What's on: Ecumenical worship service for children with disabilities and their families and carers — Blacktown Uniting Church, June 1. READ ON MORE EVENTS

Religion and public life
The tendency to treat all religious as equally silly actually has the effect of giving space to the mad, the marginal and the dangerous. READ ON

Swelling chorus demands: Save Our Churches
In the UK, church leaders, celebrities and heritage groups have come out in support of The Sunday Telegraph’s campaign to save the nation’s churches. READ ON

Network to Ban Landmines seeks volunteers
The Australian Network to Ban Landmines is seeking volunteers to help with face-to-face collections in central Sydney during the week beginning Monday June 23, as part of its Lost Sock Appeal. READ ON

First 'Cluster Bomb Olympics' held in Washington DC
Children and adults from Washington, DC held the 1st Annual 'Cluster Bomb Olympics' organised by religious groups and others this weekend outside the White House. READ ON US absent as 100 countries meet to finalise global cluster bomb ban. READ ON

Burying Australia's inhumane refugee laws
A more substantial review of immigration policy and legislation is still required. READ ON Uniting Church congratulates government on abolition of TPVs. READ ON

British PM tells of 'irrepressible revolution of our time'
Scottish-born Gordon Brown has told the Church of Scotland’s General Assembly that international cooperation, not rampant individualism, is the key to humanity's future on a threatened planet. READ ON

Service for victims of earthquake and cyclone
The Uniting Church, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania will host a service to commemorate the victims of the earthquake in China and Cyclone Nargis in Burma on Friday May 23 at Wesley Uniting Church, Melbourne. READ ON

Coming to grips with same-sex marriage ruling
In the US, liberal and conservative congregations alike are discussing whether gays and lesbians will be allowed to wed in their churches, synagogues and temples. READ ON

What do a billion Muslims really think?
The Gallup Poll of the Muslim World is the most comprehensive study ever done of this group. Many key results counter conventional wisdom. READ ON

My church needs one of those …
The McNoot awards visited Surrey last week: a ceremony in which religious gadgets are judged by panels of clergymen according to whether they will enhance parish life. READ ON

Churches mobilise in support of earthquake victims
Christian communities in mainland China and Hong Kong have offered support and prayers to victims in Sichuan, who have suffered a devastating earthquake, China's worst in 30 years, that has resulted in the deaths of over 12,000 people. READ ON

Canadian church faces censure over gay pastor
A Canadian Lutheran church was proceeding on Friday with plans to ordain a gay pastor who is married to another man, despite warnings it would be violating church teachings and would be disciplined. READ ON

Church trying to 'limit' abuse debate
The Sydney bishop disowned by Australia's Catholic bishops as failing to understand basic church teaching says the church is trying to restrict debate on sexual abuse. READ ON

Australian church writes to Bush, condemning veto
The Uniting Church in Australia has taken the unusual step of writing to the president of the United States, George W. Bush, criticising his recent decision to veto legislation that would have outlawed torture techniques such as "water-boarding". READ ON

Few bridge the gap
Church ministers are unwilling to cross Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge and serve western suburbs parishioners, a Yarraville Uniting Church minister says. READ ON

International Day Against Homophobia, May 17
This year, the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHo), May 17, has special significance for everyone in Australia, with the federal government having committed to implement the recommendations of HREOC’s Same-Sex: Same Entitlements report to change the 58 financial and work-related federal laws that discriminate against gay and lesbian couples and their children, as well as to change around 40 additional discriminatory laws. READ ON

Invitation to Wesley Mission anniversary service
Members of the Uniting Church are being invited to join Wesley Mission staff, volunteers and supporters to celebrate Wesley Mission’s 196th anniversary at a special service at the Wesley Centre this Sunday, May 18 at 6 pm. READ ON

Small symbols of hope amid cyclone devastation
As the scale of death and destruction in Myanmar becomes clearer, the pervasive response is one of helplessness. The challenge is to keep alive the hope that things can be different, that shared humanity is more than a comfortable abstraction. READ ON

Africa's pay-at-tap meters 'put poorest at risk'
In Lesotho, South Africa and many other African countries, devices that restrict consumers to only using water that they have paid for in advance are being promoted as a way to fund better water infrastructure, but church water experts warn this approach endangers the access of the poorest of the poor to this necessity of life. READ ON

Churches prepare action for peace in Israel-Palestine
Churches throughout the world are preparing to respond to six decades of conflict in Israel-Palestine with a week of actions for justice and peace, reports the World Council of Churches, which is helping to coordinate the event. READ ON Israel and Palestine — 60 years. READ ON "Just peace" call. READ ON MORE I Remember 1948. READ ON Redress the balance. READ ON

Religious journalism amid spiritual 'intolerance'
The theological and political divisions within the US religious landscape have made the once-quiet "religion beat" one of the most interesting, if intense, journalistic assignments in the United States today, writes a prominent award-winning reporter who covers religion. READ ON

A step forward for human rights
Human Rights Commissioner, Graeme Innes has welcomed the announcement in last night’s Federal Budget of the abolition of the Temporary Protection Visa system for refugees. READ ON MORE

Tough solutions 'ineffective' for Aboriginals
There is no proof that "tough love" solutions, including quarantining welfare payments, are effective means of halting dysfunctional behaviour in indigenous communities, according to two leading Aboriginal academics. READ ON

Budget impresses welfare, infrastructure groups
The Rudd Government's first Budget has received a warm welcome from infrastructure and welfare groups, but faces criticism over cuts to the public service and its environmental spending. READ ON

Churches preach but unconverted
Little wonder that demographers of religion claim that the poor record of the church on environmental action has been another factor in why believers are taking their faith outside the church. READ ON Not so green. READ ON Church of England hosts round table on climate change action. READ ON Churches mobilise for the greening of India. READ ON Greening the church email network. READ ON MORE MORE

Uniting Church launches Burma cyclone appeal
Uniting International Mission, through its relief and development division Uniting Church Overseas Aid, has launched the UCOA Burma Cyclone Appeal. READ ON The National Council of Churches in Australia has launched an Emergency Response Appeal for the victims of tropical cyclone Nargis. READ ON Uniting Church appalled by Burma referendum plans. READ ON 100,000 could be dead. READ ON The Rev. Jason Kioa urges Uniting Church people to support the SHARE Burma Cyclone Appeal. READ ON