On the first day of Christmas, my loved one sent to me a Holy Hermits Online Christmastide subscription and a hermit in an almond tree

By The Rev'd Jamee-Lee Callard

“For the third consecutive year Holy Hermits Online is offering a Christmastide subscription for Anglican Church Southern Queensland folk and the wider community,” says The Rev’d Jamee Lee-Callard

While our attention during Advent is often about spiritual and family preparation for Christmas Day, we are invited into deeper relationship with Jesus between Christmas Day on 25 December and the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany on 5 January, also called the Twelfth Night (when Christmas decorations are traditionally taken down).

Traditionally, these Twelve Days of Christmas were the major holiday period of the year, observed since the Council of Tours proclaimed Christmastide the time for joyful feasting after the Advent fast in 567CE.

Christmastide is aways a significant season for Holy Hermits Online community members.

For the third consecutive year Holy Hermits Online is offering a Christmastide subscription for Anglican Church Southern Queensland folk and the wider community.

Last year the take up was triple the previous year’s, with a large number of people buying a subscription for loved ones, as well as for themselves.

At Holy Hermits Online we recognise that the Christmas period can be experienced in a mixed way, depending on where people are at in their personal lives and faith.

Recently during a Holy Hermits Online workshop, when our people gathered on the first day of Advent via Zoom to craft a prayer of lament, we noticed just how in need of comfort the world is at the moment.

In this workshop we expressed worry about creation; high rates of loneliness; people who are being marginalised; wars, conflicts and violence; the failure of leaders locally and internationally; domestic and family violence; elder abuse; addiction; consumerism; and, obsession with productivity.

This re-affirmed our discerned theme for this year’s subscription, “Hanging with the hermits: come take comfort for the Twelve Days of Christmas”, as being on point, as we hope to offer nurture to all who receive it. By drawing on our connection with God, our relationships with each other and taking inspiration from the stories and legacies of the holy hermits, we anticipate creating a rich and affordable gift for Christmastide.

This year’s emailed content includes reflections on historical hermits; beloved recipes and craft activities; personal stories about Holy Hermits Online community members, including our care for our animals and wider creation; resources from our Reader Project, Digital Faith Artists and Holy Hermit Remembrance | Ministries; reflections and origin stories about our community commitment prayers; recommended reading, listening and watching; an AI Padlet board art invitation; and songs, blogs and poems.

The subscription is also an opportunity for us to connect with our ministry partners.

The emails will be sent between 25 December and 5 January at 7.00am AEST daily.

Please subscribe/register by 8am Tuesday 24 December.

The subscription cost is $15 AUD; however, please get in touch if this is out of your budget and you would still like to register. There is no limit to how many subscriptions a person can purchase.

Fifty per cent of subscription funds will go to a registered charity selected by the Holy Hermits Online Ministry Task-Group, with the other half going towards HHO’s ministry sustainability in 2025.

There is also the additional “Paying it forward” option to purchase subscriptions for 2024 preachers and teachers in order to thank them.

Editor’s note: For a Christmastide subscription for yourself or as a gift for others, please register on the Holy Hermits Online website by 8am Tuesday 24 December 2024. Subscriptions cost is $15 AUD. You can also access a template of text for sending to loved ones letting them know that you have purchased them a subscription.

Inspired by the lives and legacies of holy hermits, mystics and saints (like David the Dendrite, who sought the prayerful seclusion of an almond tree, where he lived for three years), Holy Hermits Online is an online missional community (grounded in the Anglican tradition and connected to St John’s Anglican Cathedral) for those who cannot, or prefer not to, participate in a traditional expression of Church. 

Lawyers as peacemakers

By Prof Rachael Field

“Dispute resolution expertise is particularly central to the contemporary real world of lawyering. Communication skills are critical to all the work that lawyers do and negotiation skills are used on a daily basis…Contrary to popular belief, therefore, lawyers are in effect peacemakers,” says Professor Rachael Field

The legal profession professes a commitment to the rule of law which provides a foundation for civic systems of law and government, serving society by ensuring personal freedoms and supporting social stability and order, as well as peace, freedom and decency. The legal profession is therefore more than a commercial industry driven by a market ideology of maximising individual gain through the provision of services for profit. As Justice Kiefel of the Australian High Court has said: “Practising lawyers do not just run a business, selling their skills and services to clients in return for fees. The practice of law is a profession and this sets it apart from other, commercial, enterprises.”

