The Gippsland Anglican, September 2011

Volume 108, Number 8 September 2011 Published in Gippsland Diocese since 1904

The Gippsland Anglican is your award winning newspaper: Most Improved Newspaper (ARPA) 2001; Best Regional Publication (ARPA) 2003; Best Social Justice StoryHighly Commended (ARPA) 2004.

Jesus Christ here andnow in Westernport

pages 7 to 10

Gippsland Grammarcelebrates

Page 3

Literary and mediareviews

pages 14 & 15

Sudden death of Bishop Neville ChynowethGippsland’s seventh Bishop remembered for his humanity

By Rev. Canon Jim Connelly

THE Right Reverend NevilleJames Chynoweth AM ED MABD ThL ARSCM, born October 3,1922, was the seventh Bishop ofGippsland, from 1980 to 1987.Bishop Neville died on August 11,2011, following a fall. A memori-al service was held for him at StPaul’s Cathedral, Sale, onThursday, August 25.

Originally from Sydney, Nevilleserved in the Middle East andNew Guinea in World War II,trained at Moore College, wasordained in St Andrew’sCathedral, Sydney, in 1950 andserved in a succession of parishesand in hospital and military chap-laincies, in Sydney and Canberra-Goulburn dioceses. He wasAssistant Bishop in Canberra-Goulburn at the time of hisappointment to Gippsland.

This table of record says little ofthe man and what he meant to usin Gippsland. He came toGippsland following the death byaccident of his close friend andpredecessor as Bishop ofGippsland, Graham Delbridge,and Neville’s gentle and sympa-thetic ministry helped the dioceseto grieve and gradually recover.

We remember particularlyBishop Neville’s preaching andoccasional addresses and his writ-ing. His preaching was moderateand persuasive rather than exhor-tative. His sincerity was obvious.He never went beyond his ownexperience or what he himselffirmly believed. He respected theintellectual ability of his listenersand his words were full of humorand verbal byplay.

He once wrote in a letter to cler-gy: ‘The spirit of this diocese is aprecious thing, which we all havethe capability of preserving,enhancing, or destroying. Itsprings from the conviction thatthe worship of God, the proclama-tion of the gospel and self-spend-ing, caring ministry in Christ’sname are absolutely paramount.Everything else is subsidiary to it.We try to do everything well forthe Gospel’s sake.’

The last sentence could serve ashis epitaph. He tried to do every-thing well for the Gospel’s sake.

Neville had a high view of theChurch and of priesthood. He wassteeped in the scriptures and theprayer book. He worked cease-lessly to raise liturgical standardsthroughout Gippsland, especiallymusical standards and the place ofmusic in the Sunday liturgy. Hewas a member of the committeethat produced the AustralianHymn Book in 1977.

Neville himself was a marvel-lous musician, accomplished withthe trombone, at the piano ororgan and as a composer andarranger of music. He was the firstperson to receive the degree ofMaster of Arts in Music from theUniversity of Sydney. On socialoccasions he liked nothing morethan to sit at the piano, playingquietly as people talked andmoved around him.

At his memorial service at StPaul’s, Manuka, on August 18,attended by 600 people, the choirsang a very beautiful motet writ-ten by Neville himself.

After leaving Gippsland, Nevilleretired to Canberra, but it was avery active retirement. He acted invarious diocesan capacities,including as Administrator andAssistant Bishop at times and asWarden of St Mark’s College ofMinistry. He led several tours ofthe Holy Land.

He was the greatly-loved pastorto a gathered congregation at StDavid’s Red Hill, a branch con-gregation of St Paul’s Manuka. Hewas in the full vigor of ministry atthe time of his unexpected death.

Neville was a friend to men andwomen of all churches and of allfaiths and of no faith. He endearedhimself to people because of hisaccepting nature and his obviousauthenticity. He never tried to hidehis own vulnerability and so wewere able to believe in him andlove him because of it.

The idea of freedom was veryprecious to Neville. He gave usroom to move. He encouraged usto live up to the potential he couldsee in each of us. He once com-

mented: “God is more interestedin our freedom than our perfec-tion.”

Bishop Neville was blessed witha peaceable and loveable tempera-ment. He was full of mischief aswell as good deeds. He delightedin Laurel and Hardy, the Goonsand Victor Borge. He had malicetoward none and charity for all.He was the most ‘human’ of bish-ops.

His priestliness flowed from hishumanity and vice-versa. Hisexample of how to live life pro-ductively and joyfully lives inmany of us and we will be alwaysgrateful for his graceful minister-ing to us, both individuals and theGippsland diocese as a whole.

We who remain extend our loveto Mrs Joan Chynoweth, who her-self did so much in Gippsland andwho is very fondly rememberedand to the children, Meg, Ros,Nigel, Philip and their families.They have had a loving anddelightful husband and father.Who else would have taught hischildren this piece of doggerel?

Roses are red; violets are bluish;If it wasn’t for Christmas, we’d

all be Jewish!I end on the note of joy we will

all feel as we look on BishopNeville’s life in its entirety, a joythat is evident in these words withwhich he closed one of his Synodcharges here in Gippsland: ‘I ammore than ever convinced of thetruth of the Gospel; more thanever thankful to be a Christian inthese exciting times; more thanever, dare I say it, glad to be anAnglican with the best of friendsin the best of all possible causes.’

With glad hearts, we commendhim into God’s keeping. May hisportion this day be in peace andhis dwelling in the heavenlyJerusalem.

*His awards explained: NevilleChynoweth was awarded theEfficiency Decoration for his mil-itary chaplaincy work; theAustralia Medal for his services tothe Church, music and the com-munity; his Master of Arts(Music) from the University ofSydney; BD and ThL denote histheological qualifications; theARSCM was awarded for his longand distinguished service and sup-port of church music.

A snapshot of alife lived full

BISHOP Neville Chynowethwas educated at Manly HighSchool and the University ofSydney. He was ordained in 1950and after a curacy at St Michael’sSydney became the Rector ofKangaroo Valley and then a chap-lain of the Royal Prince AlfredHospital. During this time, heauthored a history of StMichael’s Anglican Church (pub-lished 1954).

From 1954 to 1963, he wasRector of St John’s Dee Why andthen St Anne’s Strathfield. In1966, his ministry took him toCanberra, becoming its archdea-con and then an assistant bishop.

He was a keen student of musicand a professional jazz musician.He wrote a thesis, published in1957, on the influence of theOxford movement on the musicof the church. His Psalm 133(New English Bible) ‘How goodit is’, an anthem for four voicesand organ, was published in1977.

In 2001, he performed an after-noon of piano and song ‘A WalkDown Memory Lane’ at theBombala High School onSunday, May 29.

In his sermon of December 20,1992, at an ordination of womenpriests, in his role as assistantbishop of Canberra andGoulburn, Neville Chynowethsaid: “You women who are beingordained today have an importantpioneering task in establishingrole models for future priestswho are women.”

With Graham Downie, in 1995he recorded a series of interviewswhich now become publiclyavailable at the National Libraryof Australia. In 2008, theAnglican Historical SocietyJournal (volume 46) published AVirtual Martyr, a brief history ofJames Benson, priest of Gona,PNG, written by NevilleChynoweth.

Photo: Philip Chynoweth

2 Our Diocese - Missions and Ministries September 2011

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IndexObituary Bp Chynoweth 1

Gippsland Grammar 3

Mu raises funds for Rwanda 4

Bir thday for Recycle Me 5

Perspectives on meditation 6

Perspective on I-life 6

Westernport parish 7-10

Diocesan calendar 10

Kidsplus+ gatherings 11

Puzzles 12

VP service with students 12

Farewell to Bob Brown 13

Deans Conference 13

Literary & media reviews 14-15

Parishes 16

The Right Reverend John McIntyreAnglican Bishop of Gippsland

CYNICISM is destroying this country. It is 10years since the Tampa incident, the Howardgovernment’s cynical exploitation of the mostvulnerable people on earth to buy the votes thatwon the Liberal coalition government an elec-tion. Its legacy, today, is a debate devoid of anyprinciples from either of the major political par-ties in their responses to asylum seekers. Worsethan that, cynicism is increasingly a part of pub-lic debate on this matter.

Some prominent business and union leadersrecently endorsed a new strategy on asylumseekers which would see mandatory detentiona thing of the past and Australia increasing itsrefugee intake. They were immediately viewedby some with scorn. One response even sug-gested their motive to be self-interest. Appar-ently, business wants to increase demand forgoods and services and unions want to increasetheir membership by letting more asylum seek-ers into Australia.

Former Liberal Prime Minister, MalcolmFraser, also pointed out how the debate on asy-lum seekers on both sides of politics has degen-erated into a “competition … about who can betoughest, who can be nastiest, who can do moreto besmirch people who get on boats, who cando more to say such people do not deserve ahaven”. He, too, was met with derision.

One response was to declare him “naïve” andto ask him to explain why his old party “led thedescent into shame”, completely ignoring thefact Fraser is consistently one of the mosttrenchant critics of the current Coalition Party’sasylum seeker policy.

Cynicism grows easily in a culture of fear.Ever since asylum seekers were cast as a threatto security for political gain in the Tampa elec-tion, the soil in which cynicism flourishes andgrows has continued to be ploughed and wa-tered. As scared people, we are easily exploited.Our defence for our lack of courage is to distortthe truth, in a pitiful attempt to justify our weak-ness. Cynicism is the product of this processwhich is grounded in fear. Sadly, the Australianelectorate as a whole has descended into fear-ful, cynical weakness when it comes to the de-bate about asylum seekers.

Consequently, we have been ‘rewarded’ with

the political leadership we deserve. This lead-ership itself has grown too scared to stand pub-licly for justice and compassion. This does notmean the vast majority of our leaders are notpersonally compassionate or concerned for jus-tice.

The tragedy is they, too, are silenced by theclimate of cynicism which continues to be cul-tivated for personal gain by some in politicalleadership and by some in the media. To speakup for justice and compassion in this climate re-quires great political courage, always a huge de-mand for those who see life only in terms ofwhat they have to lose.

Currently, the biggest losers in this politicalclimate are asylum seekers.

The critical question for us as Australians ishow to overcome the fear that breeds cynicism.In writing to some early Christians, John is clearabout this. He says: “Perfect love casts out fear… and whoever fears has not reached perfec-tion in love”.

He says this within the context of saying:“God is love, and those who abide in love abidein God, and God abides in them”.

For John, growth in our capacity to love is nota matter of striving in our own power to be moreloving. It is more a matter of striving more andmore to abide in God’s love, or to live in the ex-perience of God’s great love for us. In beingloved, we grow in love. In growing in love, wegrow in courage, and we become less fearful.

One sure sign of a lack of fear is a lack of cyn-icism. We no longer need to be cynical when weare not afraid to speak the truth. We know thetruth will not only set us free, but it has the ca-pacity to set free all who are bound in fear. Prayit will set free those who are bound not only infear but in the irons of the current asylum seekerpolicies of our country.

Fortunately there are some small signs of hopenow in Australia for asylum seekers. More peo-ple are finding the courage to speak up aboutthis, on both sides of politics and in many walksof life. They are advocating for compassion andjustice for asylum seekers and for an increase inAustralia’s refugee intake. More high-profilepeople are counting the cost of being outspokenin the current climate of cynicism and they are

speaking out. More ordinary people are joiningin the search for a just and compassionate re-sponse to asylum seekers. A recent surveyshows 53 per cent of Australians now say asy-lum seekers should be processed onshore and32 per cent even say they should live in the com-munity rather than be held in detention.

Let us together increase those percentages, andlet us together, as Christians, lead the way in thelove that overcomes fear and destroys the cyni-cism that defiles us all.

Do not fear asylum seekers

By Katharine Gentry

THE theme for Refugee Week in2007 was ‘The Voices of YoungRefugees’. Year 8 student,Katharine Gentry, won the Victo-rian National History Challengefor her essay ‘The Tampa incidentand how it became a turning pointin Australian history’. This is anedited version of her essay:

The Tampa search and rescuemission of 438 asylum seekersheading towards Australia in 2001marks a turning point in Australia’shistory in three key ways.

Firstly, it provoked legal changesthat determine how Australia re-sponds to unauthorised boats in ourterritory.

Secondly, through extensivemedia coverage, it shaped the pub-lic’s opinions towards boat peopleand dramatically influenced theoutcome of an election.

