planet radical discipleship australia

swanhoeffer4

2010-04-06T01:54:24+00:00

Some articles on our Swan Island action for those interested…

The Age

Geelong Advertiser – articles one and two.

Indymedia Australia – articles one and two.

Indymedia World

Indymedia Luxembourg

Ekklesia

And now this page on Swan Island.

*edit* I also had a piece published in New Matilda. Join in the discussion.

UpperRoom - Easter Wildthings

2010-04-01T06:07:21+00:00

Apr

6:00 pm

The upper room project meets the first Monday of each month (6:-8:30pm) to engage with spirituality and justice as struggled with and fought for by the Prophets and Jesus. We meet upstairs in the Shine Café/Bar (74 Kingsway Glen Waverley) with gallery space, discussion corners, opportunity for practical response and pondering space.

We hope the upper room will be

Space to rest/relax with your tribe

Be challenged by the prophetic call of compassion

Connect with heartbeats for living

There will be food, wine and friends plus

Please bring your friends - all are welcome

This month Upper Room - We will be thinking about Easter and what idea link with the movie ‘where the wild things are’ .

Also, for those keen on a arguing about sadist and masochist theology and the atonement - you know “suffering as a process in which one member of the community of God masochistically endures the excruciating pain that another member of the community of God sadistically inflicts on him’ you can check out Dave’s paper. http://daveandrews.com.au/articles/The%20Crux%20of%20the%20Struggle.pdf

Facebook event if your on it

Dr. King’s answer to militias: not compliance but nonviolence

2010-04-01T05:35:09+00:00

martin-luther-king2.jpg

Easter Activists are Arrested

2010-03-30T23:43:14+00:00

Mar

6:00 am

Updates etc can be found here http://paceebene.org/blog/jarrod-mckenna/breaking-news-bonhoeffer-activists-secret-military-base-now and from the activists as it happens: http://twitter.com/jarrodmckenna

BREAKING NEWS: Bonhoeffer activists in Secret Military base NOW!!!

Rev. Simon Moyle (Baptist Minister), Jacob Bolton (Community Worker), Jessica Morrison (University Lecturer) and Simon Reeves (Social Worker) have called themselves the Bonhoeffer Peace Collective after Kevin Rudd’s favourite theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was also an antiwar activist.

News Release:

The Bonhoeffer Peace Collective

Activists breach secret military base

At 6am this morning, four Christian peace activists entered Swan Island, one ofAustralia’s most secret military installations near Queenscliff, Victoria, seeking to disrupt the war in Afghanistan.

“Both Swan Island and the war on Afghanistan are out of sight, out of mind. It’s time to end further suffering of the Afghan people and our soldiers by bringing our troops home,” the group said.

Swan Island is a highly secretive military installation used by the Army’s elite Special Air Service (SAS) and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS). Swan Island is said to be more secretive than Pine Gap in central Australia.

“In the week before the first Easter, Jesus blockaded the temple and turned the tables inside. Today we are imitating Jesus’ disruption”, the group said. “Sometimes you have to get in the way of injustice”.

“War can’t bring peace, it can only bring further terror, death and poverty,” the group said.

Rev. Simon Moyle (Baptist Minister), Jacob Bolton (Community Worker), Jessica Morrison (University Lecturer) and Simon Reeves (Social Worker) have called themselves the Bonhoeffer Peace Collective after Kevin Rudd’s favourite theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was also an antiwar activist.

you may remember the updates we had back here http://morepraxis.org.au/bonhoeffer-4-update-action-info/

BREAKING NEWS: Bonhoeffer activists in Secret Military base NOW!!!

2010-03-30T22:27:23+00:00

updates from the activists as it happens: http://twitter.com/jarrodmckenna

News Release:

Bonhoeffer_collective.jpg

Easter Feature - Just about to break

2010-03-30T22:12:48+00:00

‘Heavensent To Spill My Stuff’

This song has been spinning in my head this Palm Sunday and the lead up to Easter. There is something about the Bible going into real time this week, that plays with my spirit. So not being an expert of Paul Kelly (just a fan really) I am overlaying my framework of this week on his writings. Of course I also would argue that this is what we all do anyway - just without the preamble.

Those who know me would have heard my rants about Palm Sunday and practicing ‘missing the point’ in our churches. I guess in following the Holy week this year, I am reflecting on the Monday after Palm Sunday.

In Mark 11, you will see that on Sunday Jesus comes in “triuphantly” (inspired headings of the bible) into Jerusalem as the ‘answer to your prayer ..from the great nowhere.’ But he does not take over powers of empire etc but does a quick reconnaissance of the temple and heads off to Bethany.

Jesus’ teachings and his way has ‘rocked our heads‘ and we are all impressed by the ‘multiplying fish and bread’. Following his way is exciting and confronting being a part of building a better world based on radical love. Certainly if any figure in history has been ‘canonised, demonised, moralised, sermonised’ (here even) ’sold the rights and serialised’, it is Jesus.

On monday he returns and trashes the temple, much ‘like a sleeping time bomb‘ and a ‘heart crying enough!’ he confronts oppressive exploitative religion.

So what about us? Are we about to break? When and over what issue will our hearts cry enough? To be heaven sent to spill our stuff?

Maybe it was the Close the Gap actions last week or the indigenous focused preamble of the UCA (and the discussions surrounding it) or maybe just Paul Kelly’s continuing reflections on aboriginal injustice but I found myself thinking, “when will our heart cry enough!”. When will we find a way to recognise the first people in this land and close the gap. Is this just my response? Probably. As I write, my inbox has emails about human traffiking, peace activism, Non Violent Direct Action, human shields groups and global poverty engagements. So I know that people are called to various causes and I find a sense of admiration (maybe a bit of jealously) for people who are fully engaged in the issue that caused them to break. Yes, I am talking about my peace buddies, youth workers, social workers, those adopting orphanages and rehab centres OS and here in Australia.

I am certain that those that have found their issues, like Jesus, act because their ‘heart is full of love‘ for people and they did break. Hearts break over people. They don’t have the answers, they don’t have ‘tactics’ but they act because they did break.

God broke and Jesus broke for us. God’s love for us was revealed in Jesus at Easter by the cost he faced, the life he lived and the grace we know.

Happy Easter - I pray we’re about to break.

Age

Just About To Break - Paul Kelly

Nothing but a Dream,

Handle me with care
I’m the answer to your prayer
I come from the great nowhere
Step back! Give me some air
I’m just about to break
I’m just about to break
I’m just about to break

I’ve been dreaming some
I’m a sleeping time bomb
When I wake it won’t take long
I’ll hit from here to kingdom come
I’m just about to break
I’m just about to break
I’m just about to break

They’re gonna want to analyse me
Canonise and demonise me
Buy the rights and serialise me
Moralize and sermonise against me
I’m just about to break
I’m just about to break
I’m just about to break

I’m gonna rock your head
Start a burning in your bed
I’m making gold from lead
Multiplying fish and bread
I’m just about to break
I’m just about to break
I’m just about to break

My philosophy’s eclectic
Things round here are gonna get hectic
There’s no defense ’cause I got no tactics
I sing the body electric
I’m just about to break
I’m just about to break
I’m just about to break

The thunderstorm is just above
Every heart one day must cry enough
I’m heavensent to spill my stuff
My heart, my hear is full of love
I’m just about to break
I’m just about to break
I’m just about to break

The Prodigal Part Deux – The Brother Bites Back

2010-03-21T09:32:12+00:00

Daz put this up and is worth a repost in my book (Again insight into my brain with the choice of image alongside someone else’s thinking)- Age

The Prodigal Part Deux – The Brother Bites Back

Last week’s lectionary reading was the story of the “Prodigal Son” or of the “Ungrateful Senior Son” or “The Father of Grace,” whatever you’d like to call it. The actual reading was: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

As the story was being re-told I started to zone out and imagine what would happen if I were to add a second part to the story, one that’s not that familiar (because it was never told) but one that somehow feels true enough to engage the cynical side of my psyche. As it happens the minister asked us what we were thinking, and I decided to share my sequel to the parable.

I thought I’d write it here, feel free to alter, change, get pissed off, be inspired, I don’t really mind…

I’m currently calling this The Prodigal Part Deux – The Brother Bites Back.

The elder son, having heard news of his father’s extravagant grace and the way that he had welcomed his younger brother back into the house became outraged. (How dare his father welcome that ungrateful prick back into the house like that, and what’s up with not inviting him to the party?) Having to be told about all of this by a servant made matters worse…

Continue here

Cake or Death!

2010-03-19T00:00:57+00:00

This is a pretty old clip, but growing up an Anglican I appreciate its take on the polite version of the Church of England.

Historic Victory for Nonviolence in New Zealand!!

2010-03-18T10:44:52+00:00

please click the God’s politics logo below to read of the historic “NOT GUILTY” verdict in the trail of the Waihopai Ploughshares (or “plowshares” as Americans spell it)… this is a story worth sharing!!

kiwi-ploughshares-news.jpg

U a Twit for Peace? @u_r_epyc (EPYC now on Twitter)

2010-03-18T10:36:10+00:00

EPYC is now on twitter: @u_r_epyc

So if your a twit for peace, follow with us and get inspiring quotes from heroes of peace and updates from what has fast become the leading youth nonviolence training programs in Australia with (over 8,000 students were a part of EPYC nonviolence workshops last year!)

