anglican focus

The news site of the Anglican Church Southern Queensland: nourishing and connecting our faith community

Reviews

Books & Guides Anglican woman holding up a book in her living room Books & Guides

Yet in the Dark Streets Shining

“The book’s evangelical authors write for an evangelical audience, including those in the US where a Christian Zionist ideology often holds sway. They also wish to share their story to a wider audience and in this they have succeeded. The story is one that will appeal to all streams within the Church,” says Helen Rainger from the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network

Films & TV Two staff and a student at an American school Films & TV

The Holdovers

“In truth, The Holdovers features a sense of healing that is mutual amongst all three left at the school. The path that takes them there provides gentle lessons of compassion for all involved in community making. And, for Christian people, that’s all of us,” says Jonathan Sargeant from FormEdFaith at St Francis College

James Montgomery (1771-1854) is remembered in a Sheffield Cathedral stained-glass window and in a cathedral forecourt statue
Hymns

‘Hail to the Lord’s anointed’: a message of praise and hope

“ ‘Hail to the Lord’s anointed’ is a five-verse setting of Psalm 72 by Scottish hymn-writer, poet and editor James Montgomery, who grew up in the north of England in a family who worshipped in the Moravian Brethren tradition,” says The Rev’d Dr David Cole

Books & Guides

I want to fix ears

“Key themes of Clark’s story are his determination, persistence, underlying faith and love of family. His desire as a young boy to ‘fix ears’ was driven by observing his father and the challenges he faced, particularly working as a pharmacist,” says The Rev’d Lauren Martin

Films & TV

Killers of the Flower Moon

Killers of the Flower Moon is tour-de-force cinema in which not a minute is wasted, bravura filmmaking from an auteur fascinated by the complex nature of faith and humanity,” says Jonathan Sargeant from St Francis College

Books & Guides

Matthew’s Parable of the Royal Wedding Feast: A sociorhetorical Interpretation

“It is the intertextual dynamic with the findings of the Royal Commission that sets this huge piece of critical biblical scholarship apart. This is not just an arcane treatise for members of the guild of biblical scholars…This is a serious piece of critical biblical interpretation that also deals with the prophetic message of the text for our Church in wider Australian society today,” says The Rev’d Dr Greg Jenks

Films & TV

Perfect Days

“Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days is the kind of meditative, arthouse crowd-pleasing experience that doesn’t come along all that often in more refined cinema settings…it’s certainly one of the highlights at this year’s Brisbane International Film Festival,” says Ben Rogers

"Poisoned is a valuable wake-up call for everyone to better consider the supply-chains of what we eat, how we handle and cook our food and what kind of global agricultural environment we want for the produce we might import and consume," (anglican focus journalist Ben Rogers on Poisoned)
Films & TV

Poisoned

“When it comes to food safety and quality, a documentary like Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food — currently streaming on Netflix — makes you thankful you’re living in Australia rather than America,” says Ben Rogers

Films & TV

Godland

“Immersive in the best possible way, Godland is unrelenting yet introspectively paced, doubt-laden yet prayerful, brutal and austere yet gorgeous and humbling, sombre yet exhilarating,” says Jonathan Sargeant from St Francis College

Films & TV

Limbo

“It’s impossible to watch a film like Limbo and not consider the socio-political dimensions of its story and how racial injustice leads to inter-generational trauma and ongoing disadvantage,” says Ben Rogers

Films & TV

The Defenders

“There’s a lot to admire in The Defenders — in terms of its technical craft, efficient handling of narrative and broader message about people power and challenging the status quo — and it should be an essential part of any curriculum aimed at teaching people about social justice campaigning,” says Ben Rogers

Films & TV

The New Boy

“While cinemas have plenty of foreign films screening, mainly of the mainstream blockbuster variety, it is refreshing and worth celebrating that a historical Australian film, continuing the tradition of cinematic storytelling on Australian themes and First Nations matters, gets a decent cinema release around the country,” says The Rev’d Canon Gary Harch