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Sustained by faith, hope and love

Posted on by in Reflection and tagged , .

Rev Nalin Perera, Chaplain at Wesley College shares his reflections on faith, hope and love through the journey of life.

Throughout my adult life journey I have discovered with each passing year that life, first and foremost, is a journey of hope, with its twin companion, faith. Ultimately, by necessity, life has to also be a journey of love, otherwise it will lack depth and any real sense of purpose.

In the early weeks of January, I was struck down by a mystery illness, so serious that I was rushed to hospital and admitted to intensive care. Continue Reading

Stack of stamps raise funds for Frontier Services

Posted on by in News and tagged .

One Sunday afternoon our front doorbell rang, and in came Kelvin Woodward, Treasurer of our congregation, Kardinya Uniting Church.

“Hi Betty,” he said. “Are you still collecting used stamps?”

“Yes,” I replied, “For Frontier Services!”

When Kelvin said he had a few boxes for us, I gestured with my hands a box the size of a shoe box.

“No,” Kelvin said, spreading his arms wide to indicate a very large box. Continue Reading

Armadale-Kelmscott gets smart with Smarty Pants clothing swaps

Posted on by in News and tagged .

Armadale-Kelmscott Uniting Church partnered with Good Samaritan Industries (GSI), a Uniting Church WA agency, to hold their very first Smarty Pants Swap Shop in early August.

The congregation invited members of their local community to drop in and donate good quality, clean clothes they no longer need. They were then invited to take what they would like from the  already donated items. Continue Reading

Uniting Church WA opts to deliberate further on Voluntary Assisted Dying

Posted on by in News and tagged .

At its 43rd Annual Meeting of the Synod of WA, held last Friday 13 to Sunday 15 September, the Uniting Church WA discussed its position on Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD).

Members held a lengthy and meaningful discussion that was marked by the sincere respect displayed between people of differing views. No formal position was taken on the matter with the Synod deciding to extend its deliberation period.  The Synod did formally recognise that, “Within the Church there is a diversity of faithful Christian understandings and responses to dying and to voluntary assisted dying.”Continue Reading

Editorial: We’re back!

Posted on by in Editorial and tagged .

After a short hiatus, Revive magazine is back in print with a brand new look. We’ve made a few changes to the structure and layout of the magazine, as well as the distribution; we’ll now be printing four times a year, instead of six.

One of my favourite additions to Revive is the recipe section on page 25. Not because I love cooking (actually, I hate it!), but because I love church morning teas. My brother, Phil, often jokes that being at a church event is the only time we ever get to eat curried egg sandwiches anymore. And I think he’s probably right. Continue Reading

Uniting Church WA calls for justice at its Annual Meeting of the Synod

Posted on by in Faith in Action, News and tagged .

The 43rd Annual Meeting of the Uniting Church Synod of WA was held over the weekend, Friday 13 to Sunday 15 September, at Scotch College Perth.

Members of the meeting, including representatives from Uniting Church WA schools, agencies, congregations and faith communities, made a range of decisions, including to:

  • support the 2017 Statement from the Heart, and urge the Commonwealth Government to listen to it and establish a First Nations’ Voice in the Constitution, and the Makarrata Commission;
  • call on the Commonwealth Government not to expand Cashless Debit Card trials, and instead work with communities on transitioning to a voluntary scheme co-designed with communities that includes holistic and coordinated support services;
  • call on the Federal Government to begin restoration of overseas aid cuts and commit to achieving the internationally agreed target of 0.7% Gross National Income (GNI) by 2030, beginning with a return to the top half of rich country aid donors by the end of the next parliamentary term;
  • call on the Federal Government for a compassionate and generous refugee sponsorship program; supporting the introduction of a new Community Refugee Sponsorship model to assist refugees to resettle in Australia.

Continue Reading

Doing it tough on the land: supporting our farmers

Posted on by in Features and tagged , .

Farmers in WA are facing desperate drought conditions inland, while those in the north are still recovering from the floods of two years ago.

Inland, WA farmers are battling the impact of the worst drought in living memory. The grass is dead. The ground is barren. Hand feeding stock is relentless, physically demanding and it takes most  of the day and most of the farmer’s energy. Then there is the crippling financial pressure as feed and water prices soar. Continue Reading