EPYCtwit-add-sml.jpg

paceebene

2010-03-17T00:25:30+00:00

Via Waging Nonviolence (an awesome blog) comes this interview with Sant’Egidio leader Andrea Bartoli on peacemaking, nonviolence and just war theory. It’s a great read: NS: Since Augustine, Catholic tradition has upheld just war theory. Does Sant’Egidio see itself, like the Catholic Worker movement in the United States, as a challenge to that tradition? Or does [...]

Congress (UAICC) Press Release

2010-03-16T03:34:52+00:00

‘TUCKEY AND ABBOTT STUCK IN THE DARK AGES’

The Indigenous arm of the Uniting Church in Australia has today labeled the comments made by Tony Abbott and Wilson Tuckey concerning acknowledgement of Indigenous traditional owners of land as nothing more than an opposition desperate to maintain its relevancy.

National UAICC Administrator Rev Shayne Blackman and UAICC Chairperson Rev Ken Sumner said the venomous and archaic comments were deeply offensive to all Indigenous people and would unravel any goodwill the opposition may have had made in recent times.

“It is now clear that the Leader of the Opposition and his learned underling have no genuine understanding of how to politically or culturally align themselves to Aboriginal people and their struggle and regrettably their comments and stance will cost them down the line” Rev Blackman said.

“These are elected members of parliament who cannot be allowed to use their tax payer salary to incite contempt under the guise of genuine political commentary - it is one thing to make legitimate political statements, it is another to belittle any group within the nation for sensationalism” said Rev Blackman.

Rev Ken Sumner said Tony Abbott getting lost in the outback recently was indicative of planned media attention which may have been amusing to some however; the line was drawn in the sand over these obnoxious ‘media driven’ comments which cut to the very heart of the respect and recognition for what Indigenous people have been struggling for since this country was invaded.

“Further, by Wilson Tuckey deriding the weight of some Welcome to Country dancers is unhelpful and indicative of an individual who has no understanding of the very real health issues facing Indigenous people not having equitable access to good nutrition in remote communities” Rev Sumner said.

“We would have hoped for a responsible opposition party that sought to outline alternative policy to address the socio-economic plight of many Indigenous people - one of them being obesity linked to proper nutrition, not via derision and mockery” said Rev Sumner.

Stanley Hauerwas

2010-03-15T23:41:39+00:00

“What makes the church ‘radical’…is not that the church leans to the left on most social issues, but rather that the church knows Jesus whereas the world does not. In the churches view, the political left is not noticeably more interesting than the political right, both tend towards solutions that act as if the world has not ended and begun in Jesus. Big words like Peace and Justice, slogans the church adopts under the presumption that, even if people do not know what ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ means, they will know what Peace and Justice means, are words awaiting content. It is Jesus’ story that gives content to our faith, judges any institutional embodiment of our faith, and teaches us to be suspicious of any political slogan that does not need God to make itself credible…Most of our social activism is formed on the presumption that God is superfluous to the formation of a world of peace with justice.” — Stanley Hauerwas

popped dome

2010-03-15T02:08:04+00:00

The jury trial of three Ploughshares peace activists, Adrian (Adi) Leason, Peter Murnane and Sam Land is being held in Wellington, New Zealand this week. People are coming from around New Zealand and Australia to support them and to give voice to the issue behind their trial—the need to close the Waihopai Spy Base and [...]

paceebene

2010-03-15T01:59:43+00:00

I am a huge fan of Gene Sharp, Director of the Albert Einstein Institution and the world’s leading scholar of the politics of nonviolent struggle. He literally wrote the book on the topic! How someone who’s books have been used as training manuals for democratic revolutions and other nonviolent campaigns of worldwide significance has been ignored [...]

paceebene

2010-03-14T11:34:34+00:00

Perth April 25-30 and Nov 28 – Dec 3 As individuals on a journey towards a sustainable practice of peace and nonviolence, we are seeking wholeness. We need to know [...]

paceebene

2010-03-14T11:32:46+00:00

March 26-28 Salesian Retreat Centre, Lysterfield VIC $175/150 all incl. An interactive, co-learning program offering participants the opportunity to gain familiarity with, and skills in, the facilitation of Pace e Bene’s study programs. Then ’spread the peace…’ Download the flyer

paceebene

2010-03-13T22:09:36+00:00

This conference will be held from 23-26 April, starting with Friday dinner and an evening session and ending probably soon after Monday lunch at the Australian Quaker Centre, “Silver Wattle” 1063 Lake Road Bungendore, NSW. The conference is entitled “Putting an end to War” – a 3-day workshop on personal resistance to war and military action. [...]

Palm Sunday Peace March 2010

2010-03-12T02:46:24+00:00

Mar

1:15 pm

Build not Bomb

Church Service - 1.15pm church service at Wesley Uniting Church, Lonsdale St

Peace March - 2.00pm @ State Library for silent march through city

Endorsed by: The Campaign for International Co-operation and Disarmament; Medical Association for Prevention of War; Japanese for Peace; Pax Christi; Maritime Union of Australia; Socialist Alliance, Socialist Alternative; Solidarity; Stand Fast

palm-sunday-poster (poster pdf - pls distribute)

Plus there’s a Vigil against the war on Afghanistan
Tue 16 March, 4-6pm, Defence Plaza, 661 Bourke St, Melbourne.

EurekaStreet - Atheists

2010-03-11T22:38:07+00:00

Hi guys, yesterday I found myself pondering the bus ads for the atheist convention here in Melbourne “celebrate reason!” they say and heaps of radio interviews about why they are right and smart. I don’t know if it was their intention to mimic the violent “we have the truth and want to impose it on others” feel of the fruitcake of our faith or the bully’s approach to self esteem ie ”lets gain our identity by bagging others” . But they did. Anyhoo this morning I found this more considered and useful reflection than mine in Eureka Street. Enjoy.

Hype undermines atheists’ mission

TIM ROBERTS MARCH 12, 2010

While the so-called ‘New Atheists’ have recently found their voices, the 2010 Global Atheist Convention, ‘Rise of Atheism’, taking place in Melbourne this weekend, suggests that this movement may be in danger of believing its own hype. Judging by the program, the convention aims to increase atheism’s flock by pouring scorn on those whom it should be courting. If that’s the case, the message won’t reach beyond the fans.Some of the speakers at the convention take a pragmatic approach (’reason with opponents’) while others take an idealistic approach (’alienate opponents’). The former approach, while substantially more difficult than the latter, is potentially far more productive.

But it’s unclear whether the convention’s overall aim is to reduce the intensity of religious belief or to crush religion altogether. Though Richard Dawkins and others may earnestly hope for the latter, attempting this will only pick off religious doubters while steeling firmer believers against compromise.

Failing to include debating panels with religious moderates is a missed opportunity. Excluding the religious, of course, probably seemed like an obvious move: after all, one wouldn’t invite creationists to speak at a biology convention for balance’s sake. But inviting representatives from major religions would have prevented the conference from becoming a mere exercise in polemic.

keep reading here

Dave’s latest newsletter

2010-03-10T01:13:29+00:00

G’day all, for those interested in some news about what Seeds Bendigo is up to, go here.

Political Evangelism

2010-03-08T23:10:24+00:00

This is the text of a talk I gave up in Bendigo last night. The pdf is here.

Political Evangelism – the good news in the public sphere
Once upon a time, a young man in Europe was in court. His father, a wealthy textiles businessman, had taken him there because he had stolen some silk from his father’s factory, sold it and used it to fund some property development. During the public hearing, he renounced his father’s wealth, stripped off his clothes and strode away, naked, promising to serve ‘Lady Poverty’.

A while before that, another young man led the respected people of his nation to the rubbish dump, and informed them that they were responsible for a coming catastrophe. He told that they had filled the land with innocent blood, and that in return they would experience a military siege so terrible they would turn to cannibalism of their own families to survive. As a finale, he held a clay pot above his head and smashed it – “This pot is the house of Jerusalem and the house of Judah”.

The first young man was Francis of Assisi, and the second young man is the prophet known as Jeremiah. They were both prefiguring and continuing one of the most common practices of Jesus, which I call Political Evangelism.

Definitions
I realise I am using two words which are contested – often used for many different purposes. So let me define them.

By “political”, I mean:

That which concerns power and its use
That which concerns the public sphere
It is always personal, but never private (secret)
I do not mean…’party politics’

By “evangelism”, I mean:

That which concerns the good news, or the ‘evangel’ (GK) – the good news of God..a word used by the gospel writers to convey the message of the kingdom of God, which they had appropriated from the Caesars, who used the word ‘gospel’ to convey their victory in battle.
That evangelism includes both a NO and a YES, judgement and mercy, criticism and invitation to a new life.
Let us try to remove stereotypes of evangelism from our heads.

Political Evangelism, for the purposes of tonight is: Acts of public witness to the good news of God and his reign

Politics and Religion
Tonight I want to explore what place political evangelism might have in the life of the church, and in the interaction of the church with the surrounding public. We are often told that “religion and politics don’t mix”. The witness of the Bible and Christian history says that such a viewpoint is inaccurate, and also impossible. The problem is not that religion and politics mix, it is HOW they mix.

