anglican focus

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

Reflections

Reflections Station of the cross Reflections

“And a Good Friday Was Had by All”

“A few years ago I walked a set of The Stations of the Cross that had been erected in a farm paddock in the Hunter Valley. The day on which we walked it was hot, dry and dusty. Many of the participants were quite elderly; some were very unsteady on their feet…one of the participants stumbled and fell,” says The Very Rev’d Dr Peter Catt

Reflections Torres Strait Islander elder wearing a suit standing against a red brick wall Reflections

"The first Easter I remember"

“As a community, after the Easter Day service we celebrated the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with a big kai kai (feast). People from all over the Torres Strait Islands and Papua New Guinea (which was then still administered by Australia) came via sailing canoes rather than by motor boats, bringing seafood, taro, sweet potato, casava, sago and other traditional foods. We then had traditional dancing with men wearing headdresses made of emu feathers and women wearing grass skirts,” says Uncle Milton Walit from NATSIAC and The Parish of Laidley

Reflections

"Near Golgotha strolls many a priest"

“Seeing the Passion of Jesus as being played out in the everyday can heighten our response to those everyday situations. So the children of Gaza become one with the Holy Innocents and Christ loses limbs with Ukrainian soldiers. What are we called to do in response?” asks The Very Rev’d Dr Peter Catt

Reflections

Tough Questions: Do all babies go to heaven?

“The question of whether all babies go to heaven is one of deep personal and pastoral significance and the cause of much anguish to a great many people. From the outset, it is important to acknowledge that no verse of scripture addresses this matter specifically; however, much can be inferred from a variety of pertinent texts, from which we can take a great deal of comfort,” says The Rev’d Charlie Lacey

Reflections

Being the Church in this next season of our life together

“While we shouldn’t hang onto things just for their own sake, there are things that anchor us to the past in important ways — there are things that hold stories connecting us deeply to our roots. My study is littered with such things — the chess set that belonged to my great-great-great-grandfather, the christening mug given to my father by his godfather, an ashtray from the pub where I worked in London as a 19-year-old,” says Archbishop Jeremy

Reflections

Hearing in stereo again

“Today my lithium ion rechargeable batteries are small and the CI connects to my phone via Bluetooth. I can choose to listen to podcasts with the audio sent directly to the implant, with no need for earbuds. There is a reason that the cochlear implant is also known as the ‘bionic ear’ — the technology is truly marvellous,” says Frances Thompson

Reflections

Accountable for what?

“My hunch is that we are not simple binaries of unselfish or selfish; compassionate or indifferent; sheep or goat…rather, we are a complex mix of these things,” says Bishop Cam Venables

Reflections

Gathering around the campfire

“As a Diocesan family, widely distributed, we will be centred on Saturday as we gather around our new Archbishop in the Cathedral as he is seated in the cathedra, and as he leads us in the breaking of the bread before encouraging us to go and further the mission of Christ,” says The Very Rev’d Dr Peter Catt

Reflections

“It was a circle I could never square”

“In 2017 I led a debate within the Church of England’s General Synod about the harms of ‘conversion therapy’, which ended with the Synod agreeing to call on the government to ban it. Later that year I led some major research into the harms of ‘conversion therapy’, the results of which I then shared across the world — even with Pope Francis,” says Jayne Ozanne