David Spittler Parish Visit – The Asylum Seekers Centre
David Spittler will be visiting Perth in the first half of 2010, he will be available to speak on Sunday 2 May if anyone is interested in taking up the opportunity. David started working at the Asylum Seekers Centre in 6 February 1997, and since then has been working as the Facilitator for nearly 13 years. The Centre is a “wholly voluntary Christian response to the material needs of asylum seekers and refugees”. It is a ministry of faith based on Matthew 5:16 and Matthew 28:35.
David originally from Perth has a Diploma of Theology in Ministry from Ridley College, and prepares and preaches from the Lectionary. As at 1 January 2010 David has spoken in 153 Anglican Churches in the Melbourne Diocese, and has also spoken in Anglican churches in Ballarat, Bendigo, Brisbane, Gippsland, North Queensland and Perth during this time. If you are interested please contact David on his e-mail address to book/discuss a suitable date in 2010.
Housing and Homelessness
From the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, via United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Regional Office for Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Newsletter, Edition 1/2010
Housing and homelessness are amongst the greatest challenges facing asylum seekers in Australia. Asylum seekers who have applied for protection can live for years in the community without stable accommodation and without access to any mainstream housing services. Homelessness is a challenge not only for asylum seekers but for many Australian citizens and permanent residents, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics reporting over 105,000 homeless people in Australia each night.
Australia wide, there are a number of not-for-profit support agencies who work with asylum seekers to address their basic welfare needs. Collectively, not-for-profit services meet the legal, health, social and basic welfare needs of asylum seekers, but all of this well-integrated support comes undone when an asylum seeker has no place to live. For all of these services, access to appropriate housing is the missing link. Continue reading ‘Housing and Homelessness’
WCC head to tell Davos meeting, Haiti debt should be cancelled
Geneva (ENI). The head of the world’s largest grouping of churches, the Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, is to tell the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos that Haiti’s foreign debt must be immediately and unconditionally cancelled.
Tveit, a Norwegian Lutheran, who took over as general secretary of the World Council of Churches on 1 January, is due to attend the Davos summit later this week.
In a statement made available to Ecumenical News International on 25 January, Tveit said, “The time has come for the international community – politicians, business and civil society organizations – to focus on how Haiti can become sustainable”.
The WCC has announced that Tveit will take a message on Haiti to the meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss winter resort of Davos, which gathers global political, financial and other leaders each year. Continue reading ‘WCC head to tell Davos meeting, Haiti debt should be cancelled’
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2010 Resources
In 2010, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will be marked between May 16 – May 23, concluding on Pentecost Sunday. During this time we have a wonderful opportunity to renew and deepen our relationships in the one God in whom we share together through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. This year’s theme is ‘You are witnesses of these things’ (Luke 24:48) and a variety of resources and links can be found below to assist Australians in joining more effectively in that great wave of prayer begun by Jesus himself when he prayed ‘that they may all be one… so that the world may believe’ (John 17:21). Continue reading ‘Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2010 Resources’
CCWA AGM
The Council of Churches of Western Australia announces that its Annual General Meeting is to be held on the 17th April, 2010 at St. Charles Seminary in Guildford. Please put this date in your diaries, and stay tuned for more details.
Events for the Heart and Mind 27 January
In This Issue: Mary Jo Meadow; Passing the Baton. Continue reading ‘Events for the Heart and Mind 27 January’
