The Gippsland Anglican - April 2013

Volume 110, Number 3 April 2013 Published in Gippsland Diocese since 1904

The Gippsland Anglican is your award winning newspaper: Best Regional Publication Bronze Award (ARPA) 2012; Best RegionalPublication Silver Award (ARPA) 2011; Item or Feature that shows the most originality Highly Commended (ARPA) 2011; Best SocialJustice Story Highly Commended (ARPA) 2004; Best Regional Publication (ARPA) 2003; Most Improved Newspaper (ARPA) 2001.

Wendy Mayer usinggifts on Lady Day

Pages 4 to 6

Primate washesfeet for Easter

Page 3

Gippsland diocese1924 to 1933

Pages 13 to 15

Breaking thepoverty cycleby educatingpeople aboutreproductivehealth

Messy church

ABOVE: Messy church, a family faith based after-school activity, has begun in anumber of parishes across Gippsland diocese. At Bairnsdale, Sue Lester is one ofa number of helpers. Photo: Judi Hogan

MARG Docking (right) hasmore than 25 years’ expe-rience working as aChristian midwife acrossYirrkala and Aurukan toKenya and Uganda. Shehas seen first hand thecycle of hopelessness anddevastation that lack ofeducation can cause. She passionately believes

in training people with fun-damentals of family plan-ning and sanitation, sothey may escape thepoverty cycle.Marg has recently

returned from Uganda andworks through WiseChoices for Life, an organi-sation she helped set up.Further information can befound at the website,http://www.wisechoices-forlife.orgWise Choices for Life is a

ministry set up to empow-er vulnerable Ugandanmen and women in thechild-bearing age groupwith knowledge and skillsto break the poverty cycle.

Targeting young adultsfirst, the training in repro-ductive health challengesthe view of manyUgandans that large fami-lies produce strength. Thisattitude is replaced withone of children by choice,not chance.Marg Docking will be talk-

ing about the program andher experiences at the Co-operating Churches,Williams Avenue, Churchillon Wednesday, April 17,2013 at 7.30pm.

2 Our Diocese - The Abbey of St Barnabas at A’Beckett Park April 2013

The Gippsland Anglican

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IndexReproductive health 1

Bishop’s message 3

MU Lady Day 4,5

Q&A with Wendy 6

House athletics 7

Kidsplus+ news 8

Messing about 9

Dean resigns 10

Bronze medal 11

Diocesan calendar 12

110 years of news 13-15

Hamilton’s humor 13

Deaconess’s journey 14

Nourishing body & soul 16

A bell’s life 17

Talking about God 18

Songs for Pentecost 18

Life in fragments 19

MU Pictorial 20

A PHOTOGRAPHIC work-shop will be held from April19 to 21, at the Abbey of StBarnabas at A’Beckett Park,on Raymond Island in EastGippsland.The tutor, Robert McKay, is

an enthusiastic amateurphotographer and will helpto demystify the use ofcameras, demonstratingwhat all the controls areused for, as well as the useof the camera itself. Rob will also lead partici-

pants through exerciseslooking at the artistic sideof photography, includingcomposition balance, har-mony and perspective; thetype of knowledge whichhelps to get the best useout of you and your cam-era. There will be time for dis-

cussions and also plenty oftime to go out and put the-ory into practice. Exercisesubjects include land, seaand cloud scapes, naturalhistory (nature), close-up,tabletop, portraiture, fash-ion, figure, architecture,flash, studio and other as-pects of photography. There will also be time to

learn about editing andpresentation of photo-graphs using computer ed-iting and matting andframing techniques. Bring along your cameras

and memory cards and. ifyou have them, a tripod,flash equipment and laptopcomputer. It is sure to be afun three days.June Treadwell, a history

teacher with an interest inthe medieval and renais-sance periods for manyyears, will lead a workshopfrom May 10 to 12 titledRescuing the Dark Ages.

June’s major interest is inthe period 500 to 1000 CEand how Christianity andwestern culture survivedthe barbarian invasions ofEurope. At this workshop, the

focus will be on the rolemonasteries played in res-cuing our Christian her-itage. Manuscripts such asthe Book of Kells and theLindisfarne Gospels will beexamined. The remote places where

manuscripts were hiddenfor centuries such as Ionaand the islands off the Westcoast of Ireland will featurein the program. Bede’s Ec-clesiastical History ofBritain and The Anglo–Saxon Chronicle will beused as the major writtensources from the period. Expert demonstrations of

manuscript binding and cal-ligraphy will take place andparticipants can designtheir own medieval book-plates or bookmarks. Further information on

these and other workshops,or to book, telephone theAbbey, 03 5156 6580 oremail [email protected]

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The AMF exists to resource employment of Aboriginal people in ministry; training of Aboriginal people for ministry; development of Aboriginal ministry in the community; the planting of Aboriginal churches; & education of the Diocese about Aboriginal issues. Be a part of achieving these aims. For more information, contact the Diocesan Registry Office at 453 Raymond Street, Sale, Victoria PO Box 928, Sale, 3853 Telephone 03 5144 2044 Fax 03 5144 7183 Email [email protected]

Abbey workshops

WITH the theme, TheEnduring Love of God,on Saturday, March 2,14 people from the east-ern region of the diocesemet at Holy Trinity Strat-ford for a Lenten QuietDay, led by Brian andAnne Turner, membersof the Anam Cara Com-munity leadership team.The day began with a

creative worship experi-ence in the Chancel of Holy Trinity. The main sym-bol was a long purple cloth, symbolising the journeywe all make during Lent to our own Jerusalem. Afterworship, Brian Turner shared a reflection on Psalm63:1-8 leading participants to reflect where theywere in their journey to Jerusalem. Brian Turner: For me and perhaps for you, too,

where I am on the road leads to questioning anddoubt, personal struggle and sometimes regret. Itis here, in the middle of this journey, we are prom-ised times of refreshment and a banquet in themidst of the dusty land when our hunger is real andwe need to be nurtured and fed. Brian’s reflection was followed by Anne, teaching

the discipline of Lectio Divina, ‘Divine Reading’, topray the scriptures or spiritual writings. After expe-riencing this form of prayer with the psalm, thegroup dispersed with resources for a time of quietreflection before lunch and an afternoon guidedmeditation and quiet reflection.Individuals gave $125, to be used for a donation

to the parish for using the facilities and the balancegoing to ACC funds for distribution at a later time.The continuing program of the ACC is on the web-

site at www.anamcara-gippsland.org Anam Cara isoffering a Quiet Day in Traralgon on May 4, at thehome of Carolyn and Oliver Raymond at 32 Kassan-dra Drive, Traralgon, beginning at 9.30am. Everyone is welcome to attend and it is not neces-

sary to be a member of Anam Cara. At the quiet dayon May 4 will be opportunity to learn and share witha Quaker, Joan Good. Joan has been a member of the local Quaker Com-

munity for many years. She will share in conversa-tion what it means to be a Quaker and teach abouttheir forms of worship. The Quaker community has included long periods

of silence as an integral part of their worship andthey also have great concern for social justice is-sues. The day will end at 3.30pm and participantsare asked to bring their own lunch.For more information about the day, contact Car-

olyn Raymond on 03 5174 3455 or Marion White on03 5623 3216 (pictured above).

ACC focuses onlove & Quakers

April 2013 Our Diocese - Bishop John’s message 3


THE overwhelming senseemerging from the Gospelaccounts of the resurrectionon that first Easter morningis a sense of bewilderment.There is excitement, confu-sion, fear, joy, hope beyondhope and disbelief, as thewomen and the disciplesrun in all directions and tryto come to grips with theunimaginable possibilitythat Jesus has risen fromthe dead. The impossiblehas happened. They are be-wildered.This all takes place in a

situation of abject despair,loss, shattered dreams andhopelessness. In Jesus, ashaft of light had brokeninto their lives. Then it hadbeen mercilessly snuffedout and viciously torn fromtheir lives by cynical politicsand acts of horrendous cru-elty, hatred and betrayal.The contrast could not be

more stunning. In theGospel story there is dra-matic movement. It beginswith the light beginning tobreak through in the lifeand ministry of Jesus. Itmoves suddenly to theutter darkness of his un-timely death. Finally, itbreaks into the brilliantglare of the resurrection. With the movement of the

story goes the emotional

journey of the disciples. Itbegins with the murmur ofawakening hopefulness intheir lives shared withJesus. It moves suddenly tothe dashing of their hopesby his death. Finally, itbreaks into the unspeak-able disbelief and joy of hisresurrection. It is an emo-tional roller-coaster ride,cast vividly in the unem-broidered telling of theGospel accounts.

Christ is Risen! He is RisenIndeed! In any human lan-guage this cry of joy andresponse of wonder to theGospel story is both uplift-ing and strangely unsettlingand mysterious. Spokenwith heartfelt conviction, itcan still bear an edge of in-credulity. It is the truth, buthow can it be possible? Be-yond our disbelief, in themidst of our doubts, Godbreaks in to make all thingsnew.This is the Lenten journey

that comes to its climax inthe Easter celebration. Weare called to live throughthis wondrous journey by

the liturgical practices ofthis Christian season. It isour belief that, by so doing,we will be revisited by ourhope in the risen Christ.It is all too easy to be

overwhelmed by our trou-bles in life; to focus on whathas been lost or neverknown despite our yearn-ings. In our personal livesand in the life of the com-munity, the nation and theworld, there is much that so

easily can move us to de-spair and to a longing forthings to be better. Thesame is true in the life ofthe church. It is so easy tofocus on what is wrong,what has been lost or whatis missing. It is so easy tolose heart. Darkness is easyto find and difficult to breakout of.The Easter story reminds

us that into our deepestdarkness, when all hope islost, the light of Christbreaks through in resurrec-tion. The impossible hap-pens and hope comes, ahope to keep before us andto offer to others, a hope

beyond our disbelief andtheirs. This Easter season, I pray

you will know and experi-ence the wonder experi-enced by the first witnessesto the resurrection of JesusChrist from the dead. I prayyou will be disturbed by themixture of excitement, con-fusion, fear, joy, hope be-yond hope and disbelief bywhich they were disturbedon that first Easter morn-ing.I pray it unsettles you as

much as it unsettled themand stirred them to sharewith all whom they met thewonder of all they had seenand heard in Jesus Christ.By their witness, the lightshone in the darkness, theirown darkness and that of

others. By our witnesstoday, the light continues toshine in the darkness, ourown darkness and that ofothers.Christ is Risen! He is Risen

Indeed! Dare to believe it.Dare to live it.

Right Reverend John McIntyreBishop of Gippsland

Christ is risen,he is risen indeed

It is the truth, but how can itbe possible? It is all too easyto be overwhelmed ...

