministry ever since I was little. So I grew up around the Word of God. I didn’t make the choice to follow Christ until I was about 13 and this moment was the turning point for me and the biggest change in my life. My knowledge of God was still fresh in my mind and not that mature. But there was something; a tangible feeling that was prompting me though I didn’t quite yet grasp the meaning of giving your life to Christ.

Something in me —and I believe that was Jesus — was really challenging my faith and challenging me to step out in faith into the unknown.

At 14, I moved from the east side of Melbourne to the west side of Melbourne for Dad’s Ministry. It was a very hard time for me making new friends and I went through a really dark time. It’s probably the darkest time in my life. I fell into a really hard depression and suffered anxiety. I started hanging around the wrong crowd; getting into the wrong stuff.

I really praise God because He had me from that moment I was in pain to the moment I actually decided to leave school. That was a big moment for me— that was a testament of me stepping out in faith into what I believe God had planned for me.

I don’t encourage anyone to leave school but I felt God calling me to bigger things. As a child of God and a servant of God who was willing to obey Him and step out in faith, I knew He had great things insights.uca.org.au

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Yur贸ra worship leader Charissa Suli with Fatai V.

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Meeting the Mods: Moderator’s from all states, including our own Rev. Dr Brian Brown had a “Meet the Moderators” session.

Rev. Rronang Garrawurra, Chairperson of the UAICC, President Andrew Dutney and Elenie Poulos, Director of Uniting Justice share a moment between speaking engagements.

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waiting at the end of that season of my life.

After leaving school I went to TAFE to study music and at 16 I went to uni. In the same year I entered The Voice. That was one of the biggest moments of my life. Not just musically and career-wise but also in my faith. Above all the music and beyond all the glitz and glamour of it all, I saw a bigger reason for me to be on that show.

I don’t share this with many people, but my closest friend on the show was Karise Eden, who went on to win the series.

She came from a hard upbringing and I actually found myself in a place where I could share the love of God with her. Not by bible-bashing her but by being there and loving on her and that’s what we’re called to as people of God. After The Voice I was signed – thank you Jesus – by Universal and I moved to Sydney, where I am currently working on my new album.

"In terms of what I am passionate about, I used to think it was music and singing and writing, but I’ve come to realise as I’ve grown in my faith and fallen deeper in love with Jesus."

In terms of what I am passionate about, I used to think it was music and singing and writing, but I’ve come to realise as I’ve grown in my faith and fallen deeper in love with Jesus and learnt more about Him, my passion is my generation and seeing them experience Jesus through the supernatural power of music.

I only live to be a vessel of God’s work in those people and so my passion is just to see and be a part of God’s work in people’s lives because I want nothing but for other people to experience the love I feel with Jesus and the relationship that I have with Him. Jesus is really cool. He’s not scary. You can have a laugh with Him and my passion is to see other people experience that.

In their words: State Moderator's reflect on their passions Stuart McMillan, Moderator, Northern Synod I’m passionate about lots of stuff. But in the Northern Synod indigenous people are really passionate about the scripture and Bible translations that are happening.

To translate the scriptures in people’s heart language has created a whole lot of passion back in communities.

One of the other things I’m passionate about is our Church reflecting what we see here at NCYC. The ethnic diversity of our Church and the way in which all of the cultures that make up the Uniting Church can bring vitality to it.

I’m passionate about the way in which we can encourage and inspire one another. That’s been happening for me as I’ve talked and listened to passions and heard about the things people care about.

Dr Deidre Palmer, Moderator, Synod of South Australia My passion is God’s call on our life to be a community that’s a discipleship of equals embodying God’s compassion and hope in the world, and I actually think the Uniting Church has embodied that from it’s very beginning.

One of my passions is to encourage in every member that all of us are called to engage in Christian discipleship in the world. In terms of embodying God’s compassion I think the Uniting Church has a very strong commitment to social justice. It’s an integral part of the gospel of Christ, and one of the fabulous definitions of compassion is to notice the suffering of another and to advocate alleviating that suffering. I think our Church also lives that out in our Uniting Church agencies.

This year I’ve chosen to focus on encouraging our congregations to choose one millennium development goal and highlight what they’re doing in relation to things like halving poverty, maternal and child health, gender equality, educating children.

Rev. Ron Larkin, Moderator, Western Australia Synod

church in Australia. We’re the third largest church in Australia. The other two are hierarchical in structure and the rest are more independent congregations.