Lastly, the Tampa incident marksan important turning point in inter-national perceptions of Australia.,

On 26 August 2001, in responseto a Mayday signal from a ship ininternational waters, the Australiangovernment sent a plea to nearbyvessels to conduct a search and res-cue mission. The Tampa, a Norwe-gian cargo ship, responded.

After a four hour journey, the

Tampa crew discovered the Palapa;a 35 metre Indonesian fishing boatwith 438 asylum seekers on board.The Palapa was heading to Christ-mas Island; the passengers wereplanning to claim refugee status inAustralia; but they encountered astorm and the boat was fallingapart.

The asylum seekers asked to betaken to Christmas Island and themaster of the ship, Arne Rinnan,took them as far as he could beforehe was forbidden to enter Aus-tralian waters.

Canberra did not want any moreasylum seekers in Australia andthey held to several arguments: toprotect the nation’s sovereignty;detention centres were full; thesepeople might not be genuinerefugees and after September 11,there could be terrorists amongthem.

The asylum seekers were kept onthe hot deck of the Tampa with upto 15 people unconscious at onetime, not enough toilets, on hungerstrike, with skin diseases, diar-rhoea, three pregnant women, onebroken leg, several suffering fromhypothermia and 46 children.

Rinnan waited outside the territo-rial waters with the health situationon board deteriorating for threedays, until he decided he had to get

to Christmas Island.At this, the government sent an

SAS recruitment to board the ship.On September 3, the asylum seek-ers were transferred to a navy boatand taken to Nauru as part of thePacific Solution; 131 of themended up in New Zealand and therest were scattered. Australiawanted as few refugees, particu-larly from the Tampa, as possible.

On September 17, the new Bor-der Protection Bill was voted in.This made the Tampa incident notonly an event, but a turning pointin Australia’s history and law. Ineffect, the Bill represented a shiftin power away from legal systems(where judges and evidence deter-mine asylum seekers’ future) tomilitary and government officials.It overrode previous laws, like theinternational convention (1951).This gave the Prime Minister theright to turn the Tampa and manyother vessels away.

As to be expected, there was op-position to the Bill. It took two ap-peals to parliament for the Bill tobe agreed to. Human rights advo-cates and the United Nations alsostrongly opposed the Bill for hu-manitarian reasons.

The Tampa sparked an upsurge ofmedia interest in asylum seeker is-sues and consequently established

immigration policys place as a keysocial question. Before the Tampaincident, media coverage of boatpeople was enough to ignite fearbut never informative enough topresent the issue clearly.

Just one week before the Tampa’smission, polls were showingHoward would lose the 2001 elec-tion. It turns out the Tampa missionwas a crucial turning point in theelection campaign. Howard usedthe Tampa incident to fuel anxiety.

Before the Tampa, Australia waswell known for its humanitariantreatment of refugees.

In conclusion, the Tampa incidentrepresents a three-fold turningpoint in Australia’s modern history.It led to the creation of the BorderProtection Bill, which was a sub-stantial change in Australia’s lawand attitude to asylum seekers. Itraised immigration policy and asy-lum seekers as a major social issueand influenced the 2001 election.Finally, Australia’s humanitarianand fair image was damaged in theinternational community.

If it weren’t for the Tampa inci-dent, Australians would probablystill be very ignorant about asylumseekers, with little media interest inthe subject.

Amnesty International Australia,see www.amnesty.org.au

How Tampa became Australia’s turning point

September 2011 Our Diocese - Missions and Ministries 3


MORE than 150 former studentsand staff attended CommemorationDay at Gippsland Grammar’s Gar-nsey Campus on Sunday, August 7.The school community was cele-brating 50 years of the campus and40 years since amalgamation of StAnne’s Church of England Girls’School and Gippsland GrammarSchool (the Church of Englandboys’ school).

Guests enjoyed a service of cele-bration which included an addressfrom the 1971 school captains,Russell Needham and Jan Davis.Current school prefects and formerstudents presented symbols of thelife and work of the school. FormerHead of Junior School, ReverendTom Binks, who was unable to at-tend on the day, addressed the con-gregation via a pre-recorded DVD.

Guests travelled from around Vic-toria and interstate to attend themilestone event which marked thefirst amalgamation of AnglicanSchools in Victoria. The GippslandGrammar School and St Anne’sChurch of England Girls’ Gram-mar School were originally operat-ing independently but could see thebenefits of working together tomaximise the use of facilities, re-sources and, especially, staff. Thedecision to merge the schools wasmade at a combined school coun-cil meeting on August 8, 1970 andthe new, co-educational schoolcame into being the following Jan-uary.

Current Head of School, Ms JanHenry said: “Sharing stories fromour past develops an understandingof the values significant in a com-munity and Sunday’s service ofcelebration was an opportunity forpast and present students and staffto share many stories and recon-nect with old friends. I was thrilledthat students from nine decades,from the 1930s to the present day,were able to come together and cel-ebrate their experiences of school-ing at Gippsland Grammar”.

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ABOVE left: Past and present stu-dents and staff enjoyed a celebrationservice at the Chapel of St Anne atGippsland Grammar on Sunday, Au-gust 7, to mark 50 years of Garnseycampus and 40 years since amalga-mation.LEFT: Former staff member and oldscholar, Jan Saville, with fellow oldscholars Joy Brand (nee Saxton),Ruth Glover (nee Macalister) andEileen Douglas (nee Connley).BELOW: ‘Old Boys’ Russell Need-ham, Neil Lett, Bruce Savage, BillJessep, Russell Speechley, Grant Der-ham and Geoff Gooch.

RADIO for the Print Handi-capped (RPH) Australia has 17radio stations around Australia,staffed mostly by volunteers.Every day these volunteers offerthe 18 per cent of Australians witha print disability, the opportunity tohear the contents of their dailynewspaper, hear a book read tothem, or even catch up on the newsfrom a range of magazines.

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4 Our Diocese - Missions and Ministries September 2011


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ON August 10, more than 60 peo-ple gathered at St Peter’s Leon-gatha for a soup and sandwichlunch in aid of the Seeds of Peaceproject in Gahini diocese inRwanda. The lunch was hosted bySt Peter’s Mothers’ Union branchand was attended by MU membersfrom Morwell, Drouin and Won-thaggi Inverloch, members of Cor-ner Inlet parish, women from theLeongatha Uniting and Catholicchurches, representatives of theTarwin Lower and DumbalkMeeniyan congregations, as wellas many people from St Peter’s.

Guest speaker, Anne Connelly,spoke about the three months sheand her husband, Reverend JimConnelly, spent living in Gahinidiocese. They spent their first weekat the Seeds of Peace conferencecentre and guest house, on theshores of Lake Muhazi. Gippslanddiocese has committed itself tohelping the people of Gahini to fin-ish building the centre; so far, onlyfive cottages have been completed.Another $200,000 is needed tocomplete the project, which willprovide needed skills training andemployment to the local people.

Anne and Jim Connelly also vis-ited 42 parishes in Gahini diocese,where they were asked to inspectthe cows donated by Gippslanddiocese to help support the pastorsand their families.

Water supply is a big problem inRwanda, Anne explained, withmany villages built on top of hills,with the water supply in the valleybelow, so every drop of water hasto be carried up the hill in plastic

containers. During the dry seasons,when it does not rain for months ata time, some water sources dry up.Children spend time after schoolcarrying water to their homes.

Anne and Jim visited Leongatha’slink parishes of Karangazi andMusenyi and met their pastors andfamilies. Archdeacon Moses, ofKarangazi parish, has a motorbikefor transport: cars are very rare inRwanda. Anne commented that ofthe 350 people attending church atthe cathedral in Gahini, only onefamily arrived by car; nearly every-one walks long distances to church.

HIV/AIDS is a serious problemin Rwanda. It is so prevalent pa-tients admitted to Gahini hospitalare not tested; it is just assumedevery patient is infected. During ahospital stay, families must supplyall the patient’s bedding and foodand cooking facilities are primitive.Anne showed a mother walking tohospital to have her baby, with hersuitcase on her head and her previ-ous baby strapped to her back. It isquite typical for families inRwanda to number seven children.

The lunch raised more than $650for the Seeds of Peace project andLeongatha MU thanks all who at-tended for their generosity andAnne Connelly for her insight intothe country and its people.

Contributed by Heather Scott

ABOVE: Elsie Allchin, Anne Con-nelly and Marilyn Kingsley, fromDrouin MU, chatting with LizChapman and Christine Farmer ofLeongatha at the MU lunch.

Photo: Heather Scott

MU raises funds for Rwanda

By Jane Still, Anglicord

THE government and people of Australia have been issued aprophetic challenge by The Environment Working Group of theGeneral Synod (the national parliament) of the Anglican Churchof Australia, to take up their moral responsibility to reduce car-bon emissions. The Group says paying for the cost of carbonpollution will be a necessary part of that action.

The Group has issued a Discussion Paper that states, in part:“Reducing carbon emissions is a practical and moral necessity.”

The Group criticises opponents of a carbon price, stating:“Those who oppose all forms of carbon pricing are discountingthe importance of public policy action in the face of substantialrisks for all life on this planet. Oversimplified political rhetoricdoes everyone a disservice.”

“A strategy is needed to move Australia (and the world) to lessdependence on fossil fuels. Ensuring the cost of carbon pollu-tion is accounted for is an essential part of such a strategy.”

The Group argues that avoiding responsibility to reduce car-bon emissions will lead to higher future costs for everyonethrough more frequent natural disasters and the loss of jobs tomore innovative economies “on track to a sustainable future”.

People living in poverty would suffer most and Christians havea role to play in advocating for these people.

THE humanitarian crisis in EastAfrica continues and some agen-cies are estimating as many as onein 10 children in Somalia may dieby November. People continue tostruggle with lack of clean waterand food for people and livestock.Recent rains have come too late forweakened people and cattle herdsand increase the risk of water-borne diseases.

The CEO of Anglicord, MishaColeman, said the organisation iscollecting money to support com-munities in Ethiopia and Kenyathrough existing partners and sup-port communities where there is noexisting relationship, such as So-malia, through the ACT Alliance.

“Your help will buy food for peo-ple and livestock, and water wells.The assistance will be focused onpregnant and lactating women andchildren, as they are the peoplemost vulnerable to the effects ofmalnutrition,” Ms Coleman said.

“Your donation will help enor-mously. All donations to Anglicordare tax deductible. You can donatesecurely online at www.an-glicord.org.au or telephone 1800249880. Donating online reducesour costs so your support goes fur-ther. Thank you so much for yourhelp.”

AnglicordCEO: Easethe sufferingin East Africa

Emission reduction a moral duty

By Lisa Rees,Benetas

LEADING Victorian aged careprovider, Benetas, welcomed the rec-ommendations for aged care reformreleased by the Productivity Commis-sion in its inquiry into ‘Caring forOlder Australians’. Benetas CEO,Sandra Hills (right), said she fullysupports the recommendations.

“The whole framework presented isvery positive. I am particularlypleased to see an emphasis on the in-dependence and overall wellness ofolder Australians. The report looks topresent much more control and choicefor consumers and a more sustainableindustry,” she said.

“As a not-for-profit provider, Benetas is particularly interested in thefocus on block funding for special needs groups, such as those who arehomeless or from culturally diverse backgrounds. We also hope the focuson increasing community support services will lead to a reduction in so-cial isolation, which is a real danger for an alarmingly large proportionof older Australians.”

Other areas strongly welcomed by Benetas include the abolishment ofthe high/low care divide; removal of the limit on residential places andcommunity care packages; and the opening up of the market place, whichwill force providers to compete on a range of areas such as cultural aware-ness, quality of food and professionalism of staff.

“The report makes a very clear statement about what these changes willmean for two distinct groups: the consumer and the provider,” Ms Hillssaid.

“It will create healthy market competition among providers, which willlead to a fantastic result for consumers; they’ll have plenty to choosefrom.”

A particular focus for Benetas as an organisation is research and advo-cacy for older Australians.

“The final report has covered this area in a lot more depth than the draft.I can see there are some exciting opportunities to be had around re-searching innovative projects where we don’t already have existing data.This could ultimately lead to new models of care. We’d really like to seethis embraced because it would be a shame to miss such a fabulous op-portunity,” Ms Hills said.

Benetas has partnered with Deakin University, for research conductedaround the topic of respect for older people and positive perceptions ofolder Australians in society.