Humble Primate washes feetTHE Primate of the Anglican

Church in Australia, Dr Philip As-pinall, washed the feet of commu-nity servants, ordinaryQueenslanders, as part of theMaundy Thursday evening liturgy.A soldier, a victims advocate, a

nursing home worker, an Indige-nous leader, an 83 year old volun-teer and a flood survivor, a manliving on the margins and a gener-ous teenager were all invited to StJohn’s Cathedral, in Brisbane’s cen-tral business district, to participate.The washing of the feet ceremony

dates back 2000 years, to the timeof Jesus and the night of the LastSupper, at which Jesus washed hisdisciples’ feet. Those whose feet the Archbishop

washed include a digger who saveda young child’s life while on deploy-ment, a victim of southeastQueensland’s 2013 and 2011 flooddisasters, a psychiatrist involvedwith the Church’s abuse responseprogram, a nursing home carer anda vulnerable man. He also washed the feet of an oc-

togenarian volunteer who works inBrisbane diocese’s palliative careministries, an Indigenous elder inher 90s and a teenage student

from a local school, with a strongcommitment to community service. “In Jesus’ time, people went bare-

foot or wore sandals and the ser-vants would wash the feet ofvisitors as a sign of hospitality andrespect,” Archbishop Aspinall said. “This service welcomes those who

have walked tough journeys andwhose efforts reflect the Easter val-ues of struggle, service, courageand sacrifice,” he said. “We have those who lead by ex-

ample in serving their communityand nation, as well as those ourchurch reaches out to, through dis-aster relief, our helping ministriesand education. “These people have walked in the

footsteps of Christ by helping oth-ers, facing hardship and givingtheir all, even at great cost. I amhonored to wash their feet.” During a deployment to Papua

New Guinea as a medic, CorporalWarwick Young saved the life of athree-year-old local child and ranhealth clinics for villagers. His PNGservice was recognised with anAustralia Day Medal. Twice in three years, waters 1.5m

high inundated the Lockyer Valleyhome Lorraine Keller shares with

husband, Rod, and their two adultchildren. The Kellers are still re-building following the floods’ dev-astating impacts on their home,farm, family and livelihood. Thefamily belongs to the Anglicanparish of Gatton. Lorraine volun-teers for the parish’s nursing homeministry and pastoral care teamand serves on parish council. Queensland psychiatrist, Joan

Lawrence AM, is one of her profes-sion’s most respected leaders. Inrecent years, she has provided in-dependent expert advice to Bris-bane diocese in addressing historicabuse claims. She also serves as amember of the diocesan panel todetermine the level of assistanceoffered by the diocese to victims ofsexual abuse within the Church. Now in her 90s and as vibrant as

ever, Aunty Vi McDermott is a re-spected Indigenous elder. Aunty Vigrew up in bush camps and ruraltowns of Queensland and now callsInala home, where she is a boardmember of the Inala Elders Associ-ation. A woman of great faith, joyand dignity, Aunty Vi McDermott isa storyteller, performer, publicspeaker and cultural advisor. During the last school holidays,

Brisbane teenager Louisa Son-dergeld became a fulltime carer fora profoundly disabled girl at theSony Foundation Children’s HolidayCamp. The aspiring doctor will playThe Last Post at a special ANZACservice at Brisbane’s Shrine of Re-membrance and is one of morethan 20,000 students enrolled inAnglican schools across Brisbane. Loleta Rieke is the sort of carer

you would want caring for an eld-erly parent or grandparent. A per-sonal carer at Anglicare SouthernQueensland’s aged care home atManly, on Brisbane’s bayside, Lo-leta is much loved and “makes adaily difference in the lives of resi-dents,” says her manager. Loleta, isoriginally from Western Samoa. Despite being highly vulnerable to

isolation and exploitation, both asa child and an adult, Trevor is avery sociable person who helpsothers. A familiar sight aroundinner city Brisbane, Trevor is oftenspotted on Brisbane City Councilbuses, using his trips to meet andtalk with new people. Trevor is oneof the people, one of the friends,who are part of the Anglican dio-cese’s local outreach program andintensive recovery support.

4 Our Diocese - Mothers’ Union Lady Day April 2013


By Jeanette Severs

A LARGE number ofwomen (and a couple ofmen) travelled fromthroughout Gippsland toenjoy fellowship at LadyDay at St Paul’s Cathedralin Sale on March 25. LadyDay is celebrated in honorof Mary Sumner, founder ofMothers’ Union. Guestspeaker was Wendy Mayer,Education Officer withMothers’ Union Australia.At the beginning of her

presentation, Wendy posedthe question to attendees:ask yourself, what can I dofor Mothers’ Union?“Never underestimate

your worth and never un-derestimate your gifts andtalents and what God wantsof you,” she said.Wendy based her talk on

the parable of the talents(Matthew 25:14-30), wherethe master gave his posses-sions to his servants basedon his perception of theirability; to one he gave fivetalents, to another he gavethree and so on.Wendy told a story about a

friend who was married re-cently. “It was her second mar-

riage and both she and hernew husband had housesfull of furniture and as-

sorted gadgets. Buyingthem any of the things tra-ditionally given as weddingpresents would definitelyhave been ‘bringing coals toNewcastle’. So what do yougive someone who haseverything they need andmore resources than youhave?“Do you ever feel that way

about bringing your gifts toGod?” she asked.“The creator of the uni-

verse doesn’t need thethings I can do or bring. Heis complete and perfect andhe will always achieve hisplans; so what can I possi-bly contribute?“How do you feel about

MU? An organisation of fourmillion members in 83countries isn’t going to beimpacted by anything I cando. Or is it?“Our MU Australia theme

for 2013 is ‘Bringing ourgifts to the 20/20 vision.’Sometimes we can betempted to think we havenothing to bring, but re-member God created youand your gifts and talentsand you are precious tohim. “Jesus Christ died to take

away your sins, so you canspend eternity with God inheaven. The price paid foryou was the life of the Son

of God, so never underesti-mate your worth; andnever underestimate whatGod can do through you,using the gifts he gave you. “When Jesus told the

parable of the talents, noteveryone was given thesame number of talents;

and we see that is true inour world. But notice every-one was given a talent. Alsonotice that the person withtwo talents wasn’t expectedto bring the same return asthe one with five talents.The return expected was inproportion to the gifts

given; but note and noteclearly, a return was ex-pected. “It was the act of burying

the talent and not using itat all that brought condem-nation. Even the act of put-ting it ‘on deposit’ to earn

MU: God wants your talents

ABOVE: Wendy Shiels, Joyce Fletcher and Ila Hine looking at contents of the blessing box(see story) brought to Lady Day by Wendy Mayer. Photo: Jeanette Severs

continued next page

April 2013 Our Diocese - Mothers’ Union Lady Day 5


from previous page

interest would have beenacceptable, but ignoring itbecause ‘anything I coulddo wouldn’t count formuch’, was condemned andpunished. The phrase ‘use itor lose it’ applies just asmuch today as it did in theparable Jesus told,” Wendysaid.“Are you prepared to come

to God and ask how hewants you to support fam-ily ministry? God knowswhat he wants you to do, soask him.”Wendy provided a number

of examples of resourcesavailable to MU members,including through the edu-cation officer and she hadbrought along a blessingbox.The blessing boxes are an

encouragement tool; a dec-orated box containingseven wrapped gifts - but-terfly soap, pot pourri, abookmark, a handkerchief,often a candle and a gift tagto focus a person’s atten-tion to God.“In our branches and

churches, the blessing boxand contributing to it, areways we can show peoplewe care for them,” Wendysaid.She suggested offering

service to other women inthe church; such as offeringto babysit so a youngmother can get her hair cutor so a couple can have anevening out without theirchildren.“I think we often feel we

are weak and God couldn’task us to do anything,”Wendy said.“But God said he will be

with you (Judges 6:16). Itisn’t our abilities Godneeds, it’s our availabilities.So how available am I andhow available are you to doGod’s work?”Wendy used an example of

fire fighters to illustrate herpoint: fire fighters need tobe prepared, trained, re-sourced and in communica-tion with their supervisorsand the command centre.“It’s the same for us. We

need to be in contact withGod through contact withour church, through pray-ing, by coming together liketoday. When we read ourbible each day, it preparesus for God’s call,” she said.“Think about why you’re a

Christian and how youwould explain that in twominutes. It is much betterto speak for two minutes tosomeone who then asksquestions, than go off in adiatribe where the personyou are talking at, theireyes glaze over and theyare keen to get away fromyou,” Wendy said to partic-ipants.She described the re-

sources available throughMU Australia and on thewebsite, such as books,magazines, music and in-structions for making gifts.“But all the resources in

the world are not helpful ifwe don’t use them and helpother people come to knowGod’s love.“Remember, when God

closes a door, he opens awindow. Don’t be afraid ofchanging ministry. We mayfind, however, we have tolook hard to find what win-

dow God is opening for us.“In the parable of the tal-

ents, the master only ex-pects his servants to usethe talents they have; andGod only expects us to usethe talents we have. Don’tbe surprised to find how op-portunities open up foryou.”

Local activitiesMOTHERS’ Union Gipps-

land president, KarinMcKenzie, reminded mem-bers of upcoming events inthe diocese. The June Join-In will be held at Newbor-ough, with a speaker fromKairos Inside. Kairos Insideis a Christian group thatministers to prisoners, in-cluding in Gippsland at Ful-ham Prison, near Sale.Australian president of

MU, Libby Crossman, will bein Gippsland on August 22,at Leongatha, to help cele-brate 50 years of Mothers’Union in that parish. Aluncheon will be held andall parishes are invited toattend. Donations on theday will go to two Mothers’Union projects, Literacy in

Ethiopia and the MU StBarnabas family holidayfund, to pay for families tohave a holiday at A’BeckettPark on Raymond Island.A quiet day has been or-

ganised for November 9,under the leadership ofReverend Tony Wicking, atSt John’s Bairnsdale.Lastly, the annual general

meeting of MU Gippsland ison September 17 at War-ragul and Karin encouragespeople to consider standingfor the various roles on theexecutive.“All positions become va-

cant at the AGM this yearand it would be great not tojust shuffle the chairs,” shesaid.

LEFT: Jan Misiurka selects some cards from resources available from the Mothers’Union bookstall, helped by Gwen Matheson.ABOVE: Joyce Elliott, Penny Clothier and Alisha Jones.

Photos: Jeanette Severs

ABOVE: Beryl Goodridge, who was celebrating her 80thbirthday at Lady Day, with Diane Moyes.

Photo: Jeanette SeversMore photographs on page 20.

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6 Our Diocese - Mothers’ Union Lady Day April 2013


Q: Where are you from;geographically and yourjourney in life?A: I am a Sydney girl,

born and bred and it is theonly place I have lived per-manently during my life, al-though I have lived invarious parts of Sydney. Asmy husband comes fromthe USA, we have spent abit of time over the yearsvisiting his family, mosly inFlorida. In life, I have achieved

grandmotherhood; I workpart time as Women’sworker at the Anglicanchurch at Normanhurst; Iam Head of Education forMothers’ Union Sydney, aswell as MU Australia; and Ihelp my mother maintainher independent living.

Q: Who are your family?A: My husband, Bob, and I

live alone now as our threechildren are all adults. Oureldest daughter, Michelle,has been married to Davidfor 13 years this Easter andthey have three daughters:Emma who is 11 and Lucyand Charlotte, eight-year-old twins, who are not justnon-identical, they do noteven look like sisters. Our second daughter

Kathryn, trained as agraphic designer, then de-cided she wanted to be amedical doctor instead andis currently in third yearmedical school at the Uni-versity of Western Sydney.She is living with our son,Ben, who works in IT, whichis very handy for me. My mother, Betty, who

turns 90 this year, lives inself care in a retirement vil-lage and some of my timeis taken up helping her and

taking her to medical ap-pointments.