Nevertheless, the practice of law is simultaneously both a profit-making business and a profession and it is therefore influenced, if not driven, by the reality of market forces. It could be said that the legitimacy of the legal profession is upheld by a social bargain: lawyers provide ethical and altruistic service in exchange for a level of status and privilege. However, while the social bargain struck by the legal profession is not a simple or straightforward one, and while professions may well be criticised in modern society for being part of a neoliberalist privileging of the rationality and logic of the market, the social and political significance of the legal profession, both historically and in contemporary society, cannot be denied.

Admission to the legal profession requires a person to be of good character. To endure and succeed in the profession, lawyers need a moral compass and to abide by the customs and character of the community. Admission to the profession requires lawyers to swear, or declare and affirm, that they “will truly and honestly conduct” themselves and that they “will faithfully serve in the administration of the laws according to the best of (their) knowledge, skill and ability”.

Traditionally, lawyering has been broadly divided into transactional work (focused on managing business-related transactions) and dispute resolution work. In both transactional and dispute resolution roles, lawyers are engaged as expert advisers, representatives and advocates who negotiate persuasively on behalf of their clients, assisting them to develop options, make informed choices and decisions, and take control of positive or problematic personal and commercial situations

Dispute resolution expertise is particularly central to the contemporary real world of lawyering. Communication skills are critical to all the work that lawyers do and negotiation skills are used on a daily basis. Transactional lawyering can also be seen as a part of the dispute resolution matrix because effective transactional practice can operate to prevent disputes arising. In effect, transactional lawyering is a form of preventative law, for which dispute resolution expertise is essential. With regard to the dispute resolution aspect of legal practice, contemporary lawyering involves an expansive matrix of dispute resolution process options, many of them conducted away from the court system.

It is positive that lawyers are now much more aware of the benefits of non-adversarial approaches to helping people resolve or manage disputes. Perhaps more importantly, users of legal services are also demanding more seriously that their legal advisors help them find ways to resolve legal problems and disputes without the cost, delay and disruption of adversarial approaches and court proceedings. Increasingly also, processes such as negotiation, mediation and conciliation are being institutionalised through recognition in government policy and inclusion in the statute book at both state and federal levels. More and more, civil procedure legislation expects or mandates that parties to legal disputes engage in a non-litigation process, and take genuine steps to resolve their dispute, before they are able to file proceedings in a court. Further, once a matter does reach court, judges at all levels of the Australian court hierarchy have wide-ranging powers to refer matters to court-connected dispute resolution processes.

The result of these developments is that non-adversarial dispute resolution processes and approaches have become embedded in Australian legal practice and are an inherent part of the day-to-day work of lawyering, even in matters where litigation is also being considered. A practical indication of this is found in the trend in law firms to rename their litigation sections with reference to dispute resolution, and barristers increasingly include assistance with mediation and conciliation processes among the legal services they offer.

Contrary to popular belief, therefore, lawyers are in effect peacemakers.

First published in The Eagle, the magazine of St John’s Cathedral. Download your copy today. 

Churchie students reflect on their nativity paintings, chosen by Archbishop Jeremy for his 2024 Christmas cards

By Steph Cotroneo, Alan, Angus, Austin

Hear from the Churchie students who created the winning designs for Archbishop Jeremy’s Christmas cards this year

Steph Cotroneo — Lay Minister, Chaplain at Churchie’s Preparatory School

In Religious Education lessons, Year 5 Churchie students investigated different presentations of the nativity and the way that artists have expressed the infancy narrative. Students discussed and explored the differences and similarities and looked for cultural influences in paintings and nativity sets from around the world.

Research skills were used to make comparisons between the Gospel accounts. Students explored which Gospels mentioned the parts of the infancy narrative that they were familiar with, such as the birth of Jesus, the Magi, the shepherds, the angels and the manger.