Tonight I will focus on one element of that mix – that of publically declaring (in word and deed) the good news. There are so many others ways that Christians act politically: from letter-writing to the clothes we buy, from how we make decisions in church to how we vote. Every act and decision we make is political, because human life is about allegiance. Who will we be loyal to? is the question to which the Christian answer is “Jesus is Lord”, not simply in a general sense but in a specific sense. Is Jesus our Lord in our finances, our employment, where our kids go to school, the kind of toilet paper we buy, how we produce and eat food etc etc etc .

I don’t have the whole picture, nor do I regularly do what I am going to talk about, but it’s something that I think needs to be thought about in the church, and acted upon. Also, I have my own political persuasions, but this seminar is not meant to be about my particular beliefs. I think that Christians of all political persuasions should be acting publically and politically. Again, the argument is not whether doing so is warranted – the argument is about HOW we do so.

Biblical Examples of Political Evangelism
Apart from the Jeremiah example, there are plenty of biblical instances of public acts of witness:

Moses and the plagues (Ex 9-10)
Elijah & the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:20-40)
Jesus illegally healing on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:9-14)
Jesus eating illegally on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28)
Triumphal Entry to Jerusalem (John 12:12-15)
Acts of Apostles: constant examples of healing and preaching in public, often provoking unrest, arrest, imprisonment and sometimes death.

Let us look at 3 of them, and for each I will look at what constitutes these acts of public witness: the setting, the symbols, the showing & telling, the consequences and why they are political and evangelistic acts.

1. Jeremiah 19 – the clay pot

Setting: deliberately public – he leads the elders and senior priests to the entry of the Potherds Gate (entry to the rubbish dump)….sometimes called the Dung Gate (KJV)
Symbol: clay pot – visual as well as verbal; acts of public witness often use symbols to convey a message
Showing and Telling of God’s judgement upon the idolatry and violence of Judah and Jerusalem:

Because the people have forsaken me, and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah have known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent, and gone on building the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as burnt-offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it enter my mind (Jer 19:4-5)

Consequences: Jeremiah is imprisoned and ‘struck’ (whipped?) in chapter 20.
Political – pitting the powers of Judah and Jerusalem (the elders and priests) against that of God.
Evangelism – God’s judgement is always for the purpose of God’s eventual mercy and restoration of Israe

2. Matthew 12: 9-14 – illegal healing

Setting: the setting is a synagogue on the Sabbath…illegal to do any work on the Sabbath
Symbol: the man and his withered hand is the visual method that Jesus uses to demonstrate the heartlessness of the Pharisee’s way.
Showing & Telling: Jesus commits a crime for 2 reasons: one is to heal the man, but the second is to create a counterargument about the Sabbath and what its purpose is. (see previous story of illegal eating). Ongoing battle between Jesus and the powers – “…so that they might accuse him” (v. 10b)
Consequences – the Pharisees conspire to destroy him.
Political – it is about who has the power to say what is legal, and an ongoing battle of myths between religious leaders and Jesus.
Evangelism – Jesus is communicating that healing is more important than a law.

3. John 12 – messianic battle
This story is one of the most obvious examples of Jesus acting in public and political way. Let us look at the sequence of story:

Enters Jerusalem
Hears the crowd’s messianic myth – “King of Israel”….what is a King for them? Violent, restoration of Israel. Look at Jesus reaction to this last time! (John 6:15)
Decides to get a donkey
Rides it, providing a countervailing myth of what it means to be Messiah

Public: 6 days before Passover, Jerusalem is filled
Symbol: donkey, a ridiculing of the stallion, the usual victor’s steed.
Showing & Telling: Jesus does no telling, but his message is clear – his kingship is different.
Consequences: all the people go after him!
Political – they want him to have power over them, to violently restore Israel
Evangelism – the good news of a nonviolent Lord

So, in summary, political evangelism:

Is public – people are watching, they can see us!
Communicates a message about God and his good news.
Almost always in conflict with other messages in society which are taken as normative
Uses symbols to communicate
Consequences are inevitable, both punitive and positive.
Nonviolent

Political Evangelism in Christian history

Telemachus (404): intervening publically in gladiatorial contest
Francis of Assisi (1205): disrobing to demonstrate non-attachment to possessions
Martin Luther (1517): nailing theses to the church door
Civil Rights movement (1960s): counter sit-ins
Pro life (20^th C): picketing abortion clinics
Oath Keepers (20^th C): taking public oaths
Women Christian Temperance Movement (late 19^th C on) : prayer inside saloons
St Maximilian (295): refused in court to be conscripted and was executed

Political Evangelism Today
When Crown Casino was being established, a small movement existed to call attention to its degrading social effects, and the inappropriate relationship between the government and the casino owners. Each Sunday, we got together outside the site and prayed. We had a banner, and talked to people who approached us. We had T-shirts made up that communicated our message and also used the Crown Casino logo in a humourous way. We had a plenty of verbal abuse hurled at us, but also plenty of people who agreed with us.

I found this to be a good experience, but also a hard one, not least because of the reactions of Christians I spoke to about it. From those conversations, I began to think about the barriers to political evangelism.

Barriers to Political Evangelism
Acting publically and politically is difficult for all of us. There a few key barriers to Christians acting publically and politically.

1. FEAR:

This includes embarrassment, wanting to avoid criticism or abuse, and the fear of being recognised by someone who may think badly of you.
These things are absolutely understandable, but are also predicted by Jesus as expected consequences of following him…it may even show that we are on the right track

2. PRIVATISM: this is the belief that religious concerns are separate from political concerns, therefore Christians should keep their faith out of the public sphere.

As I showed before, faith is a matter of allegiance, and allegiance is a matter of which power we will be loyal to.
Christian faith is always personal, but it is never private. It is impossible to look at Jesus, and the church of Acts, and conclude that our faith is meant to be kept out of the public sphere.
Christian faith is not captive to party politics, but that hardly means it is nonpolitical. Again, look at the conflicts Jesus has with the powers of his day; look at the way the apostles come into conflict with the powers of their day.

3. QUIETISM: this is the belief that ‘making a fuss’ in public is unproductive, and that the general public will be alienated from Christianity by public acts of witness.

It is true that political evangelism will alienate people, as it will attract some people. Jesus predicted this, and demonstrated it in his own ministry. So that’s not an argument against political evangelism
The question I would ask is – When has our social conformity assisted the church?
Nonconformism was the order of the day in the early church, and that attracted people!
I’m not arguing to be nonconformist unthinkingly, but for us, the church, to be our true selves, and not worry so much about what the world thinks
Quietism is actually a product of the Christendom worldview, in which state and church gave each other power. The church didn’t want to rock the boat because it had that power. Well, now we don’t have it! Let’s enjoy the freedom!

4. THE POWERS AND FAITH

The most insidious reason we don’t want to do Political Evangelism is that we believe that the powers of state and corporations are basically in sympathy with the aims of the church, that we are walking arm in arm, that we basically have the same idea of what a ‘good’ society is.
Now, if you believe that, then there is no reason for you to think about Political Evangelism.
But if we don’t believe that – that is, if we believe that the aims of the community of Jesus are in conflict with the aims of political and economic powers, then we need to use every weapon in our arsenal to bring that conflict to light.

Conclusion
Public witness to God’s kingdom is clear throughout the Bible and in Christian history. The questions is not whether to do it, because that has been answered, the questions are WHEN and HOW.

Surrender 2010

2010-03-04T22:56:23+00:00

Mar	Mar
5	8

Hi Guys,

Have you registered for surrender conference yet? Well get onto it. Good speakers and workshops are the norm, including this year has Dave Andrews “plan be” stuff and workshops run by the usual suspects of the radical discipleship, social justice and peace mobs. Oh and tear are running slum survivor plus the youth night is a fun celebration. So cya there.

What is it?

SURRENDER is a message (and a conference!) that invites and encourages Jesus followers on a journey from believer to disciple. It’s an invitation to follow Jesus among the poor, to influence the broader climate of church opinion and sow seeds for the future of incarnational mission. SURRENDER does this by focussing primarily on inspiring young adults to engage directly with God through the bible, people facing oppression and fellow disciples on the road.

http://surrender.org.au/

justact action - Help UCCP workers

2010-03-04T05:03:15+00:00

Get online and help Dr Alexis Montes, a lay leader in the health ministry of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and his health Worker colleagues.

There have been illegal arrests, disappearances and detentions.

This is an awfull situation involving people being put in danger. There has been llegal arrest and detention of 43 health workers in the Philippines including the prominent lay member of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Dr Alexis Montes

We would be very grateful if you would consider using this easy online action in support of the doctor and his colleagues.

http://www.justact.org.au/just-take-action/

(Scroll down the link)

Please consider passing this on to interested friends or colleagues.

In the face of transience

2010-03-03T10:18:12+00:00

Today I got a phone call from the police. A friend of mine had been listed as missing – did I know anything? Two weeks ago, I had sat in his loungeroom-come-bedroom listening to his news that he would be moving away. Moving to a place a couple of hours drive away. “How long til you move?” “Oh, could be any day.” It was: 2 days later I got a call from the nurse at the facility he’d gone to, a much better place for him to be than in a 1 bedroom flat in Long Gully. He’d moved so quickly he hadn’t time to let his family know, hence the missing report.

Even though I know he is in improved circumstances, I feel a wave of frustration rise and fall. What is the use of building relationships when they are constantly eroded by transience? I have, many years ago, resolved that long-term relationships were necessary to unveil the reign of God, whether among the poor or whoever. I had decided that speaking out the good news needed to happen on the platform of trust and respect.