We value the congregation as the heart of the Church. Anyone in a congregation who has a passion for something in our Church can take it as far as they like.

That’s the difference and that’s why I’m passionate about the Uniting Church. You can make it; you can follow your dream and your calling; where God is calling you to be.

I’m also passionate about the Uniting Church in terms of our ethos and the vision. To actually be the kind of church we are called to be, we’re not just called to be like every other denomination – to just be a carbon copy. I believe we are specially called to be an inclusive, courageous, compassionate and just church, and it’s how we actually put that into practise that I think is our special calling.

Dan Wootton, Moderator, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania I’m passionate about prayer. I think that sounds a bit pious but it’s not meant to be. Not prayer in the way we’re all used to doing so in lots of words. I’m into the contemplative sort of prayer, if you want to get really technical, apophatic prayer. This means not speaking at all.

I get concerned about our Church when it is such a very strong social justice church. I sometimes get concerned that we could finish up being like a sort of a government department dealing out social services, etcetera.

Unless the people that we’re helping get some inkling of the God we love and worship we’ve lost the plot a bit.

You’ve got to have regular communion with God. But unless you can do that, when you go to help somebody else they won’t get it. They’ll just take the money or whatever service you’re dealing out. I’m really passionate about people getting a bit better inkling of God.

There’s something about Uniting Church for me that is unique in expressions of insights.uca.org.au

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Yurora vox pops “They ‘went off’!”

John Wesley quietly over-saw The Commons Cafe, situated in the heart of Yuróra. Found, made and recycled furniture, books, games and a sewing machine, all brought from The Commons Faith Community in Newcastle became the embodied expression of hospitality... along with excellent barista fair trade coffee and gluten and dairy free cakes, slices and biscuits. The team of nine Commoners and several enthusiastic Korean and Indigenous barista delegates shared faith by living out a Realm of God Community, full of hard work, laughter, love and care.

Two of the crew (Tim Evans and Caitlin O'Reilly) exchanged aprons for instruments to join Mike Collins and perform as 'Crazy Old Maurice' — a three-piece creepy-funk-soul-pop-etc band about to release their first album.

They went off'!

Rev. Amelia Koh Butler, HamiltonBroadmeadow Uniting Church

“Yurura truly was a multicultural youth festival” Yuróra NCYC 2014 was simply the most incredible journey I've ever been part of.

Yuróra sought to mobilise young people to experience Jesus, to act in faith, to shake the church and beyond. And Yuróra achieved this.

The young people of the Uniting Church are passionate, and they're excited. Across the four days of Yuróra, we saw 800 young people grow together. They ate, drank, laughed, cried, prayed, sang and shared in communion as one. Together they asked questions and they sought answers.

From the choir of young people who sang hymns into the early hours of the morning, to the group of young people who stood and danced with our Indigenous brothers and sisters during the Welcome to Country at our public rally, Yuróra truly was a multicultural youth festival and I could not be prouder.

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registration tent on Tuesday morning was incredible. Amidst the busyness and paperwork was such an intense excitement. The same excitement lasted all week, and I left the Yuróra precinct with 800 passionate young people.

Yuróra had a buzz; an energy not felt by the Uniting Church for a while. Our young people are looking to the future, and it's about time we caught up with them, because they're not waiting for us. I'm genuinely excited for the future of our Church and I can't wait to see groups of young people — such as PI Ignite — lead us into the future.

Katelyn Stevenson, Yuróra Management Team

“Still feeling blessed from the experience” I was lucky enough to be a part of Yuróra this year and I am still feeling blessed from the experience.

While I did not get the chance to experience the conference as a delegate I did get the opportunity to spend a great deal of time with the people of Yuróra whilst running a henna tent in the Marketplace on Wednesday and Thursday. I also spent a great deal of time in the Theatre and Cafe Praxis whilst my husband stood behind the sound desk.

The vast array of people that I met (and decorated with henna) is a testament to what our Uniting Church is growing up to be — a diverse, multicultural and exciting group of people with new and innovative ideas. Their openness and friendship that was given without thought was such a blessing to me that I still smile whenever I think about my time in the Marketplace.

