Magazine

ACCatalyst July 2008

'A church stripped of all art work was an alien place alongside the glory of visual imagery that uplifts the people'.

Icons: Couriers of a timeless message.

Front Cover - Redemption by Christ.

Our cover features a 15th century icon of Armenian origin. Persian influences appear in the trousers and boots of the figure of Christ, who descends into hell to 'crush Satan under his feet' (Romans 16, 20) and raises Adam and Eve into the new creation (signified by the blinding light that shatters the darkness). The cross is both a weapon that strikes the Devil and the only way to Salvation. The gates of hell lie shattered at Christ's feet, while kings and priests observe the dawn of redemption.

ACCatalyst March 2008

ACCatalyst March 2008 now out. Click here or on photo to download.

All impurity or lack of created wholeness will be cast our of the city of God. Allow me to use an imperfect analogy to illustrate. The first time I went to Times Square New York with my wife in the early 1980’s, it was known aptly as Hell’s Bedroom. It was full of prostitutes and intimidating pimps. We were scared and got out of there ASAP, not even going to Broadway. The second time we went, with teenage kids, was 1997. The transformation was astonishing. The city centre had been cleaned up, we felt safe walking the streets at night with the children and had a wonderful time. This is a vision of what could happen if we sought seriously to transform our cities into analogues of the city of God. But to do so Christians will need to challenge the public boardrooms as well as the private bedrooms of our culture – to challenge the whole commodification of sex and persons in the light of a comprehensive vision of city of God. 

ACCatalyst December 2007

The Nativity Story: supporting this film is a ministry in itself.

Billed as the ultimate timelss story, the commercial film The Nativity Story had a short life at the cinema, but is now available on DVD, and has more going for it than you may think.

The film has received significant support from mainstream Christian denominations and interdenominational groups, and was actually the first film to premiere at the Vatican.

Mike Rich, writer says, "In the past few years, in a sense, the dialogue over Christmas has diminished slightly. And by that, I mean individuals talking with their families and friends about the focus of the holiday. I think that's been lost a little bit in the hectic nature of the holiday where we impose these deadlines upon ourselves that we have to get this done and we have to get the shopping done, and we've got the office party to go to and this and that. We get to December 25, and we exhale and we go, 'Whew, we made it through that'.  When I started seeing the early cuts of the film, I thought to myself, this is one of these stories that (when) presented in this fashion will give families that opportunity to spend a couple of hours together during the holiday season. But more importantly, what I would love to see happen is that it (would) refresh that dialogue where parents talk to their children about the amazing courage and the amazing faith that was displayed by Mary and Joseph".

Click here or on cover to download December 2007 edition (960 Kb).

ACCatalyst September 2007

An Amazing, grace-filled film.

Apted's movie shows faith and art can work together. Review by Peter Bentley.

Many readers would have already seen Amazing Grace, a film biography about the work of the evangelical antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce. The Australian cinema release was in late July, but if you missed it on the big screen, there will be the opportunity to see it later this year on DVD.

William Wilberforece died in 1833 shortly before the final passing of the Slavery Abolition Act, 26 years after the initial Slave Trade act. It is the anniversary of the 1807 Act that this film also commemorates.

Where does this leave us today? William Wilberforce's work is far from finished. There are an estimated 27 milion slaves in the world today. Modern day slavery has many forms, but at the centre is the abuse of a persons' creation in the image of God.

Click here or on cover to download September Edition (890 Kb).

ACCatalyst June 2007

After 30 years, a new magazine and a new era.

Catalyst appears at a crucial moment for the UCA. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the denomination’s founding and the emergence of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the Uniting Church in Australia. The new body joins the global movement to arrest the decline in doctrine and practice of churches across the developed world.

The ACC may represent the only chance for reform of the Uniting Church from within. It will succeed only if it is a movement of the Spirit which inspires committed action from loyal lay people and ministers. This year offers a once only opportunity to reverse the debilitation of the Uniting Church due to its surrender to the spirit of the age.

That the ACC should emerge so early in the denomination’s brief existence would have been inconceivable on the night of June 1977, when the inaugural assembly was televised nationally from Sydney’s Opera House. The numerical decline is bad enough; the church’s sleep-walking connivance in the moral and ethical confusion of our time is a disaster.

ACCatalyst now available for download. Click here or cover (size 636 k).

ACCatalyst

The ACC's Catalyst magazine is published quarterly by the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the Uniting Church of Australia.
Editor: Paul Gray.

Editorial Committee:

Warren Clarnette, Max Champion, Ross Carter.

Board of Communications:

Ivan Kirk, Steve Estherby, Vic Malham, Anne Weeks.

Contact for editorial and advertising:

Subscription: 

Subscription to this magazine is free to each supporting member of the ACC Individual membership $50. 00 per year.

Congregations or parishes which subscribe to the Assembly of Confessing Congregations will also receive Catalyst. 

Subscriptions for non-members are available. Please contact the ACC office for information