Quote of the Week
“How can we justify to our children, to the people of the Pacific, to the vulnerable in our community who will continue to suffer through heatwaves and other weather
extremes, that it is morally okay to expand a practice we know is going to cause harm?" Susy Thomas, Moderator, Uniting Church in WA https://unitingchurchwa.org.au/news/media-release-ucwa-calls-for-no-fuel-projects-11-september-2022/
Hi <<First Name>>,
This update comes to you after a super busy fortnight for the Social Justice Unit as we prepared and attended the Annual Meeting of the Synod of WA over the weekend.
We were really pleased that the four proposals we took to the meeting were passed and will enable us to strengthen our advocacy in these important areas. The Uniting Church in WA now has resolutions on:
Our position on Gambling generated some media interest on Monday. Did you hear Geoff on the ABC Radio? You can listen to his interview with the morning program here.
It's been great to hear of congregations and small groups using our Sustainable September material. If your faith community has been taking part in Sustainable September we'd love to hear about it - feel free to send us a photo or tag us in a social post about it!
This Sunday Rev Gordon Scantlebury will be joining the Social.Justice.Church service at Wesley Uniting Church, Perth for a Sustainable September themed service - everybody welcome!
See our Actions & Upcoming Events section for more great ways to connect with social justice issues in the next few months!
For the sake of justice and peace,
Geoff & Wendy
46th Annual Meeting of the Synod of WA
The Social Justice Unit and the Commissions we resource had an opportunity to present reports and proposals to the Annual Synod meeting on Saturday 10 September.
Rev Mitchell Garlett and Geoff Bice spoke to the Covenanting Commission report, and Rev Dr Alison Longworth and Rev Mervyn Anderson moved a proposal by the Commission on 'Refreshing the Covenant' which was agreed by consensus.
Reports were presented by Kerry Povey, Chair of the International Partnerships and Development Commission and Mark Brisbane, Chair of the Social Justice Commission.
The Social Justice Commission brought three proposals to the Synod meeting; Online Gambling, Housing and Homelessness and Climate Change. We're pleased to report that all of these proposals were agreed by consensus. You can read the media releases on the website here - https://unitingchurchwa.org.au/media-releases/
A big thanks to all of our Commission members for your time, passion, and contributions to the life and ministry of the church in WA.
The Uniting Church Synod of Western Australia acknowledges the Wadjuk people of the Noongar nation, on whose land our Synod office stands. We acknowledge their elders past and present, and their people.
At its 7th Assembly the Uniting Church formally entered into a relationship of Covenant with its Indigenous members, recognising and repenting for the Church’s complicity in the injustices perpetrated on Australia’s Indigenous community, and pledging to move forward with a shared future. Congress’ generous response to this statement, among other messages, called upon the broader Church to take up the mission of reconciliation.
The ongoing and continually renewing nature of the Covenant calls the Uniting Church to continually act to remove the systems and structures of discrimination and oppression in Australia.The Uniting Church works for just, inclusive and equal relationships, recognising the place of First Peoples in Australia.