“We were surprised there was not more about overall ‘positive ageing’in the report, as it is an integral element to ensuring the general public em-brace change,” said Ms Hills.

“If Australians are not interested in ageing, or continue to see it as ataboo topic, then there won’t be the support needed for the governmentto feel confident in embracing the recommendations. Public education isvital.

“We will have to make sure the government are held accountable. Thereforms outlined are hand-in-glove and we are hopeful the governmentdoesn’t just pick up what’s most palatable or what’s most easily achieved.

“Once approved, the implementation of the reforms will essentially bean enormous change management process for all stakeholders; govern-ment, providers, and most importantly consumers. Benetas is keen to see,and be involved in, an active engagement of industry bodies to ensure asmooth and effective transition.”

Aged care reform welcome

September 2011 Our Diocese - Missions and Ministries 5


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PHILLIP ISLAND (03) 5952 5171 Ray and Maree Anderson

MEMBER OF AUSTRALIAN FUNERAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION

MEMBER of Mothers’ UnionCowes group, Gwen Petersen, vis-ited Gahini diocese in Rwanda ear-lier this year and returned withgifts from the link parish. BassPhilip Island parish is linked toMhingo parish in Gahini diocese.

Gwen presented a woven con-tainer and an embroidered wall-hanging to the group. Theembroidery picks out the phrase,‘God is the one who did all this,God is the love, the way of life’.

Gwen reported on the many proj-ects active in Mhingo, relevant toMothers’ Union, including in-creasing awareness of AIDS/HIVand its method of infection, par-enting assistance and microfinanceprojects.

Contributed by Karin McKenzie,president MU Gippsland

ABOVE right: Gwen Petersen, ofCowes Mothers’ Union group,with a woven container, a presentfrom the Mhingo parish to BassPhilip Island parish.TOP: The members of CowesMothers’ Union group who at-tended the meeting to hear aboutGwen Petersen’s visit to Gahinidiocese.RIGHT: The embroidered tapestry,a present from people in Mhingoparish, Gahini diocese, in Rwandato members of Cowes parish. TheEnglish translation hangs under thewallhanging.

Gwen brings gifts from Gahini

RECYCLE Me op shop reachedits seventh birthday since its open-ing in Barkly Street, Warragul, onJuly 8, 2004. A lot of organisinghad gone on before the openingand Warragul parish appreciatesSheryl Hastings, who helped carrythe vision through to fruition. Themove to the present premises, 49Victoria Street, was made in May,2006.

There have been ups and downsin the new premises, major ofwhich has been storm and waterdamage. Volunteers have beenready to ‘walk the extra mile’ withworking bees to put the shop backto rights after roof and other re-pairs. We have been happy to wel-come new volunteers andencourage everyone to keep intouch with the shop through visit-ing it, even if not actively involved.

We recently also welcomed Gab-bie Willems, a year nine student atSt Paul’s Anglican GrammarSchool. Gabbie, who worships atSt Paul’s Anglican Church with her

family, is spending time at theshop as part of the school’s com-munity service project.

We are grateful for God’s good-ness in guiding us in this importantministry.

Contributed by Bev Foster

ABOVE: Saturday volunteers,Elizabeth Crighton and PhilipBucknall, with the Happy Birthdaybanner for the recent seven yearscelebrations for Recycle Me opshop in Warragul.

Photo: Bev Foster

Happy birthday Recycle Me

THE 2011 Australian Christianbook of the year award has gone toEconomics for Life, written by IanHarper and reviewed in the Julyissue of The Gippsland Anglican.

One of the nation’s leading econ-omists, Emeritus Professor Harperregards his book as one of his mostsignificant contributions to civiclife in Australia.

Harper provides a grass roots per-spective on the economy nationallyand globally and writes about howChristians, in fact anyone, canmake moral choices about their fi-nances.

The first prize was awarded toEconomics for Life at the 31st Aus-tralian Christian Literature Awardson August 18, 2011, in Melbourne.

Subtitled ‘An economist reflectson the meaning of life, money andwhat really matters’, ProfessorHarper proclaims economics agood servant but a bad master. Oneof three panellists appointed in Jan-uary 2011 by the Baillieu Govern-ment of Victoria to carry out an

Independent Review of State Fi-nances, Harper declares ‘econom-ics makes a valuable contributionto clear thinking about importantquestions that focus on humanity’smaterial condition, yet it is not aphilosophy for the whole of life;and was never intended to be’.

In 2000, Professor Harper waselected to a Fellowship of theAcademy of Social Sciences inAustralia in recognition of hisstanding as an academic econo-mist, and more recently to a Fel-lowship of the Australian Instituteof Company Directors.

Second prize was won by JohnWilson’s respectful yet unflinchingChristianity alongside Islam pub-lished by Acorn.

Historian, Paul Collins, won thirdprize with Judgement Day: Thestruggle for life on earth publishedby UNSW Press.

The Awards were judged by aninterdenominational panel ofjudges and presented by the Soci-ety for Promoting Christian

Knowledge Australia. The judge’scomments about the prize-winningand short-listed books can befound at: www.spcka.org.au

The Australian Christian Litera-ture Awards are administered bythe Australian Christian LiteratureSociety, an activity of the Societyfor Promoting Christian Knowl-edge Australia Inc.

THE Registrar of Gippsland dio-cese, Mr Brian Norris, is planningan administration and insuranceseminar on Saturday, October 29October ,2011 at Warragul, from10am to 2.30pm. Mr Norris organ-ised a similar seminar last year,which was very successful, with agood attendance and many ques-tions raised about parish and dioce-san business.

Mr Richard Macdonald of theAnglican National Insurance Pro-gram, Melbourne will be in atten-dance again; Mr Macdonaldpresented last year.

A formal notice will be sent toparishes in early September. Reg-ister for the seminar, on October29, to the Registry, telephone 035144 2044.

Seminar forparishes

Christian book of the year awarded

6 Our Diocese - Opinion September 2011


Spring 2011 Program:Title: Dates: Led by:

Interested in the environment and exploring yourspiritual journey? Want to listen for the rhythmsof life ... and to God? Spend time at the Abbey ofSt Barnabas at A’Beckett Park on Raymond Island- set in several acres of bushland and surroundedby the waters of the Gippsland Lakes.

Living with grief and loss: Hope for thejourneyWater, Dance and DramaSpirituality of Spring with the AnamCara CommunityEarth and ArtWork WeekIntellectual Disability, Spirituality andCommunityCelebration Day for people with intellectual disability, their familiesand carers

2-4 September June Treadwell & EdieAshley

9-11 September Susanna Pain16-18 September Joy Campbell, Carolyn

Raymond & Marion White30 Sept-2 October Pene Brook21-23 October FULLY BOOKED26-27 October Eileen Glass & the

L’Arche communityOctober 29 Eileen Glass & the

L’Arche community

The Abbey of St Barnabas at A’Beckett ParkP: 03 5156 6580 E: [email protected]

www.theabbeyofstbarnabas.orgfor details of the 2011 program and accommodation

By Dr Colin Thornby

REVEREND Neil Thompson’s question (The Gippsland Angli-can, August 2011, page 3), ‘Meditation: why?’, is an interestingone, which deserves a response. [Editor’s note: see Perspective... why be guided by other religions?]

The Anam Cara Community, as Neil observes, is a body thathas a relationship with the Anglican Church, through the Dioceseof Gippsland. Not all members of the Anam Cara Community areAnglican and some people would not call themselves Christians,perhaps. I am one of those who is both Anglican and a followerof Jesus.

One of the things I value most about the Anam Cara Commu-nity is the commitment to journey with all who seek the deepthings of the spirit, while holding firmly and consistently to thehistoric faith. We feel we can be hospitable and welcoming to allwho genuinely and sincerely come; a hospitality modelled byJesus.

It was in that spirit we hosted an event that featured a dialoguewith a Buddhist monk, the Venerable Jampal. If we sit down asbrothers and sisters, the day’s theme asked, what can we find inBuddhism that speaks to our Christian experience? What is dif-ferent? What is the basis of our dialogue?

Part of that dialogue, on that day, was to experience a time ofBuddhist meditation, a foundational practice in Venerable Jam-pal’s form of Buddhism. That sharing experience was part of ourrespectful hospitality and to allow those present to see what aform of Buddhist practice looks like.

Many Christians are suspicious of meditation, thinking it is un-Christian and in fact anti-Christian. Buddhist meditation is a par-ticular practice for Buddhists, with a full and detailedphilosophical system behind it. Christian meditation and center-ing prayer are forms of meditation for Christians, based on teach-ings that come from the early Christian centuries.

Both are taught and practiced by experienced, thoughtful com-mitted Christians throughout the world, as part of their commit-ment to a life of prayer and following Jesus. Both teachmeditators to still themselves in order to be fully present to God,and both seek, as a final goal, to develop in the meditator a soulthat is responsive and alive to the Holy Spirit. Both enjoy activesupport from many prominent Christian leaders, including Arch-bishop Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Neither is compulsory and neither replaces prayer, reading theBible or other foundational parts of the Christian way. Christianswho are interested in either form of meditation can find more in-formation at the Anam Cara Community’s website: www.anam-cara-gippsland.org

Dr Colin Thornby (PhD) is a member of, and writes here on be-half of, the Servant Leadership Team of the Anam Cara Com-munity.

Perspective ... onmeditation: a response

By Reverend Bruce Charles

IN an article in last month’s The Gippsland Anglican, titled Perspec-tive… why be guided by other religions? Reverend Neil Thompson raisestwo very important questions. The first is expressed in the title of the ar-ticle and the second he concludes the article with ‘Meditation: Why?’

The first question is far more complex to deal with than just quoting DrMichael Green, who few would regard as being an expert in this area.Consequently, I’ve asked the Editor of The Gippsland Anglican if I couldreply in several parts over the next two or three issues.

The second issue ‘Meditation: Why?’ is more simply dealt with. Manybooks have been written on the subject, but given the question has beenasked through The Gippsland Anglican, some reply is necessary.

Meditation is one of the most basic and important forms of prayer. Un-fortunately, its importance is clouded by a confusion about words and thefact most parishes appear to have neglected to teach it properly eitherduring confirmation preparation or subsequently.

On the simplest level in the Christian tradition, meditation, as definedby Wikipedia, a useful online encyclopaedia: “a term for form of prayerin which a structured attempt is made to get in touch with and deliberatelyreflect upon the revelations of God. The word meditation comes from theLatin word meditari which means to concentrate. Christian meditation isthe process of deliberately focusing on specific thoughts (for example, abiblical scene involving Jesus and the Virgin Mary) and reflecting on themeaning in the context of the love of God”.

In the past 50 years or more, Western society has become more awareof what Eastern religions call meditation. Although it has some similar-ities with the above definition, it more generally refers to another type ofprayer. A type of prayer that has been within the Christian contemplativetradition for centuries and dating back probably to the earliest days of thechurch. It is also part of the Jewish tradition dating back to before thetime of Christ.

Current examples of this type of prayer which we might be familiar withare the Eastern Orthodox tradition of the Jesus prayer, in the RomanCatholic and other traditions of prayer based on the use of the rosary atTaize services.

I do not have space in this article to describe the varieties of prayer theword meditation includes, but we can describe it at its simplest level. Itis a way of praying that helps us to ‘be still and know that I am God’.One of the commonest forms of meditation in Eastern religion is basedon the use of what is called ‘a mantra’. The word mantra means mindshelter. One of the desert fathers, John Cassian (c 360–435) described themantra as ‘a formula’.

In this way of praying, the time that one sets aside as meditation is atime when we seek to quieten our mind and go beyond the mind into thatsecret place where we meet with the Father (Matthew 6:7). The prayingperson holds their heart before God and repeats a word or phrase to helpthem do so. This is a time when one chooses not to think, so that whenthoughts arise, as soon as one becomes aware that one is thinking one re-turns to the formula.

The purpose of the formula is in time to lead one beyond words to theWord, who is Jesus, the light and life of the world, the life of each andevery one of us. One of the main advantages of this form of prayer is ithelps one to be still and listen to God.

Some people choose to concentrate on a candle or an icon or somethingelse that is meaningful to them, helping them to focus the mind and go be-yond thought. Personally, I do not regard this type of meditation as aspure as the formula method because it still involves the senses. There isscientific evidence to suggest the depth of the experience is not as deep.