I also had the privilege of listening to Jools Hamilton speak (such a breath of fresh air in my sometimes stagnant Christian walk) and attending Pirate Church (a hilarious and light-hearted look at Christianity’s foibles, with a great underlying message of change and growth), as well as attending various performances (Three Girls and a Beard and Cameron Semmens being my highlights) and taking part in the Yurórawide communion during the public rally on Thursday).

Above all else my fondest memory of Yuróra NCYC was the complete feeling of community that pervaded the entire conference. I think that ‘church’ is

supposed to feel just like that. Thank you to all who worked valiantly and tirelessly to give us the jewel that was Yuróra NCYC. Kristy Morgan, Youth Worker, Turramurra Uniting Church

Stand strong My favourite activity was dancing.

Indigenous dancing. Showing other parts of world how people stand strong and praise God through our music.

Theresa Dhamarrandji – Echo Islands NT

My Yuróra moment was... via facebook John Reynolds Getting to meet and worship with people from all around the world.

Daniel Gibb Looking out on a sea of people as I danced to Cast Your Burdens on main stage at the public rally (all of who were joining in the dance)!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kimberley Thomson Ben Myers’ 'Young Adult Fiction and Theology' lecture was amaze balls!

via twitter L Annes@hilei11 Jan I've been challenged intellectually & have gained knowledge of How Great my God is.

Real Synod@the_real_synod9 Jan The #UCA president @ AndrewDutney released his inner Bieber on stage at #youryurora tonight to the cries and cheers of all present UnitingWorld@UnitingWorld7 Jan This week at @Yurora14 we're asking: What is your hope for our world?

UCAyouth@ucayouth7 Jan So excited that @joelmckerrow is sharing opening night @Yurora14 about rhetoric and reality! insights.uca.org.au

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Opening the door for the homeless One woman’s quest to make a lasting difference

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n act of hospitality one winter’s morning almost 50 years ago was to prove life-changing for the Reverend Noreen Towers.

In 1964, having recently trained as a Deaconess at the Methodist Deaconess College in Leichhardt, Noreen was appointed to the Central Methodist Mission (now Wesley Mission) in Sydney City. Just in her early twenties, she was made the new pastor of a small Darlinghurst church attached to the Mission.

One cold Sunday, as the regulars were arriving at church, she noticed two men sitting in the gutter opposite, trying to warm up in the morning sun. Noreen strolled across and invited the pair into the warmth of the church. Although at first hesitant, they accepted the offer.

She could never have known it, but this act of hospitality was to help shape her career. Indeed, she was to spend the next 40 years working with homeless people.

The following week they returned and brought with them four more homeless men. Noreen had, effectively, just rolled a snowball down a steep hill.

“In those days, a friendly church was a good place (for homeless people) to go and once I got to know a few of them I went around the parks and invited them to church. A year later we had 200 homeless people in church”, she said.

A few years earlier, as a young girl growing up in the country, Noreen had been blissfully unaware of the problem of homelessness.

“It was a huge change for me having grown up in a rural community to end up in Sydney working with homeless people,” she said. “I don’t know that I could have told you homeless people existed before I went there.”

Noreen soon felt the need to focus on a more comprehensive ministry to the homeless.

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“I felt we should be ministering to them as a whole person, not just spiritually.

They had huge needs”, she said.

During the next decade or so, Noreen was to play a key role in helping the Mission develop a day centre and hostel facilities for homeless men and women in the city.

However, even though these facilities improved the welfare of hundreds of people over the years, many men in particular were still dying in the streets from alcoholism.

In 1979, Noreen was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study ways to address this problem. The following year she travelled to the USA, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia, England and Scotland, where she studied about 100 services for homeless people and alcoholics.

Upon returning, she recommended the Mission establish some group homes – where men could live in a safe, dry environment and recover from alcoholism.

“What emerged was a property on the edge of the city, at Horsley Park. We saw some miracles take place”, she said.

“Some of them we had only ever seen drunk. Once they got out there and got sober and some health, they began to realise that there is another side to life and some of them actually made it back out there into the community.”

Some clients, however, were returning after brief stints in the community.

“Often it was the loneliness that defeated them”, Noreen said.

This led to the establishment of some group homes, where clients could live together in the community and support each other — with help from staff who would visit regularly.

In 1986, in recognition of her work with homeless people, Noreen was

invited to speak to more than 3000 delegates at the World Methodist Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, about homelessness.

Despite the many challenges, Noreen enjoyed her time working with the homeless.

