Facebook icon Twitter icon Forward icon

Introducing: College in the Community!

Great news for anyone who has ever been interested in enrolling for the Certificate IV Christian Life and Ministry, but didn't want to go at it alone. From the last week in July you will be able to attend some of the Cert IV unit classes at a church near you.

"We've secured venues in the North/North East and the South where lectures can be run," says Jessie Sanders, VET coordinator at Uniting College. "Three units will be run in the North/North East region, one in the South, and seven of these will be available at our centrally located (slightly West!) Brooklyn Park campus."

In the North/North East region interested students can enrol to attend 'Scriptures' at Journey Uniting Church, 'Preaching' at Hope Valley Uniting Church and 'Pastoral Care' at Playford Uniting Church. Seeds Uniting Church will be the South's venue for 'Small Group Leadership'. At the Brooklyn Park Campus classes will be run for 'Gospels', 'Scriptures', 'Ministry Practice', 'Communication', Small Group Leadership', 'Godly Play', and 'Messy Church'.

"There are ample RH White Scholarship opportunities available for anyone who is new to this Cert IV course," says Jessie. "In fact, a scholarship will cover the cost of at least one whole unit."

The Certificate IV Christian Life and Ministry is made up of 13 units, 8 core electives and 5 electives. The course includes subjects required for people wanting to become Lay Preachers or Ministers of Pastor. The course also forms part of the Intern Year program. It can be completed within 12 months.

For full details on the exact schedules, how to enrol and how to apply for the scholarships, please download the brochure/s that would suit your attendance:

Intern Year is back!

After an absence of six months Intern Year will once again be up and running during the second semester of 2017. 

Intern year is a one-year program for 18-25 year olds who are active members of their local congregation and seek to grow as leaders, live life with purpose, and learn the foundations for Christian discipleship, mission and ministry. By the end of the year they will find themselves to have grown in their unique gifts and strengths. They will also have the opportunity to study towards a Certificate IV in Christian Life & Ministry (10496NAT).

Mike Wardrop will be taking over the reigns as Intern Year Coordinator, following in the footsteps of Danica Patselis who has moved on to achieve wonders elsewhere in ministry and discipleship. Mike was appointed to the role of the UCSA Intergenerational Discipleship Developer in 2016, working in youth and young adult ministry – and supporting others who do so.

“I have a real heart for youth and young adults,” Mike affirmed in an interview with New Times. “But for me, it’s really about connecting with people – over movies, over coffee, over Jesus."

And there would be many opportunities to do just that with the Intern Year recruits. These young people will be meeting on campus in Brooklyn Park on Tuesdays for lectures, fellowship and dsicipleship, and will join an Urban Mission Exposure trip in early 2018.

Anyone interested to enrol in Intern Year can do so via the website. Classes start on 25 July. For any queries, please contact Mike via email. You can also follow Intern Year on Facebook!

Not to be missed...

Renowned Christian author and scholar, Rev Dr William H Willimon, will be delivering this year's Flinders University Annual Theological Lecture. He will lecture on how to confront social issues such as racism through preaching.

Willimon is an American theologian and bishop in the United Methodist Church, who served the North Alabama Conference. He is currently Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at Duke Divinity School and the former Dean of the Chapel at Duke University. Willimon is considered by many as one of America's best-known and most influential preachers. A Pulpit & Pew Research on Pastoral Leadership survey determined that he was one of the two most frequently read writers by pastors in mainline Protestantism alongside Henri Nouwen. His books have sold over a million copies and he is also Editor-At-Large of The Christian Century.

The lecture will take place on Wednesday 19 July at 7:00pm at Flinders University's Tonsley campus.

Attendance is free but we would kindly request that you would register by contacting the Adelaide College of Divinity. Please send an email or call 08 8416 8400.

Love worship? Don't forget about this then!

There's excitement in the air...

By November this year the Brooklyn Park campus will look very different. That's because we have now fully embarked on a refurbishment project. The building contractors and demolition team are on site and working full tilt to get the work done on time.

The College, along with the Adelaide College of Divinity(ACD) and the Adelaide Theological Library will move into the Southern and South Eastern part of the building (closer to Adelaide West Uniting Church) once the refurbishments are done. The Northern and North Western part of the building, which we currently use, will then be vacated so that Emmaus Christian College can move in, as is the current proposal.