Q: What was your role be-fore you had children?A: Before I had children I

worked for CSR as an ana-lytical chemist, but in thelate 1970’s there was not asmuch opportunity to workpart-time; so when our firstdaughter was born, I gaveup work to look after herand our subsequent chil-dren.

Q: What church activitieshave you been involved in?A: I grew up in a Christian

family and taught Sundayschool when I was ateenager, so when our eld-est started Sunday schoolat three years old, I startedteaching again; and I alsogot involved with the pre-school our church runs. I have been a parish coun-

cillor, bible study leader,women’s group leader,playgroup co-ordinator,children’s holiday programorganiser; and I am stillteaching Sunday school 32years later. I spent eight years as chil-

dren’s minister at Norman-hurst, before changing towomen’s minister therethree years ago.

Q: I see you have been in-volved in pastoral care;what does that involve?A: My role as women’s

minister involves makingsure the women at StStephen’s feel they areloved, valued, encouragedand equipped for whateverministry God has calledthem to do. I cannot do thisalone, so I have recruited ateam of women who look

after those who are particu-larly vulnerable. Our aim is to encourage

the women in our church tolook after each other andwhen there are specialneeds, they let me knowand I can visit; and, wherenecessary, arrange extracare for them. One of my great delights is

reading the bible and pray-ing with other women and Ioften have the opportunityto do this when I visit. Ialso have a committee whoplan events to help thewomen from our differentservices get to know eachother, as we have four sep-arate services in our onechurch building.

Q: Tell us about your ex-perience of breast cancer? A: Going through breast

cancer was the worst thingthat has happened to meand one of the best. The physical aspect of sur-

gery, chemotherapy and ra-diotherapy was horrible butthe experience of God’spresence with me and thesupport of Christian friendsand other MU membersacross the world whoprayed for me, was some-thing I would not want tohave missed; and I will al-ways remember that timeas one of great blessing aswell as suffering.

Q: Why are you interestedin children’s and women’sministry?A: I first worked in the

area of Industrial Chem-istry, which did not have alot of women in it in man-agement positions. At thattime (early 1970s), I be-came passionate about em-

powering women to achievetheir potential in societyand not be limited by per-ceptions about whatwomen could and shoulddo. As I grew in my own

Christian faith, I realisedboth women and men canonly reach their God-givenpotential through faith inJesus Christ as their Sav-iour and Lord; and that thisis far more important thanany material or physicalachievements we can makehere on earth. This also applies to chil-

dren and we adults are re-sponsible for teaching themthe things they need to sur-vive and flourish as theygrow up. There is nothingmore important than faithin Jesus which brings rec-onciliation with God andeternity in Heaven. I try toshare this from my per-spective, as a woman.

Q: How did you becomeinvolved in Mothers’ Unionand get to your role todaywithin MU Australia? Whatdoes this mean to you?A: I knew about MU for a

long time before I joined.For a long time, I workedon the day our MU groupmet and no one suggested Icould still be part of thisChristian organisation, thatsupported marriage andfamily life, even if I could

not attend a meeting. I wish someone had and

today I want to encouragepeople to think about be-longing, even if they cannotattend branch meetings.There is more to MU thanthe local branch. When my son was born, I

took a break from paidwork for a while and our MUbranch president triedagain. This time I joinedand started attending themeetings. A couple of years later, I

was asked to be treasurerfor MU Sydney and thenhead of education. At thattime, I started writing biblestudies for MU and discov-ered it was something Iloved to do. I have been a vice presi-

dent of MU Sydney and,after a break, was asked toreturn to the education rolefor MU Sydney. Three years ago, I was

nominated to the positionof education for MU Aus-tralia and have found it agreat blessing to have theextra contact with membersof MU from across Aus-tralia. It has widened myperspective and I hope Ihave been able to help oth-ers by providing resourceswhich ‘share Christ’s lovethrough encouraging,strengthening and support-ing marriage and familylife’, which is our MU vision.

ABOVE: Karin McKenzie, president of Mothers’ Union Gipp-sland, with Wendy Mayer, guest speaker at MU Lady Dayat Sale and education officer with MU Australia.

Photo: Jeanette Severs

Wendy’s experience offamily, ministry & cancer

A Question and Answer between editor of The Gippsland Angli-can, Jeanette Severs and Wendy Mayer, education officer, Moth-ers’ Union Australia, based on a similar session held at MU LadyDay at Sale (see story, pages 4 and 5).

April 2013 Our Diocese - Children’s and Family Ministry 7


IN late March, the StAnne’s Junior Campus ofGippsland Grammar held itsHouse athletics’ competi-tion. All students partici-pated in multiple events onthe day as they movedfrom activity to activity intheir age groups. Field events including shot

put, high jump, long jumpand triple jump were held,along with sprint and mid-

dle distance track eventsand hurdles. The Lions Cluborganised a $2 sausage siz-zle for lunch. A very large number of

parents attended, withmany helping to run eventsand supporting their chil-dren on the day. TisdallHotham was the winninghouse and there was muchrejoicing as it was their firstsuccess since 2001.

RIGHT: Age champions atthe House athletics compe-tition of St Anne’s JuniorCampus were FinnStephenson, Bailey Itten-sohn, Sarah Treasure,Tabitha Manson, ChloeManson, Luke Droppert,Ben Lang and Tilley GordynABOVE right: A big jumpfrom Connor Waixel.

Contributor/Photos: Gippsland Grammar

Preschool playin Moe parishIN Moe parish, Kidsplus+ Play-

group commenced in February witha very enthusiastic group of chil-dren, parents and carers. GFS Kid-splus+ ministry in the parish catersfor preschoolers, primary, second-ary and young adult groups, withthe added advantage of supportand fellowship with the diocesannetwork. We are fortunate our facilitators

from within the parish include lead-ers with early childhood experience,kindergarten and teacher training.Already some pleasing links and fel-lowship have developed and an-other opportunity for our parishmulticultural assimilation is evident. As a parish where hall facilities are

used in partnership with a commu-nity kindergarten, we grasped anopportune time, when a Fridaymorning kinder-free time slot be-came available to us. It has been difficult in the past to

secure the use of a suitable venue.We celebrate that this long termgoal has been finally realised forthis year.

Contributor/Photo: Mary Nicholls

House athletics

The Anglican Diocese of Gippsland does not tolerate abuse, misconduct and harm in its Christian community.

The Diocese is committed to ensuring all people in contact with the Church can participate in a safe and responsible environment. If you may have been harmed by a church worker, or know someone who has, please come forward. The Director of Professional Standards, Cheryl Russell, is available, and will maintain confidentiality, on telephone 03 5633 1573, on mobile 0407 563313, or email [email protected]

OFFICE OF THE ! Director of Professional Standards

8 Our Diocese - Children’s and Family Ministry April 2013


CHILDREN and youth ofGippsland diocese are re-minded to complete andsend their applications forthe forthcoming Kidsplus+Camp to be held at Coon-awarra Farm resort on May3 to 5 (see advertisementon page seven). Applica-tions are already due asreaders receive this issue ofThe Gippsland Anglican. Those interested in at-

tending should telephoneMary on 03 5127 2929 tobe assured of a place. Ifany parishes have leaderswishing to attend with theirparish representatives,please also make contact. The ‘bring-along, rather

than send-along’ methodmakes our young peoplemost comfortable.The annual GFS State

meeting this year will behosted by Gippsland dio-cese on Saturday, April 20.We are looking forward to

welcoming representativesfrom the other five Victo-rian dioceses to the meet-ing and some social activityat Gippsland Heritage Parkon this day.

Young children and youthare invited to participate inthe day, sharing in explor-ing the park and monthlymarket, a barbecue lunchand ideas and visions forour future ministry (such aspreschool activities, above). A games and activity pro-

gram will run parallel to themeeting. If you are inter-ested in attending this ac-tivity, RSVP to LaurenKitwood, GFS DiocesanChairman, through [email protected] ortelephone Mary on 03 51272929. Participants shouldmeet at the meeting roomat Moe at 10am. The daywill conclude at 3pm. Expressions of interest are

also being sought to attendthe National GFS (Kid-splus+) Conference on theJune long weekend in Mel-bourne. We will be accom-modated at the new CYCCity Camp at 538 CollinsStreet, in a heritage-listedMelbourne building. Costestimated at approximately$350; details on enquiry. These conferences always

provide inspirational speak-ers and workshops to en-courage those in ministry tochildren, youth and fami-lies. Contributor: Mary Nicholls

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Camps, gatherings,inspiring speakers

Color in the picture

ABOVE: He is not here! Hehas risen! Color in and puz-zle maze. Enter the maze attop left and travel throughto find the correct route tothe empty tomb. Copyright: www.ser-mons4kids.com

April 2013 Our Diocese - Children’s and Family Ministry 9


CHILDREN from Moe GFS,the Boys Group (BAMM)and the Sunday schoolhave assisted in clearingand replanting the veg-etable garden originally es-tablished through the workand generosity of Sue andPeter Lendon, of Newbor-ough parish.Two years ago, the vision

was to work alongsideGippsland TAFE to provide ahorticulture training areaand opportunity for some ofour South Sudanese men. Funding and other obsta-

cles brought that idea to ahalt, however the ground-work is now happily beingutilised by the young peo-ple in our ministry program. We look forward now to

that season of growth andhope that the vision mightbe revitalised. Happily, lo-quat, persimmon, feijoaand pecan nut trees plantedby the Lendon’s are thriv-ing, giving us encourage-ment.

MESSY church was introduced at St John’s Bairnsdale inFebruary this year and is held on the second Thursday ofeach month. This is a special service for families, aimed atprimary school-aged children and their parents; the in-volvement of parents and carers means it is not a ‘drop-ping off’ service. A great deal of preparation goes into each service, as the

theme differs every month. There were about 10 volun-teers to help the rector, Reverend Tony Wicking, includinga pianist from Gippsland Grammar’s Bairnsdale school. Parents are expected to participate in the session. Twelve

children attended in February and had something to eaton arrival. Activities started punctually at 4pm. Children, parents and volunteers involved themselves in

craft, painting, learning and praying about the day’stheme of ‘God’s first days of Creation’. After the activities,everybody moved into the church to hear a bible messageand and to sing lively songs. After the service a light meal was served, the two hours

having been used to provide insight into God’s creation aswell as having a lot of fun. It was pleasing to have six chil-dren with their parents attend who are not connected tothe church.

Contributor: Ursula Plunkett

RIGHT: Dinner time at the end of messy church. The firstsession was held at St John’s Bairnsdale in February, thenthe second Thursday of each month ongoing.

Photo: Judi Hogan

Messing about with church

Children engagewith Moe gardens

ABOVE and above right: Members of Moe’s GFS primarygroup tending the garden. Each group has enthusiasti-cally taken some responsibility for the gardens.

