Archive

Uniting Church Chaplain Brings Dragon Tale to Life

A Uniting Church university chaplain will soon release her first children’s book, a story about a young girl overcoming her fears to befriend a dragon. Rev. Dr Christine Gapes is the Uniting Church Chaplain at Western Sydney University. She was the Synod’s first youth worker and has run workshops on the topic of grief. Her […]

Jonathan Foye 3 June 2025

Reviews

This Just Might be the Most Soulful Americana Album of the Year

Volume 4, Kieran Kane and Rayna Gellert Kieran Kane is one of those Americana folk singers who falls into the mildly contradictory category ‘new traditionalists’, like Gillian Welch. Originally from New York, Kane is a long-term player in the alt-country scene, sounding a little like Buddy Miller, Willie Watson or Eric Bibb. Over the years, […]

Nick Mattiske 3 June 2025

Reviews

A Sprawling, Strange, Never-Ending Epic

Review: The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy The Hundred Line is a result of the collaboration between two Japanese game directors with extremely distinctive styles and huge cult followings. Kazutaka Kodaka, best known for creating the Danganronpa series (a popular visual novel series where you solve murders and dig into a deep, strange lore) and […]

James O'Connor 3 June 2025

Features

The Art and Science of Comfort Rewatching (Including Parks and Rec Again, and Again)

You’ve had a long day. The boss was grumpy, the dog ate your favourite running shoe, and your inbox is now sentient and hostile. You sit down, exhale dramatically, and stare at your streaming queue. Seven shiny new shows beckon—critically acclaimed, beautifully lit, maybe even foreign-language (so cultured!). And yet… your thumb, with a will […]

Adrian Drayton 2 June 2025

News

Pope Francis Leaves A Legacy of Radical Compassion and Moral Clarity

Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21, 2025, at the age of 88, was more than a religious figurehead; he was a transformative leader whose teachings resonated across denominational lines. His papacy was marked by a consistent call to embrace compassion, humility, and justice, challenging believers to live out their faith authentically. 1. Embracing […]

Adrian Drayton 29 May 2025

Reflections

June 2025: Radical Inclusivity, Freedom and Unity

There are celebrations galore in the month of June. Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, and of course the anniversary of the Uniting Church in Australia. The New Testament lectionary readings give us much cause for celebration as well. Our readings from Acts (16:16-34 and 2:1-21) tell stories of the release of Paul and Silas from prison, and […]

Rev Greer Hudson 28 May 2025

Features

How Mysticism Saved Me

It’s a bold statement to make that someone or something saved you. I was listening to a friend talk about how at one stage of her life the faith that she grew up with no longer fit her. It had become like a weighted jacket that made her feel heavy and constrained. Instead of pointing to freedom […]

Karina Kreminski 27 May 2025

Features

Is the Gospel of Self-Help Actually Helping?

Or are we just really tired with better skincare routines? If you’ve been anywhere near the internet (you are now by the way)—or wandered into the self-help aisle at Big W while looking for an air fryer—you’ve seen it. The Gospel of Self-Help. It’s booming. It’s in TikToks preaching the theology of “cutting off low-vibe […]

Adrian Drayton 26 May 2025

Features

Cruise’s Messiah Complex Meets AI Apocalypse in The Final Reckoning

Review: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a sprawling, frenetic, and sometimes self-serious entry that leans hard into topical anxiety about artificial intelligence while doubling down on Ethan Hunt’s messianic burden to save the world—again. It’s a film that wants to be both a blockbuster thrill ride and a meditation […]

Adrian Drayton 22 May 2025

Reviews

The Penguin Lessons

Note: This analysis contains spoilers for The Penguin Lessons. The Penguin Lessons is a beautiful, surprising gem of a movie, based on the memoir of British teacher Tom Michell. Michell taught English at an exclusive private boy’s school in Argentina in the 1970’s when it was on the brink of revolution. Sometime in the past, […]

Katherine Grocott 21 May 2025

Features

How the Church Can Be the Answer to Disconnection?

In a world where we can stream a video chat across continents but hesitate to make eye contact with someone handing us coffee, it’s clear we’re facing a deep and growing disconnection. We scroll endlessly, send laughing emojis instead of laughing with people, and curate polished digital selves—all while loneliness reaches epidemic levels. According to […]

Adrian Drayton 21 May 2025

Features

The Power Behind Nicaea

The Council of Nicaea – Part 2 It is not easy today to enter the political world of the Council of Nicaea or to evaluate its legacy fairly—especially regarding the emperor Constantine. The problems lie partly with us and how we understand the role played by Constantine, who called the Council into being, determined where […]

Assoc. Prof. Clive Pearson 20 May 2025

Features

How a 4th-century Theological Debate Helped Shape the Faith we Still Confess Today

The Council of Nicaea – Part 1 On the 20th May, 1700 years ago, approximately 300 bishops gathered in the imperial residence in Nicaea (now Iznik), a city to the east of Constantinople (now Istanbul). They had been summoned by the emperor, Constantine, to resolve a crisis that would shape the future of the Christian […]

Assoc. Prof. Clive Pearson 19 May 2025

Features

Seeing in the dark

Becoming students in bleak times “In a dark time, the eye begins to see” wrote poet Theodore Roethke. If this is true, then our hope is that new creative ways of seeing and behaving might open up to us in these troubled times. At Easter my faith tradition weaves threads of hope within the story […]

Karina Kreminski 14 May 2025

Reviews

Aliens, Anxiety, and Us

After the Flying Saucers Came: Greg Eghigian, Oxford University Press Renewed interest in the UFO phenomenon lately is largely the result of the release of strange US defence videos and prominent whistleblowers coming out of the woodwork to testify to US government inquiries. But Greg Eghigian suggests that the history of UFO beliefs is less […]

Nick Mattiske 13 May 2025

Reviews

Not All Heroes Wear Halos

Review: Thunderbolts* Thunderbolts* brings together a team of misfits, many of them with dark pasts. Florence Pugh leads the charge as Yelena Belova, the sarcastic, bruised, and battle-hardened Black Widow successor. She’s not a hero in the traditional sense—she’s killed, lied, and done things she’s not proud of. But in this story, that’s the point. […]

Adrian Drayton 13 May 2025

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Archive

Uniting Church Chaplain Brings Dragon Tale to Life

This Just Might be the Most Soulful Americana Album of the Year

A Sprawling, Strange, Never-Ending Epic

The Art and Science of Comfort Rewatching (Including Parks and Rec Again, and Again)

Pope Francis Leaves A Legacy of Radical Compassion and Moral Clarity

June 2025: Radical Inclusivity, Freedom and Unity

How Mysticism Saved Me

Is the Gospel of Self-Help Actually Helping?

Cruise’s Messiah Complex Meets AI Apocalypse in The Final Reckoning

The Penguin Lessons

How the Church Can Be the Answer to Disconnection?

The Power Behind Nicaea

How a 4th-century Theological Debate Helped Shape the Faith we Still Confess Today

Seeing in the dark

Aliens, Anxiety, and Us

Not All Heroes Wear Halos

Stay informed

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