WORLDWIDE PHOTOS LTD

The Religious Media Agency

WEEKLY NEWS REVIEW

January 9, 2003

INDEX

AUSTRALIA: 1. CHRISTIANS IN CARPARK CATHEDRAL (NCYC) 2. HCJB WORLD RADIO-AUSTRALIA GOES ON AIR (HCJB) 3. SUPERINTENDENT VISITS GRAFTON (Wesley Mission) 4. BACKYARD BLITZ IN PERTH (Baptist Advocate) 5. MEN TODAY IN QUEENSLAND (Qld Baptist) 6. “MISSIONARIES” NEEDED IN DEFENCE FORCES (Southern Cross)

OVERSEAS: 7. C ”TE D’IVOIRE REFUGEE CRISIS (C&MA News) 8. GUN CRIME PLEA (Christian Herald) 9. HONOUR FOR CHURCH WORKER (Church Times) 10. NOMINATION FOR LAUSANNE FORUM BEGINS (LCWE) 11. CHILD CLONING BAN CALL (Christian Herald) 12. MINISTER STUDIES PAGANISM (Christian Herald) 13. PRAYERS FOR PEACE AT EPIPHANY (Church of England) 14. LANCASHIRE PUB CONVERTED (C of E Newspaper) 15. ACCOLADE – WELL DONE FAITHFUL SERVANT (Baptist Times)

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1. CHRISTIANS IN CARPARK CATHEDRAL (NCYC) From January 5 through to 11, Newcastle experienced another shaking of its foundations, as 2,000 young people, aged 15 to 30, from as near as Elermore Vale and Belmont and as far as Perth, the Solomon Islands and Bali descended on Newcastle for NCYC (National Christian Youth Convention). With its theme of ‘Shaking the Foundations’, it was a week of worship, Bible study, educational opportunities and lots of fun, at the University of Newcastle’s Callaghan Campus. The University’s multilevel car park, dubbed the “Carpark Cathedral”, housed all of the Convention’s delegates, on thousands of cushions sewn locally by volunteers, during the huge evening worship services. The Biennial Convention was hosted by the Uniting Church of Australia.

2. HCJB WORLD RADIO-AUSTRALIA GOES ON AIR (HCJB) HCJB World Radio-Australia’s new short-wave station at Kununurra in the Northern Territory went on air Sunday, January 5, with its first five-hour transmission to the South Pacific. This culminated more than five years of planning and praying. “Praise God, He has done it!” said Director of Ministries Dennis Adams from the Australian office in Melbourne following a dedication service. “What a moving moment it was as pastor John Rush said ‘Amen’ at the conclusion of his prayer of dedication to hear the sounds of ‘Advance Australia Fair’ ring out at precisely 7 a.m. (Greenwich Time). HCJB World Radio President David Johnson took part in the inauguration via telephone link from Colorado Springs, Colorado. He then listened as the switch was pulled and the first special half-hour broadcast began — a “launch program” that had been prepared at HCJB World Radio-Australia’s studios in Melbourne.

3. SUPERINTENDENT VISITS GRAFTON (Wesley Mission) The Superintendent of Wesley Mission the Rev Hon Dr Gordon Moyes AC MLC with his wife, Beverley, visited Grafton on Tuesday, (January 7), where they hosted an afternoon tea at the Wesley Uniting Employment centre. Wesley Uniting Employment, Grafton services the needs of job-seekers, matching them to any available jobs. The centre offers a diverse service, including resume preparation, provides daily newspapers and access to a touch screen of available jobs, plus the use of computers, telephone and fax. According to Regional Manager, Ros McInnes, “It recently helped two large local businesses recruit over 200 new staff”.

4. BACKYARD BLITZ IN PERTH (Baptist Advocate) The spirit of reality TV programs such as “Backyard Blitz” and “Ground Force” has rubbed off on a group of six Rockingham Senior High School students in Perth, who have helped with a garden makeover for the staff and residents of Baptistcare’s Gracehaven Hostel in Rockingham. With assistance from teacher Nial Simpson and some adult volunteers, the students fertilised and mulched the garden area, planted colourful flowers around the yard and erected two gazebos. They also plan to make large dolphin cut-outs, which they will paint and use to brighten up a blank brick wall. The students have adopted a specific area of the garden for a long term project which gives them the opportunity to purchase and install a water fountain for the residents and staff, as soon as they can raise more funds for the project.

5. MEN TODAY IN QUEENSLAND (Qld Baptist) Kenmore Baptist Church in Brisbane, is preparing to launch a magazine specifically for men, named “Men Today”, in mid-January. “Men Today’s content will be drawn from – and build upon – a wealth of knowledge gained over many years of ministering to Australian men,” said Pastor Rob Jones, “the articles will focus on areas such as work, finances, family, relationships, faith, health, fun, friends and personal leadership.” Call Kenmore Baptist Church on (+61-7) 3378 3595 for more information.

6. “MISSIONARIES” NEEDED IN DEFENCE FORCES (Southern Cross) One of the Australian Defence Forces’ newest recruits has called on Anglican Clergy to seriously consider the “missionary” opportunities presented by the current world climate. The Rev. Craig Potter, assistant minister in the Blackheath parish, will take up a chaplaincy position with the 2nd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment in Townsville on January 20. Mr Potter does not see much difference between chaplaincy and parish ministry. He said: “I’ll still be dealing with people who need encouragement and to hear the gospel. I’ll still be running Bible studies, praying with people, doing weddings, baptisms and funerals – but I’ll be doing it in camouflage.”