Contributor/Photos: Mary Nicholls

10 Our Diocese - Clergy Ministry April 2013


THE Dean of St Paul’sCathedral in Sale has an-nounced his resignation, totake effect from the end ofMay. Dean Dr Don Saines(right) and his wife, DrPene Brook, moved to Saleparish in April 2010.Prior to his appointment

as Dean, Don was an asso-ciate lecturer in the Schoolof Theology of Charles SturtUniversity and an Anglicanpriest in the Canberra andGoulburn diocese.He knew Bishop John

McIntyre when Don was therector of Newtown andBishop John was the rectorof Redfern, both in Sydney.More recently, Pene was

ordained a deacon and tookup the role of chaplain ofMonash University Gipps-land.Don will take long service

leave before taking up anew role, as Dean of theUnited Faculty of Theology(UFT) in Melbourne. “This was not a decision

made in haste but one re-sulting from much prayerand heart searching byPene and me,” he recentlytold the congregations ofSale parish. “I will miss my ministry as

Dean of St Paul’s Sale andpriest to the Cathedralparish and my collegialministry with Bishop Johnand colleagues across Gipp-sland diocese. These lastthree years have indeedbeen a most happy and re-warding experience.”Pene will continue her

ministry as chaplain atChurchill, as the couple in-tend to move to a house

they own at Upwey, at leastfor the time being. The United Faculty of The-

ology was formed in 1969as an ecumenical theologi-cal partnership betweenthree separate colleges: theJesuit Theological College ofthe Society of Jesus (JTC),Australian Province of theSociety of Jesus; TrinityCollege Theological School(TCTS), Anglican Provinceof Victoria; and the UnitingChurch Theological College(UCTC), Synod of Victoriaand Tasmania.The partner colleges share

their staff and facilities forthe purpose of teaching andresearch and college stu-dents study in commonclasses. Classes are alsoavailable to independentstudentsThe UFT Office is located

at the Uniting Church Cen-tre for Theology and Min-istry (CTM), in CollegeCrescent, Parkville, nearMelbourne University.

Dean resignsfrom Cathedral

BASIC TRAINING PROGRAM FOR VOLUNTEER PASTORAL CARE

VISITORSA series of five workshops at Delbridge Hall, Sale. Led byDean Don Saines, Reverend Lyndon Phillips and Rev.Heather Toms. Each workshop from 10am to 12noon.April 27, June 22, August 17, September 21, October 26.

RSVP: St Paul’s Cathedral office, 03 5144 2020

New priorities forAnglican WitnessBy Reverend John Kafwanka, Director for Mission Anglican Communion Office

THE core group of Anglican Witness:evangelism and church growth initiativein the Anglican Communion, representingnine regions of the Anglican Communionand five specialised ministries, met re-cently in London to receive and considerthe implementation strategy of the ACC-15 evangelism mandate. This was thefirst core group meeting after the Angli-can Consultative Council (ACC) met inAuckland New Zealand in October andNovember last year. Among attendees atthe ACC in New Zealand was Gippslanddiocese’s Robert Fordham, who is also amember of Bishop-in-Council.Aware of the importance of children and

young people to the present and futurelife and dynamism of the Church andtheir participation in God’s holistic mis-sion in the world, the ACC-15 requestedthe Anglican Witness to put special em-phasis on children and young people inthe renewed mandate. To underscore the ACC’s commitment to

this aspect of work, Reverend Robert Si-hubwa, an experienced and passionateleader in ministry among children andyoung people, has joined the core groupand brings relevant experience andstrategic thinking. The breadth of diversity of context and

experience of the core group members isan important resource to the group itselfas well as to the vision of Anglican Wit-ness, which exists to promote evangelismand church growth in the Anglican Com-munion and facilitate sharing and collab-oration. Encouraged by the progress made in the

last three years, the core group has un-dertaken to prioritise the following areas:children and young people; discipleship;unreached and engaged people; gather-ing and sharing evangelism resources;and communication tools; to sustain andenable all these priorities.

The priority on children and young peo-ple will include having a focused sectionon children and youth within AnglicanWitness work; compile a profile of exist-ing relevant resources within and outsidethe Communion; establish an annualprize competition for young people; high-light existing relevant training programsfor children and young people; and en-gage theological institutions in the Com-munion regarding emphasis on trainingfor ministry among young people. The meeting was hosted at the Anglican

Communion Office where the SecretaryGeneral of the Anglican Communion,Canon Kenneth Kearon, welcomed thegroup and thanked them for their com-mitment to taking this work forward,work which is central to the life and exis-tence of the Church. The meeting tookplace in the context of prayer and wor-ship and was enriched by bible studies fo-cussing on Luke 10. As part of its working ethos, the core

group always engages with the missioncontext of the host Church for mutual en-richment. In London, this took included amission day of engagement with missionleaders in the Church of England on FreshExpressions of Church, Migrant and Mis-sion and Resourcing for Mission; anevening with two young members fromRegeneration Church whose ministryfocus is on young people; and the finalexperience was the mission encounterover the weekend when core groupmembers were hosted in parishes acrossLondon and beyond. The experience here included taking

part in evangelistic initiatives, speakingand preaching during Sunday worship.Both hosts and guests have reportedhaving life-changing experiences duringthe mission encounter weekend. The core group received a visit on the

first day from the Archbishop of Canter-bury, Justin Welby, who shared his pas-sion for evangelism and church growth;spur the group’s confidence to provide aplatform for resource-sharing and learn-ing that is supported by him.

April 2013 Our Diocese - Youth Ministry 11


Boys row to abronze medal

Youth hut inSale parish

Get Voting:a resourcefor schoolsand youthGet Voting website is theAustralian Electoral Com-mission’s new and innova-tive education resource tosupport schools to conductfree and fair school elec-tions. Visiteducation.aec.gov.au/getvoting for more information.

GIPPSLAND Grammarended another successfulrowing season with a medalat the Australian NationalRowing Championships.The event was held at Pen-rith and combined with thefirst round of the RowingWorld Cup, giving studentsthe unique opportunity torow alongside national andinternational rowers. Theschool entered two crewsfor the event this year. The senior boys’ crew,

Craig Munson, Jirra Moffatt,Charlie Gerrand, AngusRose and Eden Rice (cox),competed in the coxedquad scull event. The crewwon their first heat and

moved straight to the final. The final line-up was a re-

peat of their previous finalat a Canberra regatta,where they finished in sixthplace, so they knew theyhad a huge task beforethem. The race was veryclose and at each 500mmarker, the boys held ontothird place, going throughto win the Bronze medal.The girls’ crew, Lucy Shep-

hard, Genevieve Pyne,Demi Redenbach, MarnieDeller and Claire Purcell(cox), were in a categorywith 35 crews, in theSchoolgirl’s coxed quadscull event. The girls finished fourth in

their heat and made itthrough to the repechage,where they again finishedin fourth place, missing thefinal but proud of theirachievement.The rowing crews will soon

meet Olympic rower,Karsten Fosterling, who willbe guest speaker at the endof season dinner.

ABOVE: The senior rowingcrews of Gippsland Gram-mar, Genevieve Pyne, DemiRedenbach, Craig Munson,Jirra Moffatt, Charlie Ger-rand, Eden Rice, AngusRose, Claire Purcell, MarnieDeller and Lucy Shephard.Photo: Gippsland Grammar

TOP and above: The youth hutat St Paul’s Cathedral in Salehas been refurbished, relo-cated and, recently, blessedand re-opened by the Dean ofthe Cathedral, Dr Don Saines.Renovations, which beganearly last year, includedadding a partitioned officespace, lower ceiling and northfacing windows.

Photos: Christine Morris

12 Our Diocese - Features April 2013


Diocesan calendar2013110th year of The Gippsland Anglican diocesan newspaper

April1 Easter Book Stall, St John’s Metung, Patterson Park, Metung4-7 Cursillo, Men’s 34; Blackwood House, Gippsland Grammar,

Sale; contact Lindsay McKay, email [email protected] or 0403 170320

6 Anam Cara Community School for Prayer Day; 9.30am to 4pm; Praying with Scriptures, led by Reverend Anne Turner; St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, Sale; 9.30am to 3.30pm; BYO lunch, bible and journal. RSVP Jane Macqueen, 0411 316346 or [email protected]

19-21 Creative Spirit Festival art exhibition; St Phillip’s Cowes20 Avon parish garden bus trip; contact Lorraine, 03 5145 691125 ANZAC Day26-28 CMS Autumn mission weekend, Bendigo; with Brian Rosner;

www.cms.org.au27 Basic Training Program for Volunteer Pastoral Care Visitors; St

Paul’s Cathedral parish; RSVP 03 5144 2020; workshop 1, 10am to 12noon.

May4 Anam Cara Community Day; 9.30am to 4pm; enquiries, Jane

Macqueen, 0411 316346 or [email protected]

7-8 Working with Complex and Chronic Mental Health workshop, Rosedale; RSVP by April 26 to Sarah Gover, 0458 450370

17-18 Gippsland Anglican 37th annual Synod, Sale; St Anne’s campus of Gippsland Grammar, Sale; begins 2pm on Friday.

21 Mothers’ Union executive meeting, Morwell; 9.30am24-25 Anam Cara Community retreat, Abbey of St Barnabas,

A’Beckett Park; enquiries, Jane Macqueen, 0411 316346 or [email protected]

25 Ordination service, priests; St Paul’s Cathedral, Sale; 11am; Don Saines, 03 5144 2020

June1 Open day, Abbey of St Barnabas, A’Beckett Park, Raymond

Island; demonstrations of spinning and weaving, landcare, organic agriculture, chooks, sheep shearing, craft, jams, preserves, games for children, food to purchase; enquiries Ann Miller, 03 5144 3597, 0427 445866 or [email protected]

1 Anam Cara Community School for Prayer Day; Christ Church Drouin; 9.30am to 4pm; enquiries, Jane Macqueen, 0411 316346 or [email protected]

3-5 Clergy conference, with Charles and Peta Sherlock12 Mothers’ Union June Join-in; 9.30am for 10am service;

Newborough; guest speaker, Tim Rock from Kairos14-16 Residential writing workshop, Abbey of St Barnabas, Raymond

Island; with Sue Fordham and Archdeacon Philip Muston22 Basic Training Program for Volunteer Pastoral Care Visitors; St


23-26 Quadratos in an Australian context (a retreat), Anam Cara Community; Pallotti College, Millgrove

27-29 Growth in Ministry intensive; Bishopscourt; Sale29 Anam Cara Community annual thanksgiving eucharist; St

Mary’s Morwell; 11am to 2.30pm; enquiries, Jane Macqueen, 0411 316346 or [email protected]

July6 Anam Cara Community Day; 9.30am to 4pm; enquiries, Jane


August3 Anam Cara Community School for Prayer Day; St James’

Traralgon; 9.30am to 4pm; enquiries, Jane Macqueen, 0411 316346 or [email protected]

8 Mary Sumner Day, Mothers’ Union 16 Clergy Wellbeing Day; Latrobe Convention Centre, Traralgon17 Basic Training Program for Volunteer Pastoral Care Visitors; St


20 Mothers’ Union executive meeting, Morwell, 9.30am22 Celebrating 50 years of Mothers’ Union at Leongatha; guest

speaker Libby Cross, MU Australia president.

