Uniting Church in Australia - Meet our new National Consultants, marking Remembrance Day, 1️⃣ month for your Act2 response, #ThisismyUnitingChurch Encounter Adelaide & more

View this email in your browser

8-14 November 2023 National Update Your weekly snapshot of the Uniting Church in Australia

Our Featured Story Meet the new Assembly National Consultants We are delighted to introduce you to Rev Kath Behan and Rev Dr Sunny Chen who were welcomed to the Uniting Church Assembly last week as new National Consultants. Meet them today in a special double edition of our Humans of the Uniting Church series! We ask them about their journey, what enlivens their faith in Jesus, what they're passionate about and what they're looking forward to in their new roles. Kath writes, "This would be my deepest hope for the church, and for what I would hope for my role within the Assembly – that we could reconnect and reaffirm the ‘basis of our union’ together in Christ, in a way that is both rugged and tenacious, compassionate and gracious, such that we choose to walk together following the call of Christ and are transformed by knowing each other." Sunny writes, I look forward to building relationships with various people, gaining a deeper understanding of the Church that I love, and contributing to this wonderful community. I hope that people would keep me in their prayers, praying for wisdom and perseverance. We invite you to pray for Sunny and Kath as they seek to serve the Assembly and the wider Uniting Church. Meet Kath Meet Sunny REMEMBRANCE DAY Marking Remembrance Day 2023 A video is now available for Uniting Church communities to mark Remembrance Day this coming Sunday, with the national commemoration to take place on Saturday 11 November. Squadron Leader Chaplain David Kelly, Uniting Church minister and Defence Force chaplain, offers a video greeting, prayer and blessing from inside the Chapel of the Resurrection at the RAAF Base in Townsville, Queensland. ACT2 PROJECT Less than one month for your Act2 response People across the Uniting Church have less than a month to make a response to the Act2 Project in the current Collective Discernment phase! Every part of the Uniting Church has been invited to respond to the Act2 report and the future Directions and Options, but this opportunity will close on 30 November. Now is the time to have your say! If the sheer amount of information and resources is overwhelming, we've put together a list of the three things people in local communities can do right now to equip themselves with the right information and get their response in during these final weeks. THIS IS MY UNITING CHURCH "For enthusiasm, wisdom and God's power" This week in our #ThisIsMyUnitingChurch series we chat with Pietta Brown, Generations Pastor at Encounter Church in Adelaide. Planted in 2018, Encounter meets at Enfield Uniting Church and is a thriving community of young people and young families. There's been eleven weddings and thirteen babies born in the last two years! Pietta shares where God is at work in this community and what the rest of the Uniting Church can pray for. Do you know a congregation with a great story to tell? Email us to nominate them! DISASTER RECOVERY Prayer and real help this bushfire season Our prayers are with fire affected regions across Australia as a fierce bushfire season continues to unfold. More than 1000 fires have burned through Queensland over the last two months with others burning in other parts of the the country since August. With a difficult summer ahead of us, Uniting Church members who would like to support disaster recovery efforts can do so through the Uniting Church National Disaster Relief Fund which supports and assists disaster affected communities in the long term. AROUND THE UNITING CHURCH Wrapping Preachfest! 2023 The Preachfest! 2023 conference closed on Friday after three inspiring days exploring the craft of preaching. Organised by the Synod of NSW/ACT in partnership with the Synod of VIC/TAS, Preachfest! had an impressive line-up of workshops and keynote speakers including Wiradjuri man Stan Grant and Jewish New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine. One of the highlights for many was the powerful sermon delivered by Stan Grant on the second day. A recording of the sermon is now available here, and check out the NSW/ACT Synod's Facebook page for more photos from across the three days. Image L-R: Synod of NSW/ACT Moderator Rev Mata Havea Hiliau, Stan Grant, Dr Matt Anslow and Rev Ben Gilmour. NEWS A new call for Colleen Geyer The Uniting Church Assembly is delighted to congratulate outgoing Assembly General Secretary Colleen Geyer on her new role as Director of Mission at Wesley Mission Queensland. Colleen announced in September that she would be leaving the Assembly at the end of 2023 after eight years of national leadership. She will commence at Wesley Mission Queensland in February 2024. We pray every blessing on Colleen as she prepares to take up this new call. INTERGENERATIONAL Resourcing your intergenerational community As part of a growing hub of intergenerational resources, 12 short resource papers are available from the Assembly to help you and your community reflect on and practice what it means to be and become a more intergenerational Church. The papers cover things like common understandings, different cultural perspectives and how to be more intergenerational in our worship, mission, preaching and discipleship. Download them now and share them with others in your community. Also, express interest now in the exciting new Regenerational resource with four complete services to introduce your church to intergenerational worship. Express interest by email!

