anglican focus

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

Mothers Union

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

Video Archbishop Jeremy Greaves recording his New Year 2024 message Video

Archbishop Jeremy’s 2024 New Year message

“There’s so much exciting collaboration already happening, both within our Diocese and through wider community engagement. And, I encourage all parts of our Diocesan community to keep exploring new ways to connect and engage, as we build up one another and collectively demonstrate Jesus’ love to all whom we encounter. Throughout 2024, I’d love you to let me know how you are making this happen, so please drop me a line so I can share your story with the Diocesan community,” says Archbishop Jeremy Greaves

A red bench was installed and commemorated on 13 May 2023 at St Oswald’s Anglican Church in Banyo, with Jennifer Clark (ACSQ Domestic and Family Violence Project Officer), The Rev’d Elizabeth Donald-McConnell who blessed the bench, Mununjali student Jaara Wright who gave the Acknowledgement to Country (Jaara and her mum, Larissa, wrote the acknowledgement especially for the day), Northgate Ward Councillor Adam Allan (the Lord Mayor’s Community Fund supported the red bench) and Dr Brian Sullivan (Red Rose Foundation spokesperson), Dianne Barnham (Parish Councillor and North-East Deanery Mothers Union Secretary) and Lyn Northfield (Parish Councillor, People’s Warden and North-East Deanery Mothers Union President) in attendance
Justice & Advocacy

Banyo’s new red bench blessed

“It is important for St Oswald’s Church to increase domestic and family violence awareness as part of our parish’s Mission Action Plan. This plan helps Banyo parishioners implement our commitment to challenging violence, particularly violence within families,” says The Parish of Banyo’s Elizabeth Nunn
Reflections

“Sharing our stories was like watering each other’s trees”

“Our group facilitator, Kate Venables, led us in the conversation, asking the group how we experienced lions in our lives. So I translated the stories of two Dinka women in our group from the same village who said that when they were young girls, they used to look after the cows. One of the Bishops’ wives shared about how she protected a cow from being eaten by a lion as a young girl. The lion jumped from a tree onto the back of a cow,” says Rachel Jimma from St Bart’s, Toowoomba

Reflections

“It was definitely unifying and uplifting”

“Stewards were run off their feet during the conference, but we were able to join in the worship, even if that meant singing and dancing from our fire exit posts. Every morning service was a joyous pick-me-up. Services were said and sung in different languages,” says Stacey McCowan from the Community of The Way

Reflections

“When my mum was pregnant with me she had a dream”

“In the following weeks, my mum forgot about her dream. When she gave birth, the midwife asked my mum what she was going to name me. My mum said that she didn’t know and so the midwife replied with, ‘How about you name her ‘Rebecca’ after me?’ That was when my mum remembered her dream,” shares The Rev’d Rebecca King

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