September7 Anam Cara Community Day; 9.30am to 4pm; enquiries, Jane


8 Back to church Sunday13-15 Anam Cara Community retreat, Abbey of St Barnabas,

A’Beckett Park; ‘Living as a contemplative in the world’; enquiries, Jane Macqueen, 0411 316346 or [email protected]

Film festivalentries open

THE 2013 Ignite Short Film Fes-tival, Australia’s premier ChristianShort Film Festival, is now callingfor entries. Filmmakers will needto get cracking on storyboards forIgnite, a competition encouragingfilm-makers to creatively commu-nicate the truths of the bible.While the festival is Australia-

based, films in recent years havecome from countries as diverse asArgentina, India, Cambodia andthe UK. This year, Ignite is run byBible Society Australia in conjunc-tion with Festival Director, AllanDowthwaite, who created thecompetition in 2004. Mr Dowthwaite explains: “Ignite

is all about getting people to readthe bible and to be creative intelling its story. The quality offilms each year has been terrific,and it’s been great to see a fewpast entrants go on to successfulmedia careers.”Daniel Peterson is one such suc-

cess story. In 2008, with just ayear’s editing experience, he wonin the ‘Bright Spark’, Best Editingand Special Effects categories. “I made the film with some

mates and it was good fun. It wasalso an opportunity for me to ex-plore film making with a focus onGod’s word. It was significant inmy decision to pursue a career inmedia.” Today, Mr Peterson runs Salt

Media, his own production com-

pany.Films submitted to Ignite must

be no longer than five minutesand must be based on a bibleverse or passage containing thekey word. Last year’s theme was‘Hope’ and the winning film, Cen-tre, by Michael Snowdon, focusedon the futility of relying on any-thing other than the cross.“Entering Ignite each year has

drastically improved my film-making, encouraged my creativethinking and sharpened my un-derstanding of how to make Jesusknown. Ignite provides an av-enue for Christian film-makers,like me, to get serious about pro-ducing high-quality filmsthat communicate God’s word,”he said.The theme for 2013 is ‘Joy’.

Filmmakers need to investigatewhat the bible says about joy,base their film on a passage con-taining the word and communi-cate what they discover in a filmfive minutes or less in duration.There are eleven award cate-

gories, including one for schoolentries, with the winning filmawarded $2,000. Entries closeJuly 31, 2013 and the awards’evening will be held in September.For entry details and to see last

year’s winning film and the panelof judges, visit www.ignitefilmfest.com

Contributor: Rachel Hockings

April 2013 Our Diocese - Commemorating 110 years of diocesan news 13


By Jeanette Severs

THE Church News of Janu-ary 20, 1924 announcedthe appointment of Rev-erend KE Hamilton, of Maf-fra, as editor and theopening on February 5 ofthe Church of England Girls’Preparatory School at Sale,under headmistress, Dea-coness Sundell (qualifica-tions, Cambridge Teachers’Diploma). Mrs Cranswickwas advertising for a housemaid and a parlor maid.Canon Haultain, under the

headline, Wanted – StrongMen, provided his thoughtson the recent Gippsland re-cruiting campaign. Thecampaign was to recruit,not only for Gippsland, butalso for Melbourne and asfar afield as England.Canon Haultain discussed

beliefs the role of a clergy-man was “a soft job, involv-ing tea parties, mothers’meetings and such things”and not for true men, whowork hard for a living. Healso spoke about the needto be an educated man;that the collar and clothescan put people off; and thepoverty of the clergy.

Canon Haultain pointedout the life and work of aclergyman could be as hardas he makes it but that theaverage Australian was notecclesiastically inclined andcited “the home and socialinfluence, which too oftenfails to place the glory andsplendor of a clergyman’slife before our boys”.He concluded the recruit-

ing campaign “was thor-oughly worthwhile. Therewere offers of services;there will be many more”.The newspaper reported a

car was purchased for theWarden of the Brotherhood,from donations from 44parishioners across the dio-cese and two Melbourneparishioners, amounting to£250/6/6.Another article, The Work

of the Women of theChurch, commended theStratford ladies guild, theBush Church Aid Societyand other friends for en-abling “Sister Dorothy togive the Croajingolong chil-dren the wonderful bliss ofChristmas trees”. This en-abled children at CannRiver, Croajingolong (Malla-coota), Genoa and Wongra-belle to receive gifts fromunder the trees, taken fromtwo boxes donated by Mel-bourne supporters of theBCA. Some presents weregiven to the children of thehigh country at later dates.Under this headline was

further information aboutthe opening of the school(see paragraph one), underthe auspices of DeaconessHouse. Arrangements forday pupils and boarderscould be made with Dea-coness Sundell, whobrought Victorian and Eng-lish qualifications to herrole.The work of the Dea-

conesses and other womenwas commended. SisterDorothy, as already men-tioned; Sister May at Won-thaggi; Miss Warren wouldshortly be returning to workfrom illness; DeaconessSundell starting the school;Deaconess Shoobridge, onhorseback or in pony andtrap, visiting the high coun-try and Croajingolong; MissNewnham, Mrs England(also known as Mrs Laird)and Mrs Jensen; and SisterMarle taking up the work ofLiterature Secretary ofMothers’ Union from MrsJensen.Lindenow-Fernbank re-

ported the first visit of theWarden, Reverend PA Wise-would, at Lindenow on De-cember 9 (1923) andpreached at the service inthe evening, linking thearea with the Brotherhood’sfellowship. He returned onDecember 15, along withhis wife, to the fair at Lin-

denow, by car from Strat-ford, to open the fair andjoin in the festivities. Bishop Cranswick visited

the parish on January 6, tobig congregations andwarm welcomes at Meer-lieu, Lindenow and Fern-bank. A focus of theparishioners was raisingenough money to buy amotorbike, presumably forthe use of the incumbent,Brother C Woodhouse (al-though it was not stated).Rev. Hamilton, as the new

editor, suggests readers re-member his human frailtyin acquitting the role whileexhorting them to subscribeto the newspaper and viewit as a reflexion of theChurch’s work in Gippsland,leading on social and Chris-tian principles. He requested varied and

interesting articles aboutparish and diocesan hap-penings along withthoughtful texts written byclergy and laity alike, givingothers the benefit of theirthinking, reading and expe-rience. He promised fea-tures in the newspaperwhich he hoped would be ofinterest and benefit to thereadership.

Children‘UNCLE John’ became re-

sponsible for the Children’sPage in 1924, to “providesome interesting readingevery month”. He comparedchildren to the flowers inthe garden, where “thewise gardener has hisseedling house where youcan see tiny plants growingin boxes and beds” to re-place the old plants whenthey die. “The Sundayschool is the seedling houseof the Church,” ‘Uncle John’wrote.‘Uncle John’ explained the

meaning of Easter and whateach day means to Chris-tians and Jews, from theFriday before Palm Sundayto after Easter. He alsowrote about Sunday schoollessons for ANZAC day,“Australia’s Holy Day”.The Church News of Feb-

ruary 10, 1925, reportedGuides beginning in Gunyahand Boolarong, under theinfluence of Sister Clare, ofSale, who spent a week inthe district.In 1924, the Sale Church

of England Girl’s School wasoffering kindergarten and

senior classes. In 1926,Deaconess Sundell was alsooffering education to boysin the preparatory division.In The Church News Octo-ber 17, 1933, an article an-nounced intent to celebrate10 years of the school, onFebruary 5, 1934, and gavetribute. “Starting with a few girls

in the junior grades, it hasgrown and expanded untilnow there are senior girlspreparing for the Public Ex-aminations of the Universityof Melbourne, some ofwhom have gone rightthrough the school andsome who have entered itas seniors.” The author points out

steps needed to be taken toprovide additional accom-modation for both theschool and boarders and a‘Friends of the School’diocesan committee hadbeen formed to support theschool.In 1929, the first issue of

The Church News for theyear was published in Janu-ary. ‘Opilio’ was the authorof the Children’s Page andbegan with a quote fromCowper. ‘Opilio’ encouraged

REVEREND KE Hamilton (laterArchdeacon) and Mrs Hamilton (right).Rev. Hamilton was editor of The ChurchNews from the first issue of 1924. Hedemonstrated a broad sense of humorfrom the first issue, illustrated by thesetwo stories he published under theheadline Clerical Nonsense: Archbishop Trench, on account of an

accident to his knee, was somewhatunsteady on his legs. He was sittingone day in the park. The chair was low,the bishop somewhat shaky and he hadto make some effort to rise. A little girlcame up and said: “Shall I help you,sir?”The archbishop replied: “It is very kind

of you, my dear, but do you think youare strong enough?”“Oh, yes! I have often helped my

daddy when he was much drunker thanyou are!”ANDA bishop was staying with one of his

country clergy. He heard the strains ofRock of Ages sounding through thehouse and at the breakfast table he re-marked how sweetly the hymnsounded.Said the vicar’s last born: “That was

cook. She always sings Rock of Ages toboil the eggs. Two verses for soft-boiled, four for hard!”

Hamilton’s humor

ABOVE: Dealing with a blown tyre on the way to clergyconference, at Traralgon, 1925. continued next page

Women’s work, a school & aship’s captain made minister

Continuing our look back at 110 years of diocesan news, this month the decade 1924 to 1933.

14 Our Diocese - Commemorating 110 years of diocesan news April 2013


from previous page

the children to read asmuch as possible and di-rected them to the monthlytext in The Church Newsand questions that neededanswering. At the end ofthe year, a boy and girlwould receive prizes for thebest answers.From December 27, 1929

to January 2, 1930, the firstChurch of England campsfor girls and boys were heldin Gippsland. The girls’camp was held at RaymondIsland, under the commandof Reverend Deaconess Sis-ter May and the boys’ campwas at Metung, under com-mand of Rev. JH Blundell,Traralgon rector. A’Beckett Park at Ray-

mond Island and Nyerimi-lang Park at Metung weredeeded to the AnglicanChurch in Gippsland for theuse of camps for girls andboys respectively. By 1933,the fifth annual camp forgirls was held on RaymondIsland from December 29,with two camps runningconcurrently under thecommand of Sister May;one for juniors 13 to 15years and one for seniorgirls, aged over 15 years.