7. C ”TE D’IVOIRE REFUGEE CRISIS (C&MA News) C ´te d’Ivoire, previously considered the West African model of democracy and economic progress, has deteriorated into civil war. The International Christian Academy in Bouake, where many children of missionaries attended, was evacuated and more than 120,000 residents have fled south, headed for the Alliance Bible Institute in Yamoussoukro. One of the missionary professors, Dr. Jeter Livingston reported that: “The Bible Institute and the churches in Yamoussoukro have been overwhelmed in these last days by people who have managed to escape Bouake and other occupied towns. The entire Christian and Missionary Alliance Bambara community of Tiebissou arrived en masse. The local Bambara community is trying to take care of them, but again, it is the poorest of the poor trying to make what they don’t have stretch so that everyone has a little something. Sally Dembele, one of our professors, told us that she has literally given away every extra piece of clothing she has. She’s down to one or two dresses now. They’ve given away everything they can, and yet most refugees have to sleep on the floor, no covering, no mattress, no food.”

8. GUN CRIME PLEA (Christian Herald) Following the fatal New Year shooting of Birmingham teenagers Charlene Ellis and Latisha Shakespear, leaders of the city’s black led churches met to respond to the problems of escalating gun crime. The meeting at Aston Christian Centre where Charlene and her twin sister Sophia worshipped, came as Charlene’s father called for understanding rather than revenge. Bishop Joe Aldred, who chaired the meeting, said it was important to tackle the causes of crime as well as the crime itself.

9. HONOUR FOR CHURCH WORKER (Church Times) A Vicar whose parish became the centre of public attention in tragic circumstances appeared in the New Year Honours list, in Britain. The Vicar of St Andrew’s, Soham, the Revd Timothy Alban-Jones, received the MBE. The honour, for “services to the community”, recognises his pastoral work after the killings of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, both 10-year olds, by their ex-school caretaker and his girl friend, a former teaching assistant. Mr Alban-Jones is reported as saying: “I was just doing my job, and it seems extraordinary to have it rewarded in such a public way.”

10. NOMINATION FOR LAUSANNE FORUM BEGINS (LCWE) With the launch of the Forum website, the nomination process for the 2004 Lausanne Forum for World Evangelization began January 1, 2003. Approximately 1250 missions and evangelism leaders and practitioners will meet in Thailand from September 29 to October 5, 2004, to discuss the major obstacles to world evangelization and in 24 issue groups hammer out strategies and action plans for mission and evangelism in the 21st Century. The 2004 Planning Committee and Issue Group leaders will select participants based on the balance of ministry experience, perspective, age, gender and geographic representation..

11. CHILD CLONING BAN CALL (Christian Herald) Christian ministries and churches in the United Kingdom remain sceptical of continuing claims that Clonaid, an organisation founded by an offshoot of the Raelian religious cult, has produced two cloned babies since Christmas. Focus on the Family based in the United States, said: “We hope the Clonaid announcement, whether true or false, will stimulate all who value human life to support a comprehensive worldwide ban on human cloning.” The Church of Scotland’s Science Religion and Technology Project has backed the call.

12. MINISTER STUDIES PAGANISM (Christian Herald) An Anglican priest in Britain has received his bishop’s blessing for a plan to meet witches and attend pagan rituals. The Rev Richard Thomas, director of communications in the Oxford diocese, said he hoped the research would increase Christians’ understanding of paganism and that the work was “something that God has called me to do”. Richard received a  £1,000 (AUD2,800; USD1,600) bursary from Ecclesiastical Insurance to help him study for a thesis on Wicca and he said his bishop, the Rt Rev Dr Richard Harries, had been “very supportive”.

13. PRAYERS FOR PEACE AT EPIPHANY (Church of England) Prayers for world peace, for use by parishes, congregations and individuals around Epiphany, are available on the Church of England’s website “An Invitation to Prayer” at http://www.invitationtoprayer.org: This website was originally created to stimulate prayer following the tragic events of September 11. Epiphany, on January 6th, celebrates the arrival of the wise men bearing gifts for the infant Jesus. Dr David Hope, the Archbishop of York, has written to parishes saying “This is an appropriate season in which so to focus our prayer.” So far the website has received more than 140,000 hits.

14. LANCASHIRE PUB CONVERTED (C of E Newspaper) A pub has been converted into a new church for Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, Lancashire, in England, thanks to ecumenical teamwork between local Anglicans and Independent Methodists. The once-derelict “Ram’s Head” is now St Luke’s parish church — with a link area connecting to the Methodist Church next door. One hundred and four years ago St Thomas’s Church in Ashton-in-Makerfield moved to a temporary building while a new church was built. The temporary structure made of timber, became St Luke’s, and was designed to last “up to 40 years”. Over a century later St Luke’s the building was condemned, following an accident. The Independent Methodists offered the use of their church on Sunday mornings while they held their service in the evenings. The relationship worked so well that both congregations became keen to stay together — and the idea of jointly buying the next-door pub was born. Both congregations now have separate worship areas but they regularly hold joint services and a special meeting area links the two buildings.

15. ACCOLADE – WELL DONE FAITHFUL SERVANT (Baptist Times) A distinguished scientist, broadcaster and writer, who is also the associate pastor of the church he attends, Heath Street Baptist Church, Hampstead, London, the Rev. Edwin Robertson has been made a Fellow of the University of East London. Mr Robertson received his acknowledgement and accolade at the University’s Graduation Ceremony. He is aged 91.

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