In Art lessons with Mrs Hickling, the students were given a choice to decide on the scene they wished to draw and paint, based on their research. They were encouraged to draw large simple shapes in pencil. They then traced the pencil with a black sharpie and painted with acrylic paint.

The opportunity to create these images for Archbishop Jeremy’s Christmas cards provided our Year 5 students with a meaningful learning experience and a creative collaboration between Art and Religious Education.

“My design is a dove flying in the night sky,” says Churchie student Alan, pictured here with Archbishop Jeremy Greaves in October 2024

Alan — student, Churchie

My design is a dove flying in the night sky. The dove symbolises peace and the sky symbolises the night when Jesus was born.

My favourite part of the nativity story is when the angels of God guided Joseph and Mary to the place where Jesus was born.

The sacredness that the story has and how it is important for people to understand.

“My design symbolises Mary and Joseph with Jesus,” says Churchie student Angus, pictured here with Archbishop Jeremy Greaves in October 2024

Angus — student, Churchie

My design symbolises Mary and Joseph with Jesus. They are under the star, which the magi saw and signalled to them that Jesus was born, God’s son.

Right now, my favourite part of the nativity story is the way when Jesus was born — they put him in the manger and all the animals were surrounding him.

Jesus came to give peace to the earth again and to teach everyone to learn how to respect and love God.

“My design is the birth of Jesus and Mary taking care of him,” says Churchie student Austin, pictured here with Archbishop Jeremy Greaves in October 2024

Austin — student, Churchie

My design is the birth of Jesus and Mary taking care of him.

My favourite part is when the angel said, “Do not be afraid, I bring you good news that will cause great joy!” because it makes the people in that community happy and excited for Jesus to be born.

It is a time to remember Jesus and God and pray for them.

Archbishop Jeremy Greaves is known for writing personalised messages on hundreds of cards every year — he is pictured in his office in September 2024 writing on cards designed by three Churchie students, who reflected on the nativity story and what it means to them

Q&A with Cathedral Canon, parent, advocate for LGBTI people and sci-fi fan, The Rev’d Canon Selina McMahon

By The Rev'd Canon Selina McMahon

Meet Selina McMahon and find out about her current ministry, faith journey and best childhood memory and her thoughts on Reconciliation, Advent and clergy self-care

Where do you currently live and where do you worship?

I live in the Ipswich area, and I worship with the St John’s Cathedral community, where I am a minor Canon.

The Rev’d Canon Selina McMahon (second from left), with St John’s Cathedral team members Alison, Judy and Catherine

How long have you been involved in the Anglican Church and in what roles?

I have been involved in the Anglican Church for over 35 years, both as a licensed lay reader in England, and as a deacon and priest. I have served in ordained ministry for more than 20 years. I have served as an assistant priest, rector and school chaplain.

What does your role involve?

I currently serve as the Rainbow Outreach Coordinator for the St John’s Cathedral community. Part of the role involves educating the wider Church about LGBTI matters. I am also a single point of contact for LGBTI people who require support or counselling. I also serve on various secular governance bodies to bring a Church perspective for LGBTI people.

What has been one of the highlights of your time in your current role?

When I was asked to bless the Rainbow Garden of Remembrance at an Eagle Farm park in June this year. The garden commemorates all Rainbow community members who have died, so their loved ones have a space to remember them.

The Rev’d Canon Selina McMahon blessing the Rainbow Garden of Remembrance at an Eagle Farm park in June 2024

What projects or activities are you currently working on in your role?

I have just started putting together a set of resources to help equip parishes with best-practice information, so they know how to fully affirm LGBTI people. I also engage in counselling with LGBTI people who have been traumatised by Church leaders and congregation members across different denominations. I am surprised by the number of people who contact me traumatised because they have been told that they are going to hell just for being gay.

“I have just started putting together a set of resources to help equip parishes with best-practice information, so they know how to fully affirm LGBTI people,” (The Rev’d Canon Selina McMahon)

What does the Anglican Church Southern Queensland’s apology to gender- and sexuality-diverse people mean to you?