Bp CranswickBISHOP Cranswick was

wont to call a spade aspade regarding what hetermed ‘life outside thechurch’. Of the police strikein Victoria, he wrote:“where constables broketheir oaths, left the livesand property of the citizensunprotected and provokedloyal police to strike by asystem of intimidation, theywere wholly in the wrong”. Of newspapers, he wrote:

“It is certainly permissibleto expect the Press to berepresentative of publicopinion, if only to providethe public and its leaderswith a necessary opportu-nity of seeing whither they

are drifting. It seems rightalso to expect a Press …with any recognition of theresponsibility of its influ-ence, to be always a littleahead of public opinion …along the paths of truth”.Of the Empire, he wrote:

“The real forces that makefor nationhood are found inthe common culture of liter-ature, art and religion. It isthese which bind us to-gether and provide a familyfeeling among men and na-tions.”This decade also saw the

development of a new, orrevised, prayer book or, al-ternatively, an AustralianPrayer Book, containing ad-ditions in the form ofprayers and services forAustralian life. Bishop Cranswick warned

against “a spirit of compro-mise in the interests ofpeace … for where truth isconcerned, compromise be-comes impossible”. In1925, the House of Clergyrejected “proposals to elim-inate the principle of sub-jection, in the marriageservice, of wife to hus-band”. A letter writer beseeched

the Church Assembly to de-bate more important is-sues, than “whether a wifeshall perjure herself bypromising to obey her hus-band … wives never haveand never will obey theirhusbands, so … tackle livequestions which really mat-ter,” bemoaning it was thisattitude that led to peopleleaving or staying awayfrom church.Subsequently, moves were

afoot and proposals madeand accepted to the ques-tion of autonomy of theAustralian Church. The de-cision to process on thisquestion was supportedfavourably by dioceses atGeneral Synod, with thequestion of 1923 to be ex-plored further and broughtback to Synod in 1926.Consequently, in October

A RECORD of travel by a Deaconess inThe Church News, February 12, 1924,titled Santa Clause and the MagicLantern:A box of gits had come from kind sup-

porters of the Bush Church Aid Societyto be distributed at Christmas or at dis-cretion later on.A lantern trip had been arranged for

‘later on’, in January, among the hill folk.So off the Deaconess set one morningand the passengers looked on curiouslyas one after another the lantern outfitand different packages were depositedon the platform. Still more curiously didthe mailman look as he sought to findplaces for the extra luggage. But mostcurious did his car look as finally westarted off on our climb up the gradedroad.A case of fruit and the cylinder box on

the step, two big mail bags on the bon-net, three passengers and the driver in-side, besides numerous packages ofmeat and bread, mailbags, suitcases,lantern and cases of slides (formerly abox of volumes of Shakespeare) withthe parcels of toys dodging about atevery bump and playing battledore andshuttlecock with a new broom.After various episodes on the way, such

as dropping the case of fruit and stop-ping to cool down the engine beforeclimbing certain hills, we at last safelyreached the highest part of the ridge.There waited the charioteer to drive

me and all the various packages andoutfit along a six foot mountain road tothe little school of Valley View. (Inciden-tally, he tucked in that case of plums tooand ‘dropped’ it at its rightful destina-tion.Valley View is rightly named, because

of the wonderful views it gives bothnorth and south of the range. After teawith a neighbour the sheet was fixed upand the service began. So glad waseveryone of the novelty, that familieshad come from every quarter; onemother even had ridden up with her twogirls from some five or six miles downthe Valley.A special talk to the children on our

Lord’s boyhood was followed by an illus-trated address to the adults, “Dianna orChrist?” Some of the little ones hadfallen asleep, but there were no eyesshut when the packet sent by SantaClause was opened.Oh! The exclamations of delight of the

adults as well as the children, as onething after another was brought out.Then came a discussion as to how theoutfit was to travel on. Everyone waswilling to do their bit. At last it was hap-pily settled, so that another servicecould be fitted in at Valley View, butmore especially for children this time.My friend, the charioteer, and his wife

took me back to their home for thenight. Next morning visits were paid toa few families off the track, especially toan old couple who enjoyed seeing theslides and hearing the message. Thensome willing hands carried the lanternoutfit up a very steep hill, practically im-passable for a vehicle, and above waitedmy friend with a borrowed jinker todrive me down a rough and, at times,very steep back track. It was only thesecond time that ‘Nobbler’ had been in ajinker, but he took to the breeching verywell. Once on a very steep bit he heardour remark and stopped to listen to theword of praise. But his mistress de-serves the Master’s. Well Done!She is one of the army of home-mak-

ers, working like a man to keep thathome together, milking early and late.In between times she rides some daysto do washing or sewing for a neighbour

miles away; or clears the little selectionof its huge logs and bracken and sledgesthe can of cream down to the nearestpart reached by the cream wagon.One needs to see these big trees to re-

alise the lion hearts of these hill folk.Many of them measure 60 or 70 feet ingirth (five or six feet up); some evenhave been over 80 feet. Into one stumpI, myself, took my pony and could eas-ily have found room for three more ofher size. How the severe winter, tooafter the long drought has told upon thecattle and horses of these strugglingsettlers!However, this mother cheerfully gives

of her time to ensure her children mayhave a second chance of seeing thosepictures. As the rain had fallen duringthe night, the track had become toogreasy and slippery to venture to driveback, so she brought horses and be-tween us we carried the lantern andcylinder boxes and also a sheet and rid-ing valise back again to the summit ofthat steep hill, ready to be taken ondown to the little school at the foot.Nearly all the same people turned up

with a few more; in spite of it beingmore a children’s night. And the com-ments on the gifts showed the joy given.The games had already been wellplayed, books read, etcetera. “Look, I’vegot my new socks on,” said one littlechap to everyone and he had told hismother, “If I put my new socks on it’llmake my foot better!”One baby put out her arms for the doll

and put its face right up to her own. Asmall boy had no eyes for anything elsewhen his train was linked up. Oh! bushchildren are really appreciative becausethese sort of things come so seldom intheir way!That night the nearest neighbour kindly

took me into her wee little home, plan-ning in the morning early to drive mealong that 6ft track to meet the creamwagon; but the horse had got awayafter its companions of the previousevening and the boy didn’t get back withit until after nine. So she had to driveme all the way to the mail route. How-ever, there we learned the traction en-gine with its load from the sawmill andthe cream wagon had already gone, soshe had no fear of meeting either ofthem as she drove home with the twolittle boys on the floor of the trap at theback and the babe in the box at her feet.The five lantern services held that

moon week enabled visits to be paid inas many different districts and interestto be renewed in the Sunday school bypost papers and the Mothers’ Unionmagazines sent out regularly fromheadquarters at Sale.Now the children and all round Valley

View feel they have friends in the out-side world who care about them in thehardships.

A Deaconess’s journey

ABOVE: Deaconess Shoobridge.

ABOVE: Major A’Beckett with two women on a pleasuredrive.BELOW: The Sunday school picnic at Gormandale East,1923.

continued next page

April 2013 Our Diocese - Commemorating 110 years of diocesan news 15


from previous page

1926, a Convention of Rep-resentatives of diocesesconsidered a draft constitu-tion for the Anglican Churchin Australia.Reporting at Synod 1926,

Bishop Cranswick stated hehad permission from theState government “to givethe aboriginals of LakeTyers a ministry of theirown” and that Reverend ARRaymond was tasked to seethis happened.In April 1928, The Church

News reported “practicallyevery diocesan synod hasnow accepted the constitu-tion and it only awaits thevote of one or two and thepresentation of the Bill tothe State Parliament tomake the Church of Eng-land in Australia a self gov-erning church” enabling“internal administration”and, the author hoped,

publication of an AustralianHymnal, rather than thecurrent “multiplicity ofhymn books … an annoy-ance, confusing, conflictingand unnecessary”.

Other newsIN 1926, the Anglican,

Presbyterian, Methodist andCongregational churchesagreed “the Christian Sun-day is an indispensable pro-vision … and day of restfrom all labour that is notabsolutely necessary … [in-cluding] physical and socialrecreation [that] does notdisplace the obligation andblessing of public worship”.

ParishesREVEREND L Sawtell, of

Heyfield, took on responsi-bility for sub-editing parish

news, or Parish Echoesfrom the November 9, 1926issue. He subsequentlyhighlighted the activities ofHeyfield parish in thatissue. Three children were in

hospital with appendicitis;the ladies guild and vestryhad made preliminarypreparations for the annualgarden fete in the rectorygrounds on December 11,1926; and Miss Esther Mus-ton, Sunday school teacher,was farewelled prior to hermarriage to Mr Draper, ofMalvern.A tribute to the late Rev-

erend Robert Martin is in-cluded in The Church Newsof March 11, 1924, ex-pressing “appreciation ofhis noble character”. In the1880s, Robert Martin con-ducted Church of Englandservices on his own initia-tive in the greater Bairns-dale district, while travellingaround as a fire insuranceagent. He had been the skipper of

a ship, a miner and a min-ing expert among other oc-cupations. He waseventually nominated to astipendiary readership, ap-pointed by Bishop Moor-house. Eventually he wasdeaconed (1900) andpriested (1903). He ranged far across East

Gippsland and into NewSouth Wales, a lively andstrong preacher and an ad-vocate for temperance. Robert Martin died on Feb-

ruary 2, 1924, at 92 yearsand the church of St Mar-tin’s at Lindenow, closedlate last year, was namedfor him, along with a creekand a landmark tree. At Boisdale’s annual tea

meeting and concert in1926, there was welcomerain and “in a land of hospi-tality and good cookery, theBoisdale ladies alwaysexcel”.In The Church News of

February 8, 1927, EdithKelly reported on the workof the Mission of St James’and St John in East Gipps-land and Korumburra dis-

trict, “in specific disease,whose ravages are too wellknown by thinking people,a great check is being madeand here and in the homefor the unmarried mother,not only kindly help andmedical attention is given,but the girls are helped bya definite training in someoccupation that they may,when health allows, taketheir places as self-respect-ing citizens”. She wrote about delin-

quent boys housed at afarm, to learn outdoor workand trades. Day old babies“receive all the love andskill of a trained nursingand honorary medical staff”and the country homes forboys and girls encouragepositive behavior and goodmanners.In January 1927, Orbost

parish supported the Dis-trict Scout Camp and Dis-trict Guide Camp, heldrespectively at Lakes En-trance and Metung, with StJames’ 1st Orbost GirlGuides winning the banner.In 1928, Canon Thornton

pointed out Sale parish hadcompleted 75 years ofparish history and wasplanning improvements tothe Cathedral’s interior, inline with the celebration, in1929, of this jubilee. He en-couraged the parishes toconsider St Paul’s Cathedrala diocesan work, ratherthan parochial. A committee was subse-

quently appointed at Synodin 1928 to design a newbuilding, to be submitted atthe next Synod.Reported in The Church

News of September 10,1929, the Mothers’ Unionheard from Mr Black abouta scheme for a Baby HealthCentre at Yallourn and MrsES Whittakers, of Loy Yang,spoke about ‘Early Recollec-tions of the Aborigines’.Publishing a January issue

of The Church News contin-ued from 1929. In the last issue of the

newspaper of 1933, at aconference of the GirlsFriendly Society in Gipps-land, participants discussedthe work of the Dea-conesses in Gippsland and

the work of GFS. The con-ference resolved to open adiocesan GFS library; MissGrace Harris, of Warragul,was appointed librarian.The clergy retreat, at In-

verloch, November 21 to24, 1933, was reportedanonymously in The ChurchNews. The theme wasbased upon Pilgrim’sProgress and was led by theBishop of Riverina: “the ex-periment of inviting a lead-ing Anglo-Catholic toconduct a retreat in a dio-cese which is predomi-nantly Evangelical provedan unqualified success,” re-ported the anonymouswriter.Titled Of Interest to Young

Women was a report thecouncil of St Hilda’s Houseof Training for missionaries,deaconesses and otherchurch workers was offer-ing a bursary (for 1934) “toa suitable student desiringto train for whole time workin the Church of England”.Smaller bursaries were alsooffered. Candidates were required

to be aged more than 20years and must have ob-tained at least the Interme-diate Certificate “or be ablein some other way to satisfythe council as to their intel-lectual qualifications”. Girls wanting to live and

work in Melbourne were en-couraged to reside at StHilda’s and take a trainingcourse in the evening.The hard working choir at

Warragul, under direction ofMr Bunn, was rewardedwith first prize at a BandMusical Competition in1933. Coming into the endof the year, they had begunpractising for the PassionCantatas to be presentedduring Holy Week in 1934.As the year 1933 came to

a close, the Great Depres-sion had begun to affectGippsland; more in nextmonth’s history. Of note,the editor mentions atten-dance at football gamesdoes not seem to be af-fected; 75,000 people paidto see the Victorian FootballLeague final at the end ofseason 1933.Photos: Diocesan archives.

