Crosslight February 2017

Crosslight Celebrating 25 years of

N 273 February No. F b 2017

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Uniting Church leader recognised with Australia Day honour

D’arcy Wood looks at how the UCA started its 40year journey

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A high-profile and controversial ministry draws to a close

If puzzled you should turn to Crosslight for all the answers

Seven-year-old Tyeisha is a key member of the Dusty Feet Mob, a group of Aboriginal young people and children aged between 6-29 years, from South Australia’s Port Augusta.

Through music and dance, they seek to educate others about painful stories in Indigenous/ white history, such as the Stolen Generation, as well as celebrating what unites. They have been dancing together since 2014. The Dusty Feet Mob was one of many highlights at NCYC’s Yurora 17.

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Plenty of youthful passion on display at NCYC Yurora 17

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Picture credit: Penny Mulvey

Synod Snaps from the Christmas and summer break period

Regulars Moderator’s column - 13 Letters - 16 to 17 Reviews - 18 to 19 Notices - 20 to 21

Editorial Leading questions PENNY MULVEY

Communications & Media Services

UCA Synod Office, 130 Little Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 Phone: (03) 9251 5200 Email: crosslight@victas.uca.org.au ISSN 1037 826X

WHAT role does ethics play in leadership? In many ways this has been an underlying theme throughout January with media reports on political entitlement in regards to travel allowances and the changing of the guard in the White House.

The refrain of the former federal health minister Sussan Ley was that she was only claiming what she was entitled to according to the parliamentary entitlement system. At what point do politicians consider how it might appear to you and me? Just because it is legal does that make it ethical?

Ethics is defined as moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity. Each of us demonstrates our ethics daily in the way we interact with each other and the decisions we make.

The Ethics Centre says ethical people try

Crosslight is a monthly newspaper produced by the Communications and Media Services unit of The Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania. It is published 11 times a year.

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Acceptance of advertising does not imply endorsement.

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Distribution: Crosslight is usually distributed the first Sunday of the month.

to answer the question of how to live by reflecting on difficult situations. They then act in a way that is true to who they are and what they believe.

Do we expect our leaders to be ethical? I suspect that here in Australia the answer is still yes. That is why politicians’ travel entitlements are receiving significant headlines and a reluctant health minister eventually resigned. It is also why there is a predominant sense of horror at the election of the 45th president of the United States. Ethics does not appear to be a word in his vocabulary.

As Christians we are called to the highest ethics. We are called to love each other as we love ourselves. Jesus’ parables are about caring for the lost, the rejected and the outcast. Paul’s letters talk about personal behaviour and expectations of leaders.

Self-reflection is a necessary ingredient as we strive to live a Godly (ethical)

life. Whilst we might be appalled by the behaviour and words of the new US President, at what times are our behaviour and words equally appalling? How often do we take advantage of opportunities presented which might not always fit within our own moral compass?

Christ urges us to remove the log from our own eyes before we take out the speck from the other’s. Ethics is complex.

King Solomon’s ruling regarding the rightful mother of a child reminds us of the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership.

As we reflect on the complexities of our world, let us not diminish the issues to black and white, and judge those who are faced with trying to seek solutions.

Instead let us pray for our leaders – political, community and church – who, like us, are in need of the Wisdom of Solomon.

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News Top honour for Alistair Macrae FORMER president of the Uniting Church, Rev Alistair Macrae, has been honoured with an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2017 Australia Day Honours List.

Mr Macrae’s citation says: “For distinguished service to the Uniting Church in Australia through executive and ministerial roles at state and national levels, and to the promotion of ecumenism, interfaith dialogue and reconciliation.”

A slightly embarrassed Mr Macrae said he believes the award recognises the work of the whole of the Church, not just his own.

“The way that I rationalise accepting the nomination is that it was very much on behalf of the Church,” he said.

“In the Uniting Church leaders come and go, you are given these positions and then you are back to the pack, which is very

Agenda for change MORE than 70 people attended an ‘open space technology’ forum in late November to have their say on major organisational changes underway in the Vic/Tas synod.

The same group was invited back to a feedback workshop last month.

As part of the strategy to seek new ways of being church, a resolution was passed at last year’s Synod to form a Mission and Capacity Building Unit. Some of the areas that will be brought together as part of the new unit include the Commission for Mission, the Centre for Theology and Ministry, BOMAR (Board of Mission and Resourcing) and resourcing of placements.

Staff and board representatives from

healthy. Leadership is a function of the community.

“So if a leader is honoured that honour flows to the whole community.”

He believes the award is an

acknowledgement of the Uniting Church’s courageous stance on important social issues such as rights for the LGBTIQ communities, the preamble to the UCA constitution recognising the First Peoples and refugee activism.

Mr Macrae hopes that all Uniting Church members will have a sense of sharing this award, and remember that Christian churches still have an important and distinctive role to play in their respective communities.

“Every day I am with people who are practising Christ’s love with other people, often for no financial reward and very little public recognition,” he said.

“These people are my heroes. They are breathing God’s hope and love into the community.

“If other people can get some encouragement from this, we are all part of the same big project, God’s reign.”

Ordained in 1984, Mr Macrae served as minister of Upper Kiewa Valley (19851989), Portland (1989-1995), Brunswick West (1995-2000). During his time at Portland and Brunswick West he was

convenor of the Sexuality Task Group.

He was Moderator of the VicTas Synod from 2000-2003, and then moved to become inaugural executive director of the Centre for Theology and Ministry.

From 2009-2012 he served as Assembly President, then director of mission at Uniting AgeWell, and has been the chair of the National Assembly Working Group on Doctrine since 2012.

Mr Macrae is currently minister at the historic Wesley Church Lonsdale St in Melbourne’s CDB. When asked if he had set his sights on an Australia Day award when he first went into the ministry, he jokingly replied, ‘no, I went into it for the money’.

Eight other members of the VicTas Synod were honoured with the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for various services to their communities.

They are Mavis Rowlands of Burnie, Stewart Coutts of Benalla, Heather Hewett MBE of Horsham, Keith Irvine of Mount Waverley, Rosalind Leigh from Ceres, Janet Morris of Horsham, Thomas Morris of Beaumaris, Alan Stafford of Benalla.

these areas were joined by presbytery representatives as they considered how the Uniting Church might meet the changing needs of contemporary society.

The ‘open space technology’ forum was chosen to enable those present to set the agenda and discuss what they felt was important. At the start of the event, participants were invited to write questions or concerns on a piece of paper which was then displayed on the wall. People could then choose which conversations they wanted to engage in.

One participant thought that asking people to set the agenda was a good idea, as it highlighted that many people were concerned about similar issues.

It also demonstrated how easy it is for misunderstanding to occur.

“What I am realising is that people have different definitions for words,” she said.

“For example, I was just in the capacity building discussion because I was curious to see what other people think capacity building is.

“Some people see it as resourcing and giving information to congregations.

Whereas I see capacity building as training people, and giving them skills so they can do it themselves.”

She said that people felt comfortable to express their opinions about the effects the changes might have and this had been mainly positive.

“For some people, the comments that I’m hearing are very anxiety ridden,” she said.

“But the first discussion I went to was about how to rebuild trust between people, congregations, presbyteries and synod.”

Another participant felt the day was an opportunity to better understand different areas of the church.

“I think it’s exciting because it’s empowering. It’s also an encouragement to create better communication between synod, presbyteries and congregations, to actually help some of those conversations to happen.”

At the follow-up session in January, attended by close to 60 people, table groups were asked to give feedback on the themes and areas of focus in the new unit.

Whilst there was support for the direction of the implementation, some participants hoped they would receive an outline of the new unit’s organisational structure.

The development of this structure will be a key aspect of the Synod Standing Committee’s considerations during March and April.

It is expected that the new-look unit will be operational in the second half of the year.

Alistair Macrae at the ‘Free the Children’ installation in the Melbourne CBD in 2014.

Poh lends a hand once more

POH Ling Yeow might be known for her quirkily inventive cross-cultural style in the kitchen but at this time of year there’s one staple she’s happy to see served up hundreds of times – the simple pancake.

The celebrity cook is ambassador for UnitingCare’s Pancake Day, with the fundraiser being held around Australia on 28 February.

This year all money raised will support UnitingCare programs for people living in crisis, who may be suffering from homelessness, abusive relationships, addictions, financial hardship or illness.

“Food is a way that we cement relationships and grow a sense of community and I think it’s fantastic when you can cook something and know that you are helping those less fortunate,” Poh said.

FEBRUARY 17 - CROSSLIGHT

In an age where sharing a meal often means putting the most envy-inducing photo on Instragram, Poh remains committed to the idea that food should be a great equaliser, something that reminds us of our basic human needs.

The experience of making the ABC series Poh’s Kitchen Lends a Hand, where she helped feed marginalised and dispossessed people in Australia and overseas, has left an indelible impression on Poh. “I met people who even in incredible

circumstances of hardship and social exclusion endured with a quiet dignity,” Poh said.

“These are the people who just need a bit of a helping hand.”

Oddly, for someone who was runnerup in the first series of Masterchef and has gone on to make a number of TV cookery series and create other numerous outlets for her creative culinary skills, Poh admitted she only learnt how to make a good pancake a couple of years ago. ”Now I love pancakes,” Poh said.

“They’re a customer favourite at my Jamface café in Adelaide Central Markets.

“Food should always be fun so get out and start flipping knowing that you are also helping fight growing inequality.”

Tuesday 28 February is the official Pancake Day, but events can be held at any time throughout February and March.

Churches, community groups and individuals can get involved by creating their own pancake-flipping event in their home, school, work or community.

Register to host a Pancake Day event at www.pancakeday.com.au or call 1800 060 543 to receive your free host pack with everything you’ll need to plan your event.

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We know you’re investing for more than just you.

You’re investing in their future too.

Invest in a better world www.ucafunds.com.au/360 1800 996 888

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News Sixty years of Somers IN late June, Somers Camp will be celebrating 60 years of providing a funfilled environment for children to explore issues of faith and for young people to develop leadership abilities.

Each year during the winter school break, approximately 120 campers from Grade Three to Year Nine gather on the Mornington Peninsula for worship, games, Bible study, singing, food, craft, and the always memorable end-of-camp concert.

Year 10 students also get a chance to participate as part of a crack team of ‘slushies’, who help with various background tasks to keep the camp running, while there are also 40 positions as volunteer leader open to those in Year 11 and older.

‘Camp Mum’ Rev Claire Dawe, who is a minister with Chelsea Parish, said those attending Somers commonly describe it as being like “home”.

‘They mean they can be themselves and be loved and respected for that,” Ms Dawe said.

Finding your voice, telling your stories SWEE ANN KOH

I FOUND my voice in this church only in the recent past. I had become frustrated with the huge gap between the rhetoric (‘the Uniting Church in Australia is a multicultural church’) and my lived experiences.

It’s not easy for some of us to find our voice and tell our stories in a multicultural church, where the default setting is that of the dominant culture.

As well as learning the dominant culture’s language, one needs to learn its polity, governances and modus operandi.

All nations or one nation?

ANTHONY MCMULLEN

Sir Rohan Delacombe, Governor of Victoria and four times Administrator of the Commonwealth of Australia, sits in on the English Language Lab at Church of All Nations, in the 1960s.

FEBRUARY 17 - CROSSLIGHT

converging from far and wide.

This year the camp is expanding the training provided to young leaders by putting on a “leadership conference” beforehand.

There will be expert tuition in areas such as working with children with special or particular needs, child and teenage psychology and development, first aid, marketing and public speaking.

Richmond Uniting Church has financially supported the leadership conference for this year but the plan is for it to be self-funded in 2018 with places offered to other organisations wanting to train young adults in leadership.

Churches and individuals donate each year to ensure that campers without the financial means can still attend.

“The generosity of churches last year enabled many more kids to attend and gave hope to more families,” Ms Dawe said.

“We are eternally grateful for their continued support. One congregation has already made a donation for 2017.”

“It also means they are returning to a place they feel safe and comfortable.”

Lauren, a previous camper turned leader, said Somers Camp has had a profound effect on her.

“Somers has helped nurture my spiritual growth, producing a curiosity in me that led me to join my University’s Christian club in which I’ve further grown in faith becoming a Christian this year,” Lauren

said.

“As well as this, being part of the Somers community has helped me grow and develop my communication skills, working in a team, and caring for children in a safe and fun environment.”

Somers, which is run by Port Phillip East Presbytery, is one of the largest Uniting Church children and youth camps in Australia with campers and leaders

Are you telling your stories? Are you afraid that no one will care? Do you hesitate with the false belief that there are thousands of other people out there with the same story and message?

The theme the Intercultural Unit has chosen for 2017 is ‘Finding Your Voice, Telling Your Stories’.

We believe there are many unheard stories within the multicultural church we need to hear. By telling these stories, the church will be enriched and transformed.

The healing story of Mark (7: 31-37) tells us of a man who was deaf and had trouble speaking. Jesus called to him “Ephaphatha – be opened” and he heard and “spoke plainly.” We are told the man’s voice was returned to him. The people marvelled at this and noted, “He has done all things beautifully. He makes the deaf hear and he makes those who do not speak, speak.”

The last line of Greek can easily be

translated as giving voice to the voiceless.

In most cases, someone like the deaf man would have been pushed aside. In our world it is the strongest – the most powerful and most vocal – that gets a hearing, while the weak and powerless get pushed to the margins.

Own your story and you own your life.

Oral storytelling is one of the best ways to find, explore and develop our voice.

Stories are powerful things. They don’t just explain who you are and where you’ve been – they can set the course for your future.

Silence is not a neutral position, it automatically supports the status quo.

Silence inevitably means colluding with the dominant voice. You create an empty space that another voice – a dominant voice that knows no boundaries – is only too happy to fill.

One way to encourage the voiceless to find their voice and share their stories is for

those of us who have found our voice and the place to tell our stories to listen more.

God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. James says “You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak…”

What makes us uncomfortable might be just what we need to hear. Often the stories that make us uncomfortable have the potential to enrich and change us, challenging us to explore why we are feeling this way. If we continue to avoid that which makes us uncomfortable, we will miss the powerful opportunities for growth, self-awareness and learning that such events offer, both individually and as a community.

