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Weekly News Review – Dec 5, 2002

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ January 5, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

WORLDWIDE PHOTOS LTD The Religious Media Agency

WEEKLY NEWS REVIEW

December 5, 2002

INDEX

AUSTRALIA: 1. VISION VALLEY STAFF EVACUATE (Worldwide Photos) 2. RELIEF FOR DROUGHT VICTIMS IN VICTORIA (The Salvation Army) 3. CHARITY SHEDS STAFF (The Southern Cross) 4. NURSING SERVICE’S INCREASED SUPPORT (Wesley Mission) 5. BISHOP AGAIN CONDEMNS SEXUAL ABUSE (Angl Dio of Tasmania) 6. BETHLEHEM RE-CREATED IN BAPTIST CHURCH (The Baptist Advocate)

OVERSEAS: 7. CHANGE OF HEART IN ZIMBABWE? (Christian Herald) 8. PASTORS DROWN IN LAKE VICTORIA (Faith News Network) 9. DALITS EXPECTED TO EMBRACE CHRISTIANITY (Gospel for Asia) 10. SAD CHAPTER IN CHP HISTORY (Challenge Weekly) 11. MEDICAL RECORDS: WHAT DO YOU THINK? (Christian Herald) 12. GOVT IS WRONG ON CANNABIS (Christian Herald) 13. NEW NZ TV CHANNEL BRINGS SPIRITUAL “SHINE” (Challenge Weekly) 14. FAIR DEAL (Christian Herald) 15. LEGAL THREAT TO CHURCH NATIVITY SERVICES (C of E Newspaper)

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1. VISION VALLEY STAFF EVACUATE (Worldwide Photos) With the bush fires of Wednesday, December 4, in the Arcadia area, the staff at Wesley Mission’s Vision Valley, a popular Conference Centre, located in the bushland area, felt it necessary to evacuate as a safety precaution. Wednesday evening they packed their cars with essentials and left the area. Martin Johnson, Group Manager – Corporate Communications, Wesley Mission, Sydney, reported on Thursday morning (December 5) that it’s expected that the fire-front will pass the Vision Valley Centre, if it goes that far. “Although staff evacuated last night, all are safe,” he said.

2. RELIEF FOR DROUGHT VICTIMS IN VICTORIA (The Salvation Army) Specially designated Salvation Army Officers have been visiting homes in drought affected areas of Victoria, delivering water, food, household goods and providing financial and spiritual support. One woman and her young child in Northern Victoria had been without water for several days until a Salvation Army chaplain came to her aid. The woman shed tears of gratitude when the water was delivered. The outreach extends to all people in affected areas, whether it be farmers, farm workers, trades people, or other locals whose regular income has dried up and do not qualify for the National Farmhand Relief scheme.

3. CHARITY SHEDS STAFF (The Southern Cross) Jeremy Halcrow, the editor of the Anglican monthly newspaper, Southern Cross, reports that the stockmarket downturn has forced Anglicare to shed more than 1 per cent of its staff and shut the door on at least five ministry and community programs. Among staff retrenched are the five Parish Community Workers, employed to help Anglican parishes across Sydney Diocese establish caring ministries. “There is no doubt this cutback will impact parishes’ ability to establish caring ministries,” said Anglicare board member Bishop Robert Forsyth. “However this is not a closing down of Anglicare.” The other programs closed are Life After Prison Ministries at Long Bay, Silverwater, Windsor, Parramatta and Parklea gaols, Bondi-based AIDSlink – a support program for people living with HIV, and the Thurina Disability program located at Rooty Hill. Anglicare’s Youth Services department based at Parramatta has lost five full-time staff employed to help families before they reach crisis point.

4. NURSING SERVICE’S INCREASED SUPPORT (Wesley Mission) Noakes Nursing Service, an activity of Wesley Mission, has developed a six-month training package designed to increase the skills of aged care support workers on Sydney’s northern beaches. Bernard McNair, Wesley Mission’s Health and Counselling Services Group Manager said there was a well-identified gap between the needs of people within the area and the number of skilled workers available for support. This new training venture will culminate on Wednesday, December 18 when the first 14 students graduate with their Grade III certificate in Aged Care Work.

5. BISHOP AGAIN CONDEMNS SEXUAL ABUSE (Angl Dio of Tasmania) The Anglican Bishop of Tasmania, the Right Reverend John Harrower, has again spoken out against sexual abuse in the Anglican Church. Bishop Harrower was responding to media coverage surrounding the Brisbane Anglican Diocese’s independent inquiry which is presently underway. Bishop Harrower said, “As I have consistently stated, such abuse will not be tolerated in the Church. I have backed up these words by acting on any complaints brought to me, including deposing a retired priest found guilty of sexual misconduct by our tribunal earlier this year. I am encouraged that individuals and groups from Tasmania are being courageous enough to present any relevant evidence to the Brisbane inquiry. Again, I repeat my call for any people who may have suffered abuse in the Anglican Church in Tasmania to contact our help line on 1800 017 286 and to take any criminal matters to the police.’