“It’s not for everyone. You have to have a heart for it”, she said. “Seeing some of the successes kept me going. We used to say that if they improved their lot in any way that was a success.”

In 2005, after four decades in Sydney, Noreen accepted a parish role as Minister of the Orange Uniting Church Parish in the NSW central west. She’s spent the past nine years in Orange — giving her ministry “a bit of balance”.

Noreen has been responsible for three congregations within Orange and four smaller congregations in outlying villages. Seven years ago, she established a Mustard Tree ministry – a weekly meal-based service open to anyone in the local community.

During her retirement, she will return to Sydney, where she plans to devote some time to writing. Throughout her ministry she has been collecting “God stories” — examples of how God has worked powerfully in the lives of ordinary people and she plans to record some of these.

She is also considering options to be involved in ministry in small communities that cannot afford a full-time minister.

Throughout her Christian life, she has always taken encouragement from Ephesians 3:20: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” insights.uca.org.au

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Postcards from the Riverina

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he Candidate Formation Program at the Uniting Theological College (UTC) requires Candidates to take part in a Rural Orientation or Rural Field Education Placement. These experiences are designed to offer Candidates a snapshot of what is happening in rural congregations and presbyteries.

In November last year, seven Candidates had the opportunity to explore the Riverina Presbytery. The Candidates were blessed by the hospitality of many people who shared their homes and stories. They attended the presbytery meeting where they heard about the hopes and dreams of the presbytery.

Each place was dealing with different challenges in different ways. There was much learnt and many challenges. The following are just a few of the postcards from this group to the church.

a dairy farm and a rice farm. It did not take long for the cows to initiate me into the joy of dairy farming. Let’s just say my shoes and trousers needed a good wash after my visit!

It was great to see what the farmers are doing, and see a little of the technology that is involved, as well as hear about some of the challenges farmers face. What struck me most was the famers’ love and knowledge of the land. There was also a sense of feeling misunderstood by city people who often accuse them [farmers] of abusing the environment. I wish everyone had the opportunity to understand a little more of what it takes for our food to arrive in the supermarket and the demands and stress of farming life.

Joyfully yours, the Candidates. (Christine) Dear Church

Today we pulled into Hillston (as in the Dear Church “hot as Hay, Hell and Hillston” Hillston), On our way to the Riverina, we stopped at around two in the afternoon. It was in Goulburn to see what is happening a beautiful little town with a green and there. We walked around the newly established community garden next to the well kept main road, pub, bakery, school church and listened to the stories of those and even a lake - funny thing for a dry rural town to have. The story goes that church members whose passion and one day they decided they wanted a lake commitment have brought this project to for water sports, so one weekend every life. We sat and sung in the beautiful old one showed up with excavators and dug church and caught a glimpse of its long out a lake next to the Murrumbidgee. In history. I am getting a sense of the way summer they pump water in and there people carry the town’s history in this place, which appears to me at times to be you have it - instant lake. a blessing and a burden.

That story illustrates the ’can do’ attitude the town has, including the In the afternoon we joined the newly church.

Hillston Uniting has not had an formed Grace Community led by the employed minister for many years now, Rev. Amy Kent. The Grace Community but has taken on the role of being the is made up of lots of little communities, church to the community with the gifts which gather around activities to enjoy that God has given the congregation. friendship and explore faith. Over liturgy, kite painting and food we met members They have started outreach to the from Adventure Church, Dinner Church, travelling fruit pickers that come Gaming Church, Messy Church and through their town, even working with others. It was really exciting to see how other churches to put on a community the wider church is supporting these new BBQ for them. We had a great night church initiatives. meeting the members of the church and That night I confessed to Amy that I was being encouraged by their stories and both thrilled and terrified by this ministry. hospitality.

It’s risky, vulnerable and dependent on Joyfully yours, the Candidates. (Paul) relationship of trust and care, and to be honest it looks exhausting. With a smile on her face she said that it was and is so Dear Church much more. Next stop Wagga Wagga.

This weekend we found ourselves in

Joyfully yours, the Candidates. (Ellie)

Dear Church I arrived in Finley yesterday. Over the last two days I had the opportunity to visit insights.uca.org.au

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Cootamundra and had the joy of meeting the Cootamundra Uniting Church people.

We found a vibrant group of lay leaders in the church who have developed ministry teams, which take turns organising worship as a way of operating without a

paid Minister of the Word. These people are also very involved in their community and have natural connections within it.