AT the height of the Brexit debate in the UK a politician, Jo Cox, was slain by a man reportedly shouting “Britain first”. During the heat of the US election campaign the now President of the US, Donald Trump called for a halt to immigration from Islamic countries, sentiments echoed by One Nation’s Pauline Hanson on her return to Australian parliament.

In the new era of Brexit, President Trump and the return of One Nation, the Church of All Nations in Carlton has organised a timely conversation: ‘Who do you say I am: identity, multiculturalism and Christianity in contemporary Australia’. Over the years, reflecting the diversity of Carlton, the Church of All Nations congregation has played host to various Christian communities, from Spanish reformed to Assyrian Christians. These days the congregation parish mission engages with newly arrived migrants from the Horn of Africa (many of whom practice the Islamic faith), and the Sunday service includes people from various cultures, including international students.

Among the questions to be explored at the

event are – what are the various Christian perspectives on multiculturalism?

Church signs regularly advertise worship services in a language other than English, alongside an English-speaking service. Can this sometimes be a bit of a ‘marriage of convenience’ at the local level? How does the ‘rubber hit the road’ in multicultural congregations, parishes and faith communities? Finally, what is the most faithful way for Christians to engage with debates about migration and multiculturalism in the public square?

Three speakers will discuss these issues with the audience.

Rev Dr Christine Sorensen (formerly of Pilgrim Theological College, now Dean of Formation at United Theological College, Sydney) will draw on her experience of cross-cultural work. She will focus on how we create a community where people are well formed in Christian faith across cultures.

Theologian and academic Rev Dr John Flett, based at Pilgrim, will reflect on a range of important issues including: the fear of the stranger and the nature of hospitality and

sanctuary in Christian history.

Matthew Tan is a noted Catholic blogger and theologian specialising in migrant identity and international relations. He is also Adjunct Senior Lecturer of Theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia.

He will discuss various ways to view migrant identity. The cosmopolitan view prioritises the cosmetic and culinary.

The postmodernist sees cultural identity as fluid and changeable. A Christian theology has the capacity to go deeper and transform the multiplicity with love.

The Church of All Nations is well placed to host this important event. On the same day as the forum a morning service will be held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the congregation, previously known as the Presbyterian and Methodist Co-operation, being renamed Church of All Nations.

The change signified the welcoming of newcomers arriving from Europe who, at that time, were often viewed with suspicion or even hostility.

For details about the event turn to the Notices section or go to: carlton-uca.org/ news/event/who-do-you-say-i-am/

For more details, go to the Somers Camp website www.somerscamp.com.au or phone Claire on 0410 827 597.

Rev Swee Ann Koh Director of Intercultural unit To find your voice and share your stories contact: SweeAnn.Koh@victas.uca.org.au

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News Cafechurch service with something extra

Last year, Cafechurch was welcomed as one of the Uniting Church’s newest faith communities.

Alister Pate, Caféchurch’s leader, is a second year candidate for Ministry of the Word and Sacrament at Pilgrim Theology College. He explained to Crosslight how the spirit of friendship helps foster faith.

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PILGRIM UNITING CHURCH CONGREGATION, ADELAIDE Fo

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CALLED TO LEADERSHIP

people. Shall I try yoga, or Sufi dancing, or Buddhism?

On the other hand, we live in an increasingly lonely and atomised society. It is easier to lounge on the sofa with Netflix and a glass of red wine than make actual human connection.

This is the context within which Cafechurch lives.

Cafechurch came out of a conversation within a big Pentecostal church in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne back in

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Walking S

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Is there a person you identify as a leader within this Synod?

The Nominating Committee for the next Moderator of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania invites nominations from members of the Uniting Church.

When Synod meets in September 2017 its members will choose a Moderator-elect to take office when the current Moderator, Rev Sharon Hollis, completes her term in May 2019.

Both lay and ordained members of the Uniting Church are eligible to serve as Moderator for a three-year full-time term.

A statement on the Role of the Moderator and the Nomination Form are available from the Synod website www.victas.uca.org.au/aboutus/Pages/Our-Synod-Meeting.aspx or by request from the Convenor of the Nominating Committee, Dr Jill Tabart on Email: tabart.ken.jill@iinet.net.au or M: 0418 562 181.

Nominations close on Friday 31 March 2017. Please send the form (signed by two nominators) to Dr Jill Tabart at 137/283 Spring Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, or email to tabart.ken.jill@iinet.net.au

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to have faith, to be church. The overriding question is this: what does it mean to be a Christian in 21st century Melbourne?

Sometimes we will take something substantial and run with it for a while.

Currently we are working on a short course called Deconstruct/Reconstruct: Tools to Help Build a Generously Orthodox Faith.

The aim is to drink from the deep wells of Christian thought and spirituality.

But it’s not just philosophy seminars and Bible study. The aesthetic and artistic is central to what we do, from creating collaborative spiritual photography exhibitions (www.spiritusetlocus.org), to writing a book, or releasing a CD. Finally, we embrace prayer and spirituality – the “long loving look at the real”. We have strong links with the Ignatian spiritual tradition which we use in our worship and the retreat days we run twice a year.

It helps us to step away from our usual preoccupations and spend focused, gentle time with God, and with one another.

There are about 20 people involved, from our early 20s up to people in their 50s – though if you’re older (or younger) then don’t let that stop you. And because we meet on Tuesdays, it means you can keep up your relationship with your home church – or come along when you can’t make it on a Sunday.

For more information contact Alister at: alister@cafechurch.org, phone 0400 013 799, or go to: www.cafechurch.org or facebook.com/CafechurchMelbourne Cafechurch is partially funded by BOMAR in collaboration with Carlton Church of All Nations.

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PEOPLE no longer go to church as they once did. Call it post-modernity, postChristendom, pluralism; things aren’t like they used to be. But church doesn’t seem to be changing. We still do the same things and hope they will suddenly start to work again, like they used to in the good old days when all you had to do was to build a sanctuary, put up a sign and people would come.

Christianity is no longer the default option for people looking for meaning in their lives. There are so many options for

1999. The youth pastor, Steve, and a few of the less involved younger people asked the eldership if they could create something to contextualise the Gospel for their generation.

The elders said: “Fantastic – we love you, we love your work. You can have the 5:30 service to do whatever you like, with only a couple of caveats. You have to leave the seating alone – it’s a hassle to reorganise it. And the worship band is a key part of our brand, so you’ll have to keep them, obviously. And the senior pastor spends a lot of time crafting his message, so of course you’ll need to keep that.”

Eventually the elders agreed there could be candles on the stage.

And Steve said: “I really appreciate the generosity of your offer. But I can’t help thinking that there could be even further levels of Gospel enculturation that might be possible.”

And so Cafechurch started meeting in Hawthorn.

Ever since then, we’ve been fruitfully at work providing a place where people can make authentic spiritual connection over a meal and guided discussion. Currently we meet in the Union Club Hotel in Fitzroy on a Tuesday night. Once a month we do a more churchy-communion service at the chapel in the Centre for Theology and Ministry. Lots of silence, Taizé chants, followed by dinner.

One of our (slightly tongue-in-cheek) slogans is: “Cafechurch: we talk about stuff.” So what do we talk about exactly?

Some nights we read the Bible together.

Some nights we talk more generally – about suffering, about what it means to believe,

Expressions of interest are invited for a Minister of the Word (1.0) to join a diverse ministry team that includes a full-time Deacon and lay leaders.

Strategic emphases for this position in a central city congregation: • creative worship of three Sunday morning and two weekday services • pastoral care and faith development of the congregation • public liturgical celebrations, especially a “church for the city” activities • relationships with the Chinese (SA) Christian Congregation at Pilgrim • Pilgrim’s three-year vision and mission priorities (see below) For more information see www.pilgrim.org.au or contact Rev Diane Bury for copies of congregation profile and supporting documents.

Please send inquiries and expressions of interest (marked private and confidential) to Rev Diane Bury, Synod Office, PO Box 2145 Adelaide 5001, or email: dbury@sa.uca.org.au, or Phone: (08) 8236 4254 by 14 March 2017.

We are called by God to be a prophetic witness in the city of Adelaide so that new life and vitality will be generated in our city and its people. We celebrate in our unity and diversity, our shared beliefs and past experiences, and value worship, teaching, creativity and justice.

CROSSLIGHT - FEBRUARY 17

News Uniting mission

REV John Clarke (pictured) has joined the Uniting team in Victoria and Tasmania as the director of mission. Mr Clarke is excited by the potential of the new agency and hopes to deepen the ethos and spiritual heritage of Uniting, as well as further develop links across the Church.

“When the Church listens to God and then speaks with one voice and acts with one purpose, it’s amazing,” he said.

“So much great work has been going on in the various agencies and parish missions. I see Uniting as an opportunity to be really effective behind-the-scenes, so that up front, our great volunteers and staff will be enabled to develop even more innovative responses to enliven our community and confront injustice.”

Uniting is the new community services organisation of the Uniting Church forming from the merger of 21 UnitingCare agencies and Wesley Mission Victoria. The need for a director of mission role in the new organisation was identified early and Mr Clarke is one of the first appointments to the executive team at Uniting.

Mr Clarke acknowledges the move to the single organisation requires a healthy balance between continuity and change.

“The move to a single organisation represents a significant commitment by the synod to community service delivery as an expression of care and compassion in support of God’s mission in the world,” he said.

“We need to honour the heritage of each agency and parish mission and help everyone understand that the journey continues with all our diversity.”

People and relationships will be his initial focus in the new role.

“Team-building is important as the new Uniting forms its shared values, foundations and its strategic directions.

I know others in the Church also have lots of questions, so consulting and communicating with all parts of the Uniting Church will be vital,” Mr Clarke said.

He is also aware of concerns within some areas of the synod about the ongoing connection between the Church and agencies.

“I need to ensure that Uniting continues to hear the still, small voice of God. As a member of the executive team, I hope to make a valuable theological and missional contribution to discussions and the strategy of the organisation.”

Mr Clarke was an engineer in the Northern Territory and Victoria before his first placement as a minister in Geelong in 1995. This was followed by ministry with Alpha Australia and most recently three years as director of mission for Uniting AgeWell. He and his wife Hilary attend Healesville Uniting Church in the Yarra Valley east of Melbourne.

Get behind Pancake Day in 2017 and help UnitingCare support people living in crisis.

REGISTER YOUR EVENT Visit pancakeday.com.au or call 1800 060 543 Events can be held anytime during February and March FEBRUARY 17 - CROSSLIGHT

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News United in love

LAST year, eight Australians from the Sri Lankan diaspora travelled back to their homeland on a trip organised through the synod’s Uniting Journeys program.

The Uniting Journey for Peace and Reconciliation brought together eight travellers from each of the four strong faiths in Sri Lanka – Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity. Together, the group shared their stories and history and explored each other’s religions.

The civil war in Sri Lanka divided the Tamil and Sinhalese communities for more than 25 years. It resulted in the deaths of

hundreds of thousands of civilians and many Sri Lankans fled to countries such as Australia. Although the war officially ended in 2009, for many the memories of violence and death still impact on their day-to-day lives.

Participants on the Uniting Journey travelled together to find common ground through sharing their histories and traditions. Storytelling was a major theme of the journey.

Larry Marshall, from the synod’s Uniting through Faith unit, travelled with the group. He said that while it was important

for travellers to share stories of their history and cultural past, it was a story of a different kind – a love story – that illustrated the reality of reconciliation.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, Larry Marshall shared this story with Crosslight: It was already a hot and humid morning in Sri Lanka and Dilan had flown all the way from Sydney just to be at this precise place at this particular time. Although nervous, he was very sure of what he wanted to do on this day.

We were in Jaffna, the northern capital of Sri Lanka.

Dilan walks through the huge doors of the grand Hindu temple clothed in a sarong of pure white. He is bare-chested, as all men must be before the Gods. He has the white ash of impermanence marked across his forehead as he goes forward to meet Sivanjana, the Tamil woman he loves. On this auspicious day he hopes she will accept his ardent request and agree to become his wife.

He sees her now as she enters the grounds of the Nallur Kovil. Sivanjana is resplendent in a beautiful black and white Sari with golden threads, linings that catch the sun as she moves. She is with her friends from the interfaith group of Sri Lankans from Australia with whom she has been travelling for almost two weeks.

He smiles as this young Hindu woman leads Buddhists, Muslims and Christians into this holy place where her family came to pray each week.

Sivanjana knows nothing of this meeting; it has all been carefully arranged by friends with the help of one of the coordinators of this Uniting Journey. Dilan had studied their itinerary and he knew that she would make sure that the group would come to this, her ‘special place’, where he will now pose his big question.

Sivanjana belongs to one of the many Tamil families who escaped the brutal war that raged in Sri Lanka. She was just a small child when her family fled the fighting and came to Sydney.

She is now a very successful professional woman who raises funds to help with projects in small villages hurt by the war, where thousands of war widows are trying to re-build their broken lives. Dilan has come to know her over some years and he loves the strong woman that she is and her passion for this important work. She is also a beautiful dancer – since the age of four she has trained in the classical traditional art of Bharata Natyam , a dance which originated in these Hindu Temples of old Ceylon and South India.

Sivanjana sees him now and her eyes grow wide, her hand flies to her mouth as she shakes her head in disbelief.

How can this be, he should be in Sydney?

She strides purposefully towards Dilan in the marble foyer of the temple. Her new friends crowd around asking questions.

How will she explain it all? Sivanjana opts to take him with her as she proceeds with

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CROSSLIGHT - FEBRUARY 17

News

the tour of this sacred space sharing the stories of Hindu gods with her new friends as well as with her Christian partner.

Dilan realises that their coming together here is truly symbolic of the intense interfaith journey which her group is part of. It is about challenging prejudice and artificial divisions and finding strength in diversity. It is also about respecting the faith journey that others are on. That is precisely what he and Sivanjana have practised. Because he is a born-again Christian who has fallen deeply in love with this amazing Hindu woman.

