Pine Gap Trial Update
May 31, 2007
Hi guys thought I would post an update from I got Jess about the Pine Gap Trial.
She is with about 30 people supporting the Pine Gap 4 in the Alice Springs Supreme Court who are on trial for the ‘citizen’s inspection’ of Pine Gap in December 2005.
Her quote of the Day:Mr Hilton Dembo QC, appearing for the Crown,
“I’m not quite sure what they mean by acts of civil disobedience but you don’t have to be violent to cause disruption.”
(great summary of non-violent direct action in my book!)
More info:
www.pinegap6.org
http://www.crikey.com.au/Politics/20070528-Pine-Gap-protestors.html
Pix on Your local indymedia…. (syd, melb, bris, perth, adelaide)
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21815635-1702,00.html
[Read more]
June 4 - UpperRoom - Green vs Greed
May 31, 2007
| June 4, 2007 | ||
| 6:00 pm | to | 9:00 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
- a gallery space for photos and other art.
- activist space - activities, information and people deeply into that topic to meet
- conversational space - multimedia and communally led (an interview, music, texts, a place to chat)
Please bring your friends - all are welcome
This month we will be thinking about the environmental issues with opportunities to assess our lives ecological footprints, a chance to send Kevin Rudd a postcard on behalf of our pacific neighbours and I’m sure we will end up cahtting about other ‘inconvenient truths’. During the night we will play an interview with Cath James a long time environmental thinker and doer, plus I believe we will have members of the earth team hanging out with us too.
Sorry Day Statement and Reconciliation Sunday resources
May 29, 2007
Ten years ago, moved by the findings of the Bringing Them Home Report into the plight of the Stolen Generations, the National Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia issued its ‘Invitation to the Nation’. This national statement invited all Australians to recognise that genuine justice and reconciliation can only come from an understanding of our shared history and acknowledgement of the realities of our present.
Reflecting on this statement, the President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Rev Gregor Henderson, expressed his shame that life for Indigenous Australians is still marked by racism and dispossession.
- Read the full statement on the UnitingJustice website.
- Download a worship resource for Reconciliation Sunday from the Synod of South Australia
- Learn more about the Bringing Them Home Report on the HREOC website.
NCYC09 - Assistant Coordinator
May 27, 2007
Come join the team organising the largest event in the Uniting Church!
NCYC09 (National Christian Youth Convention, January 2009) is seeking an energetic Assistant Coordinator with experience in the Uniting Church, event organisation, and working with heaps of volunteers. You will liaise with venues, oversee marketing and volunteer teams, promote NCYC and perform general administration within the wider Centre for Theology and Ministry team.
Get your position description from
Merryn Gray: converge@ncyc.org.au or phone (03) 9340 8815.
Applications close 15 June 2007
http://ncyc.org.au
Theatre @ Risk
May 25, 2007
Call for script submissions for:
2007 Festival of New Writting
Theatre @ Risk presents a ten day festival of new works, ideas & discussions with rehearsed readings and performances of local, national and international writing.
We are calling for submissions of full length plays based on the themes of FAITH, HOPE & CHARITY. Plays must be no longer than 90minutes, feature no more than 6 actors and have been written within the past five years. We are especially looking for plays that have not received a professional production yet in Victoria. Submissions open to all Australian playwrights.
Up to six plays will be chosen by a panel of readers selected from both within and outside the company, and presented in a rehearsed reading at the Old Council Chambers, Trades Hall, during the festival period of Fri 7th - Sun 16th September, 2007.
Each author selected will receive a small royalties fee ($200) for the one-off playreading. A small travel allowance will be available to assist interstate playwrights to travel to the festival.
Please send scripts along with a submission fee of $15 to cover readers’ fees (money order/cheque to Theatre @ Risk or pay online ) to: Theatre @ Risk Festival of New Writing - Office 7, The Meat Market, 5 Blackwood St, North Melbourne, VIC 3051
Sorry Day - Sat 26
May 23, 2007
Understand Us - Stand by Us
Sorry Day Melbourne 2007
Saturday 26 May, 10.30am
10.30am Melbourne Town Hall (Swanston & Collins Streets)
Stolen Generations Victoria Ltd Partnerships Launch
11.30am Melbourne Town Hall (Swanston & Collins Streets)
To begin the walk to the steps of the Victorian Parliament
12.15pm Victorian Parliament (Bourke & Spring Streets)
Speeches, Laying of the Wreath, Traditional Dancers
1pm Federation Square (Swanston & Flinders Streets)
Acknowledging 10 years of the Bringing Them Home report, entertainment, kids activities
ENQUIRIES: Contact Rob on (03) 9486 6122 or email stolengensvicsorryday@hotmail.com
The Stolen Generations Victoria Sorry Day Committee acknowledges the support of Aboriginal Affairs Victoria, the Port Phillip Citizens for Reconciliation, Reconciliation Victoria, Federation Square, Tjanabi @ Fed Restaurant and Latrobe University.
