PLANS FOR INTERACTIVE CHRISTIAN MUSEUM APPROVED

Source: Moogerah Passion Play Association Inc

South-east Queensland will be home to Australia's first interactive Christian museum. A decision of the Planning and Environment Court has given final approval for a concept which was first introduced to the public nine years ago.

The museum, to be called The House of Living Water, is a vision given to Kosti Simons, President of the Moogerah Passion Play Association Inc. in 1997. It will be built at The Lake Theatre, home of the Moogerah Passion Play, and will comprise three elements. The first is an entrance complex, which has already been built by volunteer workers using field stone, and which incorporates an administration centre, a committee room, and a ticket office. It was officially opened by the Hon. Kay Elson, Fed. Member for Forde, in October 2005.

The second element of the museum is an Australian Christian heritage area, that is an area where a number of professional actors will entertain spectators with re-enactments from our Australian Christian heritage. Authentic stories of Christian faith and devotion abound.    .

The third element will involve the professional actors using the Moogerah Passion Play's extensive infrastructure such as the Sea of Galilee, Calvary, Roman Praetorium, etc. to re-enact scenes from the Old and New Testaments.

The building has a stage area, and may be used for concerts, meetings, plays, wedding receptions, conferences, etc.  The peripheral inside area will be used for an inter-active display of the history of Christianity and its impact on Australia's contemporary culture.

The complex will be wheel-chair friendly and will have tourist facilities such as cafeteria (serving Biblical food!), souvenir shop, etc.

The next challenge is raising over $1,000,000, but two fund-raisers have volunteered their services, and interest has been shown both within and outside Australia. Members of the committee are optimistic that in three years time the House of Living Water will be open to receive some three hundred visitors each four-day week.

For further information see the website at www.moogerahpassionplay.org.au or phone 07 5463.5691

NATIONAL CHURCH LIFE SURVEY REVEALS A CHURCH CONSTANTLY ON THE MOVE

Source: National Church Life Survey

The results of the latest National Life Survey reveal the net change for all Protestant churches across Australia is a growth in attendance of 1%.'  There has also been a positive trend across denominations, where the 'front door' is open more widely and the 'back door' has been partly closed. The proportion of newcomers has increased across survey periods and, correspondingly, the proportion of drift outs has also decreased across survey periods for every denomination listed.

This trend is illustrated by the example of one Church the 6,000-strong City Life Church in Melbourne. Senior Pastor Mark Conner said "Last year we had 1290 new people added to the church and of those, about 50%, as far as we aware, came from another church. About 104 babies were born in the year, and the rest - 500-plus - would be new Christians or unchurched people.'

'As far as the outs are concerned,' Mark adds, 'we had 627 people move on last year, so our growth overall was about 663 net. Of those who moved on, some died, others moved out of town, some left Church life altogether and some 218 moved to another church."  Mobility in a modern-day church is most noticeable. Pastor Conner explains. 'I reckon that for the average church, in an urban area like Melbourne, probably 20 percent of the people are moving on every year, just through mobility,' Mark says.

He recalls a conversation with a leading church figure in the United States who revealed an even higher figure of 40% within a west coast city. That American pastor told Mark he'd previously seen his church as a 'lake', with people coming in and the lake getting bigger. But that US pastor had since taken a different view. 'I now see my church as a river,' the minister told Mark, 'with people coming in and then possibly moving on at a certain point. So my goal 'is to make sure that they're further on in Christ, further on in their faith before they move on.'

Pastor Conner believes there's a parallel with many Australian churches that's worth paying attention to. 'So I think,' Mark concludes, 'just to keep level, you've got to be adding 20 percent new members per year.'

ABORTION LINKED TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE STUDY SHOWS

Source: Compiled by APN from media reports

The long-lasting impact of violent relationships on women has been illustrated in research showing that young women abused by their partners are more than twice as likely to have an abortion as those who have not.

The data analysis, by La Trobe University researchers, was published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. It found that partner violence is the most powerful factor in whether a young woman decides to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. It also found women from poorer backgrounds were more likely to terminate their pregnancies.

The authors of the report said "We didn't know what would come out, but certainly it doesn't surprise us. People are generally unaware of what a strong role violence plays."  The researchers found that women who reported recent violence of any kind were likely to have reported a termination, while women who had had a violent partner at some stage of their lives had significantly higher odds of having had an abortion.

The researchers found that reducing violence against women was the key to reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies and therefore abortion.