Even far away in Australia it was not easy to bring together a young Christian man and a Hindu woman. The issue of marrying into a different faith community transcended even their mutual Tamil ethnicity. Dilan and Sivanjana have faced parental fears of discrimination and found ways to overcome those concerns. Time has healed old wounds and today their families truly embrace this strong interfaith couple.

That fateful day in Jaffna was easy and full of fun, with much teasing and some romantic songs on the tour bus. The group visited a church, a Buddhist temple and another Hindu temple on a nearby island.

By evening Sivanjana is emotionally spent and needed a short sleep to get back her energy. While she slept a package was laid at her feet with jasmine petals all around.

Sivanjana awoke to find new clothes and a letter from Dilan inviting her to a special

dinner. At 7pm an old fashioned cart appeared at her hotel, drawn by two white bullocks garlanded with flowers.

She is driven the two kilometres to Dilan who is waiting to escort her to the rooftop of his hotel which gives them a view of their beloved city.

The Uniting Journey’s group anxiously waited for Dilan’s text. It arrived at 8.30pm – she said ‘Yes!’ We were all invited to drinks to celebrate this Jaffna/ Sydney couple’s interfaith engagement in their home town.

The night became a romantic blur of music, food, photos, toasts and storytelling as Siv and Dilan gathered their new friends of Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Christians together to share their plans for returning to live and work for peace and reconciliation in their warm and beautiful homeland.

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Appointment is subject to a satisfactory police records check and capacity and willingness to travel to UA sites in Victoria and Tasmania is essential.

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News Macnab leaves St Michael’s with no regrets DAVID SOUTHWELL

ON Christmas Day, 45 years of high profile, diverse, successful and, at times, controversial ministry came to an end when Rev Dr Francis Macnab gave his final sermon in St Michael’s Uniting Church.

In 2008 Dr Macnab made headlines for promoting a ‘New Faith’. He rewrote the Ten Commandments and, in 2010, became a literally larger-than-life figure when his image appeared on a highway billboard alongside those of Martin Luther King Jr and Florence Nightingale.

“I have no regrets, no apologies,” Dr Macnab said of the campaigns.

“If you don’t tell people you’re here, they don’t know you’re here.”

He said that unlike a suburban church, St Michael’s, which is situated on the corner of Collins and Russell St in Melbourne’s CBD, doesn’t have a resident population immediately surrounding it.

“People travel to get here,” he said.

“You’ve got to get up in the morning and say ‘I’m going to church’. People travel 10 or 20 or 100 kilometres to get here.”

Dr Macnab said if churches hid their lights under bushels those lights would go out.

“So if you don’t do something about it you’ll be turned into an art gallery, as they have done in places like Copenhagen,” he said.

“We reach the multitude. I have a great model for that, haven’t I?” St Michael’s has a membership of 500 and boasts Sunday attendances between 350 to 600 people but it wasn’t always like this.

“At my first sermon here, an Easter sermon, there were 107 people,” Dr Macnab said.

“We’ve gone up and down quite a bit since, from a pretty full church to not so full to up again. It comes in waves.”

As part of its campaign to promote the New Faith’s revised Ten Commandments the billboard outside St Michael’s labelled the old ones as “one of the most negative documents ever written”.

In subsequent interviews Dr Macnab was quoted as saying that Moses was by biblical accounts a mass murderer, Abraham was likely concocted and Jesus not the literal son of God.

Dr Macnab said the church needed this type of “radical rethink” if it was to survive.

“The church generally is in a great deal of trouble in terms of attendance or in terms of relevance,” he said.

“You take the Uniting Church and you only need to examine the statistics to see that the graphs are not going in an upward direction.

“What does that mean? That people see church as irrelevant, or in some cases not just as irrelevant but unbelievable. So, of course, we have to re-examine what we’ve been saying.”

Dr Macnab said some might call his statements provocative but he took that as a positive thing.

“If you don’t provoke everyone goes to sleep,” he said.

“I think that it’s very important to consider what it is about, to look at what they have taken as traditional beliefs and consider ‘do I really believe that stuff ?’

However, Dr Macnab denied that his positions were outside Christian thinking.

He said that as part of a scholarly forum he had studied which sayings traditionally attributed to Jesus were authentic.

“What we’ve said is that ‘he’s said this and that’, well he didn’t say that at all. Doesn’t stand up,” Dr Macnab said.

“So there’s been a big renovation of faith systems, which is what the New Faith is about.

“I know that some people find that unpleasant or difficult but the New Faith was really about saying how can we express it differently, how can we be more relevant, how can we be more honest in presenting the faith?

“I was trained in the theological position of Paul Tillich. Central to his teaching was to talk about a new being, that Jesus was the portrayal of a new being or a new way of being, which is to say a new humanity, a new human community. That’s what I am trying to construct here.”

Dr Macnab admitted that St Michael’s has operated somewhat as a separate entity within the Uniting Church.

“There’s been an attitude to it (St Michael’s), I think not least because we have been quite successful in what we have done,” he said.

“I think that worries some people in the church, oddly enough. There is a tendency amongst some to think that the church should deal only in the remnants. In fact, there is a theological doctrine somewhere there about the remnant of the church as being the significant thing.

“So in the Uniting Church, particularly around the time we became a little more assertive around the New Faith, a lot of

people didn’t understand what it was about.

“People who came to speak to me about it hadn’t read anything I had written.”

According to Dr Macnab, his church was offering a vibrant take on Christianity.

“Anybody who comes and sits in St Michael’s is astonished by what they see and hear,” he said.

“Because we have a congregation of caring people, informed people. We have many examples of religious art within the church.

“We place a great a great deal of emphasis on the symbols of the Judaic-Christian faith.

We are on the internet every week to people from 140 countries.

“If you hear what I speak about, I speak very biblically. I have rewritten the psalms and many passages of scripture to make them more accessible to people.

Those books, I am very delighted and touched to say, are read very widely in countries far and wide.

“When people say I am not giving the traditional Christian message I am pleased.

The traditional Christian message has run its course. The churches are empty.”

Dr Macnab was made a member of the Order of Australia in 1992 for his contributions to psychotherapy and religion.

He founded, and was until recently, executive director of the Cairnmillar Institute, a leading counselling, psychotherapy and trauma therapy training and clinical treatment centre.

Dr Macnab also founded the Australian Foundation for Aftermath Reactions, which provides trauma, loss and grief counselling as well as The Big Tent Project, which provides therapy for kindergarten children.

At St Michael’s he established the Mingary Quiet Space, which is described as a sanctuary for people of all religions. Dr Macnab said he believed Mingary was “an extraordinary gift to the city of Melbourne and to the Church at large”.

There is also an associated low-cost counselling service.

Psychology and counselling were areas “massively neglected” by the church, according to Dr Macnab, who keeps a prominent photo of Sigmund Freud in his office.

“I can’t imagine being an effective minister without some knowledge of psychology or psychological insights, it’s about understanding people and their situation individually, personal and with families,” Dr Macnab said.

“The ministry is very uneducated in that regard.

“We could be helping people with living their lives because we are all dealing with

very stressful, complicated and conflicted lives in ourselves and our relationships, in our communities.”

Dr Macnab cited satisfaction at a number of other achievements at St Michael’s.

These include completely renovating the church interior, improving and maintaining the gardens, building three-storey offices on the site of a former dilapidated hall and instituting a system of governance and administration that he believed could act as model for other churches.

However, at age 85 he recognised it was time to retire.

“You come to a point where you say that job’s done. My part in it, that’s enough,” he said.

“People keep saying ‘what am I going to do?’ and I keep saying you’ve got the verb wrong, it’s not what I’m going to do, I’m going to doze.”

Facing retirement with “no plans” brought together something of his professional and personal life because Dr Macnab has also long been involved with the S.A.G.E project aimed at helping people over 55 to age well.

“The adjustment to old age, retirement or relinquishment is a huge adjustment,” Dr Macnab said.

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10

CROSSLIGHT - FEBRUARY 17

Feature Back row: Sarah Howells, Candice Greenway, Thomas Di Pretoro Middle Row: Hannah Howells, Sophie Visser, Stuart McMilan, Emily Mills, Jacob Mills, Theo Ives Front Row: Aaron Johns, Ella Visser, Will Davis.

(L-R) Aaron Johns, Aaron Wurrulula, Theo Ives, Bunananybuy Garrawurra, Sophie Visser, Dwayne Gunumbu, Ella Visser,

FEBRUARY 17 - CROSSLIGHT

11

Feature

The Dusty Feet Mob

MORE than a thousand people from throughout the Uniting Church community took part in the five days of worship, teaching, fellowship and fun at the National Christian Youth Convention’s Yurora 17 in January at Stanwell Tops south of Sydney.

NCYC has become a beloved tradition of the UCA since 1955. Every two years, young people come together to discuss faith in the context of the contemporary world.

Yurora is a Dharug First People’s word meaning ‘passionate’, and that sums up the feelings of so many who attended this year. Sarah Howells, from Hobart North Uniting Church and Zac Nicholas, from Launceston North Uniting Church, share their reflections of Yurora 17 with Crosslight.

Daily inspiration at Yurora SARAH HOWELLS Sunday/Monday Day 1 and 2 THE day started with a morning devotion based on the idea of ‘home’ and what this meant for each person.

A question was posed which challenged me: “Where is Jesus’ home?” something I had not really considered before.

At first, the easy response seems to be ‘everywhere’, as Jesus came to Earth for all people. But the responses that we gave as answers to the question “What is home for you?” were things like, “A place where you feel part of a supported environment” and “Where you feel safe but humbled by other people”. So maybe Jesus could be said to have found his home amongst people he spent the most time with and cared for, such as the oppressed, tax collectors and the poor.

In a Bible study run by Christian Students Uniting, I learnt about hermeneutics, a reading strategy used for better understanding biblical texts.

There are three easy steps to this.

One is reading behind the text to look more deeply into the historical and social context of the literature.

The second is reading within the text and using the context to analyse reasoning behind words used or the literature style.

The third is reading in front of the text and considering the consequences. Using these techniques the context of why, and what Bible passages meant for that time become clearer and easier to comprehend.

One really inspiring thing on the first day

was the dancing by a group called ‘The Dusty Feet Mob’, a group of young adults and children from Port Augusta, SA. Most of these young people are of an Aboriginal background and use dance as a form of regaining connection to their culture and learning about the past treatment of Aboriginal people in Australia.

Tuesday Day 3 ONE of the things I am learning here is the importance of learning from other people’s cultural differences and background.

It has been good to share stories and communicate with others about how to read the Bible, undertake prayer and walk your faith journey.

Today I also went to a workshop on the future of the Uniting Church, which was run

by Assembly. Although this was a space for constructive criticism, I found it inspiring to hear from delegates, young and old, about their visions for the future of the church.

Ideas were discussed about how to more efficiently share resources over the internet.

In the Bible study today we looked at the story of ‘The faith of a Gentile Women’ (Mark 7: 24-30) which reminded me that we need to be persistent in our prayers and faith and to open our eyes to the ways in which God might be already answering these prayers.

It also reminded and challenged me to be accepting of all peoples. The Gentile woman is seen as an outsider and because of this; initially she is treated differently by Jesus and his disciples. When the woman persists and her voice is heard, it can be seen that her request for healing is from just a desperate mother worrying for her

Front row (L-R): Ella Visser, Emily Mills, Sophie Visser, Will Davis, Theo Ives

child, like any women would be no matter her background.

Wednesday Day 4 Today started with a reflection on Psalm 29 and the question was posed, “How would you approach someone with great power?”

I discussed this question with a few other people in a small group, where we came to the conclusion that we should act in the same way we approach every other person but with a certain amount of reservation in order to honour the person.

A question was asked “When can we see God’s power in the world?” One way that came to mind was the sheer beauty of nature and how God’s power is shown though the unique beauty of the world.

The final part to this session was “What will you do with the power of God?” This question really challenged me as I had never really thought of the power of God flowing through our hands to then impact the world. I had seen God’s power as a tool to gain strength to support our daily endeavours in the world.

Something that inspired me – and will continue to inspire me – is the way Yurora has been a place where a community of people from every kind of background, race and stage of their faith journey can see through the social barriers and just simply fellowship together.

Constantly in today’s world of technology and globalisation, people put up unnecessary and hurtful unspoken barriers. But at Yurora people were committed to welcoming and accepting anyone into their own heart.

Sarah Howells, Hannah Howells

12

Thursday Day 5 Over the whole experience of Yurora I have learnt many things. But I think the most important thing that I have learnt is to find and remember God in everyday life by finding your Yurora – or passion – and chasing it, and never giving up.

For me the worship sessions were good reminders that there are hundreds of youth and young people within the Church.

Being able to worship and fellowship with other young people is really encouraging and uplifting in a world where many young people live without faith.

One challenging thing about conferences like Yurora is that at the end of the week you have to go home.

Then at home you have to overcome the pattern of settling back into daily life where nothing has changed.

Implementing the wisdom you have learnt over the conference can be like starting a new fitness plan – if you take it seriously it will last, if not the chances are slim.

I believe God, through NCYC, has given us all the challenge to use our Yurora experience to grow stronger in our individual relationship with him and the people in our lives.

Faith-filled experience ZAC NICHOLAS MY experience of Yurora can be summed up quite simply as A-MAZ-ING!! I was challenged and had my faith strengthened every day.

The first day was not particularly special as it was essentially just pleasantries and other getting-to-know-you things, however that night was one of the most excellent experiences I had. The power, energy and passion which flowed from the opening rally helped us to bond and stand together as we began, or continued, our journey of faith.

The next day had many more amazing experiences, with the option for workshops and other ways to develop ourselves.

This included beginning a fourday long Bible study led by an excellent man called Julian ‘Jools’ Hamilton, Zac Nicholas

CROSSLIGHT - FEBRUARY 17

Feature

Moderator’s reflection of Yurora

The energy and joy of Yurora

Dwayne Gunumbu (NT), Aaron Johns, Aaron Wurrulula (NT), Theo Ives, Jacob Mills (QLD)

where we started off by looking at the passage Jeremiah 1: 4-19.