The newly refurbished wing will house an entrance foyer and student hub more or less where the Chapel of Reconcilliation used to be. The ground floor will also house meeting rooms, a coffee centre, one classroom and the closed stacks collection of the library. Furhtermore this is where you will find the administrative offices of the ACD, the UCLT, the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC), the Training Aboriginal Christian Leaders (TACL), and the UCSA Mission Resourcing team. 

The first floor will be home to the main library collection, three more classrooms, an open study/learning common, a media studio and the academic staff offices.

The Brooklyn Park Refurbishment Project represents an exciting new chapter in the life of Christian mission, discipleship and leadership for the Uniting Church in South Australia. The development will join together the Adelaide College of Divinity, the UAICC, TACL, Adelaide West Uniting Church, and the Uniting Church SA’s Mission & Leadership Development ministry centre, which includes Uniting College for Leadership & Theology and the Mission Resourcing team.

We are excited about the possibilities that these new spaces will bring. If you have a passion for this developing ministry at Brooklyn Park please donate towards this project by following this link.

Evangelism in our modern times

The Hope We Have - Sharing our faith in a secular world, is a conference on Evangelism, Conversion and Mission of God. The conference runs in the week after Uniting Leaders 2017, from Sunday 27 to Tuesday 29 August. It will be held at Adelaide West Uniting Church in Brooklyn Park.

The Sunday evening service at Adelaide West Uniting will also serve as the opening of the conference. Here, one of our anchor speakers, Mike Frost, will lead the sermon at 5:00pm and this is free for anyone to attend.

On Monday morning attendees will embark on a busy schedule of talks and workshops led by Mike and Karina Kreminski, both from Morling College in Sydney. This will continue into Tuesday. Topics under discussion will include:

  • CALD ministry
  • Understanding context
  • Evangelism to older Australians
  • Overseas evangelism
  • Relational evangelism
  • Respect in evangelism
  • What is the gospel?  What do we proclaim?
  • Preaching and evangelism
  • The sending out of God’s people, encouraging the church in outward focus.

This conference forms part of a unit (MINS2320) which may be taken for credit through August. It will cost $120pp, or $100 if you are a concession holder or student. For those already enrolled for the whole unit the cost is only $40 for conference attendance. Group booking discounts are also available. The Sunday evening worship with Mike Frost is free for anyone to attend.

To book your spot head over to the conference web page: thehopewehave.com. See you there!

A few UC specific courses

Ethos of the Uniting Church - Who are we?

A free seminar by Rev Prof Andrew Dutney

Aimed at Board members and staff of organisations in association with the Uniting Church, and people going into Ministry of Pastor.

The vision, values and structure of the Uniting Church: Who we are, what we believe and how we are organised.

Code of Ethics

Essential study for working within the Uniting Church.

This initial non-accredited course introduces a code of ethics that  includes training on the awareness of the prevention of sexual misconduct.  Assignments and assessments apply.

It is essential study for candidates for ministry, Pastor of the Word, Ministry of Pastor and ministers transferring from other denominations.

Period of Discerment Retreat

Spend time and space with God

Discernment Retreats are overnight retreats in Belair, Adelaide where you can discern on God's direction for your life. You will be lead on a journey of reflecting what has already happened in your life, what is currently happening, and where God might be leading you. This will be followed by significant times of quiet reflection and listening to what God might be saying to you.

From the Adelaide Theological Library

www.acd.edu.au/library

As you may be aware, Rosemary Hocking's last day at the ATL is tomorrow, Friday 14 July. Her official farewell took place two weeks ago at the Brooklyn Park Campus. While we would like to thank Rosemary for her stewardship at the ATL and many years of great work, she also had the following to say: "I would like to thank those who have contacted me with kind words, and I wish you all every success in the future," says Rosemary.

Ana and Hayley will be keeping the library running until a new Library Manager is appointed, with the assistance of casual staff, including Wendy Davis and Bernard Rigo. They are looking forward to welcoming students in semester 2, whilst continuing to plan for the move to the refurbished building at the end of the year.

This is where it all happens!