Children’s week is at the end of October and the Uniting Church are hosting a special event ‘A Day in the Park’ at the centre for Ministry North Parramatta to celebrate.  It is a FREE, family event especially for families with babies and young children.

A Day in the Park is on Wednesday November 3^rd 2010 between 10am and 1pm at the Centre for Ministry, Masons Drive, North Parramatta. 

Experiences include: 

• Noah’s Ark Animal Nursery
• Story tent
• Live music
• Plant a seed
• Playdough
• Sticky box collage
• Fruit kebabs
• Sausage sizzle
• Lots of give-aways

This event is all free and is a celebration not a fund-raiser. Please share the A Day in the Park Flyer with others you think might like to come and share the fun!

If you have any enquiries please contact Rowena Tagaloa on 8267 4295 or email rowenat@nsw.uca.org.au

For Playgroup:

• Collage tie – cut out some cardboard ties which can be put around the neck with elastic.  Each child can paint or collage a tie for their dad or grandpa.
• The same ‘little fingers’ poems from Mother’s Day can be adapted for Father’s day.
• At least put out some cardboard and stickers so children and parents can make their own cards.

For Kids’ Club or Sunday morning:

Download the easy to print-off coupons which can be made into books or put in a hand-decorated envelope, the certificates that can also be decorated and the lolly bags are fun to make!

Father’s Day Coupons
Father’s Day Certificate     
Father Survival Kit  (lolly bags)

Cheers, Judyth

There has been much discussion of late around the trial of ethics classes for students who do not attend Special Religious Education. Now that the 10-week trial has come to a close, we begin the official time of evaluation to assess whether the classes were effective for students and whether the implementation processes were appropriate.

The Uniting Church has been involved in discussion around the trial of ethics classes for many months now and has told Dr Sue Knight at the University of South Australia, the academic responsible for evaluating the trial of ethics classes in New South Wales public schools that it supports the introduction of ethics classes for those who do not attend Special Religious Education.

In this submission John Oldmeadow, Executive Director of the church’s Board of Education said, “ Our support gives priority to the interests of all children, not just those with whom we share faith convictions.”

Mr Oldmeadow said it was important that the church consult widely with stakeholders in revising the relevant sections of current Religious Education Policy and Religious Education Implementation Procedures for the Education Act 1990 to ensure that SRE time continues to be a valued part of school life.

More details about this submission and the Uniting Church submission itself can be accessed through the Synod website or on the links below.

Further Links:

Read the article Church submission supports ethics classes on the Synod Website.

Read the Uniting Church submission to Dr Sue Knight.

When: Saturday 11th September 2010
Where: Epping Ministry Centre
Suite 101 (Level 1) 3 Carlingford Rd Epping NSW 2121
Time: 8.30-12.30pm
with opportunity for a brainstorming session during/after lunch.
Speaker: Brian Winslade. 
Dr Brian Winslade is the National Director of the Baptist Union of Australia and director of Crossover, the evangelistic arm of Australian Baptist Churches.
Cost: $15 without lunch, or $25 with lunch.

Download the Playtime Equipping Day Flyer and Registration form

Kids Vision and Baptist Union join together to present @ctiv@te Children’s Leadership Conference

@ctiv@te runs in conjunction with their Children’s Camp, which attracts over 200 children from schools, churches and the community. Part of your time at @ctiv@te will be spent learning through participation in the camp. You will have the privilege of putting @ctiv@te Workshops and Electives into practice as you observe, journey, teach and experience ministry first hand with these children.

Venue: held in the beautiful bushland setting of
The Tops Conference Centre, Stanwell Tops NSW just 56kms south of Sydney.

Cost: $250 (includes accommodation and meals for the 4 days

WHY THIS CONFERENCE? BECAUSE…

• busy ministry leaders NEED time out to pray and think about their ministry
• they LEARN from sharing their joys and challenges with other leaders
• they LOVE to sit back and watch top class ministry with real kids that they haven’t had to plan
• they GROW in skills and confidence by trying new skills in a safe setting

 AT CONFERENCE YOU’LL…

• See effective ministry to primary aged children modelled
• Learn skills through practical application and evaluation
•  Have hands-on experience in a safe, supportive environment
•  Be challenged and equipped to minister to children with special needs
•  Have time and space to think about and evaluate your ministry goals
•  Get lots of support and encouragement!

Download the Activate 2010 Flyer for more information and to register.

1st – 8th August 2010.

The theme for this year is: Learning for Sustainability.

Education week is a time for all to celebrate the valued place of our NSW public schools. As part of this week of celebration, the NSW Department of Education and Training, along with the Director-General’s Consultative Committee on Special Religious Education have provided an Inter-Denominational Christian order of service for use by churches and/or schools*. This could be used in your regular worship service or you could combine with neighboring churches for this special occasion. This is also a great opportunity to offer to host a service for your local school/s.

There are two orders of service (one designed for younger children) and suggestions for the use of these services here.

We encourage you to take the time to acknowledge and pray for the education of our young people and the dedicated staff who make this public education possible.

*Please see the ’suggestions for using the order of service’ for more information on the use of a worship service in a public school.

No booking is required just turn up on the day. Everyone is welcome!

Macquarie Darling Presbytery:
When: Saturday, 7th August 2010
Where: Wesley Church, Anson St, Orange
Time: 2.00 pm – 5.00 pm
Download Flyer

Illawarra Presbytery:
When: Saturday, 18th September 2010
Where: Dapto Uniting Church
Time: 9.30 am – 12.30 pm
Cost: $5 donation to buy school supplies for children at Katoke School, Tanzania
Download Flyer

Where: Nunyara Conference Centre, Belaire,  Adelaide
When: 24th – 26th September 2010

The Core activity of the Network of Biblical Story Tellers is telling the sacred stories of the biblical tradition in post-literate electronic culture. This core activity is rooted in a communal process of internalisation through scholarly inquiry and prayer. We encourage varieties of expression and presentation of the sacred stories in oral, written and electronic communication systems.

 Who Could Attend? Lay or ordained people, Christian educators, in schools and churches from all denominations/traditions, people interested in story whether experienced or not.

Keynote speaker:

Steve Taylor is a minister with the Baptist Church in New Zealand, currently serving in the Uniting Church as Director of Missiology at Uniting College for Leadership & Theology, Adelaide. For Steve, the theme of this weekend captures the way that we are all storied people in our lives, in our experiences of God and in the Bible as the story of others’ experiences. In the Keynote addresses, Steve will tell

Stories from Mark that he has reimagined for today, and reflect on the process of understanding, interpreting, and telling the gospel stories in a current context. In Steve’s workshop participants will explore the craft of storytelling as it applies to telling our own story -­‐ how do we identify the beginning, middle and end of the story we wish to tell of our experiences or our faith, so as to communicate the meaning we have discovered? Through Steve’s insights on Mark coupled with our epic telling of Matthew, our engagement with the gospel stories will be enlivened, and our telling of them enriched.

Download registration form for further information