Five ways to celebrate NAIDOC Week 2024 From this Sunday 7 July until 14 July, Australians will mark NAIDOC Week, an opportunity to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The 2024 NAIDOC Week theme is Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud & Proud. The theme honours […]
Vale Rev Dr Gondarra We pay tribute to one of the architects of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress and to his trailblazing, visionary lifewritten by Bethany Broadstock with Stuart McMillan Please note the name Rev Dr Gondarra OAM and his image have been used in accordance with the wishes of his family. Aboriginal […]
Intercultural Neighbouring Sunday 2024 Celebrate the cultural diversity at the heart of our Church and explore ways to build intercultural relationships in your neighbourhoodOn Sunday 21 July, the Uniting Church will celebrate Intercultural Neighbouring Sunday for the second year. Emerging from a decision of the 16th Assembly meeting, this day is an opportunity to celebrate […]
Intercultural Neighbouring Sunday Celebrate the cultural diversity at the heart of our Church and explore ways to build intercultural relationships in your neighbourhood.On Sunday 16 July, the Uniting Church will celebrate Intercultural Neighbouring Sunday (INS). Emerging from a decision of the 16th Assembly meeting, it will be the first time Uniting Church communities are invited […]
A Biblical lens on InterculturalInspired by a presentation from Rev Assoc Prof Monica Melanchthon to the Intercultural Forum in the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania Monica, Bethany Broadstock shares four take-away insights on the imperative to hear ‘voices from the margins’ and the implications for an Intercultural Church. Rev Assoc Prof Melanchthon is a renowned […]
Intercultural Neighbouring SundayIn May the 16th Assembly passed a resolution to strengthen the Uniting Church’s commitment to living life and faith interculturally through a range of measures. This included the adoption of a new annual celebration – Intercultural Neighbouring Sunday. We asked Rev Dr Paul Goh, who proposed the Assembly resolution, to explain the thinking […]
The landscape of National Conferences in the UCA Written by Rev Dr Apwee Ting I’ve just returned from the 15th Fiji National Conference held at the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education on Kungarakany and Awarai country in Batchelor, 98km south of Darwin. Over the four days, I could clearly feel how much the Fijian […]
The life of the Tongan National ConferenceWritten by Rev Dr ‘Isileli Jason Kioa The Tongan National Conference was the first of the 12 national conferences of the Uniting Church to be formed in June 1987, just two years after the declaration of the Uniting Church by the meeting of the Assembly in 1985 as a […]
Intercultural: where our journey beginsIn our Assembly Strategic Plan we identify four key pillars that drive our work and are a primary focus as we seek to move boldly and confidently into the future. One of these pillars is Intercultural, encapsulating how we seek to live as a community that transcends cultural and other barriers, and in which […]
Living as an Intercultural ChurchAn Intercultural church is a church that accepts, supports and celebrates each cultural group. It intentionally encourages all cultural groups to engage in intercultural relationships and share in leadership, mission and ministry.An Intercultural church builds on the idea that Australian society and the Church’s membership are multicultural, and it calls on […]