UnitingWorld Everything in Common is here UnitingWorld has launched the new Everything in Common Gift Catalogue for 2023! It's filled with life-changing gifts that fight poverty and build hope in the world through health, education, leadership and income opportunities. And, beautiful Christmas cards! Shop now or sign up to host a gift stall in your church or community. Shop now Act2 Project Highlights: theology papers In April 2023, the Act2 Project issued a Call for Papers to hear from people across the Uniting Church about our theological culture. Since then we have shared 37 papers, provocations and reflections in a variety of genres and styles. All the papers are worth reading, but if it's overwhelming, we've compiled a list of papers to start with. We also have one new paper by Rev Andy Hogarth, minister at Journey Church in SA. Read now Act2 Project National Prayer Gathering At the end of November the Act2 Project will close six months of discernment across the Church. Join the Project team and Assembly leaders for a national time of prayer and thanksgiving as we prepare to turn to the proposals to come before the 17th Assembly next year. Register to join on Zoom, Thursday 30 November at 8pm AEDT (7:30pm ACDT, 6:30pm ACST, 5pm AWST). Register Frontier Services New Frontier News The November edition of Frontier Services' quarterly Frontier News is out now! It's packed with fantastic stories about the life-changing work of our Bush Chaplains and volunteers who "send a message with their presence" in rural and remote Australia. Image: newest Bush Chaplain Jennie Feldmeier (South West QLD). Read now Trans Day of Remembrance Worship resources available Monday 20 November is Transgender Day of Remembrance. Established in 1999, this is an annual day that honours the memory of transgender people whose lives have been lost to violence or suicide. A booklet with liturgical and prayer resources has been compiled by Pitt Street Uniting Church in Sydney for communities who wish to mark the occasion in worship before or after 20 November. Download now Justice Webinar: Electrifying your home The Uniting Climate Action Network in the Synod of NSW/ACT are hosting a free online webinar showcasing the Electrify 2515 initiative, a project of Rewiring Australia which seeks to equip everyday households to electrify their homes with renewable energy and consider their own transition to a sustainable future. Come and learn the difference it could make to your home. Read more

Positions Education and Resources Coordinator - Uniting Church Synod of WA Develop quality resources and opportunities to meet learning needs for ministry and mission. Children and Family Ministry Worker - Georges River Presbytery, NSW Work as part of a presbytery team supporting a vision and mission to 'Grow Young'. Upcoming Dates 16 November: Act2 Going Deeper session 18-21 November: Vic/Tas Synod meeting 25 November: 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence begins 30 November: Act2 National Prayer Gathering (online) 1 December: Beginning of Advent Check out more dates across the year Join us in prayer for All those whose lives have been lost in war, those who mourn, and those who continue to serve as we mark Remembrance Day on Saturday. May our conflicted world know God's peace. All those impacted by bushfires across the country. We pray for those on the frontlines and those coming alongside to provide relief. May there be safety and comfort. The Assembly Standing Committee, meeting in Sydney this weekend. The passionate ministry and mission of Encounter Church Adelaide. Oceania: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kanaky, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu as part of the WCC Ecumenical Prayer Cycle. What is your Uniting Church story? Email us! Share Tweet Forward