JIM Convention - God’s Economics - Sat 2 June
May 21, 2007
| June 2, 2007 |
God’s Economics - The Divine Economy?
Saturday 2 June, 9.00am
Centre for Theology and Ministry, 1 Morrison Close, Parkville
Economic considerations seem to dominate much of our society. Sometimes this may serve a greater good, ensuring efficient use of resources for meeting the needs of a greater number of people. However, too often the economic focus puts aside human needs and human dignity, encouraging greed and environmental destruction.
The convention will consider what the Christian faith has to say about economic systems we live with and what principles should guide a Christian view of the economy.
The Convention will also seek input from participants on Synod policy for the 2008 Synod.
The full program and workshop details can be downloaded from our website: http://victas.uca.org.au/jim
COST: $25 for Metropolitan participants/ $15 concession and non-Metropolitan participants
ENQUIRIES: For a registration form contact the Synod Justice and International Mission Unit on (03) 9251 5271 or email jesse.cain@victas.uca.org.au
Avaaz - G8 Poverty Letter
May 16, 2007
This Friday, the finance ministers from the world’s eight richest countries will meet to plan the G8 summit. That morning, we will send them an urgent letter on global poverty, signed by key global figures: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson–and, we hope, you.
Our message: keep your promise to provide 0.7% of national income in effective aid to relieve extreme poverty. Millions of lives are at stake. The more people sign the letter, the more powerful our demand becomes. Click here to sign:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/g8_poverty_letter
Lk 4 - Bible Study
May 15, 2007
MorePraxis bible study works is a resource to prime a conversation and reflection on a passage. So reflect and think about the text, listen for God and your spirit. I hope the format is less like the normal comprehension styled Bible study, but rather that it feels like ideas are rasied and space is left for you and your groups to have a conversation. Currently, I am planning on posting one a fortnight - so if you have a passage that has been important to you then write one and post it. There has been some talk of a real time online discussion for this to happen we will need a few more takers. So if you are keen make it known 
Watch Jedi Jesus tell Luke 4 here
Luke 4:14-30 - Jesus’ Manifesto
Reflect:
Read the text and notice what grabs your attention. Key words? Ideas?
Read it again, now what stands out? What do you relate to? What do you disagree with?
Is there a story from your life it reminds you of?
Think:
“Considering this passage is understood in Luke as Jesus’ first sermon, he did really well to have the audience want to kill him by the time he finished. Often we hear about the ‘Spirit of the Lord bit’ but not really hear why that caused such conflict. The practical outworking of this manifesto of ‘Good News for the poor’, led Jesus to talk about racism in his home town. Racism can be a touchy subject in general, but talk about it with your family and their friends this Christmas and watch the temperature rise. When Jesus cites the gentile widow and the soldier whom God miraculously helps instead of anyone from Israel, he is naming God’s concern for all people even the ‘hated other’ The implications of the Good News was far more offensive to the people than a simplistic “God loves everybody”. This Good News loves the poor, sick, blind, oppressed and imprisoned and stands with God against those whose concern is for themselves, whose actions or lack of action supports injustices/oppression and is an affront to those who think they have a mortgage on God and truth.” (Age)
Welcome to the conversation
What parts stood out for you, annoyed you or drew you to them?
What is echoed in your life and experience in this text?
Why did they try to kill him?
What issue would have a similar response from the people today?
What is your manifesto for life?
What else would be good to talk about???
Act:
Spend some time writing your own manifesto for your life. Print it out and try to live in a way that doesn’t get in the way of that dream. Revisit it and change it to keep it challenging and current.
If you are doing this with a group - Begin by asking people to spend some time alone writing their dream for the world or the ’manifesto’ they would like to live by. It will provide a personal starting point for comparison and discussion.
download praxisbiblelk4.pdf
Cafe>Praxis @ State Youth Games
May 14, 2007
| June 8, 2007 | to | June 11, 2007 |
Hi guys
Café Praxis and the friendly neighbourhood Urban Seed mob will be running a venue at State Youth Games.
Urban Seed usually run a sacred space and a place to chat during SYG. This year café praxis will join to help add more content to the conversation and caffeine to those conversing.
The plan is to have prayer stations plus a cafe area with stage for open mic, music and conversations. Each night we will focus on justice issue with conversation menus helping fuel the fire. Naturally, petitions, justice actions and info will be on tap.
So I will be needing helpers. (Set up, cafe helpers, and packup)
I know over 100 UCA young people attend this event and I’m looking for about 30 helpers over the weekend. Sound like fun for your group?
Contact me.
Age
age@morepraxis.org.au
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