Rod Mengel from St Francis College, Erica Skerman from AYCF and Michelle McDonald from anglican focus recently visited our Diocese’s Pointro Campsite at Boonah. The ACSQ Facebook post of their day trip prompted many questions about the site, including about the camping facilities, bunkhouse accommodation and the local area. Rod, Erica and Michelle share their highlights of the visit, while answering some of the questions asked
Hundreds of people attended the NAIDOC Week celebrations at the Briggs Road Sporting Complex recently in Ipswich
“In one of our FOCUS camp sessions, the children were given the option to try something new – songwriting. A small group of interested children came forward and worked collaboratively to write both the lyrics and the catchy melody of a song they titled ‘God with us’,” says Bettrys Lowe from St Bart’s, Toowoomba, while inviting other parishes to use the YouTube song video in their services and providing songwriting and recording tips
An up-close look at an actual Nobel Peace Prize medal, a keynote speech by renowned social justice activist, broadcaster and footballer Craig Foster AM and two Local Agents of Peace Awards were among this year’s St John’s Cathedral International Day of Peace highlights
Meet Howie Vandyke and find out about his work goals, faith and spirituality, totems, secret skill, thoughts on National Reconciliation Week and the Uluru Statement, and what film makes him nostalgic
“Erecting memorials after World War I was one way of helping people come to terms with their grief, as well as expressing gratitude for the sacrifice and courage of the Diggers who served. The size of the monument at the Ma Ma Creek church reflects the sheer scale of loss experienced by one local Anglican family, the Andrews family,” says Denzil Scrivens from St John’s Cathedral
The Springfield Anglican College students recently donated 1,800 more meals to Rosies Friends on the Street outreach while learning more about the causes and impacts of homelessness during a dedicated “Homelessness Day of Action”
The Rev’d Susan Crothers-Robertson from St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School provides tips and resources for running beautiful Advent and Christmas Prayer Spaces for use in schools, parishes, ministries and homes
With St Francis of Assisi’s Feast Day approaching on 4 October, Franciscan Brother Alfred BoonKong reflects on the great saint’s bond with the Sultan of Egypt, Palestine and Syria during the 13th century: “Francis’ friendship with the Sultan challenges us today to seek ways to listen to and dialogue with Muslims and people of other faiths in a spirit of openness and collaboration”
“…whilst certain verses taken out of context can appear to justify slavery, the overall witness of the Bible points in the opposite direction. Far from endorsing slavery, the Bible, as a whole, makes the practice untenable. It is little wonder that plantation owners went to such lengths to prevent slaves from reading the full canon of scripture and drawing their own conclusions,” says The Rev’d Charlie Lacey from St Andrew’s, Springfield