On a personal note and this is the beginning of my response to Rev. NeilThompson’s first question, the prayer I learned growing up in the churchwas very formal. In our confirmation classes we were given a little booktitled In His Presence. A useful little book which I treasured but I do notrecall it talking about this type of prayer.

It was during my university days and through a series of events I cameto learn ‘Transcendental Meditation’. This was a mantra form of medita-tion which I embraced passionately and meditated for 20 minutes twicea day very regularly. A month after beginning this process, I knew Godexisted. From then the journey unfolded, without going into details, andled me into a deeper relationship with Jesus; and in the process to findhow this method I learned was a part of the Christian tradition as well.The Christian version made more sense in that it was based on bringingyour heart before God.

For those who study the contemplative traditions of the Christian Westand Eastern orthodoxy, they will find not only the parallel to Eastern med-itation I have discussed, but many similar practices of prayer, especiallyinvolving the way we breathe as we pray.

My own prayer life is much deeper because of what I have learned fromEastern religions, particularly various forms of yoga and various forms ofBuddhism. Consequently, I can understand the Anam Cara Communitywanting to hear what a Buddhist monk has to say about meditation. Wecan learn much from Eastern religions about philosophy and metaphysicsand their understanding of the spiritual effect of sound. This promiseseems light years away from a Church that at the moment seems to havelost much of the deeper understanding of liturgy. To spell out these andother benefits in any further detail is impossible in this article.

Apart from the many books written on the subject, if anyone is inter-ested, I have written a short booklet on prayer and meditation which cov-ers some of these aspects in more detail. It is available on the Moe parishwebsite http://moe.gippsland-anglican.org or you can contact [email protected] or PO Box 224, Moe, Victoria and I will sendyou a copy.

Reverend Bruce Charles is the rector of Moe parish

By + Jeffrey Driver

THE currently most desiredelectronic gadget is a ‘pad’ withan ‘I’ as part of its name. The I-Pad complements the I Phone indigital accessorising.

The digitally fashionable arethen encouraged to wash theirhair with a shampoo that tellsthem ‘because you are worth it’.

Even the purveyors of that prod-uct we wish we did not need, carinsurance, have jumped onto thebandwagon with their assurancethat they are definitely ‘You-i’.

This obsession with ‘I’, with therights and indeed the desires ofthe individual, is a mark of ourtime. But when does it go too far?

Watching through media reports,people rising up in countries likeLibya and Syria, seeking greaterrights for the individual, drawsour sympathy because basichuman freedom has been re-pressed by those in power. Theright and freedoms of individualsdo matter and are worth defend-ing.

But is the individual alwaysking?

I have been following the na-tional debate that followed the re-lease of a report by theProductivity Commission onpoker machine gambling. The re-port recommended, among otherthings, a mandatory pre-commit-ment scheme and limiting with-drawals from ATMs in gamblingvenues to $250 per day.

The gambling industry has lob-bied extensively against theseproposals, pushing the argumentof individual choice and individ-ual freedom.

Of course, the vested interestsare obvious. Beyond this, though,there is an important question tobe debated: how much do we letindividual rights prevail, evenwhen we know their exerciseharms others, particularly the vul-nerable?

Poker machines touch muchmore than the pocket of the indi-vidual gambler. We know about athird of all regular users areharmed. We know on averageseven people are affected byevery person with a gamblingproblem, at least one of them achild.

It’s not just about ‘I’. Somethings cannot simply be ap-proached as a matter of individualrights. In the famous ‘Two greatCommandments’, the Bible bal-ances individual needs and aspira-tions (love of self) with love ofthe others around us (love yourneighbor as yourself).

The proposals to limit gamblingharm presently being consideredby the Federal Government strikea sensible balance. They areworth supporting.

Life is not just about ‘I’.

Archbishop Jeffrey Driver, ofthe Anglican Diocese of Ade-laide, is a past Bishop of Gipps-land (2001 to 2005). This articleappeared in the July issue of TheGuardian and is reprinted withpermission.

Perspective ...the I-life: whatprice is choiceand freedom?

Perspective ... meditation

September 2011 Our Diocese - Jesus Christ Here and Now for Westernport parish 7


By Brenda Burney

THE parish of Westernport isspread across quite a large and di-verse area, with towns in both BassCoast and Cardinia shires. Thereare worship centres in the towns ofCorinella (population 500), KooWee Rup (population 2100) andLang Lang (population 1300) butthere are a number of smaller set-tlements within the parish includ-ing Bayles (population 200),Grantville (457) and Coronet Bay(643) where there are no worshipcentres. Reverend Brenda Burneyis the only resident minister of anydenomination in the area coveredby the parish.

Many of the towns in the parishare experiencing a slow increase inpopulation, due to their proximityto Pakenham and because they arealong the growth corridor betweenPakenham and Philip Island. Manypeople commute to larger centresand to Melbourne for work. Farm-ers, young families, retirees andholiday makers make up a largepercentage of the population.

Work on the desalination planthas had a huge impact, both posi-tive and negative, on local commu-nities and individuals. A recentstudy by Cardinia Shire and Angli-care has shown there are manyfamilies who are considered to beat risk of poverty.

HistoryTHE churches at Corinella, Koo

Wee Rup and Lang Lang were inseparate parishes in the late 19thand early 20th centuries. In 1904,Koo Wee Rup and Lang Langcame together to form theParochial District of Lang Lang. StJohn’s Lang Lang was the princi-ple church but services were heldat St George’s Koo Wee Rup and atseven small communities withinthe district.

St George’s, Corinella was orig-inally part of the Parish of Bassand, in more recent times, was partof the Parish of Bass-Phillip Island.In April 1997, St George’sCorinella combined with StGeorge’s Koo Wee Rup and St

John’s Lang Lang to form a newparish: the Parish of Westernport.

The Parish was a full-time ap-pointment until 2007. BetweenJuly 2007 and January 31, 2010,the parish could only provide apart-time ministry of three days perweek. With declining numbers andcongregations, made up of mainlyolder adults, it looked as thoughthis would be the way things wouldstay. However, in September 2008,a meeting between the LangLang/Koo Wee Rup UnitingChurch minister and Rev. Brendabrought to light a new possibility.The Uniting Church minister, Rev.Dr Des Parker, was due to retire inearly January 2010 and he wasconcerned this may leave his con-gregations without a minister. TheUniting Church appointment wasalso part-time, at three days perweek.

The possibility of the Uniting andAnglican churches worshipping to-gether under the leadership of Rev.Brenda was discussed. The ideawas then put to Bishop John McIn-tyre and Rev. Philip Liebelt (UCAPresbytery Gippsland) beforebeing considered by both churchcouncils and our congregations.

On Sunday, April 26, 2009, to de-termine the level of support for theproposal, a ballot was conducted.The steering committee had agreedon a two-thirds majority for theproposal to go ahead. We were as-tounded at the support of ourchurch members; 95 per cent infavor. A steering committee ofmembers from the Uniting and An-glican congregations was formedto discuss how the relationship be-tween the two churches wouldlook.

On Sunday, January 31, 2010,more than 100 people (including agroup from Neerim South) gath-ered at Grantville Lodge to cele-brate the new relationship with aservice of prayer and joyfulsinging. A Memorandum of Un-derstanding was signed by BishopJohn, The UCA Presbytery Chair-person (who just happened to beRev. Dr Des Parker), Rev. Brendaand the secretaries of both churchcouncils. A bring and share lunchfollowed.

There have been many things wehave had to work through sincethat day. Surveys, ballots and con-gregational meetings have been animportant part of determining ourfuture, addressing issues that ariseand encouraging each other. Weare all getting used to new ways ofworshipping and we are certainlyenjoying having more voices tosing on Sunday mornings and morepeople to share our ministry andmission with. We have been veryconscious of the need to pray con-stantly so that we might determineGod’s vision for our future to-gether.

The congregations have been to-gether now for just over 18 monthsand have decided our relationshipwill continue on a permanent basis.(In February this year, 97 per centvoted to stay together.) The steer-ing committee is working on a newMemorandum of Understanding,to take effect from January 31,2012. We still have much work todo and some difficult decisions tomake as we journey together.

The whole parish will spend theday at Granville Lodge on October30 to pray, to worship, to sharelunch and to discuss some of themore practical issues that relate toour future together (such as, thenumber of buildings we have, howoften we will celebrate Holy Com-munion and other topics).

Becoming MoreChrist-Like In AllWe Are and Do

AS we discussed the DiocesanStrategic Plan as congregations andas a parish, there were two thingswe felt we needed to build on withregard to our inner journey; prayerand bible study. Each year, ecu-menical groups meet in people’shomes for Lenten studies. Thestudies have included materialfrom Anglican, Uniting andCatholic traditions and oftenprompt some good discussion andintroduce us to new ways of‘being’.

This year we had a movie night atSt John’s at the end of our Lentenstudies. We watched Invictus,about Nelson Mandela’s life afterhis release from prison. This moviewas chosen because of the discus-sion about Nelson Mandela thatwas triggered by the notes in thisyear’s study, Set Free. Supper afterthe movie is a vital part of our fel-lowship and a good time to discussthe important things of life.

The study groups have enjoyedthese times of learning and fellow-ship and have wanted to continuemeeting, so this year we are offer-ing another six week study at eachcentre looking at a Uniting Church

study called Light Eternal: Jewsand Judaism. It explores the Chris-tian-Jewish relationship and thegroup that has completed the studyfound it has some very thought-provoking questions for Christiansabout the way they think aboutJews and Judaism. On our lastnight we watched the movie TheBoy in the Striped Pyjamas whichtriggered some deep discussionabout human nature.

A small group meets to say thedaily office and to pray early onWednesday mornings at St John’s.It is a valuable time to commit ourparish, ourselves and others toprayer. It is a quiet time where wecan come before God with our con-cerns, our hopes and our thanks.Prayer candles are lit and some-times quiet music is played as wepray together.

An important part of our journeyinward is our Sunday worship. Weoffer a variety of services acrossthe parish each month. Familyservices are held once a month atLang Lang and Koo Wee Rup.Sometimes these are MorningPrayer services and sometimesthey include Holy Communion.Sometimes they are in a UnitingChurch and sometimes in an An-glican church, so the liturgy is var-ied.

continued next page

Westernport diverse in partnership

Your Local MPin Gippsland

Philip DavisMember for Eastern Victoria

Serving the communities ofGippsland in State Parliament

Advocating for Gippsland

Putting your concerns to the State Government

Authorised by Philip R. Davis MPShop 2, 424 Raymond Street

PO Box 9210 Sale Vic 3853 — (03) 5143 [email protected]

ABOVE: Officials at the signing of the Memorandum of Understandingat Grantville Lodge, January 31, 2010 were Norm Scott, Rev erend Dr.Des Parker, Lyn Kelly, Bishop John McIntyre and Rev. Brenda Burney.

ABOVE: Some of those present at Grantville Lodge on January 31, 2010 to celebrate the signing of the Mem-orandum of Understanding between the Anglican and Uniting church congregations.

8 Our Diocese - Jesus Christ Here and Now for Westernport parish September 2011


continued from previous page

These services include music andactivities for the children and themessage for the day is more infor-mal; with input from the congrega-tion welcome. Rev. Brenda’spuppets are usually on hand forsome fun (above).

With services in each centre everySunday morning and Rev. Brendaonly being at two of the three cen-tres each week, Westernport parishhas a team of lay people who helpin many ways with preparing forand leading worship. In the pastfour years, we have added new layreaders, eucharistic assistants,liturgical assistants, readers, inter-cessors, welcomers and sidespeo-ple to this team. Discovering ourgifts of ministry and encouragingothers with theirs is very much apart of our inward journey.

Encouraging the inward journeyof our young people also takesplace at our JAFFAS program, anafter school group for primaryschool children, which meets everyWednesday night at the UnitingChurch in Koo Wee Rup. Along-side the games, food and craft ac-tivities, there is a Bible teachingtime. The children always have lotsof questions to ask about theirfaith.

Our combined parish camps withDrouin have also been opportuni-ties for nurturing our inner journey.This year, Gippsland’s Bishop

John McIntyre was guest speaker.His talk about the Holy Spirit gaveparticipants in the camp much foodfor thought. Our times of worshipsaw all ages participating in manyways.

