anglican focus

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

First Nations knowledge

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

Resources & Research Saibai Elder Aunty Dr Rose Elu wearing a dress featuring the crocodile totem of her chieftain clan Resources & Research

My experience navigating the Anglican Church as a Torres Strait Islander person

“I also often invite other Anglicans to see that Torres Strait Islander Christians are Christians in our own way. We seamlessly blend our ancient sovereign ways and knowledges as Traditional Custodians with the wider Church’s ways and knowledges. For example, as part of my baptism as a baby, my mum removed my clothing and nappy and held me up in the sea breeze to be sprayed, to first be blessed, by the malu (ocean). She then took me to the church for the service,” says Aunty Dr Rose Elu

Prof Dr Anne Pattel-Gray has always worked ecumenically, including as a participant of the World Council of Churches Indigenous People’s Pre-Assembly in 2022 (Photo: Sean Hawkey/WCC)
Spotlight Q&A

Q&A with Indigenous theologian, ecumenical leader and Bidjara elder, Prof Dr Anne Pattel-Gray

Meet Prof Dr Anne Pattel-Gray, a descendant of the Bidjara Nation and Head of Indigenous Studies at the University of Divinity, and find out about her current projects, faith journey, what people of faith inspire her the most and why, and the kindest gesture she has ever received
Justice & Advocacy

''Mother Earth''

“I will be giving thanks for the gift that First Nations knowledge has given me by helping me to understand the sense of connection I have to the place in which I was born and lived the first third of my life,” says The Very Rev’d Dr Peter Catt

Homilies & Addresses

The Voice: from the grassroots and the seashores

“God blesses us through the ocean as the waves and the current go in and out. The ocean is sacred to us. As part of my baptism as a baby, my mum removed my clothing and nappy and held me up in the sea breeze to be sprayed — to first be blessed — by the ocean. She then took me to the church for the service,” says Torres Strait Islander Elder Aunty Dr Rose Elu

Video

The Rev’d Aunty Lenore Parker: NAIDOC Week 2023

“Bishop Arthur Malcolm [the first Aboriginal Bishop] took us out to Nungalinya College for praise and worship one Saturday evening; he took us out there and we had this great time, singing and dancing. The didgeridoo was playing, the clapsticks; that was when I saw the Scriptures were danced into the church being played by the didgeridoo and the clapsticks, and I saw that for the first time. I felt good, we all felt good and proud,” says The Rev’d Aunty Lenore Parker in this special “For our Elders” NAIDOC Week interview

Justice & Advocacy

Why I am voting “yes” in the referendum: Adrian Malone

“My dad’s mum, Nan, taught me Dreaming stories, about animals and language. My mum’s dad, Grandad Daylight, taught me stories about the Dreaming, including how the mountains were formed. When I was very young, my aunties and uncles taught me how to fish for whiting and barramundi and how to hunt for turtle and dugong. I learnt a lot from my Old People around the campfire because I listened,” says Gubbi Gubbi and Dharumbal man Adrian Malone from Anglicare

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