I see this apology, given by Archbishop Jeremy on behalf of the Anglican Church Southern Queensland, as an important start to a process where the Church rights wrongs of the past.

Can you tell us a little about your Christian faith journey?

I grew up in a Roman Catholic household, attending church every week with my family. I converted to Anglicanism in my 20s while I was at university studying astrophysics. I felt the call to ordained ministry in the early 1990s. However, I put the further study on hold until my children were a little older. I completed my degree in theology and pastoral studies and was ordained in 2003. I moved to Australia in 2016 with my family seeking a different type of ministry.

What is your favourite part of Advent and why?

My favourite part of Advent is always Nine Lessons and Carols because it emphasises the imminency of Christ’s arrival (and the singing is out of this world).

How does your Christian faith inspire you and shape your outlook, life choices and character?

This is difficult to answer — when you have been a Christian all your life, you don’t know of an alternative outlook. Being a Christian makes me more empathetic, and this shapes my choices.

What are the primary strengths of the Church and what is the best way to make the most of these for the benefit of our communities?

One of the strengths of the Church is that it is diverse, while also united in the main — other points of view exist, and we seek to understand the point of view or at least respect the person’s right to hold it.

The Rev’d Canon Selina McMahon gathered with other community members for the blessing of a Rainbow Garden of Remembrance in June 2024

What are some of the practical things you do to promote self-care and mitigate the risk of burnout?

I diarise time off. I run five times a week. I keep my leisure and work spaces separate.

What is your favourite Bible scripture and why?

Hosea 6.6: “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice” because it reminds us that Church practices and protocols should not override what is most important, and that is loving our neighbour.

What person of faith inspires you the most and why?

Hildegard of Bingen, whom I wrote about for anglican focus in 2020. She was a real polymath — she was a scientist, musician, theologian, poet, artist, playwright and physician, among other things.

Why is it important for Christians to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples towards Reconciliation?

Because harm has been done. It’s that simple. Christians should be seeking to right the wrong that has been done to First Nations peoples, just as the Church is beginning to right the wrong that has been done to LGBTI people.

What is the bravest or kindest gesture you have ever received or witnessed?

When I announced to the congregation that I was transitioning, I was overwhelmed with love and acceptance as their Rector.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received and who gave you this advice?

“Don’t be afraid to take a risk”. An IT project manager I worked for many years ago gave me this advice.

What do you do in your free time to recharge and relax?

I run, learn the cello, do stand-up comedy and build things with Lego.

If you found yourself on a deserted island, what three things would you choose to have with you?

A speedboat, petrol and GPS device.

What book have you given away most as a gift and why?

A Priest’s Handbook: The Ceremonies of the Church by Dennis Michno. I have given it to all my student curates when priested. I was given it when I was priested. It gives all the information and background that priests need for liturgy.

The Rev’d Canon Selina McMahon preparing liturgical robes in the Cathedral vestry in September 2024

Where do you do your best thinking?

Staring out the window during the daytime.

What’s your best childhood memory?

Watching Apollo 13 return to Earth on the black and white TV in the family’s lounge.

What is your karaoke go-to song?

“Don’t stop me now” by Queen.

If you are having a bad day, what do you do to cheer yourself up?

I watch Doctor Who — any series.

What is the most surprising thing that has happened to you recently?

Potatoes I recently planted in an old car tyre spotted much quicker than I expected.

The Rev’d Canon Selina McMahon enjoys gardening

What day would you like to re-live and why?

It was December 1999, and I was about to go to our office Christmas party, and it was announced that I had just won a new car in a raffle.

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would that be?

Steak and chips.

What item should you throw out, but can’t bear to part with?

Books I bought 30 years ago that I still have not gotten around to reading.

What’s your unanswerable question — the question you are always asking yourself?

I wonder why it does that?