But it’s a lonely stance. Often, those we relate to want to move on to something else quickly. This is the case whether we are among the poor who want to rapidly escape, or among the general population for whom the next best thing can’t arrive too soon.

How do we deal with transience, when our theology inspires us to grounded lives and longevity?

Here’s a couple of ideas:
(1) We rid ourselves of any heroism: our desire to be the ‘key’ people in others’ transformation can cripple us when we no longer have the opportunity to be that ’significant’ person.

(2) We re-member ourselves: “re-membering” is recalling the fact that we are members of a body, a movement, a people that is far-spread. We, as individuals, are not it. That should give us some hope in the face of transience. As the biblical saying goes: some sow, others reap, and we enter into each others’ labour. When we can no longer be a part of a person’s life, someone else will take up the labour.

(3) We recall the Trinity: relational mission struggles with the tension of ends and means. Is the relationship for the purpose of more effective evangelism, or so that the person will have a better life? Or is it simply for the sake of the relationship? I don’t think there is an answer to this one, but in the face of transience we need to remember the Trinity; the Godhead in which relationship is essential to the character of God.

morepraxis gathering 2010

2010-02-25T04:55:11+00:00

Sep	Sep
17	19

It is time to think about 2010.

praxis10 - ???

Think, pray, play and meet with more of your tribe who long for a Christian spirituality that interconnects social action and theological reflection.
Been waiting for this? Good, so have we.

Where: Clifford Park Scouts camp site - Clifford Rd, Wonga Park VIC (Melways 24 J6)
45 mins from Melbourne
Online Rego soon and facebook event to help spam the gathering soonish

Costs PP: $45 Cabin, $30 Camp, Food $25 Adult/$15 Kids, Day Pass (including lunch & Dinner) $35, Dinner $30

This is an All Play event - Come ready to share.

You have been preparing all your life to lead a conversation on something - come prepared to engage that conversation but don’t stress on the preparation. Currently options include ‘lightning talks’ (your 5minutes of fame to spark more conversations), sacred space installation, labyrinth, teepee time, a tech hub, activist hub, a kids quest, sumo suit and music + your ideas/talents we would enjoy??

Also, there will be a space set aside for participants to propaganda/promote their group, cause, next action, t-shirt, study, book…. you get the idea. (byo for your promo space)

If you are at a junction where you need to think and chat about your vocation and the direction of your life with active, prayerful and wise mentors and co-travelers … there will be a bunch at praxis>10 to bounce ideas with.

If you are a family that is interested in connecting social justice and spirituality then this gathering has space for your needs. The site is well equipped for free play and organised chaos

Check out last year here http://www.regonline.com/praxis09

Put this in your diaries and help shape what we do here in the comments bit-

From the feedback from of last time - people like the campsite and all the options of how to attend, the dinner with guest speaker (Last year the infamous Lin H-D), the lightning talks, hanging out with interesting people and their families and the set workshops. Basically the shape was pretty good we just need a better way to signal when the next thing is starting and have some more teams.

The tricky bit is the feed back that a high point was meeting with different groups trying different things and that this is what was attractional to whether or not peeps came. SO that means for interesting people to come they need to know that interesting people are coming. Chickens and eggs comes to mind. So if you are coming and will be wowing us with your lightning talks and stories of fun adventures we need to know ahead of time so we can advertise you will be with us Great plan isn’t it!!

A basic night goes a little something like this..

2010-02-25T01:40:30+00:00

morepraxis hub is a UCA initiative that seeks to encourage, coach and engage young adults to be active locally and deeper spiritually.

The group will meet weekly on a Monday. The nights will involve elements and approaches of narrative and peer reflection groups, discussion, coaching, alt worship and bible study. For a while I have had an idea kicking around in my head that links social work theory, mystic wondering and bible reflection. This seems like a perfect opportunity to get it out of my head and let peeps play with it.

Plus, we will join with the Upper Room Project on the first Monday of the month a Shine Bar as a more social night.
and
Once a term we will have a night that focused on a topic or issue (chosen by the group) as arty, open mic, spoken word, improve styled creative something (I trust that is clear) :)

So a Basic night (goes a little something like this…)

Alt Worship. Reflective time in the space.

Welcome gathering time

Shared Journey 1 - Members chatting about how their life and spirituality is going.

Input - topics by request or a gospel chapter to ponder (starting with Mark)

Shared Journey 2 - Members chatting about their projects, ministries, current plans etc.

Reflect/Worship - Song prayer end

Food & Chat

Sound good?

UpperRoom - MPH RoadTrip

2010-02-25T00:44:26+00:00

Welcome Back!

We hope the upper room will be

Space to rest/relax with your tribe

Be challenged by the prophetic call of compassion

Connect with heartbeats for living

There will be food, wine and friends plus

Please bring your friends - all are welcome

This month Upper Room - We will have all the info for getting involved with the MAKEpovertyHISTORY road trip in May. Check their website here and our info here.

Basically it is 1000 16-26 yr olds traveling from the capital cities through marginal seats cause trouble and raising issues of poverty - converging in Canberra for a sum it with speakers, workshop bands etc. UCA is partnerin with our halls, cooks, agencies and trouble making ways

Get on board.

Oh and naturally we need ideas for the UpperRoom for the rest of the year and if you want to chat about the young adult hub … please do

Facebook event if your on it

Rob Bell: "the most inspiring book" An interview with Sara Miles

2010-02-24T08:01:36+00:00

My good mates over at JesusManifesto.com have posted an interview I have done with author Sara Miles about her new book which Rob Bell has called “

jesusfreak-200x300.jpg

Financial Survey for Seeds Bendigo

2010-02-24T00:36:40+00:00

This is a post out of the ordinary.

Some of you know that some of my income comes from donations kind people give me. This enables me to do work in my community in a flexible way, and gives space for things that governments probably won’t fund.

At the moment I’m trying to diversify my support base, and to help me do that, I need to know a few things about how people donate money.

I’d really appreciate if you could fill out the survey (follow the link). It’s anonymous unless you choose to give me your contact details. It is 10 multiple choice questions, and will take about 10 minutes. Cheers!
Click here to take survey

Ordinary Courage book launch: Donna Mulhearn with Neville Watson and Jo Vallentine

2010-02-22T06:54:54+00:00

‘In this powerful memoir, Donna Mulhearn’s courage and principles stand in damning contrast to the lies told in our name.

Orindary-courage-book-l.jpg

The Poor will always be…

2010-02-19T11:49:03+00:00

Tony Abbott, the poor and Jesus

ANDREW HAMILTON FEBRUARY 19, 2010 Eurekastreet

It is a commonplace to associate Tony Abbott’s politics with his Catholic faith. He certainly refers easily to the Catholic tradition in his speeches. This is helpful because it provides one gate to reflection on his policies.Last week at a meeting of Catholic Social Services he was asked whether he would commit himself to Kevin Rudd’s pledge to halve homelessness in Australia by 2020. He declined.

He expressed the desire to improve the present situation, but said many people chose to be homeless. He also expressed scepticism about the value of large gestures of commitment by politicians to heal social problems, contrasting it with the remark of Jesus, ‘The poor you have with you always’. He set this within a Catholic tradition of realistic social commitment to do what is possible, but not to expect to make the world perfect.

As casual remarks, Abbott’s comments were commonplace. But together they suggested that he does not see homelessness as a major priority. His remarks also provided the skeleton of a Christian justification for that position. So it may be helpful to look in a little more detail at the argument embodied in Jesus’ statement that we always have the poor with us. The phrase has often been used in Christian conversation to diffuse the claim that the poor make on us. But in context it is much richer in meaning.

The phrase, ‘The poor you have with you always’ occurs in a story told in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and John. The story occurs late in the Gospels when the hostility towards Jesus is moving to his arrest and death. A woman comes up to Jesus, breaks open a jar of expensive perfumed oil and pours it over his head. This leads to criticism of the extravagance of the gesture — the jar should have been sold and the money given to the poor. The criticism is variously attributed to bystanders, to Jesus’ disciples and to Judas who, it is noted, was a thief. The critics, plainly, are not the heroes of the story.

Continue reading over at Eureka Street

Lent Bible Studies

2010-02-19T02:08:26+00:00

Hi Guys

Peter Mallen has put together a Series of Bible studies to help you and your small groups prepare for Easter. The six Bible studies take up some core themes of discipleship. They are based on various readings from

the book of Acts, which forms a companion text to this year’s lectionary readings from the Gospel of Luke.

Acts records some of the exciting adventures of the early Christians but also provides many insights into the

joys and challenges of the Christian life.

Week 1 People of the Way
Week 2 Daring to be different
Week 3 Knowing the story
Week 4 Living the story
Week 5 Co‐operating with God
Week 6 Walking the way of the cross

Download here

PS. Tell me what you think and how they are working with your group(s).

easy hate, hard love: Cornel West on Obama & Climate Justice

2010-02-17T02:45:26+00:00

If you haven’t seen this

Cornel_West__Mos_Def.jpg

AVAAZ Action - Uganda

2010-02-16T10:27:18+00:00

Stop Uganda’s Gay Death Penalty

Uganda’s parliament is preparing to pass a brutal new law that would punish gay people with prison — even death.

