National

• Greening the Church – Inspirational Stories collected by Jessica Morthorpe (A collection of programs and Earth care activities in congregations throughout Australia; available from http://greenchurch.victas.uca.org.au/what-are-churches-doing/resources)
• ASSISI – A Strategic Systems-based Integrated Sustainability Initiative (A framework for churches to implement a holistic approach to sustainability through formation programs, engaging social processes, and various support material for the journey from http://www.catholicearthcare.org.au/assisi.html )

Queensland

New South Wales

Victoria

Tasmania

South Australia

Western Australia

Northern Territory

• Australian Religious Response to Climate Change – ARRCC www.arrcc.org.au 
• Catholic Earthcare Australia www.catholicearthcare.org.au 
• Erin Earth – Wagga Wagga NSW www.erinearth.org.au
• Earth Link – Brisbane www.earth-link.org.au
• Ecology and Spirituality Centre – Glenburn Victoria http://www.edmundrice.org/glenburn.html
• Green Church Victoria and Tasmania https://greenchurch.victas.uca.org.au
• Faith Ecology Network – FEN http://www.faithecology.net.au/
• Pacific Calling Partnership www.erc.org.au/pcp
• Rahamim - Ecological Learning Community, Bathurst NSW www.rahamim.org.au
• Uniting Earth Web www.unitingearthweb.org.au
• TEAR Australia http://www.tear.org.au/advocacy/

The NCCA Eco Mission Network is mandated to share resources that will assist our member churches to deepen their understanding of the ecological implications of our Sacred Scripture. 

Eco-Vision

We anticipate a day when congregations of all churches in Australia are:

• sensitive to the voice of Earth calling us to tell her story and to heal her ecological wounds caused by human greed
• ready to respond to the word from the Scriptures enjoining us serve and preserve our home and keep this sanctuary unpolluted
• willing to explore a theology of God in creation, with the cosmic Christ reconciling all things and the Spirit animating Earth

and

• moved to follow the lead of congregations and communities that have initiated programs of healing and pathways of celebration.

The Faith and Unity Commission in conjunction with

the Centre for Ecumenical Studies Presents A Day Symposium

An Ecumenical Future?

Advancincing the Ecumenical Movement

• To open up the question of whether an ecumenical future is possible

• To address that question from the experience of the multilateral and bilateral relations between the churches

Presenters:

The Reverend Professor Michael Kinnamon (Seattle);  " A report from the front lines of a movement under siege "

Dr Tamara Grdzelidze (WCC);

The Reverend Professor James Haire AC (UCA); Response

The Reverend Professor Robert Gribben (UCA)

Chair: Ms Maureen Postma (NCCA Faith and Unity )

Friday, 5^th July 2013

9 30am – 3.00pm

Catholic Leadership Centre

576 Victoria Parade [cnr Hoddle St], East Melbourne

Donation: $50.00 (includes morning tea and lunch)

RSVP by 27th June: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (03) 9650 - 4511

Download Flyer for Noticeboard (please note that some details have changed)

 

5 - 9 July 2013

Catholic Education Leadership Centre,

576 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, Victoria

from Act for Peace, the international aid agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia

International aid agency Act for Peace’s support of communities in Fiji has helped them to be better prepared for the worst tropical cyclone to hit Fiji in 20 years. Communities have been assisted as part of the Pacific Community-focused Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction (PCIDRR) program to develop disaster action plans and minimise harm to people and property.

Act for Peace’s Anthony Blake, who has been running the program in Fiji for four years, says, “Communities in the north, areas we have visited as recently as last week, after first training them in 2010, have evacuated well ahead of time with food and supplies. This is a great result, and an early indication that communities are better off now than they would have been if we were not able to work with them to develop response plans. We hope — and expect — similar responses from other communities we have assisted in Fiji.”

from the National Council of Churches in Australia

Discovering God with us

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.” (Philippians 4.4-5)

Christmas is a time to rejoice and look at the world with fresh eyes. We see signs all around that remind us how Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Nativity scenes are seen at community carol services, school plays and in churches. These signs help us discover God with us.

After hearing the message of the angels on the hills outside Bethlehem the shepherds responded;

“Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. (Luke 2:15-16)

They discovered not only that the Lord is near but that God in Jesus was there embracing the frailty of humanity. The Christmas message is discovering God with us and in Jesus’ life we see God’s love and desire for justice and peace.

The National Council of Churches in Australia wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and our prayer is for justice and peace to fill the world. 

The Reverend Tara Curlewis, General Secretary
National Council of Churches in Australia

(NB. In the Western Church, Christmas is celebrated on December 25.  Most Orthodox Churches will celebrate the Feast of the Nativity on January 7.)

from the National Council of Churches in Australia

The Reverend Harvey L Perkins who is remembered by the National Council of Churches in Australian (NCCA) as a “devoted ecumenist” died on 25 November in Canberra.

Harvey Perkins was the sixth general secretary of the Australian Council of Churches (ACC) (1956-1967). He is remembered for the way he identified the major issues confronting the Australian churches in the mid 1960’s as the need for more Christian presence beyond the institutional structures of the Churches. For Perkins it was essential that the Australian Churches find new ways of both communicating the gospel and living a life that authenticated its message. In his 1967 report to the ACC he said "This constant struggle does not mean that we are changing the faith we confess. We are appropriating it, relating it, bringing out the emphases required for our situation.

"New situations and new issues require new expressions of the same faith.”

1946 - 22 September 2012

 

25 June 1952 – 20 June 2012