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Welcome to the Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania
Australian authorities defend Police powers during Pope's visit
Australian authorities defended giving police the power to fine protesters more than $5,000 if they annoy or inconvenience Catholic pilgrims during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Sydney this month.
The New South Wales state government, which introduced the regulations last week, said they are necessary to police the World Youth Day event, which organizers say will draw more than 125,000 international visitors to Sydney from July 15-20.
Link must be made between climate change and poverty
The Rudd Government’s response to the Garnaut draft report this Friday must tackle the injustice at the heart of climate change – that poor people in developing countries, who are the most affected, are least responsible for causing climate change.
In an effort to tackle this inequality, revenue from the proposed Emissions Trading Scheme should be used not only to reduce Australia’s own greenhouse emissions but also to fund Australia’s fair share of assisting developing countries which are struggling to cope with the ongoing impacts of climate change. Read on.
In era of green issues, Lutherans ponder how churches must act
Mount Kilimanjaro pokes through the clouds like an inverted cone dipped into white cream. Still, even on a winter's day, from the nearby town of Moshi, the mountain's majestic snow-capped peak shows bald patches, and these are increasing.
The melting snow on Kilimanjaro worries many people, not least the churches, which say they are deeply concerned about what humanity is doing to God's creation, the earth. Read on.
inTENTsive care with Médecins Sans Frontières
In August 2008, following a successful 13-year run in 13 countries around the globe, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Australia is launching the first Australian tour of "Refugee Camp in Your City."
42 million people throughout the world are either refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs) — people who have fled in search of safety from armed conflict.
In fact, entire generations of people have grown up with either of these statuses. Read on.
US church votes for change that could permit gay ordination
The general assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has approved a proposed change in the denomination's constitution that would, in effect, permit the ordination of openly gay clergy.
However, a majority of the 2.2-million-member denomination's local districts, known as presbyteries, must now approve the change, and those against gay ordination are likely to heavily oppose it. Similar efforts to change Presbyterian ordination rules in 1997 and 2001 failed. Read on.
Leading Australian theologian to steer global network
A leading Australian theologian at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will chair an international theological network from Tuesday 1 July and steer the organisation for the next three years.
Director of CSU’s Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture (ACCC), the Reverend Professor James Haire, AM, takes over from South Africa’s Professor Nico Koopman as chair of the Global Network for Public Theology (GNPT) which now has an office in Canberra, ACT. Read on.