The inner journey of those inaged care is not forgotten as weshare worship with our ecumenicalfaith community at Killara Hostelin Koo Wee Rup twice each month.The hostel is part of the Koo WeeRup Regional Health Service , en-abling us to visit people in the hos-pital section for prayer and/or HolyCommunion while we are there.

Our ministry to those who cometo us for baptisms, confirmations,weddings and funerals allows us toshare our understanding of ourfaith at particularly significanttimes in people’s lives. These areoften times when people havequestions about Christian faith theyneed answered, questions whichreflect their own inner journey.

The focus of the parish’s JourneyOutward is connecting with chil-dren and their families. Much ofour discussion of this part of thestrategic plan focussed on ac-knowledging we do not haveyoung people and their families inour congregations and we do notprovide for them in the way weused to (for example, offering Sun-day school). We perceived a needto reconnect with families in ourlocal communities.

We also realised we need to re-connect with the wider commu-nity; to let them know there is anactive and caring church in theirlocal area. Much of what we wereoffering had the expectation ofpeople coming to the church in-stead of the church going out to thepeople.

There are several ways we havegone about this and they differ ineach centre.

In the Corinella area, we have anannual Pet Blessing (‘Paws in thePark’) service in one of the localparks each January. We have tar-geted school holiday time becausefamilies holiday in the area andthere is no weekend sport. A Sat-urday morning seems to work well.The past two years have seen about

30 people and their pets attend. Weinvite a guest speaker, provide abarbecue lunch and have a funcompetition with prizes (for exam-ple, the dog with the longest tail).

We have members of ourCorinella congregation involved inteaching CRE at the local primaryschool and we also help at theschool’s breakfast program. One ofour parishioners managed to havea commercial toaster donated to theprogram, which makes life a loteasier. A few weeks ago, 80 chil-dren came to the breakfast club onemorning.

One of the reasons the program isso popular is that most of the chil-dren who go to this school travelby bus and leave home very earlyin the morning. The program hasbeen running for a number of yearsand initially began through the An-glicare Parish Partnerships scheme.

St George’s Corinella also runGeorgie’s Op Shop. The shop hasbeen operating since 1992. Initiallyit was set up inside the church,using the pews to display theclothes. Everything had to bepacked up before church each Sun-day and stored elsewhere.

Now we use our own building atthe rear of the church. We provide

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ABOVE: Residents of Killara Hostel, Koo Wee Rup at a worship service.

ABOVE: Reverend Brenda Burney baptises twin girls, Elouise and Andrea Randall, at St George’s, Koo WeeRup on the day of Pentecost, 2010.

ABOVE: ‘Paws in the Park’ at Corinella is an annual activity held in January, providing a barbecue lunch andincluding many holiday-makers.

September 2011 Our Diocese - Jesus Christ Here and Now for Westernport parish 9


a great outreach and communityservice for families in the area.This year, the shop has been able todonate some money to the schoolon a regular basis for fruit for chil-dren who come to school withoutlunch.

This is a great way of givingsomething back to our community.We are overwhelmed by theamount of donations we receivefrom such a small community andour volunteers are a hard workinggroup of women who provide notonly bargain goods but a cup of teaor coffee and a chat as well. With-out the op shop, our parish wouldfind itself struggling even more tomake ends meet.

The op shop volunteers have justbegun a new venture. Two of ourparishioners came home from ourlast rural deanery meeting inspiredwith a vision to provide a get-to-know-you lunch for the local com-munity. The first one was a greatsuccess, with 26 people sharinglunch and fellowship at the seniorcitizen’s rooms. There is no cost tothose who attend. The next one isplanned for early September.

Last year we had the great joy ofbeing able to extend our churchbuilding at Corinella to include asmall meeting room. We can nowhave our fellowship time afterchurch seated comfortably in awarm room instead of standingaround at the back of the church.

After the dawn ecumenical Easterservice on the foreshore this year,we were able to offer breakfast inour new room. One communitygroup is using the room for regularmeetings.

In Koo Wee Rup, we provide anafter school program (JAFFAS) forprimary school children onWednesday evenings. There is nocost to parents but they can make agold coin donation if they wish. Weuse the money to pay for our craftmaterials and snacks.

When we have a surplus we havespecial activities such as ten pinbowling. This year, our surplus willalso be used for Operation Christ-mas Child. We will take the chil-dren shopping in Pakenham onenight and pack the boxes the nextweek. The planning of this eventhas led to some good discussion

about Jesus’ teaching on caring forothers and sharing what we have.

The churches in Koo Wee Ruphave Easter and Christmas out-reach programs which are put to-gether by Sue and PeterMacGregor. The Christmas out-reach is run in conjunction with thelocal Seventh Day AdventistChurch and includes a trip to theoutdoor theatre presentation of TheRoad to Bethlehem in Melbourne.This is sponsored by the SeventhDay Adventist Church.

Our Crib service on ChristmasEve is aimed at families withyoung children. It is a very simpleservice which tries to get across themessage of the real reason forChristmas.

Last year, the Christmas storywas told from the point of view ofthe innkeeper, who had a verysleepless night (above right). Thechildren who attended were invitedto dress up and take part in thestory (right). About 60 people at-tended the Crib service.

Our close relationship with KooWee Rup Regional Health Servicehas meant Rev. Brenda has beenasked to bless the new Men’s Shedand Community Garden as well astwo memory trees in the NursingHome and Hostel. Some of themen in our congregations spend alot of time helping with the pro-grams at the Men’s Shed and Com-munity Garden.

Many members of our congrega-tions are also involved in helping atthe local community op shop,which allows some funds to begiven to the church.

Members of the Lang Lang con-gregation also help with the JAF-FAs program and have helpedbring the gospel to our local schoolthrough teaching CRE. We have

held Advent programs for primaryschool children in our church halland movie sessions for childrenduring the school holidays (as hasKoo Wee Rup and Corinella).

One of the things the Lang Langcongregation felt was missing inour centre was fellowship witheach other. We decided to hold afellowship tea at the local hotelevery couple of months, just so wecould get to know each other bet-ter. We also thought this would bea good opportunity to invite peoplewho might live on their own.

continued next page

ABOVE; Breakfast club at Corinella.BELOW: Volunteering at St George's Op Shop at Corinella, Margaret,Pat and Danielle at work.BOTTOM: Glenis Hitchins and Mary Hodgson preparing for the com-munity lunch at Corinella.

ABOVE: Participants in the JAFFAS after school program at Koo Wee Rup.

ABOVE: The memory tree.

10 Our Diocese - Jesus Christ Here and Now for Westernport parish September 2011


continued from previous page

We also thought it would be goodfor the local community to see usout and about together.

This year we held a special day ofprayer at St John’s for the Japaneseearthquake victims.

In Lang Lang, Rev. Brenda is in-vited each year to say prayers andgive a blessing at the Australia Dayand ANZAC Day celebrations.

The Pet Blessing services in thechurches at Koo Wee Rup andLang Lang have been very popularand help us to connect with somenew people as well as with ouryoung families.

Each year we hold a whole parishHarvest Festival and donate thegoods to our local agencies, in-cluding Anglicare and the 4Cs.These services are not only a greatopportunity to give thanks to Godfor all that we have but also to takewhat we have and share it withthose who may otherwise go with-out.

We have been very blessed thisyear to have added Rev. ErenaLawrence to our ministry team.Rev. Erena is our ministry supportperson and at the moment her maintask is pastoral care. She has gath-ered a team of pastoral carers fromamong our congregations and or-ganised our first training day.

As well as this, she has been vis-iting parishioners and helping tolead worship in each of our centres.

As well as our inward and out-ward journeys, there are manyfundraising activities run by asmall group of hard working anddedicated church members. Someof our fundraisers include centnights, flower shows, quilt shows,fashion parades and garage sales.

ABOVE: Attendees and their friends at the pet blessing service held at Lang Lang.

ABOVE: Reverend Brenda Burney presents Rev. Erena Lawrence withher licence as honorary deacon in Westernport parish.

Be a part of supporting the Aboriginal Ministry Fund

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. Contact the Diocese of Gippsland 453 Raymond Street, Sale, Victoria PO Box 928, Sale, 3853 Telephone 03 5144 2044 Fax 03 5144 7183 Email [email protected]

Thank you to Reverend BrendaBurney for her work in compilingthis article and to the people whoprovided photographs.

Diocesan Calendar2011

September2 – 4 Living with Grief and Loss: Hope for the journey B; The

Abbey of St Barnabas; with Rosemary Pounder.3 Lay Readers Training Day; St Paul’s Korumburra; 10am to

3.30pm. With Reverends Bruce Charles, Tony Wicking and Jenny Ramage, lay readers chaplains.

4 Bishop John McIntyre in Westernport parish4 Combined churches eucharist, St Nicholas’ Lakes Entrance;

7pm; please bring plate for shared supper6 E-conference, ‘Following Jesus – Matthew 6th National

eConference; live webcast 10.30am to 2.50pm; telephone 07 9847 0726, email [email protected]

6 – 8 The Abbey of St Barnabas, Raymond Island; Retreat into Silence; details TBA

8 – 10 Taize; two brothers from the Taize community in France visiting Victoria; theme ‘joy, compassion and forgiveness’; aimed at 18 to 35 year age group; information http://www.taize.fr/en_article7190.html

9 – 11 The Abbey of St Barnabas, Raymond Island; Water, Dance and Drama A. Led by Susanna Pain.

9 CMS South Gippsland Archdeaconry Mission Support Weekend with Tavis and Kate Beer. St George’s Koo Wee Rup; 11am followed by lunch; details Reverend Brenda Burney, telephone 03 5997 5440.

9 CMS South Gippsland Archdeaconry Mission Support Weekend with Tavis and Kate Beer. St Philip’s Philip Island; 5pm with a casserole tea; details Reverend Greg Magee, telephone 03 5952 2608.

10 CMS South Gippsland Archdeaconry Mission Support Weekend with Tavis and Kate Beer. St Peter’s Leongatha; 5.30pm with dinner; details Reverend Janet Wallis, telephone 03 5662 2055.

10 Safe Ministry Seminar: Bullying and Boundaries; for clergy, stipendiary lay church workers, coordinators of ministries, op shops, pastoral associates and lay readers; 10am to 12noon; St George’s Wonthaggi; RSVP Registryoffice, telephone 03 5144 2044.

10 CWCI gathering, ‘Flowers with Focus’; Baptist church hall, Princes Highway, Sale; 1.30pm.

10 Quiet Day ‘Walking the Labyrinth’, St John’s Metung; 10am to 3.30pm; BYO lunch

11 CMS South Gippsland Archdeaconry Mission Support Weekend with Tavis and Kate Beer. St George’s Wonthaggi; 9am Wonthaggi; 11am Inverloch; details Reverend Graeme Peters, telephone 03 5672 4590.

11 CMS South Gippsland Archdeaconry Mission Support Weekend with Reverend Graeme Vines. St Paul’s Korumburra; 9.30am St Paul’s Korumburra; 11am All Saints Poowong; details Reverend Jenny Ramage, telephone 03 5655 2007 or 0407 369486.

11 Back to Church Sunday11 Bishop John McIntyre in Bruthen parish11 Kidsplus+ Network Gippsland adult friends fellowship and

supporters invited to afternoon tea at Lillico Glass Studio and Gardens; RSVP Gale Mowat, telephone 03 5144 1220 by September 5; cost $13.50 each. Open invitation.

11 – 13 Growing the church in the community; UCA Presbytery of Gippsland; Grantville Lodge campsite; $120; contact Wendy McDonald, telephone 0437 688477, email [email protected]

13 Mothers’ Union AGM; St Luke’s Moe; 10am; BYO lunch13 – 15 The Abbey of St Barnabas, Raymond Island; Water, Dance

and Drama B. Led by Susanna Pain.16 – 18 The Abbey of St Barnabas, Raymond Island; Spirituality of

Spring. A Retreat led by the Anam Cara Community, Joy Campbell, Marion White and Carolyn Raymond.

