Join us!
Penrith Uniting Church Fete
Hosted on our grounds at Castlereagh Conference Centre

What's happening:
• Start your early Christmas shopping and buy from a range of local and handmade market stalls
• Raising money for a new rose garden & columbarium
• The reprint of “John Lees The Chapel Builder” book, with new forewords by Jillian Critchley daughter of Merle Kavanagh and Rev Noreen Towers minister at Castlereagh will be available for purchase
• Purchase & Donate a plant towards our new labyrinth garden
• Enjoy a Sausage sizzle lunch and Devonshire Tea
• Explore our beautiful grounds, venue and accommodation

Event details

Calling for Focus Group Nominations

The Act2 Project is hosting Focus Groups. We are asking you to nominate key leaders that we can contact to be part of these groups.

Dear Minister and Local Leaders,

Thank you for your continual involvement with the Act2 Project thus far.
Between September 12th and October 5th, we are planning to facilitate focus groups to have targeted, specific and relevant conversations that engage ministers, lay leaders, members and participants in communities of faith across the breadth of the life of the Uniting Church in Australia.
We are well into the 'collective discernment' phase and are now looking to have another round of focus group conversations. In these focus group conversations, particular attention will be placed on Workstream 1 and the Directions given in the latest report.

We are asking for your help to
• register to be involved in a focus group
• forward this email to a leader in your community
We want to welcome a diversity of experiences from across the Uniting Church. Therefore we invite people to register for the Focus Groups. In some circumstances for size and balance we may not be able to accomodate your registration and look for another focus group in which you can participate.
Please follow the link below to register:
REGISTER for FOCUS GROUPS

You can read more information about each of the focus groups HERE.

For more details on the latest report and the broader project plan please visit the Act2 website.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Grace and peace,
Andrew Johnson
Act2 Project Lead

Focus Group Information

Contact the Act2 team
The Act2 Project is served by a national Steering Committee and a staffed Project Unit. Meet the Act2 team and find out how to contact us.

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PILGRIMS OF THE PLANET
Coming to terms with Climate Change and the shift to the Anthropocene.

12-14 September 2023 | Centre for Ministry, North Parramatta

Dear friends,

We have excellent speakers and presentation topics for the upcoming conference: ‘Pilgrims with the Planet’, 12-14 September at the Centre for Ministry, North Parramatta. See the attached poster and please share it around.

The aim of this conference is to engage the discourse of the “Anthropocene” in order to explore what theology – broadly conceived – might add to what must be a multidisciplinary discussion.

Along with keynote Ernst Conradie, other speakers include:
• Gerald West – biblical scholarship and social engagement in South Africa (and beyond)
• Vicky Balabanski – Earth Bible Project and Principal at the UCA college in Adelaide
• Clive Hamilton – Australian public intellectual & former Climate Council member

We’d love to see you for one session or the whole event. Register here! Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Best wishes,

Rev Dr Peter Walker BA (Hons) BTh PhD
Principal | United Theological College
Director of Education | Uniting Church NSW & ACT

Copyright (C) 2023 Uniting Church Synod of NSW & ACT. All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
United Theological College
16 Masons Drive
NORTH PARRAMATTA, NSW 2151
Australia

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Act2 Update for local communities of faith

New Report
Act2: In Response to God's Call

Dear leaders in our congregations and faith communities,
The Act2 Project team is excited to announce the release of the latest Act2 report, Act2: In Response to God’s Call. This is the third report of the Act2 Project, and the first since the creation of the Act2 Steering Committee and Project Unit in late 2022.
We want to thank all those communities which responded to our invitation to give input through your Church Councils in the first half of the year. Your input has significantly shaped this report. We hope you see the joys and challenges you shared with us reflected in our summary of what we heard.
Over the next five months we will be in a time of intense discernment as we unpack the report and explore the future directions and options put forward in the report. Every part of the Uniting Church will be invited to engage and to respond. More information about how to do this will come to you shortly!
In the meantime, there are some opportunities already available. Find details about these below.
We look forward to sharing with you in this important moment of discernment and imagination. Now is the time for prayer and participation as together we discern the leading of the Spirit for the future of our Church.
Please don't hesitate to reach out to our team for more information or with questions. Find all the ways you can contact us here.
Grace and peace,
Andrew Johnson
Act2 Project Lead

To all ministry agents and congregation and presbytery office bearers:

Dear Friends

The Uniting Climate Action Network is gathering to plan next steps, and you’re invited!

The Uniting Climate Action Network (UCAN) was established in 2021. It’s a way of connecting people in the Uniting Church and wider community who believe care for the earth and all its life matters. For many in the church this care is an important dimension of their faith, discipleship, and mission. For others, it’s a core personal conviction and value. For all, it’s a motivation to act – on climate change, protecting forests, reducing waste and pollution, for the health of our rivers, and many other concerns.

UCAN’s vision is to foster, support and grow this type of action. Of course, we encourage members to join in advocacy on climate change as part of the Synod Climate Action Strategy (this Strategy was established by a resolution at the 2019 Synod meeting). But we also aim to support the different issues and grassroots initiatives that our members and congregations are engaged in.

To focus our efforts, UCAN is having an online next steps gathering on the evening of Monday May 22, from 7.00pm-8.30pm . You and all interested people are invited to be part of it.

Why now?

It is nearly one year since the Federal election. There have been some positive developments in climate policy and practical action since then. But the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reminds us we need to ramp up the scale and urgency of action if we are to secure a safe climate future for all.

At the UCAN gathering we will:
• Reflect on what has happened in climate since the election and where we are at now
• Remind ourselves of how climate action fits with the faith and values of the Uniting Church and our own values
• Identify the key actions needed to reduce emissions nationally and what part we can play in those, as well as other concerns of members
• Hear what resources and training we offer to support network members in both broader climate action and other grassroots environmental issues

You don’t have to be an existing UCAN member to join in the forum. All those with an interest in environmental care and action on climate change are welcome.
You can register for the UCAN next steps gathering here.

If you have any questions or need more information please contact Jon O’Brien in the Uniting Advocacy team, on 0477 725 528 or at [email protected]

Jon O’Brien
Social Justice Advocate
    
           
…to inspire people, enliven communities
and confront injustice                                  
                                                                                                            
War Memorial Building 13 Blackwood Place, North Parramatta, 2151
M 0477 725 528 • P 02 9407 3225 • F 02 9890 5969
uniting.org

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Practical Completion is expected before 10th February 2023.

I will be there!