2024 ordination service sermon

By The Right Rev'd Denise Ferguson

“A life in Holy Orders is a life of holiness, visibility, presence, servant leadership, and commitment. And we who are called to this ministry are as human, frail, sinful and imperfect as anyone else on God’s earth. However, God calls us regardless,” said Bishop Denise Ferguson

Holy God open our ears to hear your word and know your voice. Speak to our hearts and strengthen our wills, that we may serve you faithfully today and always. Amen.

Jesus said, “Follow me!”

And the disciples responded, left their homes and livelihoods, and followed.

I often wonder if they had any idea what they were stepping into, or what they started?

Today’s Gospel reminds us of Jesus commissioning Peter to “feed my sheep”. I really feel for Peter. Look how many times he got it wrong, or just didn’t understand. However, despite all this, Jesus reaffirmed his call for Peter to follow, over, and over again.

This is the legacy we embrace today as we gather in this place to ordain Kate, Lydia, Matt, Nia, Richard and Sara, to the diaconate, and Lyn and Courtney to the priesthood. And for each one of us, lay and ordained, to recommit to our calling as disciples of Christ.

It is always a privilege to support people as they discern how God is calling them to live out their ministry, lay and ordained. It is wonderful to experience those light bulb moments of connection when the jigsaw puzzle of life comes together to reveal God’s plan and path, and then to walk with that person as they are equipped and enabled to fulfil the picture that the puzzle reveals.

For most people the picture that God reveals will be a call to lay ministry, a ministry all Christians are commissioned to embrace at our baptism and live out in our everyday lives.

Sometimes the picture God reveals on this journey of discovery takes a person down a different path — usually unexpected, always life changing and eternally life challenging. Sometimes, this picture reveals a call to Holy Order. A call we celebrate and affirm today.

Kate, Lydia, Matt, Nia, Richard, Sara, Lyn and Courtney, your call to Holy Orders has been discerned. You have been examined, trained, formed, and equipped as well as possible for the task ahead. Yet today isn’t the end, rather it is only a further stepping stone of the journey.

It has been a privilege to share a little of your journey this past week, as we have retreated from the busyness of life, to intentionally set aside time to wait upon God and reflect upon the sacred commitments that you will make today.

A life-long commitment to ministry demands much from its ministers: it is a life and ministry of holiness, visibility, presence, servant leadership, and commitment.

While the call to Holy Orders may feel personal, the outworking of that call is always public because it can only find its existence in and for the heart of community.

So, what might it mean, in this context, when Jesus says, “Follow Me” and “Feed my sheep”?

Ordination is for life

The commitments made today aren’t temporary — the warranty doesn’t run out in five years or 10. Ordination is for life. While there may be a time when we who are ordained step away from active ministry, that doesn’t diminish or void God’s actions in this sacramental commissioning.

Ordination, whether as deacon, priest or bishop is like Baptism; it can’t be erased or undone.

Those who stand before us today do so with great courage and commitment.

A call to follow is a call to servant leadership

All who are baptised are called to ministry, all are called to follow. Those who are called to Holy Orders have a particular responsibility to lead God’s people. However, we who are ordained will never be the “Head” or the CEO of the organisation to which we have committed our lives. Rather, we are called to serve in a Church that has only one head: Christ, and we are called to be servants of the “Head” by serving the Body.

The only authority we have comes from God, through Christ and the Church, and that authority isn’t to stand alone in leadership, it is to work in partnership with God and God’s people to fulfil a particular function within and for the Body of Christ.

The model of leadership we offer is one where actions speak louder than words and is symbolised by a bowl and towel. We are called to kneel at the feet of the ones we lead, wipe the dust from their sandals, wash their feet, pour oil upon their heads, seat them at the head of the table, nourish them with the scriptures and build bridges into their lives. We are to love unconditionally, as God loves us.

This is a ministry of servant leadership that witnesses to sacred trust, commitment, compassion, courage, loyalty, integrity, and humility.

And we who are called to this ministry are as human, frail, sinful and imperfect as anyone else on God’s earth. However, like Peter, God calls us regardless.

