Uniting Church in Australia
Presbytery of North Queensland
PRESBYTERY PROMPTS
29 Wentworth Ave Mundingburra 4812 Ph: 07 4779 5818 presbnq@bigpond.net.au
Website: www.presbyterynq.net
TWENTY SECOND EDITION WEDNESDAY JUNE 13TH 2007
On the Grapevine…
***PLEASE NOTE – Bruce Cornish will be taking time off from 18th to 24th June. If assistance is required please contact your Zone Chairpersons, Doug Foster (Northern Zone), Malcolm Bottrill (Southern Zone) or Garry Hardingham (Cape/Gulf Zone).
Pastoral Notes and prayer points:
· Pray for the strengthening of relationships between indigenous and non-
· Pray for Glenn and Collette Louttit and their family as Glenn has been given 2 months off on sick leave.
· Pray for the Innisfail congregation and for Graham Whybird who is providing supply ministry.
· Garry and Theresa Hardingham and family with continued concerns for Tamara and as they prepare for their holiday overseas.
· Please pray for the ministry of Frontier Services, especially those activities in North Queensland. They include Patrol Ministry, RAFS (Remote Area Family Services, other children’s services, North West Isolated Care, Student Group home, and other community focused activities.
Trial of Snr Sgt Hurley in Townsville
As has been reported in the media, the trial of Snr Sgt Chris Hurley with respect to the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee on Palm Island began in Townsville on Tuesday. This is a very important trial as it is the first time a serving police officer has faced the courts with regard to the death of an aboriginal person in custody. I would ask that as a Presbytery we pray for the trial process and for both sides with regard to the outcome. As the judge said at the beginning of the trial, whatever the outcome is, one group of people will be very disappointed. Pray that whatever the outcome, as Christians, both aboriginal, white or from other cultures, we might continue to work for peace and reconciliation and demonstrate this in our communities through our words and actions.
Thank you to the Presbytery Leadership for encouraging me to take next week off. I really do appreciate your care and support. It has been a very busy last few weeks and I have not been home in Townsville very much at all.
MBF – Ministers who are in the health fund MBF will have received a letter from the fund outlining some new payment options that do not include the existing payroll deduction processes. I have spoken to our Uniting Church payroll people and they are aware of the situation. They had been assured by MBF that no letters would be sent out until at least June. Payroll had therefore planned to send something out to all affected ministers and employees in June. This will still be the case so please do not respond to the letter from MBF until you receive the advice from our payroll office as to the process to follow. I understand that there will still be the option to have our MBF contributions made through our Fringe Benefits accounts but that the authorisation will be different. I guess the word is – watch this space.
Queensland Synod Meeting
Last week I shared some of my thoughts on the Synod. I would value anyone else sharing their thoughts as well. Simply email them to Jane for inclusion in next week’s prompts. Some Synod snippets are added below from Ruth Beasley in Mareeba.
The Ministers Retreat in Cairns last week was an important time of refreshing and fellowship. It was attended by almost all the Presbytery ministerial agents. The only ones not able to be there were those not in full time placements and who therefore had other responsibilities. The Retreat was led extremely well by Greg and Mereym Brown who are members of Redcliffe Uniting Church. The first part of the programme on Monday was a Code of Ethics refresher course. This is an essential at least every 2 years. May I also encourage congregational members and Church Councils to read the “Code of Ethics and Ministry Practice” that Uniting Church Ministers adhere to? It is available on the Assembly website or in hard copy from your minister or the Presbytery Office.
The next 2 ½ days were spent in retreat with sufficient input and free time to be helpful and encouraging. The theme chosen for retreat was “Ministering with an Untame Lion” and no there is not a spelling error in the theme title. Greg and Mereym based some of the input on the C.S. Lewis classic the Narnia Series. It was certainly a very important time for us all.
THANK YOU sincerely to all those congregations who invested in their ministers by paying the $150 retreat costs. There are still a couple of congregations to pay so please do that soon so that we can finalise the books on retreat.
Blessings to you all,
Bruce C.
Steve’s Stuff…
Greetings in the name of Christ. Below is some information of up and coming events.
State Youth Ministry Conference, 25-
Last year we had 10 people with a passion for youth ministry travel to Brisbane and join another 90 people for our first state youth ministry conference. It is my prayer that a group of at least 10 will attend the conference this year. Our guest speaker is Dr Roland Martinson, Professor of Children, Youth and Family Ministry from Luther Seminary in St Paul Minnesota, USA.