ABOVE: Parish picnic, Port Welshpool, 1931.

ABOVE: St John’s Meerlieu, 1920s.

ABOVE: Christ Church Omeo Ladies Guild, 1932 (some ofthe women's husband's names are provided in parenthe-ses). Back: Miss Dorothy Brumley, Mrs HC Burgoyne, MrsJack Holston, Miss Thelma Fitzgerald, Mrs Beatrice Slater(Walter) and Mrs Hilda Ah Sam (Edward, called Ned). Mid-dle: Mrs Tom Brumby, Mrs Zillah Newlands (Andrew), MrsMyrtle Pearson (Arthur Mervyn), Mrs C Langdon, Mrs MaryHolston (James), unknown, Mrs Richard Greenwood, MrsEileen Petersen (Gustave). Front: Geoffrey Newlands,June Pearson, Mrs Elizabeth Hyland (Henry), Mrs AdelaideKracke (Herbert), Mrs ET Cowper, Mrs Claude Woodhouse(wife of Reverend Woodhouse), Mrs Sarah Greenwood(Walter), Mrs Ellen Kracke (William) and unknown child.

Photo: William Kracke

16 Our Diocese - Parishes April 2013


Passion and foodfor soul and bodyWHAT a wonderful way to

follow on from Palm Sundayservices than with the an-nual Passion play, with adifference. Once again LesRidge, of Bass Phillip Islandparish, wrote a play bothspiritual and entertainingand the perfect way to keepour minds tuned to Easterweek. Guilty by associationdepicted some of the disci-ples discussing their feel-ings and activities duringthe 12 months or so prior tothe crucifixion and the shortperiod following. The play depicted the

characters as normal,everyday people involved inunusual happenings andthus made it easy for wemodern mortals to glimpsewhat it may have been likein those times.Congratulations to Les and

his cast of players: Narra-tor, Sandy Ridge; Andrew,Don Wilson; Simon Peter,John Stott; James, BruceChambers; John, JohnDawson; Zebedee, EricHornsby; Zebedee’s wife, DiWilson; and to Rob Mackaywho was in charge of the

front of house lighting.It was a wonderful

evening with many in at-tendance (approximately65), including people fromother churches on the Is-land and beyond. I am sure they enjoyed

the food provided and theinspiring entertainment.This is Les Ridge’s fourth

play so far; may he con-tinue with his writing for fu-ture years.

Contributor: Cath Kent

TOP: The cast at the firstencore after performance.ABOVE: A large buffet tonourish the body.BELOW: During Act One.

Photos: Rob McKay

THE Moe Mothers’’ Union group hosted a St Patrick’s Dayafternoon tea at Karen Ridley’s home, as a missionfundraiser. These afternoons have become a parish fa-vorite, with participants dressed in green outfits and eachyear rising to the challenge of trivia fun and quizzes, ledby Beryl Brien. The green tinges to the afternoon tea complemented the

theme and certainly did not detract from the taste. MoeMU group, although small in number, has sustained solidministry and mission fundraising throughout the historyof the parish. The group, as with its diocesan counterpart, has very

willingly supported children’s and family ministry and inMoe plays an integral role in maintaining the shine on aconsiderable number of church brass furnishings. Ourparish values this group for their work, fun, caring min-istry and fellowshipThe choral presentation of The Crucifixion by John

Stainer was again presented by the occasional choir, ledby David Davies, at Moe parish on Palm Sunday evening. The choir was invited to repeat the presentation at

Drouin parish on Tuesday of Holy Week. Many in both con-gregations appreciated all the preparation and talent thisgroup offered to assist us in our preparation for the HolyWeek preparations for our Easter celebrations.

Contributor: Mary Nicholls

ABOVE: Some of Moe’s Mothers’ Union members, BerylBrien, Lainey Moore, Elsie Stayches (secretary) and JoanBennett, with the Moe MU banner.BELOW: Attendees at the St Patrick’s Day lunch held byMoe’s Mothers’ Union group to raise money for missions.

Photos: Mary Nicholls

Going greenin Moe parish

April 2013 Our Diocese - Parishes 17


A bell’s life

ABOVE: Sale parish held its Easter Art Show at St Paul’s Cathedral and Delbridge hall,with artworks in painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, textile art, floral art and re-ligious art. Prizes were awarded in the open, religious/spiritual and photography sec-tions. Julie Mielke (right) coordinated the delivery and hanging of the artworks. She ispictured with artist, Julie Ward, and one of her paintings.

Photo: Jeanette SeversLAST month saw move-

ment at the Wonthaggichurch as the historic bellwas removed from the belltower which was then re-moved from its footing. Justhow historic the bell is, no-body is quite sure. We do know it was located

behind the old Wonthaggichurch building that wasmoved from Walhalla toWonthaggi in 1919. Somesenior members of the con-gregation remember climb-ing on the bell tower whenthey were children quite afew years ago and othersassure us the tower wasconstructed at the localmine. Whether the bell came

with the building in 1919 orwas acquired and installedsome time later is unclear.The inscription on the sideseems to read J Anderson,Union Foundry. If anyonecan throw any light on thebell’s history, Wonthaggi In-

verloch parish would bevery happy to hear fromyou. Whatever its history,

there are plans for the bell’sfuture and for the area onwhich it has stood for somany years. The bell will becleaned and restored andthe rusty bolts that wereonly just holding the bell inposition will be replaced. Once the bell tower is re-

painted, together with thebell it will be relocated tothe side of the presentchurch, allowing it to beseen more easily. The area where the bell

tower stood is now in theprocess of being redevel-oped into a playground.This will be a great asset tothe parish providing a childsafe outside play area formainly music and commu-nity meal activities as wellas being enjoyed by thechildren after church.

Contributor: Jane Peters

LEFT: The bell tower in thechurch grounds at Won-thaggi, before the bell wastaken down and the towermoved.ABOVE: The bell is movedby crane, prior to cleaningand refurbishing. It will bere-installed in the groundsof the church.

Photos: Jane Peters

LENT is a time for prayer and reflection.As Archdeacon Heather Marten has namedit, a Communal Retreat. Services in Mor-well parish have reflected this time of con-centrating on the inner journey. As an aid to prayer we have had simple

but graphic displays in front of the altar.These help us to concentrate on the jour-ney into God. As part of our journey this Lent, several

members of the congregation are joiningtogether in a Lenten Study. We are shar-ing together studying the book Lentwise,Spiritual essentials for real life. This has been a time for real sharing and

thought. We have also had laughter andenjoyment in being together. Differentmembers of the group have taken in turnsto lead the group. The study has looked at our spiritual com-

pass and our spiritual nourishment, Jesusas the Bread of Life. We have exploredJesus as our Light and our Shelter. Thestudies have been based on scriptures

from the Gospel of John.As part of our Lenten discipline some of

the congregation have also been readingthe book Abiding. This is written by BenQuash, the Professor of Christianity atKing’s College in London. This is the Archbishop of Canterbury’s

Lent book for 2013. This is a marvellousbook. Both books were recommended byArchdeacon Heather. Planning for the services for Holy week

and Easter was well underway at the timethis article was written. We look forward tothe services at this most sacred time of theyear.

Contributor: Carolyn Raymond

ABOVE: Some of the members of theLenten Study group with the items theyhad brought which represented security tothem. Among those present were PamRemington-Lane, Sandra Wagner, Rob Royand Jenny Roy.

Photo: Carolyn Raymond

Lenten study at Morwell

18 Our Diocese - Media and Literary Reviews April 2013


Rutherford, G&J(2013) Beloved Father,Beloved Son: A con-versation about faithbetween a Bishop andhis atheist son. ISBN #9781743240199

By Jeanette Severs

WE are all too familiar withthe recent debates betweenreligious believers andatheists and the stronglyheld opinions on both sides.What happens when theprotagonists are from thesame family? This bookprovides a unique angle,being a conversation aboutfaith between an AnglicanBishop and his atheist son. Graeme and Jonathan

Rutherford endorse pas-sionately and intelligentlytheir respective beliefs, butdo so in the context of theirstrong bond of familial love.In a recent interview,

Bishop Graeme explainedhow he was retired and ap-proached to write a bookexplaining the schisms inthe Anglican Church in Aus-tralia. His response that hehad enough to deal with inhis own family caught theattention of the publisherand the seed for this bookwas born.Jonathan described him-

self as a Christian in hischildhood and youth but ashe grew into adulthood hebegan to doubt his beliefseven as he explored thewritings of religious and hu-manist leaders.In the mid-1990s, as a

young man, he saw the ef-fects of genocide and heardpersonal stories; and hebegan questioning where aloving God was in allowingsuch atrocities. He argues the world would

not look as it does, norwould there be such suffer-ing, if God was in charge.Bishop Graeme agreed the

suffering Christ is a prob-lem for many people to ap-proach and believe in; andthat unanswered questionsand guilt about great suf-fering experienced in suchplaces as Calcutta and lepercolonies is hard for many tograpple with and find a faithin God.“God didn’t send a side-

kick, he himself came in hisSon and is sympathetic inthat he shared temptationand death with us,” BishopGraeme said in the inter-view.Bishop Graeme referred to

his preference for Ecclesi-astes and what he per-

ceives as its sympatheticand real sense of life’s ex-periences, as support forhimself. He also explainedhow he continues to yearnfor a closer relationshipwith God.Jonathan agreed this

sense of realism [of Ecclesi-astes] is no doubt helpful tosupport people in their ex-periences of life; but criti-cised his father’s belief inGod’s mercy and love for allmen as unrealistic.However, he said he un-

derstood how dying people(for example, those withterminal illness) experiencecomfort from their Christianfaith; that consideration ofimpending death is a fright-ening experience and allpeople, whether atheist ornot, view it with trepida-tion.While Bishop Graeme ad-

mits he struggles withJonathan’s simplistic viewand questions how he canreconcile his environmentaland humanist beliefs with-out a Christian faith;Jonathan admits the beliefof atheism is too simplisticfor him to adopt the labeland rather views himself asa humanist.Overall, the interview I

heard and the book itselfdemonstrates that two mencan share close blood tiesand support each other,even while holding true totheir own beliefs and cri-tiquing that of the other.Jonathan also admitted

that, if he had children, hewould not be averse to hisparents sharing their faithwith his children and wouldbalance that informationwith his own viewpoint.In conclusion, Bishop

Graeme said he hoped thebook would enable patientconversation to develop be-tween people of faith andpeople of no faith.Available from www.mo-

saicresources.com.au

A father andson talkingabout God

Songs for PentecostBy Fay Magee

LOOKING ahead to the festival of Pen-tecost in May, there are some interest-ing new songs to consider if you havenot found them already. English poetand lyricist Cecily Taylor has contributedThe bright wind is blowing, no. 263 inTogether in Song.The first verse is: ‘The bright wind is blowing, the bright

wind of heaven, and where it is goingto, no one can say; but where it is pass-ing our hearts are awaking to gropefrom the darkness and reach for theday.’Each verse gives fresh expression to

old metaphors to explore the role ofGod’s Spirit in being with us and everstirring us to action and reflection. Thelast line: ‘so lean on the wind, it willshow us the way’ is particularly simpleyet powerful. John Maynard, who has worked with

Taylor for many years, provided thetune to match the simplicity of the text.It is in triple time with a straightforwardstructure and a descant is provided forverse three.The song She sits like a bird, brooding

on the waters is another insightful songfrom the partnership of John Bell andGraham Maule. This time we are chal-lenged with the inadequacies of boththe English language and masculine-ori-ented theology which has failed to getus past gender in talking about Godand, in this case, the Spirit of God. This song draws on the Hebrew word

sometimes used for Spirit, ruach, whichis feminine. The first verse is:‘She sits like a bird, brooding on the

waters, hovering on the chaos of theworld’s first day; she sighs and shesings, mothering creation, waiting togive birth to all the Word will say.’We have wonderful images of nesting,

nourishing, startling and concluding thefourth verse with the line ‘enemy of ap-athy and heavenly dove’. The setting isby John Bell with a simple folk-like char-acter and structure and an accompani-ment designed more for keyboard thanpipe organ. The accompaniment also al-lows time to pause between the verses.As I mentioned previously, as well as

enjoying the singing it is good some-times just to sit with a text as well ashaving the musical setting in mind toguide your reflecting.

