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
THIRTY -
On the Grapevine…
Hi everyone,
In Bruce Mullan’s Daily Mail last Saturday is the following quote. Maybe it is from Bruce himself as there is no other acknowledgement. It certainly struck a cord with me.
“Lord, keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.”
In that same Daily Mail there is a reflection on one of the scripture readings that guides my ministry practice. I have paraphrased it and included that on my business cards for a number of years.
“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (lsaiah 40:31)
I’ve been learning a lot about waiting. I don't like to wait and I don't wait very well. I'm the guy who cuts across the grass to get there quick.
My friend Don Springer taught me a good lesson about waiting. I love to snorkel. There is almost nothing I would rather do than swim in the clear blue waters of the world looking at tropical fish, coral, and the water underworld. (Okay, so you think I'm strange!)
Don took me snorkeling in Napili Bay, Maui, Hawaii. He's a retired fireman who also likes to snorkel. He drove me crazy. He would stop for minutes at a time; I'm one of those people who is constantly swimming and moving to the next site.
But a funny thing happened when I would stop long enough to wait for Don. I saw more fish, more eels, more movements in the water than I had ever seen before in my life. Don taught me to stop, look, and listen in the water. Although I've snorkelled at Napili Bay before, I had never experienced Napili Bay until Don showed me how to wait.
It's a good lesson for life. Maybe we should quit rushing around trying to find God. Maybe we should stop, look, listen, and wait. He's there, you know. He has something to reveal and say to you today.
[Jim Burns posted in HomeWord Devotionals www.homeword.com] “
Blessings to you all.
Pastoral Notes and prayer points:
· Russell Clark’s brother Rob, who lives in Cairns, is seriously ill with cancer. Pray for Rob and his wife Edith as well as Rus and Liz as they provide support.
· Please keep the upcoming Emmaus Walks, team members and pilgrims in your prayers.
· Pray for the process of Shire Council amalgamations, especially for those workers who may be affected by losing their jobs.
· Rod Fisher, candidate for Minister of the Word, from Atherton whose conversation with the Synod Selection Panel last Saturday went well.
· Jim Barry (FAPS) on the death of his mother.
· The family of the late Rev Jim and Mrs Audrey Sweet who died last week and whose funeral was held Tuesday.
2008 Mission and Service Fund Allocations: Church Council treasurers have been sent the allocations that the Presbytery Mission Resourcing Committee is asking congregations to commit to for 2008. Please note that we require the responses from congregations by 31st August. Thank you to those congregations who have already notified the Presbytery Office of their acceptance.
Synod Meetings last week:
Last week I was again in Brisbane for the “week of meetings”. These included Placements Committee on Thursday, meetings with the Moderator and other Presbytery ministers on Friday, Council of Synod on Friday night and over the weekend. In addition to those I was able to be present with Rod Fisher at the Synod Selection panel conversations on Saturday morning.
As I usually do, I took the opportunity to meet with Synod office staff around a number of financial and property issues in the Presbytery I believe they were very fruitful discussions.
Placements:
There are some significant vacancies across the Synod coming up, especially in key
ministry areas where experiences ministry is needed. In addition to those there are
new positions in the Pilgrim Learning Community that were approved at Synod and yet
to be advertised, as well as 2 Rural Ministry Coordinator roles. Key roles recently
filled include Presbytery Minister on The Downs (Mrs. Sharon Kirk), and Presbytery
Minister in Bremer-
With regard to North Queensland, the placement of an exit student, Mosese Fangupo to Tully was approved. He will commence in Tully on 1st January 2008. Mosese is Tongan by birth and is married to Witness and they have 7 children whose ages range from 15 to 2. There are a number of vacancies pending in the North from the end of the year or early next year. They are not all full time placements and so are a little harder to fill as it is not easy for someone to move to the north for less that a full stipend. These include Mossman, Wulguru, BlueCare Chaplain Townsville, and after Easter 2008 when Malcolm Bottrill retires, Aitkenvale.