A call to follow is a call to embrace a ministry of presence

The call to Holy Orders, is a call to a ministry of presence, sometimes described as a sacrament of presence — intentional, privileged invitation, instigated by need or circumstances to be present for people, and communities, at some of the most important and often most vulnerable times of their lives, times of great crises and times of great joy and transformation. It is a ministry of being, rather than a ministry of doing.

A call to follow means offering a ministry of visibility

No matter how we might be called to fulfil our ordained ministry, no matter how we might function, we are inescapably God’s public representatives in the world.

There will be times when this visibility is a great joy. There will be other times when it will bring challenge and scrutiny. While this visibility can give us a recognised, and sometimes privileged place in the community, when difficulties arise it can also be a lonely and isolating place.

In my experience, nothing can prepare us for this experience. All we can do is ensure our spiritual foundations are firm.

A call to follow means choosing a life of holiness

Firm foundations for ministry are deeply anchored in our relationship with God.

Fifty-one weeks ago, many of us gathered in this Cathedral to support Archbishop Jeremy as he responded to the same call placed on Peter, that call to “Follow Me” and “Feed my Sheep”. I recall vividly the opening lines of his sermon as he recounted a conversation with his spiritual director, who asked him ‘Who do you work for?”

Archbishop Jeremy replied, and I quote, “Well, obviously, the bishop, and the wardens, and the parish council, and the strategic plan, and the music director, and the Mothers’ Union, and the youth worker…”

Following a further exchange, which went into one of those deep, “aha” moments we experience in spiritual direction, a further question was posed — “What might it look like if you worked for God?”

His reflection — and his sermon is readily available if you would like to read it or refresh your memories) — his reflection touched me deeply and was a profound reminder that firm foundations for ministry are ones deeply anchored in our relationship with God.

Kate, Lydia, Matt, Nia, Richard, Sara, Lyn and Courtney, I encourage you to ask these same questions of yourselves frequently, especially when the demands of ministry feel overwhelming — and they will.

As a wise mentor once said to me, “We must stay plugged into the source.” Regular nourishment with daily prayer, engaging with scripture, and waiting on…being with God. These are disciplines essential to the Christian life in general, and critical to those who are called into Holy Orders. These are disciplines that can too easily become subsumed by the demands of the many facets of ministry.

There will be many voices, including your own, urging you to “do” as you step into your new ministries; however, before the “doing” I encourage you to grasp and embrace the “being” of your call, a call to a life of holiness.

A life in Holy Orders is a life of holiness, visibility, presence, servant leadership, and commitment. And we who are called to this ministry are as human, frail, sinful and imperfect as anyone else on God’s earth. However, God calls us regardless.

On the shores of the Sea of Galilee Jesus commissioned Peter to “Feed my Sheep”.

Kate, Lydia, Matt, Nia, Richard, Sara, Lyn and Courtney, today you follow in St Peter’s footsteps as you make this lifelong commitment. You do so willingly and sacrificially, and I am sure, a little fearfully. Thank you for your faithfulness, courage and commitment.

And thank you to your families who have also sacrificed much for you to respond to this call.

To you, the gathered people of God both present and online today, I ask that you pray for each of them. For while they take this courageous step, they do so in their full humanity.

To our Ordinands, Kate, Lydia, Matt, Nia, Richard, Sara, Lyn and Courtney, may you each know God’s abundant grace as you step into a new season with God and God’s people.

May you be a blessing to the people you serve, and may they be a blessing to you. Amen.

Tough Questions: Is Christmas a pagan holiday?

By The Rev'd Charlie Lacey

“There will never be a day when we cannot say, ‘This the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it’…A day that focusses exclusively on the birth of Jesus is one that should stir us to new heights of joy and gladness as we contemplate God’s love, humility and willingness to give up everything for our sakes,” says The Rev’d Charlie Lacey

It is often asserted that the 25th of December is essentially a pagan holiday. Is there any truth to this claim, and how ought Christians to respond to it?

In the Roman world, the 25th of December was a feast day dedicated to the sun, called “The Birthday of the Unconquered Sun”.  It was also the final day of the week-long “Feast of Saturnalia”, which marked the passing of the winter solstice. It is entirely plausible that the early Church chose the 25th of December to celebrate Jesus’ birthday in order to redirect society’s attention away from paganism and towards Christ.

