anglican focus

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

Colonisation

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

The Indigenous Pre-Assembly "Reconciliation: Restoring Wholeness in Creation" took place as people from around the world gathered for the WCC 11th Assembly. Pictured are Dr Hrangthan Chhungi from Mizoram, India with Mrs Diana Jenbise Gerenja Kristen Injili Di Tanah Papua (GKITP) (Photo: Sean Hawkey/WCC)
News

WCC expresses solidarity, urges advocacy for the human rights and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples across the world

In a public statement released by the World Council of Churches central committee, the WCC recognises that “ever since their first contact with colonizers, Indigenous Peoples have experienced a series of harms,” and that the “mental and physical well-being of the children, grandchildren, and generations to come are at stake”
Features

Change the date: being allies with our First Nations peoples

“As part of Anglicare Southern Queensland’s Reconciliation journey this year, for the first time Anglicare provided all staff with the choice to either take the Australia Day public holiday on 26 January or work that day and take another day off in lieu…The anniversary of this day for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples represents a time to mourn, as their cultures, lives and families were devastated by colonisation”

Features

News from an Anglican missionary in Africa

“I am now pretty fit in myself and am spending a few days slacking, on Doctor’s orders, except for writing sermons for Holy Week and Easter and then translating them into Chinyanja. Learning the local language has been a trial for me, but I am aware of the immense privilege I have in ministering to the folk,” as described by The Rev’d Harold Aldwyn Machell Cox CBE, the great-granduncle of Frances Thompson, in a series of family letters called ‘The Budget’, which is held in the famous Bodleian Library

Features

NAIDOC Week 2021: ‘Heal Country!’

“When I’m on the ferry or barge heading for Tjerrangerri, I can’t help but have tears streaming down my face. She’s a beautiful Country. Following my family’s forcible physical separation from her, I am still reconnecting with her and all the beauty she possesses,” says Sandra King OAM

Features

From biscuits to Bishop

The Rev’d Kate Ross tells us about trailblazing ordination of women campaigner, mother of six, nurse and midwife, childbirth educator and social justice advocate, Gwenneth Roberts, and about an exhibition she and Gwenneth are opening in the Cathedral to honour the women of our Diocese historically

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