It was such a relief to hear someone as incredible as Jeremiah himself say the things I and so many others have thought and to hear the overwhelming support God gave as a response. We also talked about the call, how it begins with God, involves resistance and that the call being of God will always be with you.

Another of the things that Jools talked about on that first day was the source of the word enthusiasm, which derives from En+Theo meaning “in God.” He shared a quote about passion which is “set yourself on fire with Christ’s passion and people will flock from miles around to see you burn”.

One of the other activities was a workshop called Improv in Ministry. This was a theatrical workshop where we saw how movement, flow and just a slight tilt of behaviour and posturing can change the nature of a situation.

Later in the week we looked at the passage in which Jacob stole his older brother’s blessing. Jools also spoke about the concept that helped to tie all of the readings together, which was transformation. Not only transformation of self but also others

through acceptance and understanding.

Jools’ final words to us on this day were “You are loved and held by God himself, you are surrounded by the divine light, so go and love the others and find yourself.”

This statement was empowering and encouraging for the continuation of our journey.

The third passage that Jools spoke about was Matthew 13: 46-50, about the merchant finding an exquisite pearl and the Kingdom of God being worth it all and more. The fourth passage that we spoke about was Exodus 3, which dealt with Moses learning God’s name. The name we learnt and talked about was Ehyeh asher ehyeh, which translates to “I am that I am”.

We also talked about the concept that “if you put someone in a space of love they will flourish”. Jools spoke about the idea of loving empathy, which helped to tie off our arc of transformation of self and others.

Loving empathy is the concept of standing side by side with the other even if they were once called the enemy.

Yurora, for me, was a series of circumstances in which I was able to discover my passion of helping those around me and developing my community.

Delegates from Vanuatu shared songs during one of the community sessions.

CROSSLIGHT - FEBRUARY 17

I'm writing this column the day after Yurora 17 (NCYC). I am tired of body but full of joy as I reflect on this inspiring gathering of a thousand young people from across the Uniting Church.

Yurora 17 was a diverse community made up of young people and adult volunteers all seeking a better understanding of God's passion for us and our passion to serve God's ways. It was a community made up of First and Second Peoples and overseas guests. It was a community that spoke multiple languages, danced many different ways, dressed in different outfits and yet found unity in a desire to discover, deepen and celebrate passion - a passion for God, and for God's purpose. We were challenged, encouraged, strengthened and fed.

Worship, both in communities and whole gathering rallies, was one of the high points of Yurora 17. In worship we listened to God's word, sang, prayed, danced, wept and laughed. Worship was full of energy and joy, led by and for young adults in ways that honoured God and the many gifts God has given.

As well as community groups and worship there were concerts, workshops, creative spaces, hanging-out-together spaces and play spaces. These provided opportunities to have fun, get to know strangers, ask questions of faith and meaning and explore the many ways people respond to God's call on our lives to be a disciple.

Many young people return from Yurora 17 with a renewed desire to grow in faith and serve God through the Uniting Church. I rejoice in this.

Yurora 17 happened because of the effort of a large group of adult volunteers. These volunteers are aged from early 20s to their late 80s. They cooked, cleaned, took care of technology and ran around doing lots of boring jobs. They also acted as chaplains, workshop leaders and Bible study leaders.

They did it because they want to see young people have life-changing encounters with God and because, in their ministry of service, they too have life-changing encounters with God. One of the gifts of the Uniting Church is its intergenerational nature. We need each other and we need to make space for each other. If those of us who are older are willing to listen, to learn and make space

for children and young people not only will we gain new insights into the ways of God, but our faith will be renewed. As a synod we need to find ways to do this so that we might give real effect to our mission priority of ministry with, for and to children, youth and young adults.

I am still carrying with me words from the multicultural worship rally on the last night. Queensland minster Rev Fa Matangi said to the young people in the church: “We are coming to worship God.” Young people are already serving and worshiping in the church. They long to be more fully included in ways that make sense to them. They want to worship, to grow in faith and to serve. They are coming.

Yurora 17 was a celebration of what God is doing in our midst. It is a reminder to the whole church to celebrate our young people, who are committed to being faithful followers of Christ and long to find the opportunity to do that within the Uniting Church. They are already serving the reign of God with passion.

If you have young people in your congregation who attended Yurora 17, take the time to ask them about their experience and what they hope to carry with them from that experience. Ask young people in your congregation about what their faith means to them, what their passions are and how you can help them continue to live those out.

If you are member of a church council that has young people in the congregation, plan a way to listen to what they hope and long for. Ask how the congregation can be active in helping them in discipleship and faith formation.

Young people are coming to be faithful, engaged participants with the whole church in God's reign. Let's support their faith formation and be willing to change how we do things to respond to what God is calling them to be and do. Let's welcome them and make space for them. They are coming with a passion to follow Christ, and walk together as First and Second Peoples.

Sharon Hollis Moderator

Community building over lunch at NCYC’s Yurora 17. Jacob Delbridge-Albury; Matthew Smith-Mooroopna; Carolyne Chandler-Croydon; Johnny Ngoie-Shepparton; Rohan Pryor-Croydon; Paul Chandler-Croydon; Andrew Delbridge-NEV Presbytery; and Jacob Craig-Coolam, Riverina Presbytery.

13

Celebrating 40 years The Uniting Church: gestation and birth D’ARCY WOOD In June this year the Uniting Church in Australia will celebrate its 40th anniversary.

Throughout 2017 Crosslight will bring you stories from the first four decades reflecting the diversity of the church.

But, we will not be just looking back. We will also look to the future and imagine the role the Church, and its institutions, will play in Australia in coming years.

This month, with the help of Rev Dr D’Arcy Wood, we begin by looking at the establishment of the new church in 1977.

THE early decades of the 20th century saw rapid developments in ecumenical activity.

In 1910 an international conference on world mission in Edinburgh sparked off co-operative ventures in what were called, in those days, “mission fields”. In the 1920s two more international bodies, called “Life and Work” and “Faith and Order”, were born. These combined to form the World Council of Churches which was inaugurated in 1948.

In Australia the Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian churches held a vote in the 1920s to form a united Church. The vote in the first two churches was clearly in favour but not so clear in the Presbyterian Church, so the union lapsed and it was another 30 years before moves for union were re-started.

The same three churches in Canada held a vote for union, also in the 1920s, and this was successful. The United Church of Canada was born. A sizeable minority of Presbyterians stayed out of the union, a similar story as happened in Australia in the 1970s.

In the 1950s the three denominations in Australia agreed to negotiate with a view to church union. The Joint Commission on Church Union (JCCU), with seven representatives from each church, began work in 1957. A major difference of opinion soon appeared. Some representatives wanted a quick negotiation leading to a short “basis of union” on which all members of the three churches could vote. A different opinion, which eventually prevailed, was to study the basics of the Christian faith in Scripture and the early Church. This project resulted in a booklet

14

of 46 pages, in small print, called The Faith of the Church. It was published in 1959 and has been reprinted several times. It sets out how church union is one aspect of the renewal of the Church.

The booklet was studied and discussed throughout Australia.

Meantime the JCCU went on to produce a second report called “The Church: its Nature, Function and Ordering” (1963), to which was attached the first attempt at a Basis of Union. Debate on this document focused mainly on two issues.

The first was the introduction of a threefold ministry (familiar to Anglicans and Roman Catholics) consisting of bishops, presbyters and deacons. The second issue was a Concordat (i.e. agreement) with the fairly-new Church of South India. The Concordat was defined as “a covenantal relationship between two churches with different constitutions, yet one in mission, with agreement in faith and order and a membership and ministry recognised and interchangeable”. Later in the document it says “bishops and presbyters of the Church of South India shall be requested to share with presbyters from the uniting Churches in the inaugural service in consecrating to their office the first bishops of the Uniting Church”.

The two proposals, for the Concordat and for bishops, were vigorously debated at local, regional and national levels of the negotiating churches. Written responses, from individuals, groups and councils, were gathered over a period of several years. The overall picture was fairly clear: the majority of respondents did not favour either the Concordat or the introduction

of bishops. But it was also clear that the churches wanted their representatives to press on with a revised Basis of Union.

There was real momentum for change at this time: new ventures in mission; a more international outlook; dialogue between churches and ecumenical projects locally. Christian unity was part of that whole picture.

The JCCU resumed its work in 1968. A new Basis was drafted, largely by Rev Dr Davis McCaughey who was to become the first president of the Uniting Church.

Every sentence of his draft was carefully discussed and not many sentences were left untouched. In the revised Basis of 1970, and a further revision of 1971, bishops disappeared; presbyters became “Ministers of the Word”; lay preachers were added; deaconesses were re-affirmed but the introduction of a “renewed diaconate” was postponed. The place of elders, embedded in the 1963 report, was retained in the subsequent drafts.

An important provision was one that allowed for constitutional change. The Basis itself is a historic document and is not changed, but paragraph 17 says that “law” (i.e Constitution and Regulations) will be kept “under constant review”.

Such review, with resulting changes, has

of course happened in the 40 years of the Uniting Church. Parish Councils, not in the Basis, came - and then went. The role of elders was re-defined in 1997 and, to my mind, diminished. But the Basis lives on.

It is referred to often in church councils: Assembly, synods, presbyteries and congregations.

Large conferences have been held to discuss the meaning and relevance of the Basis. It is a missionary document which calls the Church to pray and work for the renewed proclamation of the Gospel, for effective service of humankind and for a wider unity of the Church.

The inauguration of the Uniting Church in Sydney on 22nd June 1977 was an unforgettable event. In the afternoon the appointed representatives of the three churches walked together into the Lyceum Theatre where the formal vote to establish the Church was taken. Fervent prayer was offered and a doxology sung. In the evening a celebration was held at Sydney Town Hall at which Rev Dr Philip Potter of the World Council of Churches preached.

Photos of the event show how maledominated the proceedings were. This soon began to change!

Despite the sadness of a sizeable minority of Presbyterians staying out of the union, there was great enthusiasm for the new Church. It was a movement of renewal, a movement of the people, and, I believe, a movement of the Holy Spirit.

Rev Dr D’Arcy Wood was secretary of the Joint Commission on Church Union 196872 and national president of the Uniting Church 1991-94.

CROSSLIGHT - FEBRUARY 17

Vision and Mission Tales of vision and mission REV DAVID WITHERS

“This is a time when we believe … the Spirit is calling us forward to new things and back to the hope in the Gospel of Jesus”

THESE words from the Major Strategic Review (MSR) Report to Synod 2016 caught my attention. They reflect the Synod’s resolution to journey “with an openness to the renewing work of God’s Spirit in our life as a Church”.

The quote contains a strange, yet inviting, balance of forward and back.

Recently, I immersed myself in studies centred upon the history and formation of our Basis of Union. The Joint Commission on Church Union’s 1959 and 1963 reports to the uniting churches were resolute in holding back and forward together. This profound vision ultimately flowed into our Basis of Union and the words from our current MSR report continue this resonance. In calling us back, the Basis acknowledges our inheritance received in Biblical Witness, in Creed, and in Reformation Witness. We stand upon the faith and unity of the one, holy catholic and apostolic Church, which is “built upon the one Lord Jesus Christ”. Yet at the same time, in calling us forward, the Basis describes the Church as a pilgrim people moving toward God’s promised goal. It is a divinely appointed end decisively announced in Jesus - his life, death and resurrection. Along the way, Christ constitutes, rules and renews the Church as a fellowship of the Spirit.

To put it another way, we stand on a God-gifted foundation and remain open to a God-promised future.

The Church lives in a time of the already and the not yet. We are a people of God who

FEBRUARY 17 - CROSSLIGHT

praise the great blessings of grace already received, and we are a people of God who strive with a living hope in the divine promise not yet fully realised.

I believe we have captured this critical life-giving duality in our adopted Synod Vision and Mission Principles. In following Christ, our vision acknowledges our essential foundation and confesses that our mission as Church is not our mission at all. Rather, it is God’s mission that in Jesus Christ, God calls us into being, and guides us in the Spirit’s power that we ‘may not lose the way’. In a complementary way, the seeking character of the vision declares a faithful openness that reflects the Basis of Union’s sense of a Church that ‘does not have a continuing city but seeks one to come’. The mission principles acknowledge this forward-back duality as we seek to live out the marks of mission of Christ’s church.

We live this creative tension of forwardback every time we come together

in worship as communities of God’s people. We gather back again and again to encounter God’s story – to be informed and formed by that story, to be summoned by the Christ who calls “follow me”, to be reminded of our place by grace at God’s table. And we are sent forward to live out who we are and whose we are – to be people invited to share in God’s mission in the world, to serve with the transforming love of Christ, to seek in visible ways the promised future that is God’s purpose for all creation. We sing the “old, old story”, yet we sing with hope that “God gives us a future”.

Across our life as the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania, there is a call to us. It is that our contemporary expressions of mission, words and deeds, are sustained and renewed by the Spirit for our continuing participation in the mission of God in the world. The hope of the 2016 Synod is that the Vision and Mission Principles help us discern how “the Spirit is

calling us forward to new things and back to the hope in the Gospel of Jesus”.

In 2017, we strive to deepen our response to the Synod’s call to live out the Vision and Mission Principles in every part of our life together as church. From our agencies’ work with young mums and babies to the palliative care offered by AgeWell staff; the volunteers in our op shops or flipping pancakes on Shrove Tuesday; the life of congregations in homework clubs, worship, breakfast clubs, Bible studies and community gardens – we don’t have to look far to see the Principles embodied in a rich diversity of life-giving ways.

Throughout the year, we hope to celebrate your stories with the wider church. I invite you to take the time to share your stories of how the Vision and Mission Principles are helping you discern God’s mission in your context. We will soon share An Introduction to the Vision and Mission Principles, a resource that explores ideas to invite discussion and give focus to how we live out the renewing work of life in mission.

In faith, we trust God is near and watching over us, and we pray that we might participate faithfully to fulfil our part in that wondrous story of God’s love for all creation.

