By Rev David Pargeter
Executive Director
Commission for Mission

Merlana Jalaladdin Al-Rumi was born 30 September 1207 on the borders of present day Afghanistan. He is generally respected as a Friend of the Truth.

Truth is a difficult value to define let alone be-friend.

My first ‘real’ friendship in which hopes, questions and truth were discussed with naïve enthusiasm was at the age of 9. It was also my first real engagement with someone who was not white and involved in a very different religious experession. My friend’s name was Dillip. He was originally from Calcutta and his family was Hindu. (more…)

By Kim Cain
Director of Communications
Uniting Church in Australia / Synod of Vic Tas

There is nothing less than tragedy all about little ‘Pumpkin’, her mum’s death and what on the surface looks like the heartless abandonment of her by her father.

The tragedy, the details of which will no doubt continue to flow, is a real life nightmare for little ‘pumpkin pie’, Qian Xun: and a publishing boom for newspapers.

Not that you could blame the media for telling the story… it’s there to be told. (more…)

By Adele Pargeter
Project Officer, Communications
Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Vic Tas

I haven’t attended church on a regular basis for years. My last real memories of church are of singing old hymns and of being preached at.

I don’t want to be told how to feel about God, I think I already have a pretty good understanding of this.

I’m nearly 26 years old and none of my friends attend church. When I was growing up, attending church was common practice. What has changed? (more…)

By Shane Hulbert
Fine Art Photography Studio Coordinator
RMIT University

French artist Frederic Brenner’s current show at the Melbourne Jewish Museum actively interrogates the notion of Sacred and Religious belonging, with a focus on identifying Jewishness. The series of black and white images, categorised by location, have been captured over 27 years, and is a result of investigations of Jewish culture and sacred sites in over forty countries. The show is ultimately a visual chronicle of social histories, of cultures, of faith, of belief and of people. (more…)