If you have a passion to see young people come to know Christ and grow in their faith, then this conference is for you. If you want to explore and experience a variety of proven youth ministry resources that help young people grow in their relationship with Christ, this conference is for you.
We are called by God to ensure that the next generation know God’s great Name and salvation through His Son, our Lord and Saviour. To do this we need to be equipped. If you have a desire to see young people come to know Christ and grow in their faith then come and be inspired, equipped, and have an opportunity to network with other people involved in youth ministry across Qld.
For more information visit www.yacmu.com.au or contact me on 4036 4440 or at stevek@yacmu.com.au.
Trip to Israel, 6th-
Next year Tom Kerr (young adult ministry coordinator, YACMU) and I will be leading a tour to the Holy Land. I have been to Israel twice and it is an amazing experience. To walk the dusty roads that Jesus walked, travel across Lake Galilee and walk through the old city of Jerusalem enables you to picture places when you read the Bible.
We have worked hard with the travel company to ensure that there is a good balance between visiting Holy and archaeological sites, engaging in modern day Jewish culture and doing some adventure type activities.
The group will enjoy a thrilling kayaking experience down the Jordan River, spend time visiting sites around Lake Galilee including a sail across the lake, celebrate Holy Communion in a Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, walk through tunnels under the Western Wall and Hezekiah Tunnels, celebrate the Sabbath meal with Jewish families, camel trek across the desert and stay in a Bedouin Tent and more……
For more information please contact me on 4036 4440 or at stevek@yacmu.com.au. This tour is very unique in the variety of places we will visit and activities that we will do.
Yours in Christ’s service Steve.
YOUTH & CHILDREN'S MINISTRY EVENTS
August 25th – 26th – Youth Ministry Conference -
September 15-
October 12-
October – 20th – 21st – Kids Camp Out Northern Zone
January 2008 -
What’s New…
THE SYNOD EXPERIENCE – COMMENTS FROM RUTH BEASLEY (MAREEBA)
Under the Synod theme “Dare to Discover, Dream, Design and Deliver” vibrant worship
set the tone for each day’s business. Three different speakers led the Bible studies
also on the theme. The third study came after a day of controversy over the rejection
of the person recommended to become the new general secretary. The message of being
called to be one body -
Many and varied were the items of business before the Synod. A whole new plan for study, called the “Network for Christian Formation” for the ordinary person who wants to grow in their faith through study was adopted in principle. It is aimed to meet a perceived need for material not necessarily of university standard. Resolutions were passed concerning becoming a “Green Church” with people driving synod cars to use ethanol fuel and all congregations being asked to do an audit of their use of electricity. Concern over the incarceration of 17 year olds in prisons was spelled out in another motion. “Journey” magazine or “Journeyonline” will provide further detail on all the synod business.
The failure of the synod to accept the nomination for general secretary led to much time being taken up on how to proceed in this unprecedented situation. I found this situation disturbing. The Council of Synod, which does Synod business between synod meetings and of which I am now a member, will meet on June 30th to appoint a task group to pursue further nominations. Once it has completed its business a special synod will be called to ratify one of the two persons brought to that special synod.
The financial situation in the synod is sound, not as predicted in the recent past. Because of the dedicated work of staff in the finance department the church has been able to negotiate lower insurance premiums.
The above are just a few snippets from my synod experience. Hearing about the activities of other congregations and agencies of our Uniting Church, and listening to young, well informed and articulate people taking up issues of justice I cannot help but feel we are a vibrant church that seeks to stretch its boundaries and be evident in the Queensland community.
SMOKE ALARMS: PROTECTING FAMILIES – LIFE – PROPERTY
The government has announced that new legislation will commence on 1 July 2007 that makes it compulsory for all homes and units in Queensland to have at least one 9 volt battery powered smoke alarm. Since 1 July 1997 all new homes have been required to have smoke alarms installed when they are built. The new legislation will fill the gap and require older homes built before July 1997 to install smoke alarms. Working smoke alarms are a simple way to alert your family to a developing fire and give you time to escape. Instead of waking you, smoke and toxic gases from a fire quickly numb your senses and put you into an even deeper sleep. The more working smoke alarms installed the greater your chance of survival.
Charlie Tyrrell, Workplace Health & Safety Advisor, Queensland Synod has developed a newsletter that will be distributed to Church Council Secretaries within the next couple of days for their information and attention. The newsletter has also be posted on the Synod Website early next week which can accessed by clicking http://www.faps.ucaweb.com.au and clicking on the Workplace Health and Safety link. If you have any queries in relation to this matter, please contact Charlie on ph: (07) 3377 9729 or email: HERE.