Rev David Withers is the synod’s strategic framework minister. To share your stories with the wider church, contact David: david.withers2@victas.uca.org.au

15

Letters Core beliefs THE feature article ‘Core Beliefs’ in the December issue of Crosslight makes for disturbing reading.

Is the self-styled ‘Confessing Church’ within our tolerant, inclusive Uniting Church, merely a group of like-minded Christians with leanings toward literal interpretation of scripture, or does this group intend to become a militant (and divisive) faction?

Assembly President Stuart McMillan is right to caution against haste in decisionmaking with regard to same sex marriage.

Because marriage is a secular institution, discussion must include the enlightened views not only of church men and women, but also of secular men and women of wisdom and goodwill throughout the community at large. Conversation must be deep and full of insight and compassion.

If the secular world is to learn from the church, the church must also learn from the secular world.

I found the pseudo-scientific comments of Rod James to be unhelpful. Shouldn’t we be leaving comment on the biological and psychological analysis of sexuality and gender identity to specialists in these fields? And shouldn’t we be reserving any statement on these highly complex matters until there is widespread consensus on research findings? For many of us in the church, our first concern will be for those few teenagers and their parents struggling with despair and guilt over emergent feelings of sexuality and gender identity condemned by many as abnormal. Such people will be more likely to turn to a caring, inclusive church than a judgmental one.

To simply exist in our modern secular world of revolutionary and often dangerous ideas is to be faced with great uncertainty.

We might choose to stand against that uncertainty by retreat into ancient, revered creeds and doctrines, and the concrete, literal interpretation of scripture, thereby creating a refuge of religious security in life. Or we may simply attempt to discover the mind of Christ for ourselves as we translate his Gospel encounters with Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, the fishermen, the Pharisees, Roman officials, the ill and the outcasts into our own real life experiences. However we might choose to live out our faith, it will always live in tension with doubt and uncertainty.

Jesus is not only ‘Lamb of God’ as the Confessing Church website affirms, he is also the Way, Truth, Life, Door of the sheepfold, Bread of Life, True Vine, Resurrection, Gracious Friend, Wise Counsellor, Suffering Servant, God with Us, Comforter, Saviour, Wounded Healer, Prince of Peace, (and more names besides). He is our friend and companion as we encounter the challenges of a risky, uncertain, and often hostile world.

May our Uniting Church never be divided by factionalism in a world desperately needing our clear, hope-filled message.

Rev Ian Johnston Mornington, VIC

Letters to Crosslight are always welcome.

Letters should be 300 words or less and include full name, address and contact number/email. Letters may be edited for space, style and clarity.

16

REGARDING the recent ACC conference in Tasmania and their concerns about gay marriage and ministry – can they not see that their stance is a negative message to youth trying to find their identity in the world and society?

Sadly there must be numerous gay adults who were growing up in Christian homes and churches while secretly suffering all alone from confusion, fear and rejection because they had no-one to seek for help. I hope this does not occur as often now but suspect it may. Many walked away from the church and sometimes their family as well.

Too often the church’s teaching has been an emphasis on sin and God’s judgment on the sinner, due to a literal interpretation of the Bible written over 2000 years ago with social mores and scientific knowledge vastly different from today.

New Testament scholars inform us that we cannot be certain that Jesus actually said every word written in the Gospels.

How can we say today that we must follow them?

However, we can communicate the Bible’s constant assurance of God’s love for each of us, a message that surely the world needs to hear urgently again in these times of war, hatred and greed.

Stern, judgmental leaders have lost young people. Do we have the courage to ask the reason?

We need more caring leaders, whether gay or straight, for all are God’s children.

Judith Faulds, Glenroy, VIC

Promotion of sin?

I WISH to respond to the letter appearing in the December 2016 issue of Crosslight submitted by Mark Leonard from Westbury, Tasmania. I have to say that I agree with the views expressed.

Any church which ignores the plain teaching of the Word brings havoc on itself, those in the pews and those outside looking on in a lukewarm way.

The church should follow the teaching and guidelines as found in the Bible and not deviate just to be inclusive to accommodate everyone’s lifestyle. Yes, take a caring interest in the person but have nothing to do with the activity of homosexuality.

For the Uniting Church to grow and become relevant in order to reach many unsaved souls I believe that it should: 1. Preach evangelical sermons, and follow up with living out the truth.

2. Have a greater emphasis on visitation and interest in people amongst other things to present a clear gospel message.

3. Do away with collars, sashes and robes.

4. Simply follow the two ordinances (a) Communion, a time of remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice for believers, all drink together and (b) baptism, for believers only, by immersion, every evangelical church and most cults believe in this and follow as part of their membership requirements.

5. Have passionate home groups open to all, prayer and Bible study to be normal in all fellowships.

6. Preach and teach the good news of the second coming.

7. Be certain in our teaching and make it plain that on death our soul will either go to heaven for eternity or go to

Hades to await the great white throne of judgment where our soul will be consigned to hell for eternity.

The Uniting Church could be an important instrument of believers bridging the gap in bringing many unsaved people into a certain faith. Will it do so, or will it wither and die?

Garry Andrews via email

in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another....”

Charles Wesley in his hymn Love divine, all loves excelling [TIS 217] prayed that we would be changed from ‘glory into glory until in heaven we take our place’.

May the transforming love of the transfigured Jesus continue to shine upon us, reshaping our whole life and mission.

Alan Ray Mont Albert, VIC

IT is true that the Bible condemns homosexuality. For instance Leviticus 20:13 “And if a man lieth with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, the both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.” If Mark Leonard is so keen on following the Bible teaching does he advocate the death penalty for a homosexual act?

A few verses further on Leviticus 20:18 has it “And if a man lie with a woman during her sickness; he hath discovered her fountain; and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood; and both of them shall be cut off from among the people”.

The Bible then also says that it is a sin for a married couple to have sex while the wife is menstruating. Has Mark Leonard ever spoken out against this practice?

Vernon Terrill Footscray, VIC

The Transfiguration THE Church recently celebrated the Transfiguration or Transformation of our Lord, one of the five milestones in his ministry. In Luke 9:28-36 we read the story of the disciples seeing Jesus on the mountain top, transformed and clothed in a brilliant light, surrounded by the Old Testament figures of Moses and Elijah, symbolic of the law and prophets. Joseph Robinson puts those events, with its present day application, into poetic form in his hymn ‘How good, Lord, to be here!’

[TIS 234] What does Jesus’ Transfiguration or Transformation say to us in 2017?

The third verse of the well-loved hymn ‘Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord’ [TIS 315] runs: In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, with a glory in his bosom which transfigures you and me; as he died to make men holy, let us live to make men free, while God is marching on.

What struck me forcefully is the poet’s reflection on the effect which the Transfiguration had on the believer.

She is not so concerned with the transformation of Christ, but the continuing transformation of us, by his glory. Julia Ward Howe was, of course, writing about the abolition of slavery of African Americans in midnineteenth century America. That hymn became a rallying cry for that crusade.

It is however just as applicable today to different forms of bondage: we remember refugees in detention centres and those enslaved to addictions.

St Paul writing in 2 Corinthians 3:18 expresses it this way: “And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected

Vengeful or loving God? REGARDING the November centrespread ‘The Future of Faith’, Christianity is not about telling people how to live religiously. It is about relating how the man Jesus lived out his Jewish faith with an open mind and how, in doing so, he doomed himself to be crucified by the religiously correct.

His crucifixion had nothing to do with him being a sacrifice to a vengeful God. It had a lot to do with him not letting down his friends nor betraying the creative spirit which motivated him. If, as Hugh Mackay is quoted as saying, the Uniting Church is the fastest shrinking denomination, it is because we have gotten rid of the vengeful God to be feared, but not replaced him, or her, with the One who is totally loving.

We see the face of God’s total love in what Jesus did rather than in his teaching.

John had come calling for repentance, not sacrifice, for the forgiveness of sins of which baptism was a token.

When John was imprisoned Jesus had gone to Galilee to take his place. Like a good Jew he attended synagogue on the Sabbath but found himself having to reinterpret the Scriptures. Repairing to the house with his first disciples he found the lady of the house sick in bed with a fever. Breaking all protocols Jesus went to her, took her by the hand and raised her up to health. She ministered to them.

Then the sun went down, the Sabbath was ended, and all the ‘little people’ who had been excluded from the synagogue came out and gathered at the door of the house. It had been a busy day but Jesus found himself impelled to welcome them and healed many with diseases and mental illness.

We are not guaranteed a place in heaven by nibbling his flesh and sipping his blood at Communion; but if we breathe in the spirit of Jesus with every breath, then his kingdom on Earth may come a fraction closer. At the Last Supper Jesus was commissioning us to continue his work of being open – to new ideas and to others.

Neil G Cameron, Meredith, VIC

Still uniting?

I AM disappointed that the Major Strategic Review did not address the issue of whether it is time to for the UCA to more urgently pursue its original uniting intention. Perhaps it was thought that this is a matter more appropriately pursued

by Assembly. However, in 1977, many lay people were excited by a vision for the future set out in the Basis of Union, which CROSSLIGHT - FEBRUARY 17

Letters is: “The Uniting Church declares its desire to enter more deeply into the faith and mission of the Church in Australia, by working together, and seeking union with other Churches”. Forty years on, we seem to have settled comfortably into the status of being another denominational variant.

I believe we should take up this challenge again with new enthusiasm. Or should we accept reality and designate ourselves the United Church of Australia?

William Rush Kooyong VIC

Selling our past HAVING resided in Moonee Ponds/East Keilor area for over 70 years – and in my childhood and youth attended Moonee Ponds/ Gladstone St Methodist/Uniting church – I have sadly once again witnessed the desecration of yet another one of our own houses of worship.

A booklet written by the past editor of the Essendon Gazette in 1982, Mr Syd Smith, records the history of Methodism commencing from the planning of a church in 1882 through the next 100 years when thousands of people, young and old, attended services worshipping God in these beautiful surroundings.

In an era where Christians overseas are punished for their beliefs and even murdered and different forms of buildings are being erected to worship in a completely different way, surely we can expect that features of this architectural

gem have been retained? “Leadlight windows will be admired and the community will be able to observe how sympathetically treated the development has been handled, especially with a cafeteria where once the congregation gathered for worship” is a hypocritical comment. To our way of thinking it just makes a mockery of what our ancestors planned over 100 years ago.

While our beginning commenced over 2000 years ago in a humble stable and the Christian message was discussed and learnt around a lake there have always been surroundings that helped worshipping feel more peaceful and reverent in the beautiful buildings our forefathers so proudly provided for our worship. Sadly, the townhouses will not keep faith as declared. The cross is no longer seen for miles around from the steeple but yet another expensive residence has made its appearance in suburban Melbourne.

Vivien Jones Keilor East, VIC

God’s coal HAVING read your article ‘Power of Good’ (Crosslight July 2016), I would like to make comment. Having lived in the Latrobe Valley all my life and been the beneficiary of brown coal all that time you realize that when the sun goes down or the wind doesn’t blow there is no renewable energy. Where does industry get its power from when this happens?

We have already lost a lot of our industry either going to China or just closed down because it is uncompetitive. If you close our power plants down you will destroy our industry altogether as well as put a lot of people out of work. You cannot have any industry without there being a downside.

The power industry has been good to the Valley over all these years. God put the coal there for a reason and it is up to us to make the best use of it as possible.

You know no gain without pain. I think you need to have a look at your logic.

Colin Kent Latrobe Valley

Notes of love I WOULD like to share something that has brought me a lot of comfort, joy and laughter over many years since the loss of my beloved husband.

At the memorial service for my husband our minister, Rev David Webster, produced Post-It notes and invited all those present to write a message of remembrance of my late husband. He then stuck those notes in a book and presented it to me.

I return to this book time and time again, often laughing at the humorous comments as well as drawing much comfort and fond remembrances from those who wrote the notes. And those not signed are a challenge as to the identity of the writer.

I thank David for this unique and thoughtful gesture.

I am writing this to encourage other

ministers to maybe take up this idea and hopefully bring the same comfort that I have experienced.

M Morrison Blackburn

Pensions OK APPARENTLY 10 per cent of aged pensioners will have their pensions reduced, following recent pension adjustments. This must be heart wrenching to those pensioners.

However, these pensioners can supplement their pension reduction from their investments, the level of which is causing the pension reductions.

Further, once these pensioners have used their investments down to the applicable level, they can then qualify again for the full pension.

The government says these adjustments are necessary to sustain our welfare system into the future.

Robert Parry claims (December Crosslight) these pension adjustments, “will destroy the retirement plans of thousands of present and future retirees”, when in fact the 10 per cent of pensioners affected can end up living on a similar dollar amount as they were before.

David Stannard Chartered Accountant Brighton.

Pilgrim Reflection Political populism and a theological response 2016 WAS quite a year. Its enduring images include the mass sexual assaults in Cologne, Germany, on New Year’s Eve, the conflicts in Syria and Yemen with the horrific images coming out of Aleppo, the ongoing refugee crisis, ISIS and the terror attacks happening throughout the MiddleEast, Europe, and America. Combined with ongoing consequences of the 2008 financial crisis, the general distrust of globalisation and neo-liberalism, the new experience for many within Western societies of religious pluralism, and the threat posed for many by the sexuality and gender debates, these events have proven to be fertile ground for the rise of political populism.

Trump and Brexit drew the greatest media attention, but similar directions are evident in the rise of the right throughout Europe and political figures like Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines.

Populism is also a factor in the Australian political scene. One might point to the return of Pauline Hanson, but the concern is more general and evident in the government’s stance on refugees.

There is political capital in fear and rejection of the other and in the notion of FEBRUARY 17 - CROSSLIGHT

safeguarding one’s own identity and purity.

What is populism? To follow the definition offered by Daniele Albertazzi and Duncan McDonnell, populism “pits a virtuous and homogeneous people against a set of elites and dangerous ‘others’ who are together depicted as depriving (or attempting to deprive) the sovereign people of their rights, values, prosperity, identity and voice’. I would like to draw our attention to three elements within this definition.

