Southern Region Hope25: Good news about sharing the Good News
Dates & Seasons
Check out how some Southern Region parishes celebrated, explored, studied, worshipped, prayed and gathered for Hope25
The Rev'd Rebecca
Randal Dennings
The Rev'd Mary-Anne Rulfs
The Rev'd Karl Przywala
The Rev'd Scott Windred
The Rev’d Catherine Govan
The Rev'd Michael Calder
@mwcalder
The Anglican Church of Australia initiated the “Hope25” project “to empower Australian Anglican parishes and communities in an intentional season of sharing hope in Jesus from Easter to Pentecost in 2025.”
So, last year our Diocesan Synod committed to supporting Hope25 by “sharing the hope we have in Jesus Christ” and “encourages every parish and community to participate.”
Check out what some Southern Region parishes celebrated, explored and initiated for Hope25.
The Rev’d Rebecca King — Rector, The Parish of Yeronga
For Hope25 our parish did a “Hope 25: Lenten Studies” series in our parish hall and in parishioners’ homes. The book was carefully written by clergy and lay people from all walks of life. The series is helping to give us hope as we navigate a dark time of trouble, struggle, war and privilege. We did this study because Archbishop Jeremy recommended it for Lent.
Some of the people who gathered for a Hope25 art, music, wine and cheese evening at St Matthew’s, Holland Park on Friday, 6 June 2025 as part of the Hope25 initiative
Randal Dennings — Parishioner, St Matthew’s, Holland Park
St Matthew’s, Holland Park’s successful Hope25 art, music, wine and cheese evening was held on Friday, 6 June. The gathering of nearly 50 people featured local artist Georgina Greenhill and professional musician and priest Michael Faragher.
Women at a “Women finding hope in Jesus” prayer spaces gathering on Saturday, 31 May 2025 at The Church of the Good Shepherd, Mudgeeraba
The Rev’d Mary-Anne Rulfs — Associate Priest, The Parish of Robina
A Hope25 “Women finding hope in Jesus” gathering was held on Saturday, 31 May at The Church of the Good Shepherd, Mudgeeraba. The afternoon of spiritual refreshment was hosted by women from the Robina, Burleigh Heads and Gold Coast South parishes. Around 50 women from five Gold Coast parishes — Robina, Palm Beach, Burleigh Heads, Mudgeeraba and Nerang — along with friends they invited, gathered for this special afternoon. The women explored eight prayer spaces focussed on The Beatitudes, with the ninth prayer space involving a cuppa and conversation.
Community members gathered at St Andrew’s, South Brisbane on the morning of Saturday, 7 June 2025 for a walk to beautiful Orleigh Park where they enjoyed a picnic by the river
The Rev’d Karl Przywala — Priest-in-Charge, St Andrew’s, South Brisbane
Community members gathered at St Andrew’s, South Brisbane on Saturday, 7 June at 10.30am for a walk to beautiful Orleigh Park where we enjoyed a picnic together by the river. We carried our church’s banner and processional crosses as we walked and then shared food, drink and conversation at the park.
Toowoomba-based The Rev’d Peter Mayen visited The Parish of Sunnybank on Pentecost Sunday in 2025 to preach on “Hope for the Whole World”
The Rev’d Scott Windred — Priest-in-Charge, The Parish of Sunnybank
Each Sunday we looked at a different topic for a sermon and Bible study series, which we have been doing in conjunction with churches from Stanthorpe, Algester and Gladstone. Each Sunday a member in each of our congregations has shared a short three- to five-minute testimony on the difference that Jesus has made to their life.
Our church is normally closed mid-week apart from the odd mid-week service. We opened the church for quiet prayer each afternoon between 2pm and 6pm and saw quite a few people who have never been to our church before (and some who have never been to church at all) come and spend some time in prayer. Some of these people have also started coming on Sundays.
We have started a free Nourishing Neighbours community afternoon tea each Saturday between 2.30pm and 4.30pm. Weekends can be particularly difficult for those who need assistance, so Saturday afternoons have seemed to work well for us and for the community. Since Hope25 concluded, we have continued this.
At each of our events we made the free Hope25 copies of Luke’s Gospel available.
St Stephen’s, Coorparoo parishioner Chloe handing out Hope25 prayer cards in 2025
The Rev’d Catherine Govan — Priest, St Stephen’s, Coorparoo
We kicked off Hope25, with a youth gathering organised by one of our junior members, meeting for worship and Bible study. We also held a four-week sermon series, with banners outside for roadside engagement. Prayer cards were widely distributed, as well as anchor-themed stickers to promote questions. We also ran Hope Explored and we are also installing a street library. We welcomed newcomers from our neighbourhood, which is very exciting too. We have aimed for longevity to keep hope going!
The Parish of Wishart hosted a Hope25 holiday Kids Club in 2025
The Rev’d Michael Calder — Minister, The Parish of Wishart
During Hope25, St John’s, Wishart centred their services on hope and did a topical sermon series on different aspects of hope. We looked at the hope for the hopeless, oppressed, anxious, weary, sick and dying. All of these services were really well attended because people invited family and friends along. All these sermons are also on our podcast and on our website, which have been regularly accessed.
As part of our Hope25 campaign, we also ran our Holiday Kids Club, where 35 kids from around the area investigated the man who defeated death. This club followed an investigator-themed program called “Follow the Clues” where we looked at the stories of Eve, Abraham, David, the Centurion, and Mary and we learned that Jesus is the fulfilment of all of God’s promises to them and our source of hope.
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