Is Easter's message still being heard or does the church need to pull a rabbit out of its hat?

One of the joys of an extra-long weekend is having the time to catch up on news and information from our member churches. One in particular, from the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) stands out as being relevant across the greater churches and reflects on our faith, one that is grounded in the resurrection. Is the Church to blame for society turning a deaf ear to this message?

The article Why the message of Easter remains vital by By Stephen Acott and Mikaela Turner, is particularly thought provoking. It raises questions for all our churches now that Easter is over. Published in Crosslight, a publication of the Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, it is well worth a read. Not the least for sentiments included by four very different UCA ministers.

“Australia’s affluence is a major reason why its mainstream population ignores Easter’s Christian origins. says Ajub Jahja , minister at St Andrew’s Gardiner UCA, who grew up in Indonesia.

“It would be really easy to live in Australia and have no idea why we have this four-day holiday that moves around at this time of the year” Sandy Brodie, UCA minister for the Banyule region.

“To [non-Christians], the resurrection is a pretty outrageous claim – they can’t imagine the idea of a body being raised.” states Dr Geoff Thompson, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Pilgrim Theological College.

Easter “provides community in a world where there are lot of forces against sustaining community” says Alistair Macrae, former Synod moderator and currently minister at Wesley Uniting Church

We encourage you to read the full article here