Charlotte Tyrrell, Workplace Health & Safety Advisor, Qld Synod
PRISON MINISTRY UPDATE
Please continue to pray for Prison Ministries. There are a few specific prayer points we’d like you to pray for at the moment:
· Pray for the door to open in one of our prisons to allow painting classes. One of the prisoners is a gifted artist and would like to run these classes with other interested prisoners.
· Please pray for someone who can speak Swahili as we have a prisoner in need of this service.
· Pray for people who are interested in writing letters to inmates. There is one inmate who has been in prison for ten years and has had no contact from anyone in all that time.
· Give thanks to God for our volunteers.
· We have a new volunteer (Cathy) who is visiting the Brisbane Women’s Prison. Praise God for all our volunteers who give of their time in this way. And please pray that God will bless them and their families.
Beatriz Skippen, Senior Prison Ministry
FOR SALE
33 Used Metal Stackable chairs for sale -
WARNING – MEDIACOM SCAM
It has been drawn to our attention that Uniting Church congregations and Agencies might receive a Proforma Invoice for payment from a Company called MEDIACOM. We wish to advise that this Company has no relationship with MEDIACOM EDUCATION INC of PO Box 610, Unely SA 5061. Please check the validity of any Invoice received in the name of MEDIACOM who use any of the following Company addresses:
· SYDNEY – Level 1, 65 Berry St: GPO Box 4197 Sydney
· MELBOURNE – Level 1, 195 Little Collins St: PO Box 159 Melbourne
· BRISBANE – Level 7, 12 Creek St: PO Box 1000 Brisbane
Debbie Brown, Office Manager, MediaCom
NEW AT WWW.JOURNEYONLINE.COM.AU
COLD TUTU SAYS HUMANITY MUST ACT ON CLIMATE, NOW Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has called for urgent action against the threat of climate change, while speaking in Tromso, the largest city north of the Arctic Circle. HERE.
UNITING CHURCH REJECTS HOWARD'S COMMENTS ON "SICK" REFUGEES The Uniting Church has expressed its extreme dismay at the Prime Minister’s comments that migrants and refugees with leprosy and HIV/AIDS should not be allowed into Australia. HERE.
POPE APPROVES BEATIFICATION OF 188 JAPANESE MARTYRS Pope Benedict XVI has approved the beatification of 188 Japanese martyrs who were persecuted under the Tokugawa Shogunate government in the 17th century, the (Roman) Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan says. HERE.
GERMAN CHURCHES TO TOLL BELLS IN CALL FOR JUSTICE AT G8 SUMMIT Protestant churches throughout Germany will peal their bells for eight minutes on 6 June at the start of the G8 meeting taking place in their country to remind leaders of developed and powerful nations of their responsibility to fight global poverty. HERE.
Bruce Mullan, Manager, Communications Services Unit
GET THE LATEST UNITING CHURCH NEWS ON IGOOGLE
Users of iGoogle home page are welcome to access a free display of recent www.journeyonline.com.au headlines available from Information Technology Services. You will receive direct to your home page a list of the latest postings of news, features, reviews and fast news as soon as they are published. To view this feature and access it for yourself, iGoogle users should go to http://www.uca.net.au/full.php?if=http://www.uca.net.au/services/google.php and click on the +Google logo at the bottom left.
Bruce Mullan, Manager, Communication Services Unit
GROWING APOSTLES – STATE YOUTH MINISTRY CONFERENCE
Guest speaker Prof. Roland Martinson from Luther Seminary, Minnesota will present new insights from a massive study across the USA looking at exemplary youth ministry and provide participants with practical tools for ministry with young people. Participants will also have the opportunity to explore and experience a variety of proven youth ministry resources that help young people grow as disciples of Christ. The conference will take place at the UC Centre, Auchenflower on Saturday, 25 and Sunday, 26 August. Visit www.yacmu.com.au for further information or contact: Stephen Kersnovske on mob: 0427 727 070 or email: HERE.
Stephen Kersnovske, YACMU
CHRISTMAS BOWL APPEAL
QCT reminds all those who support the Christmas Bowl Appeal (for ecumenical projects promoting justice and improved living conditions): Order forms for materials and signs are now available. See www.ncca.org.au/christmasbowl. Please also promote and participate in the Christmas Bowl Survey to help us optimally serve your needs and those of our overseas partners. See the home page of NCCA: www.ncca.org.au/.
QCT
SPECIFIED MINISTRY OF PASTOR
The significant amount of work that is required to implement decision regarding the Specified Ministry of Pastor is being undertaken by the Ministerial Education Commission (MEC) and several Task Groups. It is expected that it will be possible for the Assembly Standing Committee to make further decisions when it meets from July 20 to 22.
In March the ASC made decisions on Transitional arrangements for people in the current lay Specified Ministries that want to explore a call to ordination. (See the Assembly website for the ASC minutes.) The synods have appointed persons to chair the panels that will consider applications and there will be a meeting of the Chairpersons on June 4 in Sydney. The purpose of this meeting is to help the church to seek a high level of concurrence in its practice and to work on planning “discernment retreats” and “formation intensives”.
On May 28 and 29 the MEC sponsored a meeting of a wide range of people in Adelaide for the purpose of addressing a range of questions and issues around the MEC requirements for the new Specified Ministry of Pastor. This meeting will feed into and inform the ongoing work of the MEC that has responsibility to develop the “rules” that will apply for this ministry. The third group that is working away is the Task Group appointed by the ASC to pick up many of the detailed matters that were not addressed by the resolutions of the 11th Assembly. It will meet in Brisbane on June 7 and bring a further report to the July meeting of the ASC.
It is hoped, resources permitting, to develop a dedicated web page to share the decisions and information as they arise. In the meantime I will do my best to keep people posted on where things are up to.
Terence Corkin Assembly General Secretary
SOLOMON ISLANDS TSUNAMI UPDATE
The Solomon Islands are located just south of the equator, to the east of Papua New Guinea and to the north east of Australia. The lives of many people in Choiseul and Western Provinces changed forever on 2 April 2007 when an earthquake of magnitude about 8.1 on the Richter scale occurred. The huge earthquake was followed by 2 to 3 tsunami waves up to about 4 metres high. These waves had a devastating effect on coastal communities which is where the majority of people live.
The initial response of the Uniting Church in Australia was to contact the United Church in Solomon Islands to establish to extent of the disaster. The General Secretary of the United Church has estimated that as much as 80% of the people affected by the earthquake and tsunamis are affiliated with the United Church. The official death toll is 52. Considering the devastation that has occurred it is amazing that the death toll is not much higher. Hundreds of families lost their homes. Some schools have just disappeared and some major health facilities were extensively damaged and have closed down to all but outpatients.
UCOA organised a meeting of churches in Australia who have partner churches in the Solomon Islands as well as Christian World Service (part of NCCA) on 7 May, 2007. The aim of the meeting was to set up a process to can keep each other informed about our responses to the earthquake and tsunami. Further meetings will be held as the need arrises.
The UCOA Solomon Islands Appeal has raised $130,000 to date. For updates on the situation and possible actions with the United Church of Solomon Islands, please see www.uim.uca.org.au . The Uniting Church Overseas Aid Annual report and financial accounts for Uniting Church Overseas Aid, and for Uniting International Mission are all up on the website www.uim.uca.org.au. Jeff Kite’s full report can be viewed at: www.uim.uca.org.au
Jeff Kite Uniting Church Overseas Aid Project Officer
RESOURCES FOR THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY
The Assembly offi ce has received a number of inquiries regarding resources for use during the 30th anniversary
of the Uniting Church. Rev Dr Anita Munro, liturgy lecturer at the United Theological College in NSW, has prepared worship resources for use on a Sunday near the anniversary. Even if you are not able to use the full order of service there may well be elements that you can use. Please acknowledge the source when using this material.
The President has prepared a PowerPoint in which he shares his observations about the Uniting Church including what he sees as our defi ning characteristics. This seven minute series of slides with voice over can be downloaded from the Assembly site and is useful in a worship service or if you are holding a special function during the anniversary period. It may also be useful as a discussion starter in small groups or at Church Council.
In 2006 the Assembly produced a very popular DVD series of conversations with congregations at mission — Transforming Lives, Transforming Communities. That series, with some discussion questions, provides another useful resource as we think about the mission and life of the UCA in 2007. The DVD is available from Mediacom (http://mediacom.mediacomonline.org.au/ index.php).
The Queensland Synod has refreshed a resource that was produced some years ago called “A Hitchhikers trip to the Basis of Union”. It can be accessed from the synod website at: http://www.ucaqld.com.au/downloads/hitchhiker.pdf. Resources will be added to the Assembly website as
they become available.
Terence Corkin Assembly General Secretary
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY WEBSITE REBUILD UPDATE
Many you of you have been waiting with anticipation for the new website for the National Assembly. We are pleased to report that work is well underway and you will start to see some action on the site very soon.
To help keep everyone up to date on what is going on, we have worked out a series of milestones for each stage
of the site rebuild. What will happen, starting from this week, is that each part of the new website will be turned on as it is completed.
We are able to have the core Assembly site live and operational as the first milestone. This core site will link to the existing Agency sites until the new version is ready.
Milestone Website section Due date Status
1 Core Assembly webesite 1/6/07 Completed
2 Beneficiary Fund and Christian Education 4/6/07 Final testing and proofing
3 Uniting Justice 18/6/07 In production
4 Worship Working Group 25/6/07 Waiting on content audit
5 Multicultural Ministry 16/7/07 Waiting on content audit
The remaining milestone dates will be confirmed soon – putting them in an order that suits everybody’s workload. We thank all of the agencies and teams for their continued work on the content audit and working directly with our web designer Yat on preparations.
The new website will be much easier to manage and to upload content on to, so we should have a much more dynamic web resource. We also plan to hold a couple of workshops for key agency staff so they can learn how to update their pages themselves.
Kathryn Crosby, National Assembly Senior Communications Officer
OUTCOMES FOR REFUGEES
Many of you will know that UnitingJustice have been actively engaged in conversations with both sides of Federal politics, advocating the Uniting Church’s view that refugees and asylum seekers must be treated with dignity and respect. We have made many submissions to Department and Senate inquiries and worked with Uniting Church agencies and groups around the country and a coalition of community groups for better outcomes for asylum seekers and refugees.
As a result of these concerted efforts by so many, some very positive changes were recently made to the Labor Party’s policy platform in this area. These include, amongst others:
• a commitment to permanent protection for refugees, rather than temporary protection
• statements of commitment to non-
• a commitment to revoke the cruel 45-
While these changes do not amend the Labor Party’s support for offshore processing on Christmas Island, which the Uniting Church continues to oppose, they are a vast improvement on previous policy.
For more information about UnitingJustice’s and the Uniting Church’s work on these issues, including our submission to the ALP policy process on this issue, please visit our website at:
http://nat.uca.org. au/unitingjustice/reconcilinghumanity/asylumrefugees/ index.htm
For more information about Hotham Mission’s work, please visit: http://asp.hothammission.org.au/index.cgi?tid=2
UnitingJustice
Please don’t forget these…
FAMILY & FRIENDS DAY AND MINI FETE
GARDEN SETTLEMENT – Pallarenda
Saturday, JUNE 16, 2007 – 2 p.m.
Preloved, Craft, Cake, Produce & Plants, Trash & Treasure Stalls ….
Sausage Sizzle & Ice cream $2.00 (what a bargain)...
Entertainment, Games and Prizes...
Please come and support the "Friends of Garden Settlement Group" in their bid to enthuse the families of residents to be part of this special event.
AFRICAN CHILDREN’S CHIOR VISIT TO TOWNSVILLE
The African Children’s Choir will be performing in Townsville at The Strand on Sunday 22 July 5.00pm. You can see a little snippit and some background information on these amazing kids just by visiting the following websites. Cost for us to see this show in Townsville is free! http://qmf.org.au/02_cal/details.asp?ID=30 http://qmf.org.au/02_cal/details.asp?ID=32. http://qmf.org.au/02_cal/details.asp?ID=34.
FAX MACHINE TO GIVE AWAY
The Presbytery office has a Panasonic Fax Machine to give away. For further information contact the office on 07 4779 5818 or email Jane at presbnq@bigpond.net.au
Presbytery Calendar (including Bruce’s and Steve’s Diary)
June 14th – 15th – Bruce to Brisbane for meetings
18th – 24th – Bruce time off
25th – Mission Resourcing Committee meeting – 5.15pm Presbytery Office
29th June – 2nd July – speaking at a mens’ camp – Burdekin
July -
11th – Placements -
18th – Presbytery Leadership Team meeting – face to face Presbytery office
29th – 1st August – Meeting – Tully
August 11th – Northern Zone meeting – venue TBA
13th – Mission Resourcing Committee meeting – presbytery office
15th – 20th – Bruce to Brisbane for meetings
September – 1st – Southern Zone Meeting – Wulguru UC
6th – 9th – Emmaus Mens Walk
13th – 16th – Emmaus Womens Walk
18th – 21st – Bruce meetings in Brisbane
Steve K’s Calendar
June 19th -
July 15th -