Pilgrims and prophetsJones, A (2011) Pil-grimage: The journeyto remembering ourstory. United Kingdom:The Bible Reading Fel-lowship.

By Jeanette Severs

ANDREW Jones, author ofPilgrimage, is an archdea-con in Wales and regularlyleads pilgrimages. He ex-plores the popularity of pil-grimages in this modernera, whether by committedChristians, spiritual seekersor the simply curious.Jones describes his own

excitement on pilgrim jour-neys of witnessing the ex-citing faith moment forpeople. He talks about howthe Christian triumphs overevil and refers to Soviet gu-lags, the concentrationcamps and gas chambers ofWorld War II, Cambodia’skilling fields, Rwandangenocides and the bomb-ings of September 2001,especially 9/11.He muses on how belief

systems can become evil.

“We will need to producepowerful signs that will en-able others to catch aglimpe of the hopeful futurethat lies ahead ... the act ofpilgrimage is a vital re-source in this task,” hewrites.Jones looks at pilgrimage

and prophecy as historicalconstructs, with prophecyadding to the strength ofreligious legalism.“At the heart of the con-

temporary prophetic task,lies an invitation to journeyas pilgrims together.”He describes the medieval

pilgrim, who often went ona journey of pilgrimage tothe holy relic of a saint or aholy well, to pray for thehealing of loved ones or toseek healing in their ownlives. Some churches, such as

St Beuno in the village ofPistyll, were hospitals, as-sociated with the ministryof healing and popular withsick pilgrims.Jones then goes on to ex-

plore the significance ofeight pilgrimages popularwith pilgrims: Glendalough,Lough Derg, Canterbury,

Iona, Pennant Melangell,Whithorn, Lindisfarne andYnys Enlli.Jones includes an After-

word, discussing God’sclose relationship with thehuman race and his con-stant renewal of hiscovenant with us as a cen-tral part of our life of faith.“Pilgrimage is ultimately

about progressing into theheart of God,” he writes.

Exploring faithIdleman, K (2012) Not aFan: Completely. Com-mitted. Follower (DVD)(PG) Heritage Films &City on a Hill Productions.

KYLE Idleman is the pastor ofthe fifth largest church inAmerica. His film, Not a Fan,

explores a man’s nominal faithand his journey to a richer be-lief and a follower of Christ.Based on Luke 9:23, it ex-

plores Jesus’ message ‘Followme’ and how completely com-mitted followers are created.The DVD is supported by a

six-week small group study se-ries.

April 2013 Our Diocese - Media and Literary Reviews 19


Banks, R&L (2013)View from the farawaypagoda. Victoria:Acorn Press.

By Jeanette Severs

AS I grew up, every cou-ple of years my father’scousin, Olive, returnedhome from overseas andwhat followed was a whirl-wind of family activities andchurch and communitymeetings, as she spokeabout her life as a mission-ary and her work within acountry north of Australia.So I was personally inter-ested to read the story ofSophie Newton, whose de-sire to serve God led her tomissionary work in southeast China from 1897 to1931.Olive remained unmarried

and spent her working lifein women’s and health min-istry, living in appallingconditions. Sophie Newtonwas another Australian An-glican woman who, half acentury earlier, spent herlife working with women inministry. What led her tospend 35 years in China inministry?Sophie Newton was from a

strong Anglican family, withclergymen (including herfather’s brother and hergrandfather), churchbuilders and communityleaders, including a parlia-mentarian among her an-cestry. At 20 years old,Sophie became governessto seven younger cousinson a cattle and sheep sta-tion in New South Wales. Two years later, she

moved back home then toSydney with her family.Three years later, her fa-ther, a doctor, died and So-phie needed to find work tosupport her family. Her strong faith led Sophie

to seek God’s mind andhand in the opportunitiesavailable to her, seekingGod’s advice in prayer. Shehad met one of three Dea-conesses then in the Syd-ney diocese and thoughtthat was work she could do.Shortly after, Sophie wasoffered a job as the fourthDeaconess in Sydney. Her growing interest in

China was on hold until hersiblings were grown and inwork. However, a massacreof Australian missionariesin China in 1895 shockedAustralians, including So-phie, who had met some ofthem.

In early 1896, Sophie’s“heart’s desire has beengranted” to serve Godoverseas in China.In View from the faraway

pagoda, the reader willlearn about CMS’s idea ofBible Women, about thrgrowth of women’s schoolsand schools for girls, aboutthe practice of foot bindingand about the pits outsidevillages where girl babieswere disposed of.Sophie and her two fe-

male companions, one anurse, were quite ambitiouswith aming for a women’sboarding school, a perma-nent church building and adistrict hospital in theprovince they were sent.They entered into the livesof the local people and alsoexperienced typhoons,bloody rebellion, local con-flicts, early communist up-risings, opium wars andWorld War I.In seeking to empower

women, they found womenhad to have their husband’spermission to leave theirvillage, so Sophie and hersisters in mission walked tothe villages scatteredthrough the province inorder to minister to thewomen. Travelling was agreat risk for many rea-sons, but it enabled themissionaries to engagemore directly with morewomen.View from the faraway

pagoda draws on familyjournals, personal letters,official records and news-paper reports to draw anin-depth portraiture of So-phie Newton and how shemade a lasting difference toa community. The book iswritten by Sophie Newton’sgrand nephew, RobertBanks and his wife, Linda.

Sophie’s lifeand missioninside China

Lisbon, M (2010) Fragments ofHome: Piecing Life Together afterChildhood Sexual Abuse. Victo-ria: Acorn Press

By Jeanette Severs

AS Victoria (along with other states)and Australia face government investi-gations into childhood sexual abuse andthe conduct of organisations responsi-ble for the care of children and the in-vestigation of childhood abuse,Fragments of Home is one book pub-lished to be a resource for survivors ofabuse, as well as the friends, familymembers, pastoral workers and othercaring professionals who support them. It is accessible to those largely unac-

quainted with literature on abuse andtrauma while offering fresh insights tothose already familiar with thesethemes. The book is supported by a CDof songs by the author.Fragments of Home is Monique Lis-

bon’s journey, exploring her experienceof childhood abuse and how she facedthis, became a survivor and how shemoved onwards beyond survival tohealing. The book includes reflectionson its impact and on her journey.As a teenager, Lisbon began sharing

her history of abuse with Christianfriends and their parents and receivedtheir support, but she grows up im-mersed in self-loathing, scared and suf-fering severe panic attacks.

Lisbon’s father was her abuser and sheexplores her first decade as an adult,seeking the help of a psychologist andtrying to discuss the abuse with her fa-ther and actively trying to forgive him,before she realised she needed to moveon, as he was not going to engage withher and her journey. It is this honesty in her reflections and

exploration of her journey that will en-able others to understand the effect ofthe abuse on her and help them to un-derstand the effect of abuse on others,perhaps in their own families.

A life in fragments

Stories for childrenBy Jeanette Severs

LIONS figure in both books and theDVD reviewed for children this month.They are a main character in many ofthe stories and incidental in one book.

McAllister, M and Hall, A (2011)Aesop’s Fables. England: LionHudson plcIN Aesop’s Fables (2011), retold in this

instance by Margaret McAllister and il-lustrated by Amanda Hall, lions figure ina number of stories, including the lead-ing one, The Lion and the Mouse. Aesop was a slave who lived in Greece

about 2,500 years ago and his fables, acollection of stories, each with warningsand a moral message, have lived on andremain popular today.The stories shine a light on the short-

comings and weaknesses of humankindand this collection is wonderfully illus-trated by Amanda Hall.Margaret McAllister is true to each

story and includes a short sentence atthe end of each tale that will be familiarto many. For instance, with the tale ofThe Hare and The Tortoise, the finalstatement is: “Slow and steady wins therace”.

Paul the Little Missionary: Danielin the Lion’s Den (DVD) (2012)Heritage FilmsA DVD, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, is an

animated feature with Paul the mission-ary telling stories of Daniel, highlightedby his adventure in the lion’s den. Paulthe Little Missionary is a series of ani-mated movies for children, illustratingPaul and his friends journey through lifeand show how to overcome problemsthrough the Word of God.

The series starts with the old testa-ment and moves through the new tes-tament. The colorful animated featuresare ideal for home, Sunday school andother children’s ministry activities, en-gaging with children and encouragingquestions.

Pasquali, E and Vagnozzi, B(2012) All Aboard the Ark. Eng-land: Lion Hudson plcALL Aboard the Ark is a board book for

young children, with a finger trail (a se-ries of punched out illustrations for littlefingers) on each page, encouragingyoung children to engage in the storyand in the bright pictures. Simply told,we initially follow the animals, includingthe lion’s paw prints, into the ark, hearabout the plop of raindrops that turnsinto a flood then experience the wonderof the dove and a rainbow.The text, by Elena Pasquali, cleverly

and clearly supports both the basicstory of Noah’s ark and the illustrationsby Barbara Vagnozzi, encouraging dia-logue between the reader and the child.

20 Our Diocese - Mothers’ Union Pictorial April 2013


LEFT: President of Mothers’Union Gippsland, Karin McKen-zie, addresses attendees at LadyDay, held annually by MU, at StPaul’s Cathedral and hall, Sale(see pages 4 to 6).ABOVE: Grace Gray, turning 98later this year, at Lady Day.


ABOVE: Ethel Armstrong, Iris Maxfield, Pam Davies and Beryl Brien.ABOVE left: Jan Stephenson, Frances Ellman and Pat McKeown.LEFT: Deidre Hardy and Lorraine Wooding.BELOW: Pam Davies and Heather Baker.


LEFT:: Elsie Stayches, PennyClothier and Ethel Arm-strong looking at resourcesfrom Mothers’ Union.RIGHT: Jan Osborne becamea member of Mothers’ Unionrecently and was one of theWarragul group on duty,selling goods at the tradingtable.


Documents

The Gippsland Anglican - April 2013