Crosslight

Highfield Road Uniting Church has a number of features in place to make access easier for Jill Mills, pictured with her husband Marshall. By Andrew Humphries From worship services suited to neurodivergent people to social gatherings for those with intellectual disabilities, Victorian and Tasmanian congregations are answering the call to improve disability access.

Rev Paul Bauer and his dog Roy at Kangaroo Flat Uniting Church. Monday Like many in ministry I have Mondays off. There are different things I enjoy doing, but it is always good fun taking my greyhound Roy to the Strathdale dog park or Kennington Reservoir and then having a coffee. They say it’s great socialising for a dog, but it is also fantastic socialising for me as well.

Rev Lynden Broadstock loves his volunteer role at Dalton McCaughey Library in Parkville. Image: Sarah Hellyer By Andrew Humphries As he gets ready for his weekly volunteer shift, retired Uniting Church minister Rev Lynden Broadstock admits to feeling like a small child in a lolly shop. For the lifelong reader, his volunteer role at the Dalton McCaughey Library in Parkville is about as good as it gets.

Rev Lynden Broadstock loves his volunteer role at Dalton McCaughey Library in Parkville. Image: Sarah Hellyer By Andrew Humphries As he gets ready for his weekly volunteer shift, retired Uniting Church minister Rev Lynden Broadstock admits to feeling like a small child in a lolly shop. For the lifelong reader, his volunteer role at the Dalton McCaughey Library in Parkville is about as good as it gets.

Kate Thompson wears the shawl given to her as a gift in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack. Image: Greg Ford By Marina Williams Kate Thompson was driving when she first heard about an attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14 last year. “I was a bit shell-shocked,” says Kate, who has Jewish heritage. Two gunmen had opened fire on a public gathering marking the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, allegedly killing 15 people, including a 10-year-old child.

Recent attendance at the Asian Ecumenical Youth Assembly in Thailand has expanded Sione Hehepoto’s understanding of faith. By Marina Williams When Sione Hehepoto returned from the Christian Conference of Asia’s Asian Ecumenical Youth Assembly (AEYA) in Chiang Mai, Thailand, he brought back more than memories of the five-day gathering.

Uniting Church members throughout Victoria and Tasmania have an opportunity to contribute to the Faithful Futures project. Faithful Futures Project Lead Karen Roberts describes Faithful Futures as an opportunity for the church community to celebrate ministry that is already underway. It’s also a call to step with purpose into new possibilities for ministry and mission in local contexts over the next five years, guided by five shared goals.

Edith was forced to live in her campervan in a remote area with no electricity or running water (image is an actor representation). By Meg Hocking At 73, Edith* should have been enjoying her retirement. Instead, she found herself homeless, living in a campervan in isolated bushland with no electricity or running water. “It was the first time in my life I was actually frightened,” she says. “It’s a sense of hopelessness. You don’t know what to do or where to go.

A concert at Ballarat South Uniting Church, part of the Village Church Network. By Marina Williams Two new communities of faith in regional Victoria are testing different ways of being church – centred on relationships, shared experiences and openness to those beyond existing congregations. Both sit within the Uniting Church’s Faithful Futures vision, which identifies the creation of new communities of faith as one of its five shared goals.

Judy Grimm began playing the organ at Bordertown Methodist Church in 1951 and continues to play occasionally at Drysdale Uniting Church services. By Andrew Humphries In 1951 Robert Menzies was Prime Minister, Australia, New Zealand and the United States signed the Anzus Treaty and we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Federation. It was also the year a nervous 15-year-old girl began playing the organ at Bordertown Methodist Church’s worship services.