Meetings with other Presbytery Ministers and the Moderator:
These were very busy this time with far more business than time available. During this time we met with various people and received information and shared concerns. The areas that were covered and people involved were:
· the relationship with Finance and Property Services – met with the Director Rob Packer
· the transition process to ordination for Lay Pastors, Youth Workers and Community ministers – input from Alan O’Hara
· information about the mission development planning group (Gary Adsett & Scott Guyatt)
· a survey form for comment from the Future of Ministries Task Group (Dennis Robinson), as well as an important Queensland Synod report entitled “Burnout: How do we know when a Ministerial Agent is not coping and what do we do about it.”
· Some other folk joined us as we discussed the request from the Assembly General Secretary for comments on the review of Coolamon College.
Council of Synod:
Ruth Beasley and I are on the Council of Synod from North Queensland. As is usual
for the first meeting of a new Council of Synod was a live-
Saturday was a very busy agenda which included the following:
· Report from FAPS (Director – Robert Packer and Chairperson – Andrew Mc Bryde) – Rob is very keen to streamline the processes and make the department even more service focused.
· Report from UnitingCare (CEO -
· Report from the General Secretary including resolutions around Fee Help which picked up the 3rd option outline at the Synod Meeting as the way forward, as well as the minutes of the Synod Leadership team and the ratification of appointments to various board and colleges including my appointment to the John Flynn College Board.
· Discussion on the NCLS survey material especially around the “preaching” question.
· Lenten Appeal will be changed this year and fit in with the Lent Event in NSW. Bruce Mullan will distribute this information soon as well as the rationale for the change.
· Moderator's report. -
The Ministerial Support Funds Committee is the body in the Synod that has the responsibility for setting the Stipends and allowances each year. They have yet to make a firm decision on the stipend for next year but indicators are that there will be an increase of 4% to 6% so Church Councils will need to take that into account when setting their budgets for 2008. The stipend is set based on a number of factors including minimum weekly earnings, CPI increases as well as a recognition of the impact of increases on congregations capacity to absorb any increase. It is a delicate task that the committee, which is a representative committee, has as its task.
BP cards to be cancelled: Many ministers will have had the use of BP fuel cards through UCIS. This was because BP had the state government contract to provide fuel and the Uniting Church is able to tie in with that contract price. BP has lost that contract which has been won by Caltex. If you have been using BP then you should have received advice this week that as of 14th September the BP cards will be cancelled. We are invited to apply for a Caltex Star Card which will continue to give discount fuel. My experience of these massive changeovers is that they do not always go smoothly so it may be worthwhile to get the process going early.
I am not sure, but my hunch is that there are many more BP servos in the north than Caltex ones.
Council Amalgamations: The proposed Council amalgamations are still causing anxiety in many parts of the Presbytery at the moment. I am also aware that some members of our congregations are directly affected, through employment or membership on Councils. With the “shake up” I know that there is significant anxiety in the communities in which we live. Let us continue to pray for each other, especially for the most affected areas of Mossman and Port Douglas, Cardwell and Johnston Shires, Charters Towers and Dalrymple Shires and Townsville and Thuringowa, and Bowen and the Whitsundays. I have not heard of other areas directly affected.
Nick Vujicic the man born with no arms and no legs and who Craig Blackburn brought to North Queensland last year has a new promotional video out. Details are printed below in the ‘What’s New’ section. Please note the special arrangement for North Queensland people.
Blessings to you all,
Bruce C.
Steve’s Stuff…
Greetings in the name of Christ!
Thank you for keeping Tracie, her family and myself in your prayers last week with
the death of her Nana late Monday night. It was a blessing that we were able to
fly to Brisbane Monday afternoon and spend some time with her before she passed-
It was great being able to worship and celebrate Holy Communion with the evening
congregation at Aitkenvale last Sunday night. After the service I shared about the
2008 tour to Israel with a small group of young adults. In addition I shared very
briefly in the service about the young adult retreat taking place over the second
weekend in October (12-
The guest speaker at this year’s young adult retreat (18-
Kids Camp Out – Southern Zone, 15-
If your congregation is planning on sending a group along to KCO can you please let me know, stevek@yacmu.com.au. At this stage I am wanting to get a rough idea of who will be attending. If you need another information pack please let me know.
Kids Camp Out – Northern Zone, 20-
Information packs will be sent to you soon. Please mark this weekend in your diary.
I am now in Brisbane until Saturday the 8th of September for a variety of ministry events and conferences. Please see the diary at the end of presbytery prompts for further information. However you can still reach me via email or on 0427 727 070.