Cootamundra is fortunate to have a number of lay people involved, unlike some of the other places that we visited where there were few, but faithful, committed lay people of very small aging congregations who were doing a lot, if not all of the work: funerals, baptising, preaching, presiding and marrying people.

I wonder how we might support them more and also recognise their commitment and work in the church.

I also wonder how we as a Synod, and various Presbyteries, might share our resources more equitably throughout the whole Synod, taking up the opportunity of uniting our resources for the common good.

Joyfully yours, the Candidates.(Christine) Dear Church On the 15–17 November 2013, we visited Henty and Culcairn. Members of Henty Uniting Church hosted three of us. We visited several places, such as a cemetery, community hall, community sport’s centre, community garden and churches, of varying sizes and run in a variety of ways.

On Saturday morning, Joy, a member of Henty Uniting Church drove us to Temora in order to attend the Riverina’s presbytery meeting. In the evening our hosts prepared a BBQ for our evening meals and we talked about the activities of the church in Henty and Culcairn and all the different ministries in the community.

We were very interested in the various activities. The way they do lay ministry without an ordained minister - with all members putting in towards the life of the church, according to what they can do.

It was very different from the way things happen in Sydney. We found that of great interest and inspiration for our future ministry.

On Sunday morning, we attended the combined service between Culcairn and Henty churches at Culcairn’s church building. We were given the opportunity to sing two songs and share our experiences of what we had learnt during our visit to Riverina region. We were also invited to join their morning tea after the service before heading back to Wagga Wagga.

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The Gift of being National Director of UnitingWorld Introducing Rev. Dr Kerry Enright

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n April, I conclude seven years as National Director of UnitingWorld to take up congregational ministry. As I look towards that role, one of my first thoughts concerns how I will enable the congregation to engage globally.

How will I support children and adults who have been baptised to meet, at least in their imagination, their brothers and sisters in faith across the globe? How I will I help those coming for Confirmation to have a deep sense of being bound to people beyond their locality? How will I help nourish disciples to act with the people suffering injustice not reported in popular media? How will I guide the congregation in experiencing God beyond the constraints of Western culture?

Yes, some of these things will happen to people as they meet their neighbours, people of diverse cultures and faiths, right on their doorsteps. And their relationship with the First Peoples will remain fundamental.

Yet there is much more.

The last seven years have populated my life with fellow pilgrims. I now journey with a young woman from Maluku in Indonesia, who, with her family, ran from their long-owned home, alerted by the sound of an approaching angry crowd.

They never returned. They made it to the wharf; the women crossing the bay by boat and the men swimming, with the sound of bullets pinging the water around them.

• There is 90% illiteracy outside the three main centres.

• There are many young adults who have never been to school.

• Poor infrastructure is typified by the less than 100 kilometres of sealed road in a country the size of France.

The older women I met knew all this, for they had experienced it at its most agonising. Yet their hope was evident, feeding a quiet and fierce determination that they would do their best to make it different.

These people and many others have led me to understand my faith, the Bible and the Church differently. My temptation to lassitude now has the antidote of countless stories of courage. My doubt, such a natural part of faith, runs up against my experience of changed lives now bringing change in the most unpromising circumstances. A safe, placid and compliant faith makes even less sense now.

Perhaps most of all, amid the secularity of Australia and New Zealand, I have a strong sense of the burgeoning dynamic nature of the Christian movement worldwide. Around 80% of the world is publicly religious. Australia, New Zealand and

other descendants of the Enlightenment are islands of secularity in a vast sea of religion, especially in our part of the world. Even Western scholarship no longer propounds the long-held view that affluence and education inherently secularise.

The faith handed to us via largely Western thinking is changing. The silverfish will finally consume the fading posters of a Scandinavian Jesus pinned to the walls of our church halls.

Instead, we are engaging with a Christ seen through Asian, African and Latin American eyes; through the sheer dint of population numbers and their dynamism.

A new church is built in China every three days, following Africa’s experience of Christ.

Even from New Zealand, where I am going, I will look to UnitingWorld to give me stories to tell week by week; the names of people to pray with; churches with which our older and younger people can volunteer; issues about which to advocate; justice to be part of; opportunities for sacrificial giving, and most of all for a sense of the dynamic, life-changing, burgeoning movement of which our congregation is a part.