First, populism creates and trades upon the idea of ‘a virtuous and homogeneous people’. Nothing of Trump’s own character might be described as virtuous. Indeed, quite the opposite is the case. The point is more that amid all the complexity and feelings of being out of control, a simple ‘us’ and ‘them’ binary develops. The rhetoric is about returning power to the ‘people’. The people hold the virtue, which permits wide latitude for the individual whose own character may not meet this ideal standard.

Second, the ‘them’ which opposes the ‘us’ takes a twofold shape. On the one hand, we have an ‘other’ which somehow intrudes upon both our homogeneity and our virtue: our purity. This other, as it has played out in the US, includes the religious other (Muslims), migrants, the LGBTI community, and even people of colour.

On the other hand, we have the ‘elites’.

Trump’s ‘drain the swamp’ rhetoric took aim at professional politicians with the idea that the elites have forced this ‘other’ upon the ‘us’. Without this force, the ‘other’

would not be part of the community.

Third, the ‘them’ stands guilty of depriving ‘the sovereign people of their rights, values, prosperity, identity and voice’. It is both an issue of power and identity. The ‘us’ owns the context. The laws of the land do not exist to govern relationships between people, but to reinforce the particular dominant identity. Dominance becomes the arbiter of value, identity and voice.

While this definition might provide some clues as to how 80 per cent of white evangelicals voted for Trump, it is important to recognise that theology has played its part. Cultural accommodation of the Gospel message is one important aspect of the problem, but so is the idea that the faith expects some form of homogeneity.

A certain people rightly interpret the message and its embodied expression – and this concern applies as much to the more progressive as to the more conservative side of the scale.

What is the theological response? In my opinion, insofar as populism hangs on a self-referential purity, the response begins with proper Christian difference and learning from the diversity of world Christianity. Entering the political concerns through this lens helps us to envision the formation of identity in relation to the other. This is not to destroy difference, or to turn the other into us, but to find our identity in Christ in this living together of difference, in reconciliation with one another.

Much of this might feel too big for us, the

movement of political forces beyond our control, but it is not so. The first step is to meet, discuss and understand some of the forces in play. The second step is to find theological resources which might direct our response within our congregations and inform our discussions with our friends and neighbours.

To this end, Pilgrim Theological College is offering an interdisciplinary course titled ‘Conversations’, with the specific theme of ‘political populism and theological discourse’. This takes place over three Friday and Saturdays in March and April, and draws on social science and theological voices. It will outline the range of issues shaping these significant political movements, including those of religion and policy formation, racism, secularisation, migration, identity politics, terrorism, and living in a ‘post-truth’ age. Each of these issues will be informed by theological reflections from diverse voices. I hope that you will be able to join us for this most important of discussions.

For more information on ‘Conversations’ and how to enrol, please contact Fotini.Toso@pilgrim.edu.au

John G Flett Associate Professor of Missiology and Intercultural Theology, Pilgrim Theological College 17

Review

Down-to-earth advice

Can’t have a Bob each way

An object of worship

Faith in work REVIEW BY STEVEN CRUMP

REVIEW BY NICK MATTISKE REVIEW BY CATH JAMES

REVIEW BY DAVID SOUTHWELL

BOOK | COMING BACK TO EARTH | JONATHAN CORNFORD

FILM | HOWARD ON MENZIES: BUILDING MODERN AUSTRALIA | ABC DVD

IT is rare to find a book that challenges the reader to confront ethical decisions about how to live and engage in social change while recognising there is no ‘right’ or ‘pure’ way to do this.

In this collection of essays on the church, climate change, cities, agriculture and eating, Jonathan Cornford offers his lived experiences and deep biblical knowledge on living with integrity and faith in the face of big global problems.

Cornford states: “When ethical consumption becomes a code for clean and unclean it must be rejected.” He grapples with how we take the wisdom offered to us through the Bible and Christian faith to help us decide what we eat, how we live, where we go and how we bring about change.

As well as encouraging readers to consider these issues in their personal lives, Cornford wants people to seriously engage with the question: “What does distinctly Christian political activism look like?”

In his essay ‘Standing at the Crossroads’ he unravels the essence of faith and the cultural forces that cloud it – empire and domination, individualism, wealth accumulation and consumerism. The hope and our response can be found in the ethos of the early Christian church in Acts.

Cornford’s essays wrestle with the spiritual discipline of living in right relationship with God, with each other and with the Earth. Describing this as ‘Shalom’, Cornford states: “All things in right relationship – God humanity and creation”.

The root of all our decisions about work, consumption, leisure, relationship and community stem from our households. It is there, Cornford argues, that we make thousands of choices and it is there we need to reclaim the ideas of holiness and Shalom as our organising principles, as they were in the early Christian church.

This is not at the cost of acting collectively on both a local and a global scale, but rather this is where we start in order to live out a bigger faith. What holds this all together is what we do in our homes.

THE so-called History Wars were a feature of John Howard’s prime ministership.

This ABC documentary shows political retirement has not dimmed the former prime minister’s appetite for some retrospective rumble.

Howard on Menzies sees Howard defend his role model and hero, Robert Menzies, from accusations that he was primarily a lucky, albeit cunning, leader who coasted along on the back of an unearned economic boom while Australia stagnated culturally and socially.

The chief accuser in this two-part series is Paul Keating, but only in file footage of typically stinging parliamentary exchanges.

Apparently neither he nor Howard were keen on being in an interview room together.

Instead Howard talks to the likes of Malcolm Turnbull, Rupert Murdoch, Alexander Downer, Barry Humphries, Clive James and Thomas Keneally, all of whom provide genial, even nostalgic, reflections on the Menzies era.

Bob Hawke, and to a lesser extent Barry Jones, are the major voices from the Labor side and they venture some measured criticism of Menzies.

Howard’s case for Menzies being proactive is most persuasive in the first episode.

He shows that Menzies, having been dumped by his own side during World War II, responded by defining and building a constituency of middle class voters to be represented by a new party, the Liberals.

So successful was this that Menzies reigned for 16 years from 1949, winning seven elections before retiring at age 71.

Of course, there was some luck involved.

Menzies had close-run elections in 1955 and 1961, where he was saved respectively by the Petrov Affair and the subsequent Labor split.

The program argues that Menzies shaped his times by pointing to a handful of innovative policies such as university expansion and scholarships, opening trade with Japan and funding Catholic schools.

However, the doco admits Menzies did not address historical hangovers like the White Australia Policy or Aboriginal dispossession.

Perhaps the main problem with this wellmade but somewhat sepia-tinged effort is that Howard is largely on the defensive, trying to retrofit Menzies as an agent of progressive social change when clearly that wasn’t the strength or intent of his prime ministership.

RRP $24.99

Available at: Morning Star Publishing.

RRP $22.95

18

BOOK | THE MARKET AS GOD | HARVEY COX | HARVARD

It’s not much of a revelation to suggest that capitalism has religious overtones, or that the market has godlike qualities. Adam Smith’s famous depiction of ‘the invisible hand’ of the market sounds exactly like a description of a deity.

But in this relevant book, the metaphor of the Market as God, with all its assumptions and implications, is spelled out in detail by religious historian Harvey Cox, and not without some passionate denunciation.

Cox describes the various ways the market (in its globalised sense) mimics religion, with its evangelists celebrating its omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence. The market has a ‘Spirit’, in the sense of Max Weber’s description; it has its accompanying myths and doctrines.

But, of course, it is not a deity and is only as ‘natural’ as the weeds that take over a neglected garden. The market is merely the result of decisions made by individuals, governments and corporations, the latter being characterised by Cox as under-disciplined and over-indulged teenagers. Along with Pope Francis, Cox argues that the market must become our slave, not master.

There is no clearer indication of the perils of letting the market run wild than the global financial crisis of several years ago and the philosophy of ‘too big to fail’, which resulted in the poor being punished for the recklessness of the rich. It is becoming clear that unfettered growth and endless consumption, supposedly drivers of a healthy market, cannot coexist with a healthy environment.

So what do Christians do about all this?

French theologian Jacques Ellul wrote that one of the first tasks of Christians is to point out the follies of the world. Cox says that mainstream society doesn’t listen any more to Christians criticising the market, such is the market’s pervasive power.

But to try is our calling. And of course we have a model in Jesus, who was not hesitant in pointing out that money tends to become an object of worship.

BOOK SET | THE LABOUR OF LOVE: LENTEN STUDIES ON FOLLOWING CHRIST AT WORK | JOHN BOTTOMLEY

THIS series of Lenten Studies provides an opportunity to reflect on God’s presence in our daily work – paid or otherwise. Using scripture readings, prayer, quiet reflection and group discussions, it allows the participant to delve deeply into what God’s calling is in the work that we do.

These five studies have been written by Rev John Bottomley for the Creative Ministries Network Congregation’s Mission to Work program.

The studies integrate reflection on the Lectionary Sunday Gospel readings with the experience of work, including paid work, work in the home and voluntary work. Each study concludes with a simple ritual and prayer.

This Bible study is offered as a resource for deepening the faith of those who desire to be better equipped for their mission and ministry in their world of work. It is also an invitation to connect with other Christian study groups seeking to more faithfully follow Jesus at work. The Creative Ministries Network Congregation (CMNC) believes that following Christ’s mission for the Australian Church necessarily engages us pursuing that calling in the arena of work. CMNC established this mission at the heart of their congregation, which began in the workplace of a Uniting Church community service.

The congregation are seeking to build a network of individuals, study groups and prayerful support with whom to share the vision, and who will join as followers of Christ’s mission for healing, justice and reconciliation in work and life.

My study of The Labour of Love has helped me to find healing for myself and my colleagues and to see what God is calling me to do through my work and life. I would highly recommend this study.

For an order form for a copy of the study, email johnbottomley@netspace.net.au The cost is $24, which includes a hard copy and an emailed PDF for copies for your study group.

CROSSLIGHT - FEBRUARY 17

Review Artificial intelligence and the soul REVIEW BY EMMET O’CUANA TV | WESTWORLD | MA

“The hardest thing to understand is why we can understand anything at all” Michio Kaku, Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize The 21st Century HBO’s latest show Westworld, an adaptation by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy of the Yul Brynner 1973 film, has a lot to prove.

The studio needed a popular hit to succeed the ratings smash Game of Thrones, which is winding down. Already in that show’s shadow, Westworld’s premise – a theme park populated by incredibly lifelike robots that is visited by human ‘guests’ who can do whatever they want consequence-free – felt apposite to the extreme violence and graphic imagery of Thrones.

Where Westworld differs is how it presents the behaviour of the guests as amoral. They treat the park’s robots, known as ‘hosts’, like slaves. Largely because that is exactly what they are, expendable and biddable property of the park’s owners.

Then hosts, played by Thandie Newton and Evan Rachel Wood, begin to demonstrate flickerings of what could be called consciousness.

Westworld is concerned with religion explicitly, particularly the act of creation as well as sin and free will. Artifical intelligence mastermind Dr Ford (Anthony Hopkins) seems benevolent, but has a vengeful god complex bubbling away beneath that surface. A returning guest, The Man in Black (Ed Harris), commits abhorrent acts.

But if the hosts are not real people, is he truly doing evil?

Is there a moral case against The Man in Black for his outrages? Or is Ford’s restriction of free will and choice the real outrage, given the hosts’ suffering at the hands of the park’s guests?

Artificial intelligence does not simply facilitate the premise of Westworld.

Repeated hints suggest the largely unseen techno-corporate society has eliminated risk and illness. The guests visit Westworld in order to experience some sense of danger absent from their lives.

The robots of the park are therefore victims of a particularly sadistic atavism, as humans indulge in a time period before supreme safety secured supreme morality. In the future, everyone can afford to be good because they do not want for anything.

This post-scarcity future implies that humans will indulge in unhealthy, sinful, behaviour if free from consequence.

In dialogue Dr Ford namedrops American psychologist and writer Julian Jaynes. In his seminal text The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, published in 1976, Jaynes described his theory of how consciousness evolved. He suggests humanity’s early understanding of the world was vastly different to ours. While we ascribe our thinking to individual reason, ancient peoples heard ‘gods’. Jaynes argues survival instincts were assumed by humans to be a voice in their head speaking to them – a divine presence.

Creation stories REVIEW BY GARTH JONES MUSEUM | ON THE ORIGIN OF ART, MUSEUM OF OLD AND NEW ART, HOBART TASMANIA

TO paraphrase Monty Python’s Life of Brian, MONA Museum figurehead David Walsh is not the art world’s Messiah, he’s just a very naughty boy.

The quirky Tasmanian gambler, art collector and businessman – obsessed with sex, death and viscera – challenged four scientist colleagues to curate exhibitions showcasing their theories On The Origin Of Art. In an effort, perhaps, to foment a little more outrage, Walsh – a noted contrarian – has chosen ‘experts’ who are all distinctly male, white and middle-aged.

The exhibition is arranged as a series of four portals, each leading to an individual curator’s vision of creative genesis, marked with an arcane glyph drawn from the exhibition’s catalogue for added portent.

Steven Pinker, a North American psychology professor and experimental psychologist, asserts that ‘We Make Art

FEBRUARY 17 - CROSSLIGHT

Sphinx, 2012, Patricia Piccinini – © Patricia Piccinini, courtesy of the artist and Tolarno and Roslyn Oxley9 Galleries

Because We Can’. Pinker asserts that art evolves in step with our innate desire to identify as part of a ‘fashionable elite’ – his portion of the show revels in elaborate wallpapers, ornate jewellery and new media installations.

Evolutionary neurobiologist and cognitive scientist Mark Changizi wonders ‘Does Civilisation Mimic Biology?’ Changizi’s thesis is that culture instinctually harnesses nature – through design, music and language – to allow us to evolve and engage

with others. Showcasing many tactile, sculptural disciplines, Changizi’s collection is rooted in the fleshy, biological imagery of laboratory slides and abattoirs, paying particular attention to Australian artist Patricia Piccinini.

English Professor Brian Boyd explores the ideas behind ‘Art Is Cognitive Play With Pattern’. Boyd suggests that art evolved through humanity’s need to communicate complex concepts through pattern in an effort to better understand the world

In Westworld the robots who are awakening to consciousness are experiencing something similar, causing them to question their reality. As humans escape into a virtual world, robots are emerging from a dreamlike existence into the real world.