Please pray for Jack, Graeme and Tracie as they attend the State Youth Ministry Conference in Brisbane this coming weekend.
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…
MESSAGE FROM DAVE BAKER, PRESBYTERY MINISTER, BREMER BRISBANE PRESBYTERY
Dear folks, Rev. Jim Sweet passed away just a couple of days after his wife.
The Sweets are the parents of Jenny Sims, one of our candidates for ministry, and wife of Rev. Neil Sims.
A joint funeral will be held at Sunnybank UCA on Tuesday at 11:00am.
Jim was a leader in the Presbyterian Church in Queensland in the 60s and 70s. He
was responsible for aboriginal missions, and sought to get a fair deal for the aboriginal
people of the Cape when the Bjelke-
CHRISTIANS IN DIALOGUE 2007
Hope for a New Pentecost is the title of the latest study-
They are designed for use by local groups of Christians who want to respond to the
Gospel imperative to seek together to bear witness to that unity which -
This new kit offers resources for study, discussion and prayer for five sessions:
1. The Call to be One: explores the Biblical basis for ecumenical life and worship and how that has been expressed in the various traditions and statements by Church leaders.
2. The History of Ecumenism: is intriguingly stated in two parts: ‘A Brief History of Division’ and ‘A History of Ecumenism’.
3. Signs on the Pathway to Unity: explores the various Dialogues and Covenants operating
among many churches world-
4. Themes for Ecumenical Discussion: with sub-
§ ‘Communion’ -
§ ‘Scripture’ -
§ ‘Justification’ – the centrality of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. Attention is given to remarkable recent events which have seen agreement on Justification by the Lutheran World Federation, the Roman Catholic Church and the World Methodist Council.
5. Contentious Issues / Spiritual Ecumenism / What we Need to do!: gives an opportunity for people to look together at issues that are not yet resolved on the ecumenical journey: Ordination and Ministry and Eucharist. The session moves into discussion of common prayer and the challenge to move on – together!
The Christians in Dialogue kit was written by an ecumenical team from Toowoomba Churches Together.
It is available from:
Christians in Dialogue
C/-
GPO Box 282
BRISBANE 4001
Phone: [07] 3336 9354
Fax: [07] 3336 9177
E-
For a look at the complete set of Christians in Dialogue kits, visit the Catholic website at
http://www.bne.catholic.net.au/ecum/ChristiansinDialogue.php
The Christians in Dialogue program is a well balanced study in that it provides opportunities for participants to pray, to reflect, to discuss and to apply the fruits of the study to their own lives and the way they relate to their brothers and sisters of other traditions.
SEPTEMBER JOURNEY
The September Journey is at the printers and is now available online as a PDF download from
The theme for the month is “Evangelism” but we have also featured three articles /opinion pieces on John Shelby Spong which you may find interesting.
1. An extended analysis of Spong’s new book Spong’s Jesus: not radical enough by Dr Benjamin Myers, a theologian and research fellow at University of Queensland. A strong critique of the content of the book delivered with generosity and grace.
2. Shelby Spong: wrong and welcome by Rev Dr David Rankin who affirms the role of heretics in helping the church maintain its orthodoxy.
3. Could Spong be Uniting? By Rev Dr Geoff Thompson looking at where Spong sits in relation to the Basis of Union.
Plenty more great reading too.
Will be delivered to congregations next week for immediate distribution next Sunday.
TO GIVE AWAY
Kodak OHP in excellent order -
If you are interested please contact Jane in the presbytery office on 4779 5818 or email at presbnq@bigpond.net.au
CAR BOOT SALE
Where : Jensen Uniting Church, Veales Road Jensen
When : Saturday 8th September
Time : 8am to 1pm
$10.00 per site
Sausage sizzle, morning tea, soft drinks, clothing, books, plants, household items and more
For more information please phone 4779 7693 or 4723 2932
FREE TEA AND COFFEE
EXPRESS YOUR CHRISTIAN FAITH IN SYNOD WEBSITE
Here's an opportunity to help the Uniting Church express its Christian faith in a public arena.
The new Synod web site will have three sections on its front page (faith windows) relating to Christian faith, written by a range of people. These faith windows will rotate on a daily basis giving a different set of content and images every day of the year
Section 1 will have excerpts from core documents and answer questions like 'What is the Uniting Church for", and 'How did the Uniting Church start?'.
