Archive for May, 2012

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Sweet poison

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The popularity of a display by two Avondale Library staff members may encourage others to remove sugar from their diet. Lynette Frazer and Sharon Kenealy’s Sweet Poison uses sugar cubes to illustrate the sugar content of processed foods. The sweetest poison, at 12 cubes: a 650-millilitre Dare iced coffee. Lynette has lost 13 kilograms since November last year and Sharon, a former “sugarholic,” is now free of headaches. Inspiration came from David Gillespie’s book of the same name.—Brenton Stacey, public relations officer, Avondale College of Higher Education Credit: Lagani Gairo.

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Underwear for those in care

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Female staff members and students such as Tupou Fine, Stephanie Bennett and Emma Hanna have donated enough undies to supply a women’s refuge for up to 12 months. The 226 pieces are all size 8-12 because most of the underwear Southlakes Women’s Refuge receives is for middle-aged or elderly women, even though most of its residents are young. “They arrive with nothing, not even the basics, because they’ve often left home in a hurry,” says assistant women’s residence director Mere Neale. The donation came during Women’s Forum, May 2. Giving is part of the experience—staff and students raised $250 for a victim of breast cancer during the forum last year.—Brenton Stacey, public relations officer, Avondale College of Higher Education Credit: Kimberley Hodgkin.

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Chill time

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Caf uses cash prize to buy new lounges

Josh Dye
Public relations intern
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

The cafeteria on Avondale College of Higher Education’s Lake Macquarie campus has a new addition in 2012—lounges in which customers can relax during meal times.

The new lounges in the cafeteria are . . . comfortable. Credit: Julian Bremner.

Food services director Nick Hartigan purchased the lounges from the proceeds of a $15,000 cash prize he won in a national competition. The Win & Choose Your Prize! competition, organised by Integro Foods, gave Australian businesses the opportunity to win cash, a car or a travel voucher. Nick chose the cash because, as he said at the time, “in a service industry, it’s difficult justifying capital expenditure.” “We wanted to use the money to improve facilities for students,” says Nick.

The lounges are proving a hit with students. “It makes for a more social, relaxed atmosphere, where you can just sit and chat,” says biology major Joanna McNeill.

Another addition in the cafeteria this year: a new oven to replace four that were almost 50 years old. Nick says the time had come to upgrade. “The new oven is much more energy efficient, and it’s more economical.”

 

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Defending and seeking the truth

Thursday, May 3, 2012

And the differences between them

Dr Arthur Patrick
Honorary senior research fellow
Avondale College of Higher Education

Spectrum published Chris Blake’s “Are we guardians of truth or seekers of truth?” in 2006 (34:1). Why do I remember this article?

Chris, associate professor of English and communication at Union College (Lincoln, Nebraska, USA), begins with this: “Of the many fundamental divisions in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, perhaps none is as practically meaningful as the difference between Guardians of Truth and Seekers of Truth.” Then he offers some definitions:

  • Guardians serve and fear God Seekers serve and enjoy God.
  • Guardians talk of historic truths. Seekers live out present truth.
  • Guardians emphasise performance. Seekers emphasise participation.
  • Guardians interpret literally. Seekers recognise irony, symbolism and context.
  • Guardians believe the church is an organisation. Seekers believe the church is a force.
  • Guardians defend the truth. Seekers feed on it.

Guardians and Seekers “both carry accumulated penchants, motivations and aptitudes,” says Chris. “And we can all find ourselves deep in the other camp depending on the issue or circumstance. Still, we see differences emerge in myriad ways.”

Adventist pioneer Ellen White noted the differences, too. I love the challenge in her chapter “Great Distress Coming” in Testimonies for the Church Volume 1:

“Greater light shines upon us than shone upon our fathers. . . . To be accepted and blessed of God as they were, we must imitate their faithfulness and zeal,—improve our light as they improved theirs,—and do as they would have done had they lived in our day. We must walk in the light which shines upon us, otherwise that light will become darkness.”

Yes, sometimes we’re called to be Guardians of Truth, but our commission is to be Seekers of Truth.

Thanks for the descriptors, Chris.

 

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Correspondence

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Brenton Stacey: Hate based on race

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this issue (“Hate based on race,” Connections Vol 25 No 8), which is sensitive and yet controversial in certain parts of the world. The important thing is that racism doesn’t form part of our characters. As Christ works in us to do His will and good pleasure, we shall be transformed into His image and one day, by His grace, be part of the gathering under the tree of life where “the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2, NIV).

Christian Thomas
wp.avondale.edu.au/connections
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Ross Cole: Theology of ordination

Dr Ross Cole noted in his reflection on the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s worldwide theology of ordination study (“The discussion we had to have,” Connections Vol 25 No 7) that theologians in the 1970s saw no problem ordaining women to ministry. He adds: “My reference is to the 1973 General Conference ad hoc committee on the role of women, meeting at Camp Mohaven, Ohio. It recommended a pilot program leading to ordination of women in 1975, but secretary Gordon Hyde changed his mind and regretted not making provision for a minority report. Member Gerhard Hasel supported women’s ordination but later became a fierce opponent. So, which recollection of Mohaven is right: Hyde’s early or later one? Maybe the truth lies in the middle.”

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