Initial international criticism drove the President to call for a review. But after a well-funded and vicious lobbying effort by extremists, the bill looks set to be passed — threatening widespread persecution and bloodshed.

Opposition to the bill is rising, including from the Anglican church. Ugandan gay rights advocate Frank Mugisha writes, This law will put us in serious danger. Please, sign the petition and tell others to stand with us – if there’s a huge global response, our government will see that Uganda will be internationally isolated by the proposed law, and strike it down.

With the decision expected in days, only an irresistible wave of worldwide pressure will be enough to save Frank’s life and many others. Let’s build a huge petition to stop the gay death law — click here to take action, then forward this email:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/uganda_rights_4/?vl

The petition will be delivered to President Museveni and the parliament at the end of this week by top Ugandan civil society and Church leaders. Pro-death penalty advocates have also planned a march this week, so our voices need to be louder than theirs!

The bill proposes life imprisonment for anyone convicted of having same-sex relations and imposes the death penalty for “serial offenders”. NGOs working to prevent the spread of HIV could be imprisoned for up to 7 years for “promoting homosexuality”. Even members of the public face up to three years in jail if they fail to report homosexual activity to the police within 24 hours!

The bill’s advocates claim that it defends national culture, but its strongest critics come from within Uganda. The Reverend Canon Gideon Byamugisha is one of many who’s written to us – he says,

It is violating our cultures, traditions and religious values that teach against intolerance, injustice, hatred and violence. We need laws to protect people — not ones that will humiliate, ridicule, persecute and kill them en masse.

By rejecting this dangerous bill and supporting the breadth of opposition to it, we can help set a crucial precedent. Let’s build massive support for Uganda’s human rights defenders, and save lives by stopping this bill — sign now here, then tell friends and family:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/uganda_rights_4/?vl

With hope and determination,

Alice, Ricken, Ben, Paul, Benjamin, Pascal, Raluca, Graziela and the whole Avaaz team

SOURCES

African letter to Ugandan President to throw out Anti-Homosexual Bill:
http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=22761

Ugandan church leader brands anti-gay bill ‘genocide’:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/katine/2009/dec/04/gideon-byamugisha-homosexuality-bill

Human Rights Impact Assessment of Uganda’s Anti-homosexuality Bill By Sylvia Tamale, The Dean of Law at Uganda’s Makerere University:
http://www.zeleza.com/blogging/african-affairs/human-rights-impact-assessment-ugandas-anti-homosexuality-bill-sylvia-tamal

MPH roadtrip

2010-02-16T01:25:03+00:00

Endorsing Statement from Adrian Greenwood (Wow! I know!!)

Make Poverty History (MPH) is a campaign the Uniting Church has supported and engaged with for many years from policy development, to political lobbing, education, service and aid partnerships throughout the world. The MPH Roadtrip is a great opportunity for our young adults to put their faith in action.

At NCYC in Jan 2009 young people of the UCA articulated, demonstrated and celebrated a Good News that is both personally and socially transformative. Thousands of us engaged in public liturgy, acts of protest, service, social action and pranks, flash mobs and research. This May I am proud to encourage our UCA young people to join the MPH Roadtrip to engage their towns and country to make poverty history. We as the UCA are in an excellent position to help with local actions, provide hospitality in our churches and opportunities to see our agencies working to make a better world. So join in already.

http://www.theroadtrip.com.au/

So the UCA are partnering with the roadtrip. This means churches can host groups (accom & food), help organise actions and activities in your town when they come past. Also we (uca) have found some $ to help get your young peeps to it 50 UCA people get $100 towards their costs.

Contact oaktree, Tess, me or your state youth person to chat more about getting on board the roadtrip.

mph-roadtrip-information-final pdf info file

Al’s support letter (the useful one )

Rev Alistair Macrae - UCA President letter of support

Warm New Year greetings to you!

I write this letter to tell you about the Uniting Church in Australia’s involvement in the 2010 MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY Roadtrip, organised for May this year.

The Uniting Church has been strongly involved in the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign for many years and is committed to doing our part to combat global poverty.

The MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY Roadtrip will mobilise young people from across Australia, including many of our own young people, and equip them with valuable skills and experiences in advocacy and campaigning for a fairer world. The Roadtrip also aims to raise awareness about the Millennium Development Goals and issues of poverty with both the young people taking part and members of the community involved along the way.

I encourage you to read the enclosed information about the Roadtrip. Please consider ways your congregation might be involved in this exciting opportunity to engage with and support this journey of these passionate young people acting against poverty.

There are many ways you can be involved ranging from encouraging and sponsoring your youth to participate in the Roadtrip, to providing hospitality for the group passing through your area. The Oaktree Foundation is coordinating this project and the Uniting Church has been asked to take this particular role because of our long involvement in the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign, our concern for justice and our reputation for hospitality.

The Uniting Church joins with Christians worldwide in calling and acting for equality and justice for all. Your support of this Roadtrip is a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate that we take this call seriously.

I am looking forward to supporting and participating in this road trip myself. I might see you somewhere along the way!

I commend it strongly for your prayerful attention.

May God bless the worship, witness and service of your congregation in 2010.

Yours sincerely in Christ,

Rev Alistair Macrae

EPYC's Emma Palandri on “Why care about the poor?”

2010-02-15T07:22:43+00:00

Dr. Cornel West while speaking at Martin Luther King’s church in Atlanta on Martin Luther King Day this year said “To aspire to be a saint is to be a redeemed sinner who looks at the world through the lens of the heart.” E.P.Y.C.

Emma_Palandri.jpg

Youth Development & the Media

2010-02-15T00:36:03+00:00

Last Friday, a Central Victorian teenager (19 y.o) was sentenced to 18 months in a youth justice centre for being involved in 3 high-speed pursuits in the past 18 months, a sensitive issue in Bendigo given our ‘hoon capital’ status. At this point, you are probably looking for a hyperlink to the news article in which I found this information, but I’m not going to give to it to you.

I’m not going to give it to you because this post is not about the rightness of the sentence (the young man is obviously a danger to others) but about the media’s role. The newspaper is tabloid-sized, and this story completely covered the front page with a photo of the man, plus his name in the headline. I realise that, given he is 18 and had pleaded guilty, his face and name can be published. The newspaper acted legally, but did they act ethically?

As we go beyond the headlines, we find that this man’s father was killed in a car accident 10 years ago. Suddenly he transforms in our eyes from a 19 year old hoon to a 9 year old boy discovering his father is no longer alive. Any superficial study of youth development tells us that parents, particularly fathers, are key to a young boy becoming a responsible adult. A $65,000 payout from the TAC was put in a trust fund after this accident. At age 18, the boy promptly wasted it in a predictable stream of prodigality. I think we can confidently assume that this boy has not had the opportunity to develop in a healthy way.

This newspaper’s actions are unethical. There is no public benefit served in publishing this story in this way. There is no benefit to the man found guilty. There is no deterrent effect, because any other so-called ‘hoon’ will see this as a special case because of his father’s death. The only effect is to stir up ill-feeling towards young people. Of course, this is not an isolated occurrence in the media. Young people doing stupid & criminal things are constantly in the news. In youth and social work this is called a ‘deficit approach’, in which the media chooses to highlight negative characteristics of young people. On page 13 of the same newspaper, Father Chris Riley (right) from Youth off the Streets spoke to 300 young people about leadership and character….putting that on the front page would have been fantastic.

Publishing this story is legitimate, but allow an obviously damaged young person the privacy needed to rehabilitate.

about face 2010 applications close soon

2010-02-12T01:19:26+00:00

Applications for the About FACE 2010 program close in 2 weeks – Friday 26^th February, 2010!

About FACE 2010 is a Faith And Cultural Exchange for young adults between 18 and 30 years, to take place from 26^th June to 17^th July, 2010. Participants will elect to spend two weeks in a placement with either an Aboriginal community in Australia, or with one of our partner churches in the Asia-Pacific region. The About FACE program is an exciting and strategic opportunity for young adults to participate in the reconciliation and covenanting process with Aboriginal communities in Australia, and to share in solidarity with partner churches in the region.

The program will raise awareness of what it means to live in a global community, and to share resources and opportunities responsibly and with justice. It aims to create an ‘about face’ in the attitudes and lifestyles of participants, and to build relationships and bridges of understanding. About FACE is not simply an event for an individual, but is a shared experience with congregations and communities.

In 2010, placements will be within indigenous Australian communities, SE Asia, South Asia and the Pacific.

For more information please visit the About FACE website – www.aboutface.org.au (the website is currently in the process of being upgraded, so it may look a little different from when you visited last time). You are also welcome to contact either Jill or Tess in the Justice & International Mission Unit on (03) 9251 5271 or info@aboutface.org.au

note from Age

Hi guys if your thinking of applying but are unsure if it is for you …. then that wonder mean yes it is you - register already and I will see you at briefing. - I’m already looking forward to this years mob - gotta love about face!!!

facebook event here

If Jesus had a gun who would he shoot?

2010-02-04T23:07:37+00:00

Article in the Age by Simon - the picture selection by me

As reported in The Age last week (22/1), the Australian Defence Force has swiftly removed biblical references from soldiers’ gunsights manufactured by US company Trijicon.

The gunsights, which some US Army commanders have dubbed ‘’spiritually transformed firearm[s] of Jesus Christ”, have scripture references stamped next to their serial numbers.