While it is entertaining to enjoy Westworld as a rumination on the moral complexities of artificial intelligence, poetic licence is used liberally in the show. The hosts are stated to be superior to humans in every way, to allow for their features to be customised and best facilitate the fantasy of a Wild West adventure. However, that assumes the concept of personhood is dependent on system complexity.

Dr Ford’s discussion of Jaynes features a chart of a triangle representing the intelligence of the hosts, with a missing step at the peak for the unknown stage that would make them indistinguishable from humans. That step is implied to be the soul.

As a work of science fiction, Westworld relates spiritual concerns about our existence to the problem of artificial intelligence. As a genre, sci-fi has a certain fluidity that allows it to bounce between the ineffable and the experiential. But if the singularity were to occur, it is likely the result will be something totally alien to our understanding of what makes a person.

Westworld is not a show about robots – it is a show about how we as a species dehumanise and victimise humans with hate and violence.

Westworld can be streamed from Foxtel Play.

around it. Boyd explores these notions through patterns in nature and forms of religious worship. He also pays special attention to sequential art and the chilling allegorical depictions of Nazi Germany starkly rendered by Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novelist Art Spiegelman.

Perhaps most provocative is American psychology professor Geoffrey Miller, whose ‘Artists Are Sexy AF’ guides the viewer through a rollercoaster of visual stimuli, from the classical to the tawdry to the pornographic. Miller submits that art is another form of metaphorical plumage designed to secure a mate through a display of desirable technical aesthetic virtuosity.

Illustrating his point, Miller includes lurid work by pop artist Jeff Koons alongside reflections on insect mating rituals and 19th century romantic portraiture.

You may agree or disagree with some, or all, of the notions put forth by Walsh’s coterie of agitators – On The Origin of Art is a stirring exhibition in terms of variety, philosophy and sheer volume of work on display. Walsh’s newest offering asks us to investigate ideas of the very origins of our humanity, be they creative, spiritual, biological or other.

Opening last year on 5 November to bustling crowds, On The Origin Of Art is an ambitious achievement of art curation, collection and exhibition.

A thought-provoking journey guaranteed to generate passionate debate, this experience can’t come more highly recommended.

On The Origin of Art is on show until April 17, 2017. For more information, visit http:// bit.ly/2fmcoI1

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Placements CURRENT AND PENDING PLACEMENT VACANCIES AS AT 23 JANUARY 2017 PRESBYTERY OF GIPPSLAND The Lakes Parish**

PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN VIC Nil

PRESBYTERY OF LODDON MALLEE Barham – Wakool – Moulamein (0.25) (P) Heathcote and District** Sunraysia (UCOS) (0.5) (P) Tyrrell Parish (0.6) (P)

PRESBYTERY OF YARRA YARRA Ashburton Church of All Nations, Carlton (P) Croydon North – Gifford Village (0.5) (P) Melbourne (St Michael’s)

PRESBYTERY OF NORTH EAST VICTORIA Mansfield (0.3) Mountains and Valleys Resource Ministry** Seymour Community Pastor (P) Upper Murray (Corryong, Walwa) (0.5) (P)

SYNOD Hopkins Correctional Centre and Langi Kal Kal Prison Chaplaincy (0.4) (18 month term) (P) Loddon and Middleton Prisons Chaplain (0.25) (18 month term) (P) Uniting AgeWell Director of Mission (P)

PRESBYTERY OF PORT PHILLIP EAST Oakleigh (St David’s), Balkara Parish (0.5) Beaumaris (0.6) (P) Bentleigh Dandenong (Trinity) and Lewe Tolu Vakalou (two year term) Korean Church of Melbourne – Korean Speaking Minister Monash University Chaplaincy (Peninsula Campus) (0.5)** Mount Waverley (St John’s) PRESBYTERY OF PORT PHILLIP WEST Altona Meadows – Laverton (0.4) and Lara (0.5) (P) Essendon (St John’s) PRESBYTERY OF TASMANIA Ulverstone – Sprent (three year term) (P) Kingston (Rowallan Park) (P) South Esk (P)

** These placements have not yet lodged a profile with the Placements Committee, therefore they are not yet in conversation with any minister. There is no guarantee that the placement will be listed within the next month.

(P) These placements are listed as also being suitable for a Pastor.

A person may offer to serve the church in an approved placement through a written application to the Synod.

Further information on these vacancies may be obtained from the Secretary of the Placements Committee: Ms Isabel Thomas Dobson. Email: placements. secretary@victas.uca.org.au Formal expressions of interest should be put in writing to Isabel.

MINISTRY MOVES CALLS AND APPOINTMENTS FINALISED

CONCLUSION OF PLACEMENT

Joan Hall (Lay), Dunolly commenced 1 January 2017

Inia Mavai (OD) concluded at Chadstone (Fijian) on 31 December 2016

Andy Tiver, Ringwood North commenced 15 January 2017 Jinseon Park, Nathalia – Numurkah commenced 1 January 2017 Stan Clarke, Sunbury to commence 1 May 2017

Molesi Tamate (OD) concluded at Burnley St George’s on 31 December 2016 Harriet Ziegler (Lay) concluded as Epworth Hospital Pastoral Care Coordinator on 31 December 2016

Feke Kamitoni, St Albans/Caroline Springs – Sydenham to commence 1 April 2017

RETIREMENTS

Bronwyn Daniels, Kew East to commence 1 April 2017

Russell Jones, Yallourn, Moe- Newborough, Narracan and Morwell (St Luke’s) to retire on 28 February 2017

COMING EVENTS ‘SPRINGVALE IN TRANSITION’ ART EXHIBITION 11AM – 1PM, SUNDAY 12 FEBRUARY Springvale Uniting Church, cnr Balmoral and Albert Streets, Springvale.

Artist in Residence, Brendan Nicholl, has been painting in our studio at Springvale Uniting Church for the past six months.

He mostly paints street scenes to capture the beauty and uniqueness of our town.

Come and see if you recognise some of the local scenes. A light lunch will be provided. All are welcome.

LAY LEADERS SPIRITUAL RETREAT WITH DR. BEN MYERS 9.30AM FOR A 10AM START, MONDAY 13 TO TUESDAY 14 FEBRUARY Colac Uniting Church Hall, 25 Hesse St, Colac.

Registration fees $35.00 per person, includes lunches and a Valentine’s dinner.

Pay on arrival. Billeting is available to those who would like to stay overnight.

Please Contact Rev Mele by Email: mele_fakahua@yahoo.com.au, for registrations, billeting and catering.

SERVICE OF RELEASE for REV WENDIE WILKIE 2.30PM, SUNDAY 26 FEBRUARY Benalla Uniting Church, 44 Carrier St, Benalla.

A Service of Release to mark the retirement of Wendie Wilkie, Presbytery Minister Mission and Education, Presbytery NEV, will be held at Benalla UC. All are invited to attend.

Please RSVP to Presbytery Secretary Tanya Walker on Email: tanyanwalker@yahoo.com.au by 18 February for catering purposes.

PIPE ORGAN CONCERT, IVANHOE UNITING CHURCH 2PM, SUNDAY 26 FEBRUARY Ivanhoe Uniting Church, 19 Seddon Street, Ivanhoe.

The Ivanhoe Uniting Church pipe organ was installed in 1926. It has recently been restored to full concert performance quality. This concert will showcase many of its qualities through the performance of a variety of organ music. It will also be an educational opportunity to find out how an organ like this works and to hear some of the diverse sounds it can produce. Entry is by gold coin donation to assist in raising funds to maintain the organ. Organists include Yvonne Wells, David Agg, John Rowe and John Maynard.

For further information contact Chris King on M: 0419 513 964.

UNITINGCARE PANCAKE DAY LAUNCH EVENT 8AM – 2PM, TUESDAY 28 FEBRUARY Federation Square, Melbourne.

Come along and enjoy a pancake (or two) as we launch UnitingCare Pancake Day on Shrove Tuesday. We are also looking for volunteers who are available to help cook pancakes on the day. If you are interested contact Breanna Williamson, UnitingCare on P: 03 9251 5292 or E: breanna.williamson@victas.uca.org.au Q4CONNECTION LUNCHEON 12.30PM - 2PM, WEDNESDAY 1 MARCH The TailRace Centre, 1 Waterfront Drive, Riverside, Launceston, Tasmania.

Q4Connection is an initiative of CMA (Christian Ministry Advancement) to equip Australian Christians to impact their world in their fourth quarter, designed for those in or approaching retirement. The convention and dinner will feature input from international speakers and electives for those seeking to discern the shape of the next phase of their lives.

Bookings: https://www.cma.net.au/q4/events.php Contact: Paul Arnott on E: paul@cma.net.au or M: 0468 605 617.

Peter Welsh, Burwood, to retire on 31 March 2017

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR, ST JOHN’S UNITING CHURCH ESSENDON

POSITION VACANT Presbytery Minister Mission and Education The Presbytery of North East Victoria Short Term Appointment Commencing: March 2017 (or later by negotiation) until September 2018.

Position may be extended subject to funding.

Applications close: 24 February Information package available from, and completed applications to Helen Collins, Chairperson Presbytery NEV on Email: hgcollos@bigpond.com

Expressions of interest are invited for the part-time position (currently Mon to Fri, 25 hours) as Office Administrator.

Please email office@stjohnsessendon.org.au for a position description.

MIND BODY SPIRIT Service - North Balwyn UCA, Duggan St. North Balwyn (Mel. 46 F3) SUNDAY 26 FEBRUARY 5.30 - 7.30pm - David Nyuol Vincent David is from South Sudan and now works in Australia as a Refugee advocate Topic - “The Boy Who Wouldn’t Die” David’s memoir "The Boy Who Wouldn't Die" tells of his remarkable survival from recruitment as a child soldier to becoming a passionate advocate for peace and human rights.

SUNDAY 26 MARCH 5.30 - 7.30pm - Pastor Kevin Maddock Kevin has been visiting prisons weekly since 1979. The last four years he has Pastored a fellowship for ex-prisoners called “Friends of Dismas” - www.friendsofdismas.org.au.

Topic - “Lessons learnt from 30 years of prison visiting” Things that the Good Lord has revealed about life, crime, redemption and the Prison System.

Talks are followed by soup & Reflective Worship Further details: 9857 8412, mail@nbuc.org.au or www.nbuc.org.au

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CROSSLIGHT - FEBRUARY 17

Notices WORLD DAY OF PRAYER SERVICE 11AM, FRIDAY 3 MARCH Wesley Uniting Church, 100 Yarra Street, Geelong.

Theme: “Am I being fair to you?” arranged by the Committee from the Phillipines, followed by a light lunch.

USED BOOK SALE, GLEN WAVERLEY UNITING CHURCH 8.30AM – 1PM, SATURDAY 4 MARCH Glen Waverley Uniting Church, cnr Kingsway and Bogong Ave. Thousands of cheap books for all ages.

Devonshire tea is also available. All proceeds from the fete support our Church.

Donations of books gratefully received at the church in the week preceding the sale.

For further information, please contact the Church Office on P: 03 9560 3580.

UNICARE HISTORY LAUNCH 1.30PM, SUNDAY, 5 MARCH North Balwyn Uniting Church, Duggan Street, Balwyn North.

The Official History of Unicare documents a Uniting Church initiative which operated in North Balwyn from 1978 to 2005.

The book, by Graham Beanland, will be launched by Rev Dr Peter Blackwood at North Balwyn UC on Sunday 5 March at 1.30pm. Copies will be available at the launch, price $20. Please RSVP to Ruth Shipp on P: 03 9836 0227.

AUTUMN MUSICAL, WESTERN HEIGHTS UNITING CHURCH 2.30PM, SUNDAY, 5 MARCH Western Heights Uniting Church, Douglass Street, Herne Hill, Geelong.

Music singing – choir and community, with a Devonshire tea. Entry by donation of $10 to support the Winchelsea Uniting Church. For more information contact Barry on P: 03 5241 7073 or Richard on P: 03 5221 2808.

50 YEARS AS CHURCH OF ALL NATIONS: WHO DO YOU SAY I AM? 10AM SERVICE AND 12.30PM FORUM, SUNDAY 5 MARCH Church of All Nations, 180 Palmerston St, Carlton.

You are invited to a Service of Celebration and a special forum on multiculturalism and Christianity in contemporary Australia.

For more details see http://carlton-uca.org/ news/event/who-do-you-say-i-am/ GROVEDALE’S BIGGEST & BEST BOOK SALE, GROVEDALE UNITING CHURCH 1PM – 4PM, FRIDAY 17 MARCH and 10AM – 4PM, SATURDAY 18 MARCH Grovedale Uniting Church, cnr Reserve Road and Torquay Road, Grovedale.

Thousands of books from as little as 50 cents including fiction, memoirs, sport, cooking, gardening, old & collectible, reference, art, science, literature, royalty, children’s and young adult and magazines.

Entry is by gold coin donation.

YOUNG ADULTS TRANSFORM CONFERENCE 17 – 19 MARCH The next UCA young adults Transform Conference will be held from 17 – 19 March on the theme “Empires, Evil, and Evangelism: thinking about discipleship and mission with the book of Revelation.”

For more info go to www.transformgatherings.com.

SCOTS UNITING CHURCH 175TH ANNIVERSARY 2PM, SUNDAY 7 MAY Scots Uniting Church, 1702 Sydney Road, Campbellfield.

The Scots Uniting Church will celebrate 175 years of continuous worship on the site with a Thanksgiving Service at 2pm. Rev Sharon Hollis, Moderator, will be the guest preacher. For more information contact Val Williams on P: 03 9357 8551 or Jocie Virthisel on P: 9309 1062 or M. 0419 668 884.

UNITING CLINICAL PASTORAL EDUCATION, INTENSIVE SUPERVISED PASTORAL EDUCATION UNIT 20 JUNE TO 30 AUGUST A full-time CPE unit will be offered commencing 20 June and concluding 30 August 2017. Interviews will be on Tuesday, 11 April. Applications close 31 March 2017. For more information contact Andy Calder, Centre Director, Uniting CPE – The John Paver Centre, P: 03 9251 5489 or email: andy.calder@victas.uca.org.au.

