I really enjoyed this post from Steve on the power and importance of community. Check it out.

A quote in today’s paper, on the indications that the issue of gay and lesbian ministers will be back on the agenda at the next Uniting Church national assembly:

There’s an old saying: ‘There has to be blood on the floor of the assembly for the church to live in peace.’ Decisions have to be thrashed […]

The latest “campaign” promise from the man of steel is all about protecting those ever fragile borders of ours:

I am pleased to announce today that the Australian Government has awarded $135m worth of contracts to ensure the continued effective monitoring and protection of our maritime borders.
Involving five Dash 8 aircraft, three Reims 406 electronic […]

Ok, here is one for you all to give me some input on….
I have been asked by our denomination this question :
“How does a denominational head office support/nurture/encourage the emerging church?”
In your reply, you can assume you have funding for what you want.. (within reason :)) Perhaps you could think through issues of incubating […]

If you are interested in checking out our newly converted warehouse into a community centre that we also have Church in… follow the virtual tour link from the nccc web site. A big thanks to Stephen for his work in putting this tour togther.
Almost five years ago four Church of Christ congregations merged to create […]

I was listening to the football (Australian Rules) commentary on the radio the other day. During the prematch dribble to fill in time there was a big tirade by one of our more well-known dribblers in Sam Newman. Ironically, what he said made me think of leadership in the Church.
He was talking about how the […]

nccc are putting on a series of seminars titled ‘Being Faithful in a Pluralist World’.
Of course we would like to see all our international readers make a special effort to be there

We haven’t been posting much, ironically at a time when heaps of stuff is going on at Northern and thinking through heaps of challenges. Maybe that is why we don’t feel up to the monumental task of reflecting on some of it.
Another reason for the lack of posting is that we have been spending […]

If you go and have a look at this summary, you won’t need to go and see King Arthur:

The Steppes of Sarmatia. Fires, huts, mud.
Lookout: Look out!
Elders of Sarmatia: What’s wrong?
Lookout: The Romans are coming!
Elders: What about it?
Lookout: They are coming as they do every 15 years to reap their bounty under treaty, to take […]

This last saturday heralded the start of a new initiative with our gen x congregations. Our new ministry centre incorporates an op-shop which is staffed during the week predominantly by members of our blended congregation and people on our work for the dole program. Money raised in the op-shop goes towards our careworks […]