These revelations have once again raised questions over the connection between religion, particularly Christianity, and violence. As a Christian and a church leader I could not be more appalled at the distortion of Christianity these inscriptions represent. It seems timely then to make a solid defence of the non-violence of Christianity. As the great Indian independence leader, Mahatma Gandhi, said: ”Jesus Christ is the most perfect example of non-violence in history,” and paused before adding, ”And the only people who don’t realise this are Christians.”

Of course, there have been times throughout history when people have invoked the name of God or Jesus to justify their violence. However, this should not be confused with genuine Christianity, even when it is sanctioned by high ecclesial authorities.

The Christian church remained faithful to the non-violence of its founder for the first 300 years of its history, as even those in the military who converted refused to bear arms. It was only when Christianity became imposed by Emperor Constantine in the 4th century that Cicero’s ”just war” theory was adapted to justify Constantine’s plundering.

Non-violence itself is often mistaken for passivity. This is a misnomer - one must be actively engaged in the struggle against violence and oppression to be non-violent. Non-violent people not only refuse to threaten, hurt or kill those who oppose them, but they actively engage the other’s humanity, seeking their opponent’s transformation as well as their own and those they defend. This is what the church was intended to be - a non-violent army transforming the world not with a gun, but with active love.

However, non-violent action sometimes raise tensions or causes disruption to the status quo, as Jesus frequently demonstrates. While he overturns the tables in the temple and drives out the sheep and cattle (saving them from being sacrificed), he never hurts anyone. But he is absolutely not passive.

continue reading and looking at the comments over here

Out of interest I went looking for the bible reference and look what I found.. the ACOG4X32JN8:12.

John 8:12 = When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

That’s a nice passage to inspire the soldier to shoot - pity the context leading up to this statement is the whole ‘who will cast the first stone at the woman’, everyone leaves from the oldest to the youngest and Jesus final statement to her John 8:11″Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

morepraxis eastside

2010-02-04T22:57:29+00:00

Hi peeps I am here to recruit you.

The St Stephen’s Community Living Centre (SSCLC) has granted us (by us I mean you and me) a year to see what a morepraxis young adult hub may look like, get up to and become.

SSCLC is where Ringwood East UC congregation used to meet before joining up with Ringwood UC. We have the opportunity to help develope with SSCLC the church end of the building to be a more arty and spirituality type of space for us and the community. Very cool.

I would like to begin this thrilling adventure with a weekly Young Adult gathering and running an easter week art installation.

What will we do? Well naturally the weekly group would be open to be shaped by the needs of the group. However as base I am keen to host this group with time spent on growing personal discipleship/spirituality, time to focus on projects that members have back in their own congregations, action groups etc and some input that help both of these. I hope we will be YAs who are looking for a place to think, chat, question and grow (and don’t get it in other places) and YAs who are busy leading groups but need something for themselves. Basically I hope we strengthen each other to do new and better things back in our existing world but with a new place to find support and whinge.

In my official chats with SSLC it goes a little something like this…

morepraxis hub “seeks to encourage, coach and engage young adults to be active locally and deeper spiritually”.

Hub = a network of Young Adults in the region meeting to grow in discipleship and support each other. Sharing their faith journey and supporting helping each other with their ministry and projects

Locally = members in congregations on the eastside, leaders of youth groups, action groups and communities where they currently participate

Coaching = host/key leader and peers meeting to bounce ideas off and help think through missional, creative and radical initiatives.

The goals of the hub would be

Firstly to create a place for people to grow in discipleship while not removing people from their local contexts & communities.
Secondly, to create a strong network of Young Adults that can help our UCA start and sustain new endeavors.
Thirdly, to simply create a space for young adults to explore, question and grow in their spirituality.

So if you are a keen to join the organising group or simply interstetd in joingning the group. Contact me. age@morepraxis.org.au

Currently the organising group has Tess, Jen, Rod and myself… the group itself has at least one other member not on the team… so you see we do need you to join.

(This will be too far away from many but it is a start and I am happy to see and help other morepraxis hubs pop up westside, southside, broadside, farside wherever… )

So What do you think?

olympic games 2

2010-02-03T01:49:58+00:00

Found this on the back of Issue #47 of the Brisbane Catholic Worker paper ‘Mutual Aid’ (circa mid-2000). I offer it as we go into the circus that will be the Winter Olympics…

Young people charged with Bendigo fires

2010-02-02T04:49:57+00:00

I read with trepidation that today, 2 young people have been arrested and charged over the Black Saturday fires in Bendigo.

In one sense, I am glad that someone has been caught. The stupidity and malice of lighting a fire on that day is obvious, and I still recall with fear making my home safe and helping neighbours as the fire burned in Long Gully.

The lives are lost, the houses are burned, the land is scorched. Those things have happened and cannot be undone. People are rebuilding their homes and communities are licking their wounds together, and beginning to recover. It has been a time of unprecedented cooperation, imbued with a generous spirit.

As well as being a Long Gully resident, I am also a youth worker. I know many of the local young people, and their families, and I am checking through them in my mind, wondering if it is one of them. The condemnation that will rain down upon them and their families will be harsh.

As these 2 young people come to the Bendigo courthouse today, I pray that a spirit of pity would be there. It would be easy for us to persecute, rather than simply prosecute, these 2 young people.

Hear me clearly; if they are found guilty, they deserve punishment. Justice must be done. But it needs to be the kind of punishment, and the kind of justice, that restores them as full members of our community, with a sense of responsibility and care towards it, so that they may never again harm our community. If we persecute and punish them beyond repair, they will hurt others in return. Somehow, we need to discipline with love, a difficult task but we have seen the courage and strength that Victorians have. Let us bring that same courage and strength to our enemies.

Simon Moyle

2010-01-30T07:02:16+00:00

When I saw the ‘Jesus gun’ scandal while I was away last week, I wanted to respond publicly and loudly.

So here it is: my life’s work in one opinion piece…obviously it doesn’t say all that can be said, or must be said, but it’s a start.

The Virgin & the Abbott

2010-01-29T04:34:34+00:00

Sex and politics – always such a winning combination. And politicians can’t win. If they have an extramarital affair, they are pilloried. But if they advocate abstinence, they are barbecued. Seems the only option for a politician is to shut up about sex (but make sure they have a stable marriage). Tony Abbott, Federal Opposition leader, found that out this week. For those not in the know, Abbott recently gave an interview with the Women’s Weekly in which he said the following:

I would say to my daughters, if they were to ask me this question, I would say … it is the greatest gift that you can give someone, the ultimate gift of giving and don’t give it to someone lightly, that is what I would say.

The slapdown from the media and in the political arena was fairly rapid. Julia Gillard: “These comments will confirm the worst fears of Australian women about Tony Abbott”. Gabriella Coslovich in The Age: “If I were one of Abbott’s daughters I would be furious to have my value reduced to the state of my hymen”. Most of the responses centred on the desirability of bonking whoever you like without criticism.

Tony Abbott was trapped by the fact that politicians, like every public figure these days, must engage on a personal level as well as a political level. To challenge Labor, he must be liked by the Australian people, as well as having attractive policies. Hence the Women’s Weekly interview. However, Abbott’s insistence that the piece was a ‘personal’ and ‘not political’ doesn’t stand up either because the only reason we care is because he is a politician. Most of the hysteria whipped up on his comments is simply fluff that we can safely ignore. Many commentators simply don’t like Tony. Abbott is an abrasive politician, and those opposed to him will take any opportunity to denigrate him. This is to be expected, and Abbott shouldn’t be surprised. But there are a couple of interesting issues touched on in this episode.

The first is Is it valid for politicians to comment on so-called ‘private’ matters? I argue that not only is it valid, it should be positively encouraged. I want to know what my political representatives actually think, not just rely on carefully controlled media releases. One of the attractive things about Tony Abbott (bar budgie smugglers) is the unscripted nature of his public appearances. That could be spin too, but I prefer it to the airbrushed image that Rudd conveys. Added to this is the artificial separation between private and public issues. Rudd referred to this in his response to Abbott, opining that governments should focus on health, climate change and war-mongering, and leave the ‘private’ issues to individuals. I assume he means that sex is a private issue. That didn’t stop him writing a long essay on his religious faith before the election.

These issues are ‘personal’ but they are not ‘private’ in the sense of having no public interest. All relationships, including sexual ones, have to deal with the public dimension, even if it extends only to excluding the public. In fact, our definition of what is ‘private’ and therefore off-limits to politicians, god-botherers and in-laws, is quite fluid. For some, our voting choices are strictly private (though regulated by government), for others it’s our bank balance (though regulated by government), for others it’s our eating habits (though regulated by government). For others it’s our choice of school (though regulated by government). All our supposedly private choices are regulated to some degree by government. Even, yes, sex is regulated by government.

