Talk of world peace rises every Christmas, reinforced as people hear the story of the birth of 'the prince of peace. Jeremy Halcrow wonders whether Christians should be more committed to being peacemakers in this world.

Ever since I was a member of the General Committee of the Christian Conference of Asia, and then one of the presidents of that regional ecumenical organisation, I have had a profound interest in the nation of Burma, its people, and especially Burmese Christians.

If you havent heard it yet, you are sure to hear it more and more"¦ that 60 per cent of non-church goers in this nation have no close friend who is involved in a church. What is your immediate reaction to that statistic? Mine was one of surprise "“ I expected a much higher number, perhaps 80 per cent or higher.

Is it possible to deceive when telling the truth? This was an intriguing question raised by James Moloney in his childrens fantasy novel, The Book of Lies.

With a few other brief motions, including the motions of thanks to the organisers and hosts, Synod was over. I was thanking God especially, as we drove the trip home to Wollongong through heavy rain on a parched land most of the way.

This was a sad day for me at Synod for a multitude of reasons.

Over 150 people will celebrate 30 years of AFES ministry at the University of Technology Sydney with a formal dinner this Saturday night.

The General Synod of the Anglican Church in Australia recently passed a number of resolutions relating to climate change. One of them 'requests all organisational units within the Anglican Church of Australia to reduce their environmental footprint through best practice energy use, water use, and waste disposal. But what is the value of such resolutions? In this briefing, we will argue that they are realistic and helpful. We will also consider what makes people sometimes respond cynically or negatively to resolutions such as these.