The annual in-person meeting of the ecumenical officers of the state, territory and Australian national councils of Churches was recently held in Sydney
Anglicans around the world are invited to engage with some of the same issues that more than 650 Anglican bishops contemplated and discussed with each other at last year’s Lambeth Conference, starting with the theme of discipleship, as Phase 3 materials are released
“As well as preserving the Church’s heritage, the College needs and deserves more current facilities to nourish and form our people. And, the site’s 3.8 hectares of land has space that could be put to greater community use. We need additional income to pay for these works, so we and the wider community can make the most of the College and the site. While the Anglican Church Southern Queensland will continue to maintain ownership of the St Francis Theological College site, we will be exploring co-location ideas,” says Archbishop Phillip Aspinall
“The study of history reminds us that crises can be situations from which opportunity emerges. As the old passes away or crumbles, new opportunities can begin to materialise. However, for those opportunities to be grasped we need to be able to acknowledge them…We need to notice what the Spirit is inviting us to see and to respond to,” says The Very Rev’d Dr Peter Catt from Resource Church St John’s Cathedral
“Like many priests, I am a resourceful person and am capable of a number of things; however, professional supervision keeps me accountable to my key calling as a priest. So, I have been seeing a professional supervisor monthly since the start of last year in order to be more discerning about my call and regarding what initiatives and activities I choose to engage in,” says The Rev’d Tania Eichler
Four Anglican and Catholic clergy reflect on this year’s Anglican-Roman Catholic Clergy Day, including Bishop Jeremy Greaves, The Rev’d Anthony Odionyenfe, The Ven. Bronwyn Pagram and The Rev’d Peter Dorfield
“At times like this we need to be reminded that we are not alone, as we are in this together, ‘sitting together in the dark’. It is what followers of Jesus have done since the very earliest times,” says Bishop Jeremy Greaves as he reflects on the Inuit word, qarrtsiluni
“Towards the end of our conversation, the patient said that he felt as though his faith had been awakened. He also looked physically different – when I arrived he looked disengaged and down, but when I left his bedside he was relaxed and smiling. Before I left, he asked to pray for me, which was profound,” says hospital chaplain The Rev’d Peter Mayen
“Lectio divina just means ‘divine reading’ – it means above all a slow, reflective reading of scripture and can be compared to allowing the words of scripture to gently dissolve in our hearts and minds. It is the spiritual version of ‘slow food’,” says The Rev’d Penny Jones as she takes us through how to practise this ancient form of contemplative prayer as a group
“Birds often give me solace, including a wedge-tailed eagle after the violent death of a cousin; encouragement from black cockatoos at the closing of a Kairos Outside prison ministry weekend; affirmation from bulbuls outside my house in Dodoma after my arrival and upon my departure,” says Marilyn Wright from St Bartholomew’s, Mt Gravatt, as the Season of Creation continues