The truth is, nobody knows the month and day of Jesus’ birth. The first recorded speculation about its being the 25th of December comes from the early third century. In 202 AD Hippolytus (who later became the Bishop of Rome) claimed that Jesus was born on the 25th of December. Further, in 221 AD, the Christian historian Julius Africanus, suggested that Mary conceived on the 25th of March (nine months before the 25th of December). Whilst these postulations are unlikely to be correct, they show that Christians had been celebrating Jesus’ birthday on the 25th of December from at least the beginning of the third century.

Interestingly, the celebration of the sun god on the 25th of December was not instituted by the Roman Emperor, Aurelian, until 274 AD. We do not know how long “Sol Invictus” was unofficially celebrated prior to that date; however, it does cast doubt over the theory that Christians appropriated a pagan feast day.

We do not know that exact date of Jesus’ birth, nor can we be sure why the early church settled on the 25th of December (a decision ratified by Emperor Constantine in 336 AD). Be that as it may, it is entirely appropriate for Christians to celebrate the momentous event of Jesus’ birth, and the 25th of December has been the preferred date for most of Church history.

God is in the business of redemption. The word “redeem” finds its origin in the slave markets of the ancient world; but to understand what it means in a Christian context, we might turn to Colossians 1.13, which says, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” If God can take a sinful human being, indeed an actual pagan, and transfer that person from darkness to light, then what is to prevent him from doing likewise with a pagan festival? God takes things that are sinful, broken and evil and transforms them to be used for his good purposes.

You will not find anything in Scripture about celebrating Christmas, but then again, Scripture does not have much to say about celebrating birthdays either. In fact, the only birthday celebrations the Bible recounts are those of Pharaoh and Herod, both of whom celebrated by having someone murdered (the chief baker and John the Baptist, respectively). Yet we do not spurn birthday celebrations on the basis of this grisly history. How much less should we call into question celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour, just because it happens to fall on a day that was once a pagan festival?

There will never be a day when we cannot say, “This the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118. 24, NKJV). A day that focusses exclusively on the birth of Jesus is one that should stir us to new heights of joy and gladness as we contemplate God’s love, humility and willingness to give up everything for our sakes.

Wishing you and yours a blessed, peaceful and joy filled Christmas!

First published on the St Andrew’s, Springfield website in December 2024.

From hotel pub to first Australian moving picture theatre to motor garage — digitisation of Church records unlocks forgotten Queensland history

By Michael Rogers

“Since I last wrote for anglican focus in July 2022 about the Records and Archives Centre’s Digitisation Plan, several rich information sources have been scanned, unearthing a trove of information. The Archives has also received new records that are some of the oldest in Queensland,” says ACSQ archivist Michael Rogers

I continue to be amazed at the rich historical treasures that our Diocese is the custodian of — both for items that have been held long-term by the Records and Archives Centre and items that have been recently transferred to the Centre.

It is often the case that you don’t know what you have until you go digging — and in my case, if the records have been digitised.

Longreach Hotel, circa 1900 (sourced from Queensland State Archives)

Since I last wrote for anglican focus in July 2022 about the Records and Archives Centre’s Digitisation Plan, several rich information sources have been scanned, unearthing a trove of information.

The Archives has also received new records that are some of the oldest in Queensland.

Elevation plan for St Paul’s Church in Ipswich, circa 1855

Recent transfers include plans for the first stage of St Paul’s Church in Ipswich, dated 1855. These plans were in good condition; however, years of unfolding and refolding have left them separated into quarters. The plans were handed over to a private conservator, who put them back together.

Other transfers include handwritten letters donated by the surviving family of The Rev’d Benjamin Glennie. The letters complement the diary (also kept by the Records and Archives Centre) that Glennie kept when he first arrived in the colony of New South Wales.

First page of letter to Benjamin Glennie, dated 13 September 1847

The digitisation of current holdings both improves access to Diocesan information and sheds light on aspects of our past that have been forgotten. The recent digitisation of the Diocesan Registry Correspondence series is a case in point.