She spent five years in a refugee camp, initially with intense fear and hatred of Muslims. However, she gathered the courage to reach towards Muslim people and formed with them a group for reconciliation. Incidents that once ignited violence now generate shared compassion.

I journey with the group of women I met in Juba, South Sudan. Their country has known more than a generation of war and the statistics suggest hopelessness: • The worst maternal health figures in the world.

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Centre for Ageing and Pastoral Studies

Be sure and pick up

Steven Sabat

John Swinton

DIVERSITY, CHANGE AND SPIRITUALITY AGEING AND CARE AREN’T WHAT THEY USED TO BE CAPS NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2014 30 September – 2 October 2014

University House, Australian National University, Canberra International speakers: Prof. John Swinton (University of Aberdeen), Prof. Steven Sabat (Georgetown University, Washington DC).

Australian speakers include Rev. Dr Dorothy McRae-McMahon, Rt Rev. Prof. Stephen Pickard, Mr Ahmed Youssef and Assoc. Prof. Rosalie Hudson.

Meet with practitioners, researchers and pastoral carers.

The program includes masterclasses with keynote speakers, academic papers, practical workshops and much more.

Insights Special Issue: Property for a Pilrgim People Since union in 1977, the Uniting Church has faced many property questions – what to keep, what to sell and how best to use?

We want to use our properties for the worship and the mission of God with the belief that the Uniting Church has the credibility, ethos and resources which give it the potential to make a significant impact on the spiritual and social landscape of Australian Society. So we seek to discern God’s will.

What do we need for the journey? What do we require to be effective in the mission God calls us to?

Property for a Pilgrim People seeks to begin these conversations.

Available from 19 March at your local church

Go to our website www.centreforageing.org.au/conference.html for full details.

PASCOP (Pastoral and Spiritual Care of Older People) is proud to support the CAPS National Conference 2014.

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Lectionary Reflections 2 March: Exodus 24:12-18/ Matthew 17:1-9 From long before Moses right up to the time of Jesus, everyone knew the divine was encountered up the mountain (the high places). But Moses is not there to make an offering…

Moses is there to receive a revelation of God’s commitment to the people an agreement that indicated the people would belong to God. Yet at the moment Moses was receiving that commitment on behalf of the people, the people themselves were behaving as if God had abandoned them.

Like Moses, Jesus is also up the mountain with his friends to receive a revelation. Unlike Moses, this is a revelation not about the people but about Jesus himself! As Jesus makes his determined way to the cross, it is crucial his identity and status is unequivocally clear. If Jesus is to break open the system of sacred violence, the revelation that religiously sanctioned violence resulted in the murder of Messiah needs to be made plain!

Reflect on this paradox: The moment that is experienced as the abandonment of God (Moses up the mountain, Jesus on the cross) is the very moment that salvation is being transacted.

9 March: Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7/Matthew 4:1-11 This ancient story reveals the dynamic that leads to the universal human experience of shame and dissociation with regard to our vulnerability and contingent nature. We can’t help wanting to know/control. We buffer ourselves from threatening reality (God does not mention touching the fruit as Eve declared). Sadly, we end up finding the reality of our nakedness unacceptable (it was apparently fine a moment earlier).

Then Jesus comes and demonstrates a capacity to reverse the trend that was set early in, though importantly not the very beginning of, the biblical story.

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the Genesis story. In each case there is an appeal to apparent vulnerabilities in the areas of the physical, identity or significance. Jesus’ demonstrated capacity to resist an easy option in favour of not compromising his identity/calling (who he really is) models the freedom his redemptive death offers.

Reflect on this paradox: The fullness of life is accessible only as we accept our vulnerable, contingent nature and die to the ‘easy option’ of self-preservation that compromises us.

16 March: Genesis 12:1- 4a / John 3:1-17 It is difficult for us to appreciate the nature of the challenge and uncertainty that Abram faced as he struck out into the unknown in response to his sense of God’s call. Yet there is no doubt that we need that same spirit today as we seek to live God's Kingdom in our culture/society.

Nicodemus was clearly committed to exploring who Jesus was and what he was offering, but he struggled to grasp the spirit of it. Interestingly, it would seem Jesus had no intention of making it easy for him. It is as though it was necessary for Nicodemus to step out into the unknown in order to be grasped by the good news Jesus was bringing.

