This Week Around the Diocese
Belmont Op Shop Up-Sizes Belmont Op Shop moved recently to larger premises in Macquarie Street. A craft group started last week in a room separate to the trading section of the shop. It is planned that a Bible discussion group will commence in September. We welcome visitors, shoppers and those interested in joining one of…
Bishop affirms sanctity of life and supports decriminalisation of abortion
Our Bishop, Dr Peter Stuart, has been widely reported in the NSW media in relation to changes in the law about termination of pregnancies. Anglicans are encouraged to pray about this area of legislation and pray for the parliamentarians. Dr Stuart’s engagement can be found at Abortion Law – NSW
House Church Grows Out of Parish Closure
When Teralba Anglican Church closed in November last year, a group of members found themselves starting the “Cameron Park Anglican House Church”. A core group from the congregation couldn’t find another place to worship, so Colin and Kay Walters started hosting the group in their lounge room. “There are about a dozen of us, aged…
St Luke’s Wallsend Joins Newcastle Pride Week with ‘Affirming’ Mass
Next Friday 23 August Saint Luke’s Wallsend is hosting a ‘Pride Mass’ in conjunction with Equal Voices Anglican as an opportunity for this parish and the broader Anglican church to celebrate and affirm LGBTIQA+ people in Newcastle and the Hunter during Newcastle Pride Week, especially within the church. “We intentionally used the word affirm, as…
All Saints Nelson Bay Celebrates 60th Anniversary
Last Sunday All Saints celebrated 60 years as a church on its present site. In a post on Facebook, they said: “We celebrated with Baptisms and confirmations, praise and worship and then an old prayer book service with robed choir. We had the pleasure of Bishop Peter’s company and wise words in the sermon.” “I…
Opinion Piece: Contributing Positively to the Discussion of the Ethics of Food
Written by Rodney Calgher in response to ‘The Challenge of Christian Animal Ethics’ Event advertised in the Diocesan Messenger a few weeks ago. I am the son of a primary producer, who grew up on a sheep and cattle station in central west of NSW and I have a brother who is also on the…
Global Alpha Gathering Inspires Local Stockton Minister
After returning from the Alpha Global Gathering in May, Stockton Anglican Church minister Rev’d Michael Marklew, has a renewed passion for the ways Alpha can continue to transform the Anglican Church. The Alpha Global Gathering (AGG) is a weeklong extension to the HTB Leadership Conference (LC19) in London. It is hosted by the Anglican Church…
Ordinations a “Great Occasion of Celebration” with the Diocesan Family
Many in our Diocese recently celebrated the ordinations of Jesse Baker, Zeb McKrell, Melanie Whalley and Angela Peverell into the Diaconate. Historically, a service for the ordination of Deacons has taken place in Christ Church Cathedral. This year however, for the first time ordination services took place in the four parishes where each deacon has…
Morpeth Churches Join for Ecumenical Prayer, Christian Unity & Celebration
Written by The Revd Dr George Garnsey The Combined Churches of Morpeth (Anglican, Roman Catholic and Uniting) mark three major ecumenical occasions each year. The first is the World Day of Prayer Service on the first Friday in March. The second is a service observing the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Ascentiontide to Pentecost). The third…
Connecting Theology, Arts and Stained Glass
St Luke’s Anglican Church in Woy Woy has been transformed over the weekend by a set of personally designed and crafted stained glass windows. The new faceted glass was unveiled at a special reception in the lead up to a three-day arts and theology symposium being hosted by St Luke’s later this week. The Reception…