Site plan of Old Bishopsbourne, 1885

The correspondence dates from 1895 to 1990, while also including some records dating from 1885 — such as a rough 1885 plan of the (now named) Old Bishopsbourne site in Milton. The series also includes information on bequests, donations, trusts, clergy and parishioners.

Some building information is also included in the series, covering St John’s Cathedral, churches, rectories and halls, as well as private land and offices that our Diocese had title for and that were leased to private companies. West’s Pictures Pty Ltd, the creators of the first dedicated moving picture theatre in Australia – constructed and opened on Brisbane land owned by the Diocese – is an exciting example.

Outline of proposed picture theatre within the Longreach building, 1909

The entrance to the theatre was located on the corner of Queen Street and North Quay, across the road from the Treasury Building. A few years after European colonisation, our Diocese obtained the trusteeship for the land, which included a small carpenter’s shed. The shed was fitted out as a church and became the first Church of St John’s —  the second Church of St John’s was constructed in 1854.

Eventually a solid brick building (spanning the corner of Queen Street and along North Quay) was constructed, becoming known as the Longreach Building. It was eventually transferred to the responsibility of the Cathedral Chapter. Initially, it was primarily leased for office space and boarding. Around 1882 the building became known as the Longreach Hotel — by 1889 the number of rooms totalled 34.

Extract from Synod address by Archbishop Donaldson, published in the Diocesan Year Book, 1906

At some point a licence to sell alcoholic beverages was obtained by the lease holder — there is much conjecture as to whether the Diocese was consulted on this matter. Much debate entailed (including at Synod) as to whether the Diocese should own premises where intoxicating liquor was to be sold. In 1908, when the lease for the hotel was due for renewal, the Diocese decided not to renew it and so the hotel part of the building closed. The private office in the building and surrounding workshops on the site continued to operate, although soon after the hotel closed, the Diocese was contacted concerning the majority of the land behind the Longreach building.

Diocesan Registry correspondence from 1909 regarding confectioner’s shop

West’s Pictures, through the services of Cameron Brothers (Auctioneers, Valuators and House, Land and Estate Agents), first enquired in October 1909 as to whether “we may secure a twenty-one-year lease of the [Longreach] property”.  There were some concerns regarding the current tenants, including the Confectioner’s shop [Costa] then running in the Longreach building; eventually the theatre was constructed, and an entrance was incorporated into the Queen Street frontage of the Longreach.

Plan of Longreach building and West’s Olympia Picture Theatre, 1910

Although he was heavily involved in the construction of the Cathedral’s first stage, noted architect Robin Dods (1868-1920) also devoted time to the design and construction of the picture hall, which included intricate interior fittings and modern facilities.

Sketch plans of WCs for West’s Olympia Theatre by Robin Dodds, 1910

West’s Olympia Theatre opened with much fanfare on 27 May 1910. Although revolutionary for its time, later theatres were even more intricately designed and technically advanced. West’s closed the theatre in early 1923 — but retained the lease and obtained approval from the Diocese to sublet the property to a motor vehicle garage.

Diocesan Registry correspondence from 1923 regarding the motor garage

The theatre was converted and by early 1924 was operating as a garage (an insurance policy document dated 8 February notes the installation of an underground petrol tank) by Barnes Auto Company. Apart from a brief period during World War II (when the building was used as an air-raid shelter) Barnes Auto was the main lessee for the site until the mid-1950s, although the Diocese sold the building and site to Prudential Assurance Company Ltd in 1948.

Plan submitted as part of lease proposal by Barnes Auto Company, January 1930

I continue to uncover many other stories of our Diocese, including memorial tablets for fallen soldiers.

I hope to showcase more treasures over the coming years and highlight what is perhaps not forgotten history, but is certainly buried and deserves to be brought into the light.

Sketch of proposed rectory for The Parish of Kilcoy, 1912

Author’s note: Despite research I conducted, I was unable to find any information about Turrbal people and the Queen Street site described in this feature piece. If anglican focus readers have information about this, please email the Records and Archives Centre so this can be documented.