So, to get down the root of it all, the real issue is not whether politicians should comment on ‘private’ issues, but Should government regulate relationships? And how should they be regulated? And, for the god-botherers like me, is there any validity in trying to persuade such regulation on the basis of my religiously-grounded beliefs?…stay tuned

Missionary Virtue of Keeping Your Trap Shut

2010-01-22T04:41:08+00:00

A while ago I wrote on the Missionary Virtue of Talking Over People. In that prior post, I argued that:

Missionaries need to talk over people. Regularly. Frequently. With godly vigour and fervour. I’ve been through some soul-searching over this one, people, but the kingdom of God requires rudeness beyond measure, inconsideration like we have never dreamed of. Yes, we need to start interrupting monologues with witty comments and jokes. Brothers and sisters, divert the flow of verbal sewerage into the decontamination plant of conversational purity with well-placed questions. Ah yes, even questions that have nothing to do with the conversation whatsoever. Place a gag in those overworked gums of that child of God, fill that space where they drew breath with a barrage of your own trivial stories…

Well, maybe I got a bit sweaty about that one, a little extreme. So, in the interests of paradoxical truth, let me know speak of the opposite. Keeping my trap shut is a lovely phrase, which I’ve never thought about until now. ‘Trap’ being my mouth….now that’s an intriguing metaphor. What does my mouth entrap exactly? Most of the time, myself. Little wonder that short passage in James has become so famous.

Yet, I feel strangely unmotivated writing about shutting up and letting someone else talk. ‘Being a good listener’ has become such a part of “good” Christian identity that I am loathe to add to the mass, or morass, of verbosity about why we should listen and how we should listen and that listening to people’s stories will change the world. It’s all so…polite, which is probably why I vented my spleen previously.

But, I will manfully try to justify why keeping your trap shut is a missionary virtue:

I don’t often have anything useful to say: in mission, you will often befriend people who are in pain. They may be isolated, unemployed, ill, mentally unwell, oppressed, abused, dirt poor; often simultaneously. I haven’t experienced this kind of enduring multiplicity of pain, my daily experience of hardship being lack of chocolate. Talking much in the face of this pain is harmful; the best we can do is make sure they know we’re listening

When I do have something useful to say, it doesn’t need many words: in graced moments, the right thing worms it way through thickets of useless platitudes. Our words and the situation of the person happily congeal. When this happens, stop. Keep your trap shut. Say your bit and don’t wreck it by (my personal downfall) repeating the same truth in 3 other ways.

Well, that’s about all I can think of at the moment.

Butchering Bikes

2010-01-19T02:28:41+00:00

Bike Butcher, the social enterprise run by Ali Turnbull and Finn den Otter in Long Gully, has been getting some attention in the local Bendigo press. It’s one of 2 social enterprises in the Seeds Network – the second is the Urban Bean cafe in Norlane, run by the Urban Seed. In addition, the Seeds Bendigo mob has initiated a business forum for Long Gully. For a network primarily interested in relationship & hospitality, why are we supporting businesses?

For those of you who know me a bit, you will have heard me rave about “The Social Entrepeneur”, a book by Andrew Mawson, an English clergyman who turned his decrepit church into a centre for social enterprises – initiatives that are based on the following principle:

We know that every human being has a unique talent. By applying these talents in local communities it is possible to make them strong and vibrant instead of soulless and “deprived”. What matters is backing people before structures.

Andrew sought out people in his disadvantaged area who were passionate about an idea, and supported them to get it going as a business. I cried when I read his book. It wasn’t sad, rather the joy and hope that sang through his stories got to my heart. He was describing truly Christian community development.

Welfare Mentality vs Social Entrepreneurship
One of the sad things about Christian community work is that it often gets dependent on handouts, just like the people it aims to serve. Once dependent, we stick with programs that will ensure the transfusion of funds that we need. We eventually find we have strayed from our original purpose. We internalise the same Welfare Mentality that afflicts many of those we serve and become unable to break free of its bonds.

Social Entrepreneurship rejects this way of being and working. It starts with what people are passionate about, not what gains funding. It supports that passion, but always with the aim of self-sufficiency. I think this is incredibly important in poorer communities, because independence from outside help breeds confidence, dignity, responsibility and generosity. The constant supply of government benefits, cheaper housing, food handouts etc breeds apathy, boredom and self-loathing.

The Kingdom & Social Entrepreneurship
The links between God’s reign and social entrepreneurship need to be teased out. But some preliminary thoughts are:

God created humans with passions and desires to create. Social Entrepreneurship taps into those passions and desires, whereas Welfare Mentality drains passion and desire from a person.
Dependence, as in Welfare Mentality, is the flip side of domination. God did not create people to be dependent on others, but interdependent. Social Entrepreneurship enables people, especially the poor, to contribute to others as well as receive.
God created humans with the need to give. Welfare Mentality focusses on receiving, which makes us bloated and unhealthy. The gospel motivates us to give, and when we do we find that feel more human than ever.

More to think about here…

But for now, if in Geelong go to Urban Bean, and if you want to support Bike Butcher, buy a cool fixie.

Haiti Appeal

2010-01-15T06:02:29+00:00

Many congregations and individuals have expressed their desire to help in prayerful and practical ways the people of Haiti, following the recent earthquake that has devastated the island.

The UCA Vic/Tas Moderator, Ms Isabel Thomas Dobson has commended the Haiti Earthquake Relief Appeal by the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCC), who is raising funds for distribution.

“The images from Haiti of utter destruction from the earthquake prompt our response as Christians in prayer and practical aid.

“Please pray for all in the complex and desperate task of rescue and rebuilding.

For practical assistance the National Council of Churches of Australia, through its relief agency Act for Peace, has launched an appeal that will connect with the international churches and churches in Haiti,” Ms Thomas Dobson said.

The NCCA has requested that congregations conduct a retiring offering this Sunday or the next. You can donate directly to the NCCA website: www.ncca.org.au

Alternatively, SHARE, of the Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania has indicated they will collect funds from individuals and congregations and forward them through to the NCCA for its Haiti Appeal.

People can donate via the SHARE web site www.shareappeal.org.au, by phoning 1800 668 426 or by posting to GPO Box 4355, Melbourne, 3001.

Whale Wars, South Park & a table turning nonviolence

2010-01-14T04:23:36+00:00

[first posted on Jim Wallis’ blog: http://blog.sojo.net/2010/01/13/south-park-eco-prophets-and-whale-wars/]

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Simon Moyle

2010-01-13T02:12:29+00:00

It’s taken longer than usual, but here’s my soundtrack to 2009. Like a movie soundtrack, music accompanies events and periods of my life. This is a way to reflect on my year AND have a productive outcome – a compilation album of quality music. I recommend any and all of these songs and the albums they come from. Enjoy!

Marker in the Sand – Pearl Jam
I went on a massive Pearl Jam bender for the last 6 months of the year, just putting every Pearl Jam album I have on my mp3 player and soaking it up. Who knows why? But this was a standout. Great light and shade.

Counting Crows – Cowboys (live from Palais Theatre, Melbourne, 27-3-09)
After cancelling their Australian tour 4 years ago, they finally came back – and it was worth the wait. In two nights they blew through two MASSIVE sets of more than 22 songs each, repeating just one. The main song I wanted to hear was Cowboys. When they opened with it, I knew it would be a good night.

Wake Up – Rage Against the Machine
One night this year I just happened to catch a new documentary called Chicago 10. Strangely I’d never heard of these guys who had been arrested and tried as the Chicago 7 (then 8 when Bobby Seale was indicted, and now they call themselves the Chicago 10 because their lawyers got caught up in it…). Anyway, it was a truly inspiring story of a bunch of activists who proceed, at the height of the Vietnam War in 1968, to make a public mockery of the government and judicial systems by their wit, humour, and anti-establishment spirit. The director decided that if he was going to tell this story in 2009, he would need to update the music. This is from the soundtrack.

Adelaide – Ben Folds Five
I made two trips to Adelaide this year – once to be keynote for a Uniting Church young leaders conference, and the other to hang out with my friend John Dear for the weekend. Both were amazing. I did warn the UC crew with my opening line, “I might as well apologise now. Everything I know about Adelaide I learned from Ben Folds.”

Onion Skin – Boom Crash Opera
I picked up the best of BCO for about $10 and it transported me back to my high school years like a crazy time machine…anyway, January 2009 was devoted to them as well. I have a vivid memory of listening to all of these on repeat during the National Christian Youth Convention I was involved in, so this was the soundtrack to having 150 Christian kids descend on BAe Systems, the world’s 3rd largest weapons manufacturer. Weird? Yes.

Inside Job – Pearl Jam
Great patient buildup.

I’ll not lose my faith
It’s an inside job today
I know this one thing…

Landslide – Lior
Yeah, what can I say. I just like it.

Live Forever – Oasis
Counting Crows do an amazing piano version of this as an intro to Long December, but if you don’t already know the original you really need to. Classic. I listened to this a lot this year.

Maybe
I don’t really wanna know
How your garden grows
‘Cos I just wanna fly…

Ain’t Got Time to Die – Acapella
The first time I heard this song was Jarrod singing it in the back of the police transporter on the way back to Rockhampton. We ran through every spiritual we knew, and then taught each other ones we didn’t. It was so much fun, and I realised that this is what group singing is for – to collectively affirm truths when we most need them, and to deepen the meaning of things at such times. If we don’t practice them together beforehand we don’t have them to reach for when we need them.

Lord I keep so busy workin’ for the Kingdom
I keep so busy workin’ for the Kingdom
Keep so busy workin’ for the Kingdom
Ain’t got time to die

Come in from the Cold – Joni Mitchell
Have I had a yearly soundtrack without Joni in it? I don’t always listen to her, but there’s always a time of year when I listen to her a lot. This happened to be in the dead of winter. Perfect.