16 – 18 Cursillo caravan pilgrimage weekend, Orbost; sites $23 per night or stay in a cabin; contact Peter Down, telephone 03 5157 8996 or email [email protected]

17 Ridley Melbourne pastoral seminar ‘Where is my little miracle?’ 9am to 3pm; RSVP www.ridley.edu.au/infertility

18 Bishop John McIntyre in Rosedale parish18 Diocesan Ultreya, Cowes; 2pm to 4pm20 – 23 The Abbey of St Barnabas, Raymond Island; Environment

Week. Led by Dr Ann Miller and Environmental Taskforce.23 – 25 The Abbey of St Barnabas, Raymond Island; Environment

Week. Led by Dr Ann Miller and Environmental Taskforce.24 CMS Spring Dinner with guest speaker, Dr Cheryl Catford,

Head of the School of Theology and Context at Tabor College; 7pm; One Community Church, Blackburn North; $35 each, $32 concession, $240 table of eight; email [email protected] or telephone 03 9894 4722

24 – 25 Bishop John McIntyre in Orbost parish27 – 30 The Abbey of St Barnabas, Raymond Island; Earth and Art

A. Led by Dr Pene Brook.30 – October 2 The Abbey of St Barnabas, Raymond Island; Earth

and Art B. Led by Dr Pene Brook. Calendar continued on page 15

Dates and events as provided to The Gippsland Anglican by date of printing.

September 2011 Our Diocese - Children, Youth and Family Ministry 11


ON Sunday, August 14, at StAidan’s Newborough, nine peoplepresented themselves to BishopJohn to confirm their baptism vowstaken at an earlier time, to followJesus in their life’s journey. Sev-enty people attended the service towitness the confirmations, includ-ing a congregation of Nuer Su-danese people and children andparishioners from Erica, Rawson,Yallourn North and Newborough.Reverend Neil Thompson assistedthe Bishop at the service.

Contributed by Bill Raymond

ABOVE: With Bishop John McIn-tyre and Reverend Neil Thompson,the confirmees are Mark JohnWilkins, Lilie Hanah Hayblom,Samuel John Heyblom, ShaunaLouise Flintrop, David RoyGuthrie, Michelle Anne Guthrie,Noah Harrison Koschade, ElizaMary Koishade and HunterMichelle Koshade.BELOW: Some women of the Su-danese congregation sang OnwardChristian Soldiers at the confirma-tion service on August 14.

Photos: Bill Raymond

Confirmations at Newborough

Color in picture

Kidsplus+ camp ALL children between six and 18

years are invited to plan to attendthe Gippsland Diocesan KidsPlus+camp in March 2012 at Phillip Is-land. The Kidsplus+ network teamhas booked ‘The Island’ CYCcampsite at Cowes (right) for theweekend of March 23 to 25.

Parish leaders are encouraged tobring a group of children to theweekend or encourage individualsto attend. Adults approved forleadership through your parish arewelcome to join the leadershipteam. Please contact Carol John-stone, Kidsplus+ secretary, tele-phone 03 5174 8445 or chairmanMary Nicholls, telephone 03 51272929 to express your interest. Ap-plication forms for the camp areavailable next term through aparish mail out.

Gippsland Adult Friends Fellowship and supporters of the Kidsplus+network are invited to join the September 11 outing to the Lillico GlassStudio , Gardens and Afternoon Tea. Those interested in attending shouldRSVP to the coordinator, Gale Mowat, telephone 03 5144 1220 by Sep-tember 5. Travellers: turn off the Princes Highway at Nilma and travelalong Bloomfield Road towards Lillico. The afternoon tea will cost$13.50.

The Adult Friends of Kidsplus+ Gippsland meet socially three or fourtimes a year and maintain their support of the wider ministry through theuse of our regular prayer diaries. They often provide practical assistanceand support for special ministry activities. The activities are always opento visitors and new friends.

Contributed by Mary Nicholls

Kidsplus+ friends gather

12 Our Diocese - Children, Youth and Family Ministry September 2011


The Anglican Diocese of Gippsland

takes complaints of abuse and harm

seriously.

If you may have been harmed by a Church worker, or know someone who has, please come forward. All complaints will be treated sensitively and confidentially. The Director of Professional Standards, Cheryl Russell, can be contacted on telephone 03 5633 1573, on mobile 0407 563313 or email [email protected] The Anglican Diocese of Gippsland does not tolerate any harassment or abuse in its church community.

Puzzles

Wordsearch

Crossword

VP day service involvesstudents at Bairnsdale

ON Sunday, August 14, a specialservice to celebrate VP Day (Vic-tory in the Pacific) was held at StJohn’s Bairnsdale. Members of theRSL and children of the BairnsdalePrimary School’s choir and theirfamilies were welcomed by Rev-erend Tony Wicking to the service.Two flags were paraded and re-turned to their place in the War-rior’s Chapel. It is 66 years sincethe end of the Pacific war.

During the service two girls fromthe choir performed on tin whis-tles, a boy and girl read the secondlesson and three girls spoke aboutthe Lord Mayor’s camp in Portsea.This camp is supported by the RSLand our church for underprivilegedchildren from the school. The choirwas very good and sang duringHoly Communion.

The speaker, Mrs Lyn Jamieson,reflected on her son Bradley, whois stationed in Afghanistan. Heloves the army and is happy to bewhere he is. Lyn talked about hernatural worries as a mother but iscontent as long as her son is happy.Modern communications make iteasier to keep in touch as she hearsfrom him daily using internet so-cial sites and communications totalk to him. Lyn finished by sayingthat in her view every young manwould benefit by spending time inthe army.

The service finished with theRSL president reciting the ‘Act ofRemembrance’ and playing of theLast Post and Reveille.

Contributed by Ursula Plunkett

ABOVE right: Bairnsdale PrimarySchool students play the tin whistleduring the service.RIGHT: Jim East and RSL friends.

Photos: Dorothy Scott

AS a follow on from the ex-tremely successful ‘You are spe-cial’ holiday program for children,Inverloch will be beginning aweekly afterschool kids club atThe Ascension. Called Kidsplus+,it is the official diocesan children’sministry and, for those who re-member, a joint venture betweenGFS and CEBS.

The program will begin in fourthterm on Thursday, October 13. Theprogram will be from after schooluntil 5pm and will include a mix-ture of games, stories, craft activi-ties, songs and even a period oftime to do homework.

We have a great team of volun-teers currently preparing the pro-gram but there is still room formore if you think you might be in-terested. You will, of course, needa Working with Children card and agreat heart to work with childrenfrom grades three to six. Theparish is excited about where thisnew ministry will lead us, so pleaseremember to pray for Kidsplus+.

Kidsplus+begins afterschool in Inverloch

By Lauren JankovicGFS Australian Junior Delegate to the World Council of GFS

The 20th GFS World Council was in Dublin, Ireland, from June 24 toAugust 4, 2011. Twelve of the 24 member countries were representedwith senior delegates and eight with junior delegates. Emila Corrigan,GFS World President, opened the council with ‘one thousand welcomes’.

The first order of business began with accepting the membership appli-cation from the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands was welcomedvery warmly into the GFS world body. The second day, all 200 councilparticipants were bussed to various GFS parishes to enjoy drama andsongs. The opening service at St Patrick’s Cathedral was followed by din-ner where we heard some traditional music as we entered the dining hall.

Throughout the Council, fellowship time was shared and each day beganand ended with prayers hosted by the different countries. There were alsoopportunities for junior members to share time together with a junior pro-gram in parallel with the Council. Local GFS children took every oppor-tunity to join activities planned around our Council. GFS Children’s andYouth ministry is alive and well in Ireland.

Each country reported on the wide variety of ministry performedthrough the auspices of the Society. Activity programs for children andyouth, pre-school, playgroup and music ministries, educational, skillteaching, mission and world aid projects were just a few. Current proj-ects are challenging and certainly varied, often working in co-operationwith other support agencies. The Junior Japanese delegate gave a veryemotional report, describing the aftermath of recent natural disasters andnuclear leaks. After a discussion, it was decided GFS will develop a worldrelief fund to support GFS countries at times of disasters. The moneyraised from GFS Australia’s trading table at international day was do-nated to establishing this fund.

The closing service was held at Christ Church in Dublin where GlenysPayne (Wales) was appointed to World President for 2011 to 2014.

* Lauren Jankovic is a GFS leader in Moe parish and an active memberand vice chairman of Gippsland Kidsplus+ Network. Lauren was selectedto be the GFS Australian Junior Delegate to the World Council of GFS,held in Dublin, Ireland recently.

Lauren reports on World Council

September 2011 Our Diocese - Clergy Ministry 13


Farewell to Bob

BARRY AND ANNETTE LETTFuneral Directors

67 Macarthur St., Sale 3850(03) 5143 1232

Barry, Annette andBradley Lett offer

care, compassion andservice with

dignity for the peopleof Gippsland.

Caring and personal24-hour service.

Prepaid and prearranged funeral plans available.

IN Boolarra Churchill parish, thefinal service with Reverend Dr BobBrown was held on July 3 at theChurchill centre. Special guest wasRev. Tim Angus, Uniting ChurchPresbytery Minister for Gippsland.Other guests represented Church ofChrist and parishioners fromBob’s former parish in Deepdene,Melbourne.

The Churchill Catholic parishsent a farewell message as nobodywas available to attend.

Congregation members did thereadings and prayers, Churchillsinging group gave a choral itemand Gordon and Rosemary Abetz-Rouse gave a musical item.

Several speakers talked of Bob’smany programs during his sevenyears of ministry with us, such asLenten Bible studies, lectures thelocal Monash campus and laypreacher training.

Last year Bob (above) was partof a group that travelled to theHoly Land and he gave an inspir-

ing talk and photograph show ofthe trip at one of the monthly Sat-urday breakfast meetings.

The last part of the relinquishingservice (conclusion of a place-ment) saw Bob handing the pas-toral lists to the church secretaries,the singing of the Aaronic bless-ing and a thanksgiving prayer.

A presentation of gifts precededa delicious lunch catered for byboth parishes.

Bob has plans to do further studyin his retirement.

Our annual winter warming wasalso held on July 3 and a quantityof canned and packaged goods wasdonated to local charities. BishopJohn McIntyre was our guest onJuly 17, with a shared lunch to fol-low. A special service was held onJuly 24, at Yinnar, where a congre-gation of 60 witnessed a doublebaptism (mother and son) and aUniting Church confirmation.

Contributed by Rae BillingPhoto: George Francis

CorrectionRE the report on Jo White’s ordi-

nation in August issue of TheGippsland Anglican: Bishop Johnreceived an email that indicatedthere was a previous ordination atSt James’ Traralgon in the past.

“I was present at the ordination ofFr Fred Horton at St James, Trar-algon. I think the year was about1987 or 1988; it was certainly be-fore 1989,” wrote Raelene Carrollof the Bunyip Church.

The incorrect information wasprinted as provided to The Gipps-land Anglican.

Lay readertraining encouraging

THE third in a series of lay read-ers training days will be held onSeptember 3, at St Paul’s Korum-burra. The day begins at 10am andfinishes 3.30pm. Two training dayshave already been held, under thefacilitation of lay readers chap-lains, Reverends Tony Wicking,Bruce Charles and Jenny Ramage.

Following are reports from a layreader and a lay chaplain, from theworkshop held at St John’s Bairns-dale in August.

EncouragementBy Kath GrandyLakes Entrance and Metung Parish

I WENT along to the lay readers’training day at St John’s in Bairns-dale because it was an expectationthat lay readers attend. However, Ifound the day was very informativeas there were opportunities to shareexperiences with others and Tonyand Jenny were anxious to find outfrom those present what their ex-pectations were for future trainingdays.

Jenny began the day with Satur-day morning prayer and in doingso passed on to us some ideas inconducting a service. Tony Wick-ing assisted us in the process ofpresenting a sermon, by askinggroups to discuss the reading forthe day and then give a rough pres-entation to the other groups.

This showed us there are a vari-ety of ways to study and present asermon.

It was a good day, being withother lay readers who shared theirknowledge and experiences and Icame home feeling confident andencouraged in my calling as a layreader.

Good discussionBy Tony WickingLay Chaplain

LAY readers play a vital role inthe life of the diocese. As such it isimportant they have opportunity todevelop their skills and competen-cies in all areas of their role.

The diocese requires lay readersattend two training days over thethree year Synod cycle.

On Saturday, August 13, the sec-ond of three such training days washeld at St John’s, Bairnsdale. Thefirst was held at Moe the previousmonth. These days are being runby the three lay readers chaplains,Bruce Charles, Jenny Ramage andTony Wicking. For Jenny andTony, it is a new role.

Training was centred aroundlearning from the lay readers whatthey were doing in their parishes;concerns or issues they had; andhow we, as lay reader chaplains,could best help and serve them intheir role.