· Section 2 will be about short comments from a range of people writing about their faith.
· Section 3 will be people talking about how they live out their faith.
We particularly need contributions for the second and third sections – personal reflection on what faith is about for you, and what it means to live out that faith.
To see what the faith windows looks like read the samples below, or visit the Beta version of the new website at http://new.ucaqld.com.au/
For more information contact Duncan McLeod at duncan.mcleod@ucaqld.com.au or Bruce Mullan at bruce.mullan@ucaqld.com.au
MOUNT LOUISA HOUSE OF PRAISE CAR BOOT SALE
WHEN : 25th August -
WHERE : Mount Louisa House of Praise
Come and join us – buy and sell -
Sausage Sizzle, Hot Dogs and drinks available.
Contact 4774 5800 office hours for more info.
NICK’S DVD NO ARMS, NO LEGS, NO WORRIES
The DVD states "This dual layer DVD is copyright for home use only. School and group use requires (an additional $50 fee and) your details to be recorded on our approved register to legitimize full
copyrighted use within your particular school, group or community setting".
We are pleased to announce that Nick’s new Motivational DVD is almost ready. You have the opportunity to order your copy during August. The cost will be $30 for home use. (NQ orders during August will be processed post free).
Nick Vujicic was born in Australia without arms and legs (no medical reason). In November 2004, Nick visited the greater Cairns area for 9 days and was a great blessing to many. He agreed to return for 3 weeks in July 2005 and spoke at many schools and churches, from South of Townsville to North of
Cooktown, the last few days with the band Soulharvest from Mossman. When the Blackburn family moved to the Tweed Coast of NSW, Nick agreed to come and speak at local schools in March 2007 so that the sessions could be recorded for the sake of the hundreds of schools and communities Nick
cannot visit (he spends the majority of his time overseas).
Captured on this DVD (launch 30/08/07 in Pottsville) is over two hours of eye-
and (b) ‘Hear the Heart’ (Wollumbin High), 2. Children ‘You are Special’ (Pottsville Beach Primary),
3. Parents ‘Doing your Best’ (Pottsville). PLUS: Nick’s Story, Motivational Media segment, Corporate
Showreel, Photo Gallery, Trailer, Bloopers & Deleted Scenes.
For more information, please email nickdvd@bigpond.com (Ph 02 6676 2611)
==========================================================
August ORDERS $30 only (a) electronic: details through above email, or
(b) cheque: LC & JM Blackburn, PO Box 203, Pottsville Beach, NSW, 2489.
Name & Address ______________________________________________
Number of DVDs _____________ Payment enclosed $ _______________
Please don’t forget these…
THANK YOU FROM WULGURU UNITNG CHURCH
The 'Market Day' at the Wulguru UC on Saturday was very successful. We sincerely thank the people of your congregations and the general public for supporting us with their attendance. We even had people from the Burdekin attend.
Kay Smith, Market Day Coordinator, Wulguru Uniting Church
HOWARD/RUDD FORUM FOR CHRISTIAN LEADERS
Last Thursday evening (09-
http://www.acl.org.au/makeitcount/howard_speech.wmv
http://www.acl.org.au/makeitcount/howard_questions.wmv
http://www.acl.org.au/makeitcount/rudd_speech.wmv
http://www.acl.org.au/makeitcount/rudd_questions.wmv
Bruce Mullan, Manager, Communications Services Unit
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 2007 FEDERAL ELECTION RESOURCES
The next federal election will be held before January 19, 2008, and the buzz suggests
it is likely to take place in November. Sure enough, those tell-
Some tend to be tried and true voters of one party or another regardless of the policies of the day, but many more swing, influenced by the way leaders and parties choose to address, and propose to solve, the pressing problems of the nation. Regardless of voting trends we each have a responsibility to cast an informed vote, a vote that reflects both our concerns as citizens and our theology as Christians in order to ensure personal integrity and the health of our society.
The National Assembly is producing a set of election resources around the theme of “growing a nation of hope” to help members of the Uniting Church think through the issues and political rhetoric from a Christian perspective. These resources are not party political. They are not designed to direct the votes of members but rather to encourage the exploration of the implications of the gospel in the consideration of policies and the process of coming to an individual decision.