Back in 1957
We had to dance a foot apart
And they hawkeyed us from the sidelines
Holding their rulers without a heart
And so with just a touch of the fingers
It could make our circuitry explode
All we ever wanted was just to come in from the cold

Counting Crows – Miami (live from Palais Theatre, Melbourne, 30-03-09)
As I said, they repeated just one song in their two Melbourne shows. That song was Miami, and they did it electric the first night, and then acoustic the other. This is the acoustic version, and includes a new interlude.

If you knew everything
If you could see everything
Before it happened
What would you do?
If you knew that the love that you threw away
Would mean everything to her
If you knew it would ruin her
What would you do?

Let It Go – Resonance Choir
This is the closing song for inspiral evening prayers (a Leunig poem set to music), but it gained new meaning for me in Queensland in July. It was my first night in the lockup, and we put in solitary. They wouldn’t let us eat, and wouldn’t give me my prayer book, but I sang this song to the cells around me for an hour as a prayer and a meditation. This is a recording of Anthony’s old choir too – listen out for him!

The Path to Your Door – Gyan and Leunig (with Paul Kelly)
My birthday gift from Chris and Jane was this remarkable cd of a woman called Gyan who has put a whole bunch of Leunig poems to music. From the strange (Billy the Rabbit is dead) to the beautiful (Summer Palace), it’s a truly fascinating listen. I never fail to find this one deeply moving.

UCAyouth Kickoff

2010-01-12T01:20:19+00:00

Jan

7:30 pm

UCA YOUTH KICKOFF on the 30^th of Jan.

As you can see we have a great line up of Simeon, Tam Peters and DJ Rave’nMad. Check out Simeon and Tam’s websites, they have samples of their music.

We are inviting you with your friends to go the beach for the arvo then have fish and chips for dinner before you walk up the road to St Andrews where we will have the open air café happening and dance hall going off.

This is a great chance for groups to kick off the year together and be part of the wider community of young people in VicTas. If you are from the country and would like to stay overnight, please get in touch with me and we can organise something.

If you are unable to make it to our gathering can I suggest you get together with your group and go out for dinner. This way you can be part of the greater gathering even though you are unable to make it to Black Rock. If this is what you are doing then please let me know about it.

cya all there!!

Facebook event here

eurekastreet-vigil for slain Indian student

2010-01-08T02:17:23+00:00

Below is a great reflection from Cara. Thanks and good stuff Cars.

Keeping vigil for slain Indian student

CARA MUNRO JANUARY 06, 2010

They came to stop the violence. Four, maybe five of them, in dark hooded jackets and pale, worn jeans. Hovering uncertainly in the car park. Shadow-like. Haunted.

Wrongly, we assumed they had come to join us. It was 9.30pm, and we were gathered outside the place to which he had come, bleeding, begging for help. We had initiated this gathering: ‘Bring a flower. Bring a candle. Spread the word. Spread the word.’ And so with short notice we had gathered. With short notice, the word had spread.

Now, these newcomers. It was ‘the media’, angling for a statement, that had alerted them: ‘How do you feel about the protests planned for outside Hungry Jack’s tonight?’ Not wishing for violence to answer violence, the small group of Indian students, who introduced themselves as the housemates and friends of Nitin Garg, had come to stop us.

Greg was the first to respond, with a pastor’s face, wise to the inadequacy of words at times like these. Then Xingi, or was it Soph, with long stalks of white roses. Candles.

On the mutual ground of the restaurant car park we explained that we were simply people from the community. Christians, many of us. Concerned. Compelled. Our desire, like theirs, was for the violence to end. We asked them to join us.

continue reading over at eurekastreet

Where you stand determines what you see

2010-01-08T02:15:57+00:00

Hi Guys,

I have always believed it to be true that where you stand determines what you see. Thus, I think it’s a radical discipleship practice to stand with those without the power.

Below is the ICR’s Video of the crash and then below that the Sea Shepherd’s Video of the crash.

Both are using the footage of the same incident to back up their own position.

What do you think?

ICR’s Clip

Sea Shepherd’s Clip

resisttalismansabre

2009-12-30T19:53:31+00:00

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/story/2009/12/24/protesting-pair-found-guilty-of-blocking-army/ It wasn’t until I went to Christmas mass that I grasped an appreciation of our anti-war court scene and witness in Rockhampton this past Christmas week. Our local priest gave a fine reflection on the nativity, juxtaposing the empires of this world, the endless wars of Pax Romana/Americana countered by the absurdity of the nonviolent [...]

defence plaza

2009-12-29T23:50:03+00:00

About fifteen of us gathered outside Victoria Barracks on a perfect sunny day in late December. It was a day many people were hunting for the post-Christmas Day bargains, and many others were immersed in the dramas of the Boxing Day test. It was also the eve of the Feast of the Holy Innocents, the day the church commemorates the children killed by Herod in an attempt to get to Jesus and maintain his grip on power. A day we remember all modern day regimes which see thousands of lives as acceptable “collateral damage” in their quests for power, control, resources and military might.

Beginning with an acknowledgment of the history of this feast day, and of how far away such wars seemed to us, we read the story from Matthew together. We then spent some time naming modern day situations where innocents continue to be killed by power-hungry elites.

East Timor. Afghanistan. Sudan. West Papua. Phillippines. Iraq. Australia’s refugee policy. Each with thousands of innocent victims of power politics and military domination. Each considered acceptable collateral damage. We rang a bell for each of them.

Finally, we remembered the plight of the Palestinian people, recognising that even as we sat together, thousands of people were gathering on the Egyptian side of the border with Gaza, preparing to nonviolently break the blockade, bringing food, aid and medical supplies to the people of Gaza. This was particularly poignant given the Matthew passage, which speaks of “a voice heard in Ramah” (the modern day West Bank), “wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be consoled, because they are no more.” The contrast of fear exhibited by Herod and modern day Israel, and the resulting victims of their fear, with the angels appearing to Mary, Zechariah, the shepherds, each time greeting them with the phrase, “Do not be afraid!” These stories continue to play themselves out before our eyes, on the evening news.

With that, we rose together and began to make our way north to the centre of the city, led by our four metre banner reading “End the Afghanistan War”. In peak shopping season, the city was packed. Reaction was mixed – from mouthed “thankyous”, clapping and nods, to rolled eyes, to outright hostility. Mostly it just registered on people’s faces as an interruption to business as usual (literally).

Turning through Bourke Street Mall we made our way west to Defence Plaza, a fairly nondescript city building housing the Defence Department in Melbourne. Here we paused to reflect on the experience, on connections we had made, and on where to from here.

We finished with prayer, and dispersed from there.

My own reflections are on how we do this action/reflection stuff deeply and honestly and yet involve our children. War and its effects on innocents are confronting issues. We brought our kids (3 under 6), and did our best to explain to them the significance of the day. I think it’s important that we continue to do that. But we shied away from anything graphic or affecting, talking only in general terms. This is something we will continue to wrestle with as parents and as activists.

I also think that continuing to act in concert with the liturgical year will greatly enhance our understanding of the gospel and our faith and discipleship, and our ability to sustain action over the long haul. Wrestling with these stories as part of an action brings them home, sharpens their contours, and deepens our engagement.

Feature Clip - Muppets

2009-12-29T22:31:49+00:00

Happy New Year

Clipping an angel’s wings

2009-12-28T23:44:53+00:00

http://cpt.org/

28 December 2009

HEBRON REFLECTION: Clipping an angel’s wings

by Johann Funk

She is the vision of innocence, peering up into the dull eyes of a soldier towering over her. She can only be four or five years old. Black slacks with a green striped short skirt fanning out beneath her short black jacket indicate that she is a kindergarten student. She strains to hand the backpack, which is half her length, up to the soldier who orders her to stop. He systematically opens every zipper and plunges his hands into each pocket before handing the backpack back. It slumps to the ground. The little girl carefully closes the zippers and with considerable effort slings the backpack onto her back; the young soldier, who has moved on to the next search, has already forgotten her. She stumbles as she hurries to catch up with her friends. This encounter is a significant part of her education under the Israeli occupying power, which seeks to clip her fragile wings.

I feel helpless, angry and sad all at once. What can I do? I observe, I document, I report but it is not enough, it is never enough to change significantly the severity of the occupation, let alone to end it. I rationalize that what I do is part of a larger struggle but this answer is never completely satisfying. My angel at Qitoun Checkpoint is still dehumanized as an enemy, invisible to international geopolitics, despite my feeble efforts. All I can do is reflect, pray and enter into the suffering God must experience when he sees what is done in his name for the sake of Israeli settlers in Hebron.

Why direct action for climate change?

2009-12-18T04:36:59+00:00

This was first posted at Jim Wallis’ blog God’s Politics here

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Obama's Nobel War speech: What if?

2009-12-18T02:46:14+00:00

Over at Jim Wallis blog God’s Politics I’ve been asking “What if” Obama took a different direction at Oslo?

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jarrodmckenna

2009-12-18T02:24:54+00:00

What if Obama had made a study of the few places nonviolence was tried against Hitler (like in Denmark) and successfully halted Hitler’s armies and saved the lives of 7,000 Jews? What if instead of merely quoting the Balkans, Obama made a real study of the nonviolent movement “Otpor!” that brought down Slobodan Milosevic? What if Obama fought terrorism by taking the billions in his war budget (which exceeds that of George W. Bush), and invested it in grassroots community development, health care, and education in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq (and at home)?