Reflect on this paradox: It is only as we go beyond what we know and feel certain about that we can know and experience the reality of God's Kingdom.

23 March: Exodus 17:1-7/ John 4:5-42 We might well relate to the people of Israel freaking out about being in a desert area without water. The situation smacks of an apparent lack of planning. It would seem this was getting toward the last straw for the people. The stress of this uncertain journey was pushing them toward

rebellion. Moses was also feeling the pinch and could not hide his own fear of and anger toward the people (see Numbers 20:10).

When Jesus engages with the woman at the well it becomes apparent that she has felt the pinch in her own life and has repeatedly resorted to her own strategies for alleviating her vulnerability. Jesus speaks plainly about offering a resource that will satisfy far more effectively than her own failed approach.

Reflect on this paradox: It is important to plan and strategise, but often our way forward with God is beyond our capacity to plan and strategise.

30 March: 1 Samuel 16:1-13 /John 9:1-41 Samuel's word of judgement on King Saul for presumptuously offering the sacrifice in Samuel's absence could appear harsh. Surely Saul's reading of the military crisis was accurate...

Israel was about to lose badly. But the instructions had been very clear and precise (1 Samuel 10:8). Saul's fearfilled reaction was a 'tell' that though he stood head and shoulders above all others physically, his capacity to trust the unseen God was not so large.

The man born blind, who Jesus healed, trusted in the midst of his vulnerability and need. To be plain about it, he trusted without even knowing who he was trusting! But this man had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Reflect on this paradox: Our capacity to trust God is often in inverse proportion to our sense of reliance on our own capacities.

This reflection on the Lectionary readings for March was prepared by the Rev. Dave Gore, Minister at Manly Village Church and Presbytery Chairperson for Sydney North.

insights.uca.org.au

21/02/2014 1:37:47 PM

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21/02/2014 1:38:07 PM

Scholarships Uniting Mission and Education and United Theological College are offering scholarships to assist you to further your ministry skills and knowledge.

“The scholarship allowed me to achieve my learning objectives which continue to resource me in my ministry within the Church — like a cup flowing over.”

Categories include: General, UTC Students, UTC General, Candidates, Continuing Education, Clinical Pastoral Education, Deacons, Post Graduate, Overseas and Library.

There are three Application Forms (which provide more information) depending on your situation: • UME Application Form for Continuing Education • UTC Application for Undergraduate Education

Please call 02 8838 8912 for an Application Form or visit ume.nsw.uca.org.au/scholarships-for-training-andeducation/ or utc.edu.au to download them yourself.

Offering finanical assistance • Uniting Mission and Education • United Theological College

• Educational Grant for Short Term Training Closing date for Undergraduate and Continuing Education Scholarship Applications is Tuesday 25th March

02 8838 8912 | Centre for Ministry, 16 Masons Drive, North Parramatta

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21/02/2014 1:38:24 PM

Culture watch

Does Biblical accuracy matter?

T

o see or not to see? Starring Russell Crowe, a blockbuster version of Noah’s epic story splashes into cinemas this month.

Director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Wrestler) has openly declared his $125m+ Noah is not a biblically faithful adaptation. If biblical accuracy matters to us, what do we do about Noah?

Maybe we can get behind Noah, as a pop-culture way of preaching about God’s relationship with us and this planet.

Because, no matter how Noah represents Genesis 6 - 9, the hearts of viewers will certainly be stirred by any hint of God’s truth that is present, right?

Or should we run a mile from Noah? Is it an affront to the One who brought The Flood? Should those who love and honour God have nothing to do with Noah?

So, to see or not to see? That’s the question. Or is it? Are celebrate or boycott the only choices we have regarding artistic interpretations of what God’s Word reveals?

Aronofsky first unveiled his Noah as a comic-book, which he co-wrote.

He has described Noah as ‘the first environmentalist’; a divinely driven man who battles human scepticism and opposition while preparing for global annihilation. insights.uca.org.au

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Six-winged angels and tribal warfare are part of Aronofsky’s vision of ancient survival. Noah appears to be a disaster movie like 2012, but with art-house exploration of existential issues.

Given Noah’s intention is screen entertainment not religious education; the extremes of totally rejecting or endorsing it are too simplistic. Shouldn’t we productively interact with Aronofsky’s fictional account, by contrasting the actual account of Noah and The Flood? Because Noah is a freebie. Without us having to do anything, a golden opportunity for discussing things of eternal importance arrives. In an arena most are comfortable engaging with: movies.

or silently hoping audiences would somehow see The Way, The Truth and The Life within it.

