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International partnerships support churches in our global region
Kerry Povey, Chair of the International Partnerships and Development Commission, delivered a report to the 45th Annual Meeting of the Synod of WA on Saturday, highlighting the work of the commission. Kerry explained that the commission is engaged with four key partners, in West Papua, Timor Leste, West Timor, and Sri Lanka.
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Sharing stories for healing: NAIDOC Week at BKI
Beananging Kwuurt Institute (BKI), a Uniting Church WA Aboriginal community services organisation in Queens Park, Perth, held a NAIDOC Week storytelling event on Wednesday 7 July. Guests were invited to listen, learn, share, and enjoy kangaroo stew and damper together. This year’s NAIDOC theme is ‘Heal Country!’ In the 1930s, the site where BKI now […]
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Keep our kids out of prison: Raise the Age
Most Australians don’t realise that we put kids in prison. In a public opinion poll by the Australia Institute, 73% of Australians had no idea that children as young as ten are currently locked up in our prison system. It’s not surprising, since most people imagine kids at that age to be, well… kids. But […]
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Social Justice Church: Living the Gospel every day
Years ago, Alison Xamon began to envisage a new kind of ministry. A church community that would be truly welcoming and safe for all. A group that would see the fight for justice as simply part of being Christian. It was a type of worship that Alison longed for, but over time it became clear […]
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Remembering Stolen Generations on Sorry Day
Sorry Day is held each year on 26 May to remember and acknowledge the Stolen Generations. Dr Alison Atkinson-Phillips is a member of the Bringing Them Home Committee, supported by the Uniting Church WA. She is also the author of ‘Survivor Memorials: Remembering trauma and loss in contemporary Australia’, and worked as Media and Communications […]
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Calling for Justice for Refugees on Palm Sunday
Justice for Refugees WA, a network of more the 40 community organisations, faith groups and human rights agencies, is calling on Australia’s political leaders to abandon the current harsh and unjust policies of detention, uncertainty and limbo, and to instead provide permanent protection for people seeking safety. Instead of prolonging the despair of people seeking […]
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Justice is love in public: Social Justice Commission
The Social Justice Commission of the Uniting Church WA presented their report to the 44th Annual Meeting of the Synod of WA on Saturday morning, 12 September. “Justice is what love looks like in public,” said Mark Brisbane, Chair of the Social Justice Commission, quoting Cornel West. Mark highlighted work the commission has been involved […]
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COVID-19 – The importance of Community
The COVID-19 pandemic felt at first like a spanner in the works. Major parts of normal life seemed to grind to a halt from COVID-19. At times it all felt quite surreal, something out of a dystopian movie. This ugly virus has caused catastrophic medical, economic and social reverberations around the world. The global scale […]
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What did I learn? Forgiveness is not easy
I have always enjoyed ferry boat rides; across the river Mersey as a child, over to Rottnest Island as an adult and over to Manly as a tourist when visiting Sydney. However my most significant ferry trip was a few years ago in South Africa to Robben Island. The island is infamous because it was […]
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Uniting Church WA calls on WA RSL to reconsider its stance
The Moderator of the Uniting Church WA, Rev Steve Francis, has today called on the RSL of WA to reconsider its position to ban the flying of the Aboriginal flag and the performance of Welcome to Country ceremonies during ANZAC and Rememberence Day services. “This is an extremely disappointing decision by the RSL WA that […]