Students pray for our new Bishop-elect
Students Harmony, Harper and Gregorio from Manning Valley Anglican College led prayers for the new Bishop-elect, Bishop Peter Stuart, at the outdoor Primary Chapel this week.
Cathedral welcomes new Bishop-elect
Christ Church Cathedral welcome Bishop Peter as the Bishop-elect on Sunday morning. Bishop Peter is pictured welcoming Pippa a companion dog.
Celebrating our Bishop Elect
The Parish of Wallsend celebrated our new Bishop Elect through their church noticeboard.
Support for those in need
Kerrie and Mother Moira, from the parish of Telarah-Rutherford, were invited by Maitland Rotary to their breakfast meeting where they were presented with a cheque for $500 which will go towards the purchase of a light commercial washing machine for the parish super shed. This shed will provide laundry and showering facilities for the homeless and others who are in need within our community.
New Lambton welcomes young Christian students
Beck Bishop of the New Lambton Parish welcome a group of young Christian students from Sydney last week.
Throwback Thursday at Cooks Hill
It was a privilege for the Rev’d Murray Woolnough to show Audrey and her family around the church. Audrey was Confirmed in 1936 when Rev Williamson was Rector. Her uncle, Thomas Metcalfe, painted the stars on the ceiling of St John’s. Audrey remember Sunday school in the hall in the 1920s and confirmation lessons in the chapel area in the 1930s!
Sticky Christmas at Forster Tuncurry
The Parish of Forster Tuncurry have been busy decorating sticky Christmas trees this week!
November was a Q & A month in the parish of Gresford-Paterson
In place of the sermon Bishop Brian fielded questions about Christian Belief from the congregations.
The questions included:
- What relevance does the Trinity have to us today?
- What is the Good News that Jesus speaks of? It can’t be about the Resurrection as he hasn’t died yet.
- What is the Church’s attitude to free will?
- Where did Cain’s wife come from?
- What does the Bible teach about homosexuality?
- Why did God use prophets and not use angels to deliver his messages?
- What are the implications for justification by faith alone for us today?
- Why does it say in the Book of Revelation that only 144,000 people will go to heaven?
The Q & A format engaged the congregations, provoked further discussion and reflection and disclosed what was on the minds of people who worship Sunday by Sunday.
The parish is preparing for Advent focussing on the reflective nature of the season. Bishop Brian, the present locum, has written to parishioners inviting them to use the Sundays in Advent as a times of quietude in advance of all the demands of Christmas preparation:
Even a Supermarket like Coles has recognized the pressures we experience in daily life. Coles has just introduced in some of its stores a quiet hour for shopping with dimmed lights, no blaring music and no Coles promotions! Of course, the trains have had Quiet Carriages for some years now. There is growing recognition of our need for reflection. We all need time to connect with ourselves, with our inner being and with the source of all being, God. The season of Advent with its reflective mood is just the time for such inner reflection. And becoming connected with our inner being gives rise to some of the big questions that may have been suppressed under daily business and noise. Questions about death, Heaven, judgement (how my life might be perceived by others and by God). The sermons for the Sundays in December (Advent time) will be exploring those three big issues.
The Parish is reaching out to young families in the Vacy region of the parish as they prepare for Christmas. We have discovered that there will be 26 children enrolling in Kindergarten next year, a very large intake for a small primary school. The parish has distributed flyers to promote the Christmas Carol celebration.
