Firestorms that have burnt across the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia over the past two days have claimed the lives of two family members of local Christians. Contrary to earlier reports, no church buildings are currently reported as having been destroyed.

Involved in ministry at your church? Then you need to adhere to a new code of conduct. PHILIP GERBER, Director of the Churchs Professional Standards Unit and a member of the Child Protection Committee, explains what it involves.

Following the success of his best-seller Death Sentence, Don Watson has returned to the attack with a new book: Watsons Dictionary of Weasel Words.

Nick Hadges is a busy man. An apprentice with the Ministry Training Strategy, part of his week is spent as a paid youth worker at St Davids, Arncliffe. The motorbike riding, Greek-born pastor also teaches scripture in several local high schools. Mr Hadges, 43, wants to minister to young people for the rest of his life. Thats why he is keen on a move to allow people like him to become ordained as deacons without the expectation that he will give up youth work one day to become a priest.

There are few novelists who can write about faith in a real and evocative way. Depending upon the writers experiences, depictions of Christian people and their faith tends either towards bitterness or triumphalism. Tim Winton is one exception.

Five books that shaped Sandy Grant's faith

As Australia becomes the worlds largest donor in the tsunami disaster, Sydney Anglicans are continuing to rally around stricken communities of South Asia as the crisis enters its 13th day.

A mission field of 28,000 for one person is a difficult ratio in anyones language. It is even more difficult when that language is Mandarin.