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DECEMBER 2025

What are your memories of Christmas?

In our final Encounter for 2025, Bishop Peter recalls some of his earliest memories and shares the importance of carols in remembering the Christmas story.

He encourages us all to share our own Christmas memories – the good and the challenging ones – while offering the gift of love and kindness to people we meet.

This edition of Encounter also highlights Samaritans ongoing work in supporting those who are doing it tough this Christmas, as well as the historic restoration underway at Christ Church Cathedral.

There are also big plans in store at some of our parishes; our schools recap another year full of achievements; and we explore the benefits of Anglican Care’s HomeLife services.

Take a look inside Encounter to learn more about the work of, and people behind, Newcastle Anglican.

Below you will find back issues of Encounter Magazine.

Prioritising our mental health and wellbeing, October 2025

Celebrating Our Individuality, July 2025

Hope Edition April 2025

Christmas 2024

Special Edition 2024

Winter 2024

Easter 2024

Stories from our Diocese

Recent Posts

Featured
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From the Bishop I am not sure what you call January 26th. Some people call it Australia Day, while others call it Invasion Day. For…

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6 January 2026

Scone students lead by serving…

Last year’s Where There’s a Will student leaders – Hallie Croucher, Lochie Hails, and Sienna Johnson from Scone Grammar School (SGS) – have continued to make an outstanding contribution throughout 2025.   The trio proudly represented…

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Featured
5 January 2026

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All Saints Anglican Church in New Lambton has been turned on its head as part of a recent renovation.   When you next enter the church, you may notice a significant…

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Featured
2 January 2026

From Stroud to Sri Lanka:…

Six parishioners from St John’s Church, Stroud, recently embarked on an unforgettable adventure in Sri Lanka.  First stop was a Christian girls orphanage based in Moratuwa, near Colombo.  The Stroud community had earlier rallied…

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Featured
30 December 2025

Exciting plans in store for…

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Featured
29 December 2025

New Year Reflections

From the Bishop This is our second engagement with the people of the Diocese as a “Living the Word” community. Our hope is that, together,…

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A blueprint in time

Christ Church Cathedral is at the centre of Dr Ian Eckford’s PhD, focusing on the Gothic Revival architecture as designed by John Horbury Hunt.   Ian’s interest in the Cathedral was initially sparked due to a personal…

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Featured
28 December 2025

Building on strong foundations  

Manning Valley Anglican College continues to flourish as a vibrant, inclusive Christian community, guided by a strategic vision that places faith, identity, service, and the…

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Featured
27 December 2025

Be Kind in spirit, Be Great in endeavours

As we look back on 2025, our theme Be Kind, Be Great has been woven into the heart of school life at Lakes Grammar.   Its message has…

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Featured
26 December 2025

Camerata hits the right note 

Christ Church Cathedral’s very own Director of Music, Dr David Banney, created a fresh reimagining on the completion of Mozart’s Requiem.   With the grandeur of the orchestra and choir filling the Cathedral, this was recently performed by the…

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Featured
24 December 2025

A shared act of remembrance at Bishop Tyrrell

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Featured
23 December 2025

Christ Church Cathedral undergoes historic…

Christ Church Cathedral is set to undergo a major restoration to ensure the preservation of one of Newcastle’s most significant landmarks.  The state heritage listed icon will have essential insurance work to…

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Featured
22 December 2025

Share the gift of an eco-friendly Christmas

Christian Ford has not wrapped a Christmas gift in wrapping paper for at least eight years.  Determined not to see his recycle bin overflowing with paper on Boxing Day, the Anglican EcoCare Newcastle Chair has instead committed to a couple of hours at a sewing machine every few years.  “My…

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Featured
19 December 2025

Welcome to Living the World…

From the Bishop God is a welcoming God who knows we come with questions. We experience the world with its wondrous complexity, and we face…

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Featured

Bishop Peter: remembering the Christmas…

A few weeks ago, the supermarket shelves surprised me. I suddenly realised that I wasn’t feeling very “Christmassy”. The sights and sounds jolted me into…

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Allied Health
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Encounter | Christmas edition 2025

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