Refer to www.aspea.org.au for more specific details of program components.

SPINIFEX BLESSING – A Collection of Stories Following the sell-out of the first edition of Spinifex Blessing by Julie Perrin, a second edition is now available at www. ctmresourcing.org.au/spinifex-blessing @ $15 per set of three A6 volumes + $3 postage and packaging. The three small volumes contain 24 of Perrin’s stories, previously published in the Sunday Age faith column.

THE HUB IN 2017 The Hub at the Glen Waverley Uniting Church, corner Bogong Avenue and Kingsway, resumes on Tuesday, 31 January 2017. The Hub is open Tuesday and Thursdays 10am - 2pm, and Wednesdays 10am - 12noon. People of all ages are welcome. For information P: 03 9560 3580.

CLASSIFIEDS CALOUNDRA, Sunshine Coast, Queensland: Beachside units, from $400/ wk. For details contact Ray P: 0427 990 161 E: rayandjean@hotmail.com.

CAPE WOOLAMAI, Summerhays Cottage. Sleeps three. Tranquil garden.

Stroll to beach. Discount for UCA members. www.summerhayscottage.com.au.

Ring Doug or Ina P: 0403 133 710.

GRAMPIANS WORSHIP, When visiting The Grampians, join the Pomonal Community Uniting Church congregation for worship each Sunday at 10am.

LORNE, Spacious apartment, breathtaking ocean view, open fire, peaceful, secluded, affordable.

P: 03 5289 2698.

QUALIFIED CHRISTIAN PAINTER, handy-man, interior/exterior work, available outer eastern suburbs.

P: 03 9725 6417.

SENIORS’ SPECIAL: Enjoy a break in luxury surroundings. Three days and three nights, dinner, bed and breakfast for $450 per couple (including GST).

Jindivick Gardens. P: 03 5628 5319.

TWO BEDROOM INDEPENDENT LIVING UNITS (OVER 55’s): St Andrew’s Close, Stratford. www.ucgipps.org.au. P: 03 5144 7777.

WANTED TO BUY: Antiques, second hand/retro furniture, bric a brac and collectables. Single items or whole house lots. Genuine buyer. Contact Kevin P: 0408 969 920.

WRIGHT MEDIATION: Qualified family dispute resolution services for couples who have separated, or where separation is likely, are offered at 12 Chesterville Rd. Cheltenham.

Visit: www.fdrr.ag.gov.au Other dispute resolution related services are offered off-site by arrangement, including: • Church-based facilitation and mediation • Clinical supervision.

Visit: www.vadr.asn.au/vadr-members.html Contact: Max Wright, MAASW accredited registered family dispute resolution practitioner, accredited mediator or E: wright80@tpg.com.au or M: 0429 168 812 (office hours).

Uniting Church in Australia ASSEMBLY

POSITIONS VACANT • • •

Associate General Secretary, Assembly Resourcing Unit National Consultant (3 positions), Assembly Resourcing Unit National Director, Frontier Services

The Assembly is the national council of the Uniting Church with responsibility for matters of doctrine, worship, government, discipline, policy and promoting the Church’s mission in the world. We currently have four (4) positions effective July 2017 for the newly-created Assembly Resourcing Unit (ARU), as well as one (1) position for Frontier Services effective March 2017.

All incumbents will require outstanding communication skills, along with high attention to detail, project management experience and the ability to multi-task across various projects, multiple entities and a diverse range of stakeholders.

A deep understanding of the Uniting Church is essential for success in the ARU roles, whilst fundraising and communications in a church or similar NFP environment is essential to the Frontier Services position.

For more information about each of these positions, please go to our website: assembly.uca.org.au/jobs.

FEBRUARY 17 - CROSSLIGHT

EDUCATOR/COUNSELLOR An exciting role is now available for an experienced Educator/Counsellor.

Working with the Bethel Centre, this is a great opportunity for a multiskilled practitioner who is passionate about supporting individuals and congregations to thrive, free of hurt and abuse.

To secure this role you will have: • • • •

Experience in designing, facilitating and delivering educational workshops; Qualifications and experience in counselling with eligibility for membership of a professional association; Understanding of the issues of abuse and misuse of power in the church; Skills and experience in working with trauma

Obtain a position description and apply online today at: https://ucavictas.mercury.com.au Applications close: 24 February 2017

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Opinion Rethinking Audacious Hope

CARLA WELLS is a former Crosslight journalist who lives in the USA with her husband Chris and young daughter Portia.

She shared with us her reaction to the impending Trump presidency.

ON the night of 8 November 2016, in the Bay Area of San Francisco, there was an eerie silence in the air. Left-leaning election hopefuls – the strong majority of the local population – stared in shock at TV screens as the results trickled through. The bottles of champagne intended for celebration soon became a source of comfort. What had just happened?

I went to bed that night in disbelief, hoping that by the time morning came they would announce there had been a mistake: that the counts were wrong, that what they were televising was just a joke. At around midnight, my husband and I heard what could either have been a gunshot or a firework. Was someone in our neighbourhood actually lauding the results? Either with their right to bear arms, as Donald Trump so smugly celebrates, or with a firework that represents the President-elect himself:

abrupt, flashy and potentially dangerous.

Either scenario was equally frightening.

I checked on my one-year-old who was fast asleep and prayed that things would be different by the time she is old enough to understand. As the daughter of an Australian mother and American father, she’s fortunate to have options. If needed, I can take my family back to Australia where we can enjoy universal public health care and education, find work in one of the few economies that didn’t crash during the GFC, earn a minimum of $17.70 an hour (compared to $7.25 in the US), or fall back on a relatively steady welfare system during times of financial hardship.

But if my daughter was old enough to understand, what would running away to my country of origin communicate to her? And if she had friends that weren’t able to do the same, what would that communicate to them? Isn’t that what we blame the 1 per cent of doing? Finding refuge in their wealth and blinding themselves to the struggles of the people that surround them.

In Northern California we are fortunate to live amongst like-minded people that, in my experience, are mostly kind-hearted, progressive thinkers. When I wore my pro-Hillary ‘Nasty Woman’ t-shirt on election day, I received nothing but praise from passers-by.

When I wore my safety pin after the election to show solidarity with the targets of bigotry, no-one batted an eyelid because it was understood that they all felt the same. I wasn’t

being ‘revolutionary’, I was practising common decency. So in several ways our family is protected from the potential impacts of Trump becoming the 45th President of the United States of America.

I’m still not sure how the world will change after his inauguration. In some ways it feels like a funeral for the Western freedoms and values we have fought for and come to know as mainstream. Maybe Trump’s policies won’t be as destructive as his campaigning rhetoric suggested.

What we do know is that his Machiavellian tactics have already had their societal impact. Or, as Meryl Streep so eloquently put it during her Golden Globes speech (after recounting Trump’s ‘performance’ of imitating a disabled journalist): “This instinct to humiliate, when it’s modelled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life, because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing.”

And we’ve already seen the public imitate his behaviour or act on perceived understandings of his attitudes. According to USA Today, the Southern Poverty Law Centre logged 200 complaints of hate crimes within four days after the election, a number that is much larger than ‘typical’.

Even if Trump condemns these acts now, he should take responsibility for inspiring them in the first place.

Maybe he won’t deport immigrants and build a wall between the United States and Mexico. Maybe he won’t make Muslims have to register. Maybe he won’t abolish all aspects of the Affordable Care Act and maybe he will actually do some good for the economy. And though it takes pushing down all my pride to say this: I hope that I’m wrong about Trump and that he turns out to be an effective President who helps the economy and brings about change for the desperate people who voted for him.

But for the many that still live in fear of his presidency and are hurting from the discriminatory words spoken against them, my family and I will be available and waiting.

We’ll be available to offer support, comfort and a listening ear and waiting to share whatever resources we can with those who’ve had their stability ripped from under them.

We’ll also be educating ourselves and opening our eyes to the plight of the many Americans living in rural and depressed parts of the US, whose situations are not as readily highlighted by the mainstream media.

We hope to be part of the counter-cultural revolution that starts with our ideological cohort and trickles through all parts of the country, to build a solidarity that is stronger than the government.

It might sound audacious, but as the autobiography of the amazing President we have had over the past eight years taught me, sometimes hope has to be.

Picture credit: Garth Jones

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CROSSLIGHT - FEBRUARY 17

Crossword This month in Crosslight For the cluey reader COMPILED BY LYNDA NEL ACROSS 3. From Parliament House, he provides a ‘short back and sides’ 5. What month was Synod 2016 held in?

7. Epidemic sweeping Uganda 9. What are we called to do?

12. A Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin who provided embalming spices for Jesus’ body 13. Valley of the brown coal 14. NCYC for the young and not-so-young this summer 15. Years since the formation of the UCA 17. One of the best ways to find, explore and develop our voice 19. Sharon Hollis is our current...

20. The northern capital of Sri Lanka DOWN 1. Gospel enculturing of spiritual encounter over a meal and discussion 2. The changing of yourself but also others through love and understanding 4. Whistleblower website (see Crosslight Online) 6. Bird on the UCA logo 8. Peace, or ‘all things in right relationship’ 10. Name of the ‘quiet space’ at St Michael’s Uniting Church 11. What cows do when chewing the cud 16. First word in the Vision and Mission Principles 18. A thin, flat cake of batter, fried on both sides and flipped in the pan

Giving is Living Spirit of giving TIM LAM

Loving God, We give thanks for the gift of life Let us cherish every moment we have on this earth Celebrating life in all its fullness Rejoicing in the presence of our family and friends Amen world can experience grace.”

As part of the Giving is Living program, a number of resources are available to enrich congregations’ understanding of the relationship between their weekly offering and God’s mission.

The Giving is Living calendar, distributed every year with the November Crosslight, features images and stories that highlight the many missional and outreach activities Uniting Church members participate in.

This year’s calendar, which focuses on the theme ‘Changing Lives’, showcases stories of hope and love both locally and abroad, from a café in Hoppers Crossing to an orphanage in Zimbabwe.

The spiritual aspects of giving are reaffirmed through a range of online resources available for download from the synod website.

Monthly pew sheets highlight acts of generosity that take place in local communities and random acts of kindness from everyday encounters. Each pew sheet is accompanied by a short reflection that explores the connection between faith, scripture and social justice. Church members are encouraged to share their own reflections with the wider church community by contacting the Giving is Living team.

The pew sheets80% can be printed out and distributed as part of the weekly newsletter.

Some churches use the pew sheets stories to introduce newcomers to the message of the Gospel in an accessible manner.

Monthly prayers are also available on the website. They can be used during worship or as part of PowerPoint presentations. How congregations choose to incorporate these resources into their church life is in their creative hands.

To access the Giving is Living resources, visit: bit.ly/GivingIsLivingUCA To contribute to the pew sheets contact: tim.lam@victas.uca.org.au

ACROSS 3. Hairdresser 5. June 7. AIDS 9. Love 12. Nicodemus 13. Latrobe 14. Yurora 15. Forty 17. Storytelling 19. Moderator 20. Jaffna

FROM a mobile ministry in Outback Victoria to a community hub on the Mornington Peninsula, Uniting Church congregations are involved in a variety of projects that live out the Church’s mission.

Many of these projects rely on assistance from the synod’s Mission Support Fund.

The fund allocates grants to ‘seed’ a longterm project, such as ministry education, ecumenical activities, cross-cultural ministry, advocacy and congregational support.

Every Sunday, congregations in Victoria and Tasmania contribute to the Mission Support Fund through their weekly offering. The synod’s Giving is Living program enables Uniting Church members to witness their offering in action. It offers a glimpse of the many mission and ministry activities taking place in the synod and hopes to encourage a spirit of generosity throughout the Church.

Cheryl Lawrie, is the executive director of the Commission for Mission which oversees the Giving is Living program. She said it was important to recognise the importance of selfless giving in the life of the church.

“Giving is one of the most powerful acts of discipleship,” Ms Lawrie said.

“It’s a reminder that the world doesn’t simply exist for our own survival or fulfillment; that faith calls us into a space of grace, where we receive and offer undeserved kindness.

When we give, expecting nothing in return, we become instruments through which the

DOWN 1. Cafechurch 2. Transformation 4. WikiLeaks 6. Dove 8. Shalom 10. Mingary 11.Ruminate 16.Following 18. Pancake

ANSWERS TO ‘THIS MONTH IN CROSSLIGHT’ CROSSWORD FEBRUARY 17 - CROSSLIGHT

23

Synod Snaps

“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.”

- Eudora Welty

Richmond Uniting Church invited visitors and church members to write and draw their Christmas prayers in chalk on the Prayer Stairs in front of the church.

Children dressed up and joined in a Nativity scene as part of community carols organised by the Mt Waverley and Chadstone Interchurch Council. Rev James Douglas of St Luke’s Uniting Church in Mt Waverley was the event MC.

Wesley Church Melbourne presented its minister Rev Alistair Macrae a new purple stole featuring traditional Easter and Christmas symbols. It was designed by congregation member Jan Harris (right) and embroidered by Margaret Grinton (left) from Burwood Heights UC. (Photo: Geoffrey Grinton)

The High Street Road Uniting Church congregation hosted the musical production Popa Panov’s Christmas Dreams as part of their Christmas celebrations (Photo: Ian Bock)

The synod accounts services team got into the Christmas spirit with a gingerbread house made by the multitalented Heather Ackland (front second from right)

John Stanley has been a church organist since he was a teenager. He is a ‘living treasure’ of the St Albans–St Andrews congregation in Geelong and recently celebrated his 98th birthday.

Burwood Heights Uniting Church donated 160 Christmas hampers to families in the local community (Photo: Geoffrey Grinton)

Rev Christine Aisbett at Wangaratta UC used stories from Spinifex Blessing during Advent.

St John’s Uniting Church in Mt Waverley organised a Carols by Candlelight service in December.

(Photo: Ian Bock)