Anniversaries.

Ok. The really important one first: today is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As we look around the world, we see there is still so much to be done. Even in Australia! According to the Getup! campaign , Australia is the only democracy in the world without human rights protection. We don’t [...]

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Living the mission of God as disciples of Jesus united in the Spirit

Yesterday, the morning and evening congregations worked on our missional goals, based on some work done over the past few months by leaders of groups in the congregation, and based on our draft vision statement:
Living the mission of God as disciples of Jesus united in the Spirit
We’ve spelled things out a bit more in an [...]

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New ordination services for the Uniting Church in Australia

On 17 November I posted that I was back from Sydney, where one of the things I did (on behalf of the Working Group on Worship) was to present the Assembly Standing Committee with new services of ordination and induction for ministers of the Word—presbyters in many other churches—and deacons.
They take effect from 1 January, [...]

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Back from Sydney…

…and not long after I was home, the worst storm in 20 years hit Brisbane. Some of the congregation sustained damage to trees, but I haven’t heard of any more than that.
At the Assembly Standing Committee, I presented two things:
A document they had requested called A Brief Statement on Ordination, which succinctly states the Assembly’s [...]

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Liturgical thought of the day (7)

From Aidan Kavanagh, Elements of Rite. For me, a wonderful quotation in the midst of so much of a self-conscious, even a ‘game-show-host’, model of liturgical leadership:
 
Ministers must not pose or seem pompous; neither should they be careless or seem to be self-conscious, flippant or condescending. They must be and seem to be completely attuned [...]

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