There has been good discussionand encouragement from both layreaders and chaplains.

The Chaplains will collate re-sponses to prepare for organisingnext year’s sessions. Our intentionis to to cover the broad areas oftheological, practical and pastoralissues relating to lay reading.

THE first Australasian Confer-ence of Anglican Cathedral Deanswas held in Wellington from Au-gust 11 to 14. Seven Deans fromAustralia attended along withseven from New Zealand and onefrom Suva Fiji.

Gippsland’s Dean, The Very Rev-erend Dr Don Saines, said theseconferences are of great value “be-cause we get to talk to other Deansand hear about other Cathedralministries.”

Of particular interest at theWellington Conference were thesessions by Dr Andrew Bradstockentitled ‘Faith in the City/ Theol-ogy in the Public Square’. Dr Brad-stock holds the Howard PatersonChair in Theology and Public Is-sues and is Director of the Centrefor Theology and Public Issues,Otago University, Dunedin.

Dr Bradstock offered an interest-ing overview of his work and in sodoing created a lot of discussionabout the ways Cathedral min-istries might reach out and seek toinfluence public thought. Publictheology – talk and debate aboutissues of current concern in thelight of Christian thought – aims atbringing fresh ideas to the publicarena.

“Public theology looks to go, not‘left’ or ‘right’, but deeper. It seeksto raise the quality of public de-bates and sometimes even to re-frame them,” Dr Bradstock said.

Like all conferences, ideas are

generated. Hearing the stories fromother Deans was well worthwhile.The Dean of Wellington, FrankNelson was our host and openedwith an overview of his recent re-search on Benedictine Spirituality.The Dean of Christchurch, PeterBeck, was present and told of theirexperience of the Christchurchearthquake and of their intention torebuild a Cathedral.

Dean Peter’s story of theChristchurch earthquake was anespecially moving account of howthe Cathedral parish is seeking tobe present to the city in its losswhile also seeking to develop itsown life in the face of the loss of aremarkable building and a changedcommunity life.

Dean Saines concluded: “Theconference was a good catalyst forideas but also for mutual support.Several Cathedrals like our own inSale are small and include parishministry within a rural and regionalarea. In general, Cathedral ministryis coming back to the forefront ofthe life of a renewed church, espe-cially in the larger cities.

“In rural centres like ours inGippsland, Cathedral life remainscreative and vital. This is so for allCathedrals though few are withoutfinancial difficulties.”

Contributed by Don Saines

ABOVE: The Deans insideWellington Cathedral after theSunday morning Sung Eucharist.

First Australasian Deans Conference

CANON Don Crewe was re-cently appointed chaplain forGippsland and the Latrobe ValleyChapter of the Order of St Luke.

The Order of St Luke is dedicatedto encouraging and supporting theministry of healing in localchurches. It has a long history inGippsland but has lacked a localchaplain since the late Canon DickPidgeon.

The Order of St Luke the Physi-cian (OSL) derives its name fromSt Luke, ‘the beloved physician’ ashe is described in the Bible. TheOrder began in Australia in the1950s and is now firmly estab-

lished in Australia, New Zealandand many other countries.

In late 2009, after considerableconsultation with the membership,‘OSL Healing Ministries’ wasadopted as the operational name ofThe Order of St Luke the Physicianin Australia to reflect the missionof the Order in the 21st century.

The aim of OSL is to promote theunderstanding and practice of thehealing ministry according to NewTestament teaching and to help torestore this ministry to the normalstream of church life.

Contributed by H Taylor & D CrewePhoto: Theo Bruinsma

Order of St Luke energised

News In BriefTHE Anglican Archbishop of

Adelaide, Jeffrey Driver, an-nounced the ordination, on No-vember 20, of Archdeacon TimHarris as Bishop for Mission andEvangelism in Adelaide diocese.

Bishop Sir Paul Reeves died inAuckland on August 14. He wasappointed Bishop of Waiapu in1971. In 1979, he became Bishopof Auckland, then Primate andArchbishop of New Zealand in1980. In 1985, Sir Paul was ap-pointed Governor-General, the firstMaori person to hold that position.

14 Literary and Media Reviews September 2011


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By Jeanette Severs

RELEASED on DVD in July,What if ... is a film about God’splans for a man and suggests‘What if God gave you a secondchance?’. Ben and Wendy are fo-cussed on a life serving God. Of-fered a job in the city, Ben leaveshis home town and Wendy, prom-ising a bright future for them both.

The story then switches to 15years later and Ben is a man with-out a moral sense of responsibility.A high flying executive, he has notentered a church in years and hasan attitude that money is the onlyicon. He is engaged to a womanwho reflects his own greedy, no-care attitude. Celebrating his latestaccomplishment by purchasing aMercedes sportscar, Ben encoun-ters an angel in the form of towtruck driver, Mike.

Suddenly Ben is in the midst of adomestic crisis, married to Wendy,with two daughters and about to bewelcomed as the new pastor in hishome town.

The story is about Ben’s unwill-ingness to perceive God in his ownlife, his attempts to sabotage thisnew life and return to the old oneand, especially, the impact ofWendy’s faith that Ben will trustGod in his calling.

There are moments of poignancyand humor as we follow Ben’sjourney. However, God’s plans forBen do not include him remainingin this life with Wendy and theirdaughters. Although Ben tries toavoid it, God abruptly returns himto his old life.

What has Ben learned and whatwill he do with the choices avail-able to him? Watch What if ... andponder yourself what you woulddo with a second chance at yourlife’s choices.

Rated PG, What if ... is availablefrom Heritage HM, www.movi-eschangepeople.com or telephone07 5370 2007 or at Christian re-tailers. What if ... is also availablefrom the diocesan bookroom; con-tact through St Paul’s Cathedral,Sale, telephone 03 5144 2020.

Pondering life’s choices

Bush priest in the outbackBy Bishop Ron Stone

Stamp R (2011) As TheSparks Fly Upwards. Mel-bourne: Sid Harta Publishers.

I AM a great admirer of the won-derful work of various AnglicanBush Brotherhoods which plantedthe Christian faith and congrega-tions in some of the remotest areasof Australia. The earliest Brother-hoods were mainly comprised ofdedicated young priests from theChurch in England.

I have often wondered what thesemen from ‘England’s green andpleasant land,’ made of the Aus-tralian outback: the distances, dif-ferences, heat and flies. RichardStamp, a former Bush Brother, hasprovided something of the answerin this book with its fictional taleof Brother Mark.

As the Sparks Fly Upwards hasbeen beautifully written by onewho is a master in the use ofwords. The author is also an artistwith words and paints a wonderfullandscape of the uniqueness thatone finds in the Australian outback,together with brightly colored por-traits of some of the wonderful

characters who live far from thewell settled coastal fringe.

I started to wonder about some ofthe colorful characters the authorintroduces to the reader. Are thesereally fictional characters? Couldtheir exploits and adventures betrue? Was Miss Vercoe’s fishingcatch real? How about ‘Nails theUndertaker’? What about ‘Ferret’and ‘Chugger’? What of Wendy,whose bright undergarments at-tracted the attention of the unmar-ried Brother Mark?

These are just a few of the manywonderful characters introduced tothe reader. Then, upon reflection, Irealised these are ‘dinkum’ out-back Australians; just like many Ihave been privileged to meet in myown ministry as a Bishop in theoutback.

Alongside the places and charac-ters in the book there are to befound little cameos; of faith in ac-tion, of the nature of a call to min-istry and of the loneliness of beinga Bush Brother far from home andfamily; and of serving in that vast,challenging, wonderful part ofAustralia known as the outback.

As the Sparks Fly Upwards is abook that brings with it some of thehumor of the Australian bush. It is

a book to be enjoyed.As the Sparks Fly Upwards is

available through bookshops; rec-ommended retail price is $24.95(ISBN 1-921829-35-4). It is alsoavailable online and as a Kindle E-book at $12.99.

Bishop Ron Stone is a formerBishop of Rockhampton diocese.

AUSTRALIAN students have the opportunity toopen the book on the lives of people with less fortu-nate chances. A new workbook from the Brotherhoodof St Laurence, for use in the nation’s schools, is set togive secondary students a deeper understanding ofpoverty, disadvantage and social exclusion in Aus-tralia.

The Brotherhood workbook (right) is an educationalresource designed to be used in conjunction withBrotherhood: Stories of Courage and Resilience by FrJeff O’Hare. This book, first published in 2009, tellsthe compelling, sometimes heartbreaking but ulti-mately uplifting stories of 29 Australians who rely onthe support of national welfare organisation, theBrotherhood of St Laurence.

Each personal story in the Brotherhood book is ac-companied by a set of activities and questions in theworkbook for students to answer, debate and contem-plate. The workbook was produced by a group of eightexperts in their field, including school principals, the-ologians, social justice practitioners, chaplains and ajournalist.

“The workbook gives students an insight into whymany members of our society can and do fall on hardtimes and how it can so easily happen,” said Fr JeffO’Hare, General Manager of Chaplaincy at the Broth-erhood.

“By being encouraged to think carefully and deeplyabout these people’s circumstances, we hope studentsgain a greater understanding of the journeys taken byvulnerable and disadvantaged people. It may even mo-tivate some to play a future role in helping shape anAustralia that is socially inclusive for everyone.”

Greater social inclusion in Australia is the ultimateaim of the Brotherhood of St Laurence’s programs,services, research and advocacy. In a socially inclu-sive society, people are given the opportunity to fullyparticipate in life. They are able to access education,find a job, earn a fair living, return home each day tosafe and secure housing and connect with family,friends and the wider community.

The workbook discusses the battles fought and ad-versities triumphed by many Brotherhood clients.Some of the raw experiences lived through andtouched upon in the workbook include war, alcoholand drug addiction, life as a migrant or refugee, men-tal illness, losing loved ones, long-term illness and in-jury, bullying and unemployment.

“Some have lived through terribly painful chapters,but the light at the end of the tunnel for many of ourclients is the Brotherhood’s support. It can help themto reconstruct their lives and look forward to happiertimes,” said Fr O’Hare.

“The Brotherhood book and its companion work-book illustrate why each and every person deserves afair go.”

Written with year nine and year 10 students in mind,the workbook can be tailored to suit secondary stu-dents of all ages. It is also suitable for integration intoa range of subject curriculums, including English, His-tory and Religious Education.

“We’re proud and excited to bring this educationalresource to schools,” said Fr O’Hare.

“We hope students find it thought-provoking and aremoved and inspired by the amazing stories exploredin it.”

The Brotherhood workbook was launched at KorowaAnglican Girls’ School on June 27, 2011.

To order copies of Brotherhood: Stories of Courageand Resilience and the workbook, telephone 03 94831301 or online, http://www.bsl.org.au/About-the-Brotherhood/Publications/Books.aspx

Brotherhood releases workbook for students

September 2011 Literary and Media Reviews 15


Diocesan Calendar

Col, Pal & Brad SemmensFUNERAL DIRECTORS

~Servicing Gippsland~Maffra 5147 1954Sale 5144 1954Heyfield 5148 3354

24 Hour Service

Our Family Caring For Your Family Since 1979Brad Pal Col

CorrectionFOR the Bible tells me so, a DVD

reviewed by Karin McKenzie andpublished in August issue of TheGippsland Anglican. The phrase‘Christian fundamentalists’ at theend of the second paragraph wasadded during the editing processand was not a phrase used by theauthor.

By Ian Gibson

Orlowski, BM (2010) Spir-itual Abuse Recovery: Dy-namic research on finding aplace of wholeness. Wipf andStock.

NOW ‘spiritual abuse’ is offi-cially recognised by the AnglicanChurch in Australia, it is importantwe understand better what spiritualabuse means and how it occurs. Forour church, spiritual abuse meansthe mistreatment of a person by ac-tions or threats when justified byappeal to God, faith or religion.

For Barbara Orlowski, a Cana-dian explicitly concerned with spir-itual abuse in the evangelical,pentecostal and charismaticstreams of Christianity, it meansusing spiritual authority inappro-priately, thereby violating the sa-cred trust of a spiritual shepherd.

Orlowski’s book results from herdoctoral research into the question:‘How have Christians recoveredafter experiencing perceived spiri-tual abuse in a local congregation?’with the book focussing particu-larly on recovery. She describes herbook, accurately, as “a recoverymanual for wounded workers”.