Noah might not replicate The Passion phenomenon, but it should open the floodgates of meaningful conversation.

For example, how will Aronofsky represent punishment and forgiveness in Noah?

‘Man corrupted this world...so we must be destroyed,’ says Noah’s father Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins). Noah confirms that the Creator of Heaven and Earth intends to destroy the world. Will this global punishment be offset by any forgiveness?

With Noah centred on its mortal hero, we can expect human efforts on-screen will drown out the Bible’s report of The Flood. Such emphasis would rob audiences of understanding how God’s inestimable grace and forgiveness are powerfully revealed through these apocalyptic events.

Almost one decade ago, The Passion of the Christ ignited an unexpected blaze of Jesus focus around the world. Despite graphic violence, questionable elements and lack of emphasis upon Jesus’ resurrection, Mel Gibson’s film became Without relating to God’s pattern of a phenomenon. A valuable consequence undeserved salvation, viewers of Noah will of its popularity was how, suddenly, it was miss the purpose of why The Flood came. okay to chat about who Jesus was and Will we help them clearly see the true what he did. People who normally wouldn’t wash-up? have a bar of God stuff, wanted to discuss.

Ben McEachen If you disagreed with Gibson’s portrait of the sacrificial Messiah, the opportunity was there to share gospel truth. A much better option than boycotting The Passion,

Insights March 2014 37

21/02/2014 1:43:16 PM

Entertain me read this

PRESS PLAY

The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic, John Shel by Spong The Butler (M) BIG SCREEN

The Monuments Men (M) This is a true-life tale of a band of Allied art historians and curators who are dropped into occupied territory during the frenzied final moments of World War II to protect what’s left and find what’s missing.

It turns out the precious art is mostly hidden in mines, so it comes down to a race between the Americans against both the Nazis, who would rather burn Picassos rather than have them fall into Allied hands, and the Russians, who consider it blood money. But the contest is less suspenseful than it is self-sacrificing, uplifting and altruistic.

George Clooney co-wrote, directed and starred the film alongside other great names including Cate Blanchett.

This is a story that desperately needs to be told, but more effectively as some kind of multipart mini-series, not a 120-minute movie romp.

Its goofiness is distinctive, for sure, but it makes the movie come across as more Captain America: The First Avenger than Saving Private Ryan.

38 Insights March 2014

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The father and son relationship at the heart of The Butler nearly eclipses the film, which concerns African-American Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), a long time White House butler who served during eight administrations over 34 years. The tension between Cecil and his son Louis who stages sit-ins and becomes a member of the Black Panthers is what drives the story.

The film covers everything from the Civil Rights Movement to the Vietnam War and the bourgeoning role of women and African Americans in society, tending to make the film feel a bit overstuffed with detail.

Whitaker is excellent as Cecil, portraying compassion and subtlety. Oprah Winfrey is similarly good as Cecil’s wife, Gloria, a woman who struggled to keep her family together in the absence of their father. Director Daniels hits most of the right dramatic notes, retaining the intense interpersonal drama.

The film is not a documentary — many events are dramatised or altered completely — and The Butler has a tendency to move from one historical signpost to the next without exploring the climate between beyond surface level. Even so, this is an entertaining, nicely acted, portrait of a man who saw America changing for the better from behind the scenes.

This is an important book from an at-times controversial author and church bishop. After more than five years solid work on the fourth gospel, John, Spong has released his 24th book.

It is not a book to be read from cover to cover, even though Spong’s writing style is easy to read. It is more one that could be at the elbow of all who have responsibility for leading worship or study groups, and preaching when following the Lectionary.

An excellent subject index and nine pages of bibliography make up this well-worth book that challenges dominant assumptions and interpretations.

Rex Hunt

LISTEN up

Live, Life, Loud , Hawk Nelson Hawk Nelson’s pop rock sound is infectious. The songs get caught in your head, and you find yourself humming the melody for hours.

They are outstanding musicians, and their live shows are high-energy and entertaining.

The title song is a typical pop rock anthem that will have teens bouncing. There’s plenty for fans to enjoy here. insights.uca.org.au

21/02/2014 2:03:43 PM

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