6. BETHLEHEM RE-CREATED IN BAPTIST CHURCH (The Baptist Advocate) Lakeside Baptist Church in Western Australia, is gearing up to re-create Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth, as part of their interactive Christmas festival to be held over three days, December 15-17. Commenced in 1997, attendance at the festival has grown and last year over 9,000 visitors attended. The team of 150 people, including electricians, builders, singers, actors, school teachers, students, seniors, mums and dads, put together the “Journey to Bethlehem”. The “interactive village” includes stalls offering pottery, a carpenter’s shop, a bakery, hand looms as well as street theatre and food. Lambs, goats, camels and donkeys are available to pat and ride. Church members dress in period costume and re-enact the nativity story.

7. CHANGE OF HEART IN ZIMBABWE? (Christian Herald) The Zimbabwean government has announced, in an apparent change of heart, that it will spare church farms that had been listed for compulsory acquisition under its controversial land reform programme launched two years ago. A government minister told church leaders that the church properties had been listed by mistake, said the Rev Trevor Manhanga, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia.

8. PASTORS DROWN IN LAKE VICTORIA (Faith News Network) The Church of God Department of World Missions has received news from Regional Superintendent David LePage of the Eastern Region in North Africa that Ugandan Overseer Joseph Kagarama, notified them of the drowning of three pastors in Lake Victoria. According to his report, the boat they were in was dashed against rocks and six people lost their lives. The were in the process of visiting some churches on the islands of Lake Victoria. Prayer is requested for their widows and children. Recent storms have also reportedly destroyed several church buildings.

9. DALITS EXPECTED TO EMBRACE CHRISTIANITY (Gospel for Asia) Thousands of Dalits are expected to turn to the Christian faith at a rally in Tamil Nadu on December 6. A group of Dalit leaders, including R. Tirumavalavan and T. Ranganathan, will play a big part in this event. This comes just weeks after an anti-conversion law was passed in Tamil Nadu. This law makes it illegal to convert someone to another religion through the use of force, fraud, or allurement. Even the promise of spiritual blessings and eternal life could be grounds for accusation under this law. In spite of the potential danger involved in having a gathering of mass conversion, Dr. D’Souza-President of the All India Christian Council-firmly supports the December 6 event. He remarked that the AICC had pledged solidarity to the Dalits in September 2001, adding that this would be kept-no matter what the obstacles.

10. SAD CHAPTER IN CHP HISTORY (Challenge Weekly) In-house feuding finally came to a head last week when deputy leader of the Christian Heritage Party in New Zealand and candidate for Wairarapa, Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, resigned from the party. The former chief executive of Women’s Refuge cites concerns about the lack of financial accountability and un-Christian tactics of party leader, Graham Capill. In support of Mrs Raukawa-Tait, the whole Wairarapa Electorate Committee has resigned. This includes regional president and national board member Mike Lloyd, Wairarapa electorate chairman Nico Bertram, and a number of foundation members.

11. MEDICAL RECORDS: WHAT DO YOU THINK? (Christian Herald) Chaplains providing spiritual and pastoral care to patients in hospital are being encouraged to air their views on proposals to determine who can see information held in patients’ medical records. Marlene Winfield, of the NHS Information Authority, said: “Everyone with an interest in the NHS is encouraged to take part in a national consultation on patient confidentiality.”

12. GOVT IS WRONG ON CANNABIS (Christian Herald) A high-powered consultation in the House of Lords last week, chaired by Lord Alton and the Maranatha Community has vowed to fight the Government’s plans to change the law on cannabis. A succession of specialists from medical experts to educationalists, legal practitioners to drugs rehabilitation workers, plus parents of those who have died through drug use, and former drug users, underlined their opposition to the Government’s intention to reclassify cannabis from a Class B to a Class C drug.

13. NEW NZ TV CHANNEL BRINGS SPIRITUAL “SHINE” (Challenge Weekly) Shine Television, New Zealand’s first national Christian TV channel, has arrived and it promises to bring a spiritual “shine” to the nation. The channel went to air on Sunday, December 1, with a launch party broadcast live from the station. Shine is on SKY Digital, channel 99, and UHF in Christchurch , channel 56 (previously Freedom TV). It is available to all 360,000 subscribers to Sky’s digital service (a potential audience of 800,000 New Zealanders) plus the majority of people in the Christchurch region broadcasting a mix of international and locally produced programs, 24 hours per day 7 days a week.

14. FAIR DEAL (Christian Herald) With the Christmas shopping season well underway, recent research from National Opinion Polls looked at the question: “Are we a nation of supporters or cynics?” The survey, on behalf of Traidcraft showed that while the overwhelming majority of people agree with fair trade in principle, only one fifth currently follow this through when shopping.

15. LEGAL THREAT TO CHURCH NATIVITY SERVICES (C of E Newspaper) Church quiz nights, musical soirees, and even nativity plays may be affected in Britain, by new government legislation. The proposals, outlined in the Queen’s Speech, aim to introduce compulsory licensing for places of worship if they intend to put on more than five pieces of public entertainment a year. The legislation is already in place in London, where churches like St Martin-in-the-Fields holds a licence to enable them to put on concerts and other entertainment. A spokesman for Church House said: “Any church holding concerts or possibly even nativity plays will be affected”. This could seriously affect “the role of the church in the community”, as fundraising and community activities are hit. One Church of England clergyman questioned how the new proposals would be enforced. Religious services would not be affected by the legislation, but it may be hard to distinguish. “If, say, a quiz night begins with a prayer, will it then be defined as a worship service? And how will they enforce this law? (Will police burst in on a concert and say ‘Hullo! Hullo! Hullo! – have you got a licence for that’?)

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