Her research included a study ofvictims of spiritual abuse. Theyhad often been strongly committedmembers of their congregation andhad most commonly left the con-gregation following public or pri-vate rebuke, shunning and falseaccusations against them. They leftangry and bewildered. Two-thirdsreturned to some form of Christiancongregation or community; theother one-third of people did not.

Orlowski considers the literature,the biblical and theological dimen-sions and the evidence from her re-

spondents but consistently returnsto some key themes, all related toways the pastor of a congregationcan abuse its members through thepower relationship.

Her overall argument is that spir-itual abuse can occur when mem-bers of a congregation are deprivedof personal agency in understand-ing God and scripture and that thepath to recovery lies in rediscover-ing that agency, partly through un-derstanding how fundamentallyflawed was the theology that justi-fied the abuse.

In the area of leadership she con-centrates especially on authoritar-ian and hierarchical leadership, thedangers of pastors who purport tomediate between God and the con-gregation, the denial of the role ofwomen in leadership, the priest-hood of all believers and servantleadership. More broadly, she isconcerned with how a Christiancommunity can continue to liveunder grace instead of under lawand the tendentious hermeneuticsof abusive pastors.

Orlowski’s main purpose is toequip people who have been spiri-tually abused in an evangelical,pentecostal or charismatic congre-gation to recover through under-standing, first, they are not alone,and secondly, the particular formof spiritual abuse encountered inthese churches is justified by bibli-cal understanding, theology, eccle-siology and models of leadershipthat are misinformed and erro-neous.

This book is not a work of schol-arship. It deals with issues of the-ology, but not comprehensively. Itdoes not attempt to understand thedynamics of abuse or to considerhow spiritual abuse is practised inChristian traditions outside thosewith which she is familiar. Some of

the book’s assertions are breath-takingly generalised. The bookquotes heavily and with glowingapproval from other North Ameri-can publications on the same topic;their authors have in turn endorsedOrlowski’s book on its back cover.

This book would be of particularvalue for anyone directly engagedin helping a victim of spiritualabuse to pick up the pieces and finda path to recovery. It could also beconfidently handed or recom-mended to someone who had suf-fered spiritual abuse, especially inthe church contexts principallydealt with.

Spiritual Abuse Recovery: Dy-namic research on finding a placeof wholeness is published by Wipfand Stock; retail price is $27.

Dr Ian Gibson, who has post-graduate qualifications in the dy-namics and ethics of organisations,is the Advocate of the AnglicanDiocese of Melbourne. This reviewwas first published in August issueof The Melbourne Anglican and isreprinted with permission.

Spiritual abuse results from flawed theology

By Jeanette Severs

Hanon J (2011) The Grand-fathers; released by HeritageHM films.

THE Grandfathers, directed byJim Hanon, tells the story of JesseSaint as he searches for his identitywhile living with the primitive tribethat murdered his grandfather.

Set in the jungles of Ecuador andrated PG, The Grandfathers is amovie about redemption, forgive-ness, traditions and revenge. Six-teen year old Jesse moves with hisfamily to live with the tribe and thefilm is a compilation of film takenthrough a number of years, docu-menting much of the life and ad-ventures of the Saint family andtheir fellow tribespeople.

A major issue of the film focusses

on the tradition of murder in thetribe. Jesse’s own grandfather waskilled by four of the tribesmen. Itis the questions of a group of visit-ing anthropology students thatallow for discussion of this issue.

Their questions reveal, as JimHanon also discusses, 60 per centof the deaths in the tribe are bytribespeople killing their fellowtribesmen and women. One of themain characters is responsible forkilling many people in his wife’sfamily.

Tradition dictates then that themurderer is killed by someone ofthe next generation. For the Saintfamily to follow this tradition,Jesse and his father are expected tokill these four men.

The film is a fascinating explo-ration of living a life of Christianwitness and mission with what isreputed to be the most violent tribe

in Ecuador. The viewer will be sur-prised by some of the informationand decisions that are made by theparticipants, from the beginning ofthe movie to its end.

It is a fascinating fly on the walldocumentary well worth watchingand sure to engage discussion.

The DVD is available from Chris-tian retailers and from HeritageHM films, telephone 07 53702007, email [email protected] or onlinewww.movieschangepeople.com

Family’s faith wrestles withtradi t ion of t r ibal murder

2011

October1 Street stall, St John’s Metung1 – 2 Bruthen Parish Country Craft and Art Fair2 Opening of memorial garden, St John’s Metung; dedication

by Bishop John3 – 6 Annual clergy retreat; Pallotti College; with Reverend Peta

Sherlock, Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, Bendigo9 Bishop John McIntyre in Mirboo North parish9 ICC Hymn-fest at St George’s Wonthaggi; 2.30pm; spend

time together singing hymns, bring a plate of afternoon tea and a retiring offering for the hospital chaplaincy program.

11 Anglican Women of Australia Gippsland Rally and AGM; 9.30am to 3pm; guest speaker Mike Hansen, on the Camino pilgrim walk; enquiries, Pat Cameron, 03 5147 1990

11 – 14 The Abbey of St Barnabas, Raymond Island; Environment Week. Led by Dr Ann Miller and Environmental Taskforce.

14 – 16 The Abbey of St Barnabas, Raymond Island; Environment Week. Led by Dr Ann Miller and Environmental Taskforce.

15 Mothers’ Union Quiet Day, Leongatha, 10am16 Diocesan Ultreya, St Nicholas’ Lakes Entrance; 2pm to

4pm17 – 20 Anglican Women of Australia bus trip to Mornington

Peninsula; contact Pat Cameron, tel. 03 5147 199018 – 21 The Abbey of St Barnabas, Raymond Island; Work and

prayer working together. Led by Brian Turner.19 Mothers’ Union State Council, Melbourne19 Vocational Training Day, Growth in Ministry Training Day,

Clergy Professional Development Training (Supervision Training) ; Bishopscourt, Sale

20 Vocational Training Day, Growth in Ministry Training Day, Intentional Pastoral Practice Seminar; Bishopscourt, Sale

21 Faith in Jazz concert with Reverend Greg Jones, Bob Sedergreen and Matt Kirsch; 8pm; Lotus room, Warrandyte; bookings, telephone 03 9844 5155 or email [email protected]

21 – 22 Growth in Ministry Intensive; Bishopscourt, Sale21 – 23 The Abbey of St Barnabas, Raymond Island; Work and

prayer working together. Led by Brian Turner.23 Bishop John McIntyre at St Paul’s Cathedral, Sale23 Concert for Bush Church Aid with Reverend Greg Jones

and local musicians; St Nicholas’ Lakes Entrance; 26 – 28 The Abbey of St Barnabas, Raymond Island; Intellectual

Disability, Spirituality and Community; Led by Eileen Glass and the L’Arche Community. A workshop, by invitation, for those people involved or interested to be involved in ministry with people with intellectual disability. Expressions of interest to Reverend Edie Ashley, [email protected]

29 The Abbey of St Barnabas at A’Beckett Park; Celebration Day for people with intellectual disability, their families and carers; led by Eileen Glass and the L’Arche Community; a day of fun, community and spiritual reflection.

29 Diocesan administration and insurance seminar for parish councillors, with Richard McDonald of the Anglican National Insurance Program and Brian Norris, Registrar of Gippsland Diocese; 10am to 2.30pm; Warragul; RSVP Registry 03 5144 2044, [email protected]

29 – 31 (Mixed) Women’s and Men’s Lay Retreat; Palotti College, Millgrove

November5 Enthronement of new Bishop of Ballarat, Bishop Garry

Wetherill; 11am; Christ Church Cathedral Ballarat6 Defence Sunday; remember the ministry of the Anglican

Church among defence personnel and their families.15 – 16 Emergency Chaplaincy training course, Level 2, for clergy

and pastoral ministers; Victorian Emergency Chaplaincy Network; 9am to 4pm; $25, incl. catering and manual; email [email protected] or telephone 03 9654 1736

19 Bairnsdale parish fair, St John’s church grounds20 Diocesan Ultreya, 2pm to 4pm24 – 25 Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training; Latrobe

Valley; $275; contact Sarah Gover, telephone 03 5144 1100 or 0458 450370

27 Advent Sunday29 Mothers’ Union Gippsland Executive meeting, Morwell;

followed by lunch at Gastronomy

December3 Annual diocesan clergy family end of year gathering,

Bishopscourt, Sale; 11am to 5pm4 Emergency Services Sunday, St John’s Bairnsdale25 Christmas Day25 Community Christmas Lunch, CowesDec. 28 – Jan. 3 Summer in Seaspray, Sale parishDec. 30 – Jan. 6 Scripture Union ‘Theos’ beach mission, Lakes

Entrance

Dates and events as provided to The Gippsland Anglican by date of printing.

16 Our Diocese - Parishes September 2011


THE parish of Wonthaggi Inverloch had David Spitteler, facilitator ofThe Asylum Seekers Centre, located in Dandenong, speak at both Sun-day services recently. Since 1997, the centre, manned by volunteers, hassupported more than 1,043 asylum seekers, from 65 countries. The cen-tre has applied $344,703.53 from cash donations in the provision of serv-ices such as food, clothes, bedding, travel cards, telephone cards, workexperience and pastoral care. This has been achieved with help from 740churches and organisations.

In his address, David described this ministry as a voluntary interde-nominational response to the needs of refugees and asylum seekers, withno committees, no budget and with no regular source of funding. TheCentre relies on God’s provision and is an example of the church in ac-tion and exercising a ministry of faith.

Recently St Georges, Wonthaggi had Reverend Geoff Campbell speakduring the Sunday services, about his appointment as Pastoral Care Vol-unteer Coordinator through the Interchurch Council and Bass Coast Re-gional Health. The aim of this initiative is to recognise and support thecurrent volunteers who already visit patients in hospital on behalf of localchurches and to provide a more uniform and wider resourced response tothe needs of this sector. Volunteers will undergo some training and willprovide listening, support and spiritual care to patients and families aspart of an holistic approach to health care.

The program was met with a positive response from parishioners, withmany offering to be trained as pastoral care assistants. Rev. Geoff isfunded for 20 hours weekly for two years and hopes to have enough peo-ple trained so volunteers will be available every day at Bass Coast Re-gional Health.

Contributed by Jill Price

ABOVE: David Spitteler on left, speaking to Samantha, a visitor to ourchurch about his ministry with asylum seekers.

Photo: Jill Price

Support for asylum seekersABOVE: Congregation members of St Thomas’ Bunyip with the results of their winter food appeal for Angli-care, Morwell.

Photo: Heather Clarke

ABOVE: On August 7, 2011, Tarwin Lower UnionChurch congregation signed a Resolution (1) ap-pointing the Anglican and Uniting Churches as newTrustees of the church land and improvements on theland and (2) setting in motion the transfer of the landinto the names of the Anglican Trusts Corporation ofthe Diocese of Gippsland and Uniting Church of Aus-tralia Property Trust (Victoria) as the newly ap-pointed Trustees as tenants in common in equalshares. Pictured are some of the signatories: Eric Bal-lon, Reverend Denis Simmons, Rev. Janet Wallis,Doug Grigg, Ted Fisher, Elizabeth Dunlop, Jim Copeand Allan Mercer.

Contributed by/Photo: Heather Scott

ABOVE: The Sudanese congregation of St Mary’sMorwell held a special service to mark the creation ofthe world’s newest state, the state of Southern Sudan.St Mary’s Australian congregation joined with theNuer speaking congregation to celebrate that after allthe blood shed and the dislocation, the State of theSouthern Sudan has hope to build a life for its citizenswithin their own control. Archdeacon Heather Martenand Pastor Stephen Riek led the service at Morwell.[Editor’s note: See October issue of The Gippsland An-glican for a perspective on this event.]

Contributed by/Photo: Carolyn Raymond

DURING the service at St John’sMaffra on August 14 we took along walk through church historywith Archdeacon Ted Gibson nar-rating. Seven members of ourchurch family showed clergymen’soutfits through the ages to themodern day. ABOVE: Brian Tease,Jeff Wheaton, Brad Nielson, AlanBanner, Spencer Eakins, GordonMcIntosh, Archdeacon Ted Gibsonand Jack Spunner. RIGHT: ‘Rev-erend Nielson’, just arrived byhorseback for services, greetsparishioner Christine McIntosh.

Photos: Jean Heasley

LEFT, above andright: Audiencemembers and