The cornerstone of these resources is the Growing a Nation of Hope: your faith, your
vote, your voice booklet, which will explore some of the major policy areas and current
issues from a Christian perspective. Areas covered include: climate change, counter-
A copy of the booklet, together with a set of Hot Issues Briefs (double-
The materials will also be available from the UnitingJustice website (http://nat.uca.org.au/unitingjustice/)
together with a set of “issues papers”. These offer a more in-
Uniting Church members are invited to draw on these resources to assist in their engagement with the political life of the nation. Voting in a federal election is one important way in which we can contribute to shaping the future of our country — a country that is well positioned to stand as a bearer of hope in the world: building strong communities and a healthy society where people are valued, respected, encouraged, cared for and supported; thinking creatively about solutions to violent conflict, environmental degradation, prejudice and social and economic inequities; and reaching out into the world in partnership to work for a peaceful and just world for the generations who come after us.
For more information contact your Synod justice agency or unit or email UnitingJustice at untingjustice@nat.uca.org.au.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT SYNOD DIRECTORY ONLINE
Thank you to those of you who have signed up for UConnect over that past 10 days. Your response and positive feedback has been encouraging.
If you ever need to refer to the Synod Directory and have not yet applied for an
account you might like to do that by visiting the web page at http://www.uconnect.ucaqld.com.au/new-
There are a couple of changes we would like to make to enhance the search capability while protecting your privacy. We need your assistance with that.
Currently we are not displaying residential addresses of individuals unless the residential address is the postal address. We need you to tell us if you do not want your residential address displayed. (Note that we cannot suppress the postal address so unless it is a PO Box there is little point in not showing your residential address.) Once we have flagged the records of those who don’t want their address visible we will turn on the display of residential addresses. We plan to do that on 1st September.
We do display details of Partners in Mission and want to continue to do that but we are conscious that some partners may not wish to have their details available. If this is your situation please contact directory@ucaqld.com.au and request that display be suppressed.
Could you also assist us by checking your contact information and informing us of
any changes. For individuals this can be done using the on-
Some may not have noticed the maps feature. Just click on the little magnifying glass icon beside an address. If your church does not appear in the correct location, please check that the address is correctly formatted. (street no, street name, suburb, postcode)
Thanks for your assistance with this. We would love to hear your feedback and suggestions
for improvements. Contact us at its-
Ken Griggs, Manager, Information Technology Services
Presbytery Calendar (including Bruce’s and Steve’s Diary)
August 21st – 26th – Steve at YACMU & Youth Ministry Conference
25th – 26th – Youth Ministry Conference – Brisbane
26th – Blue Care Ingham 40th Anniversary
27th – 31st – Bruce to Mt Isa, Cloncurry and Hughenden (Western Trip)
27th – 31st – Steve to Sunshine Coast for National Youth Worker Inservice
September – 1st – Southern Zone Meeting – Wulguru UC
3rd – 6th – Steve to Brisbane for Triple P Training
6th – 9th – Emmaus Mens Walk
11th – Mission Resourcing Committee Meeting – presbytery office
13th – 16th – Emmaus Women’s Walk
18th – 20th – Steve to Brisbane YACMU
18th – 21st – Bruce meetings in Brisbane
30th – Bruce to Preach at Malanda
October – 3rd – 6th – Bruce to Frontier Services Board meeting -
8th -
9th – Presbytery Leadership Team teleconference
12th – 14th – Young Adults Camp
16th – 25th – Bruce to Brisbane for meetings – Placements etc, CoachNet training
20th – 21st – Kids Camp Out, Southern Zone
21st – Ministry Sunday
24th – 26th – Steve to Brisbane for Discernment Retreat
28th – Bruce to preach at Wulguru
November 2nd – 4th – Presbytery meeting – Townsville area Venue to be advised
11th – 50th church Anniversary Mossman
12th – MRC meeting – presbytery office
20th – 23rd – Steve to Brisbane YACMU
21st – 24th -
24th – Special Synod Brisbane
26th – PLT teleconference
December – 11th – 13th – Steve to Brisbane YACMU
13th – Bruce to Brisbane for Placements
25th – Christmas Day
January 2008 – 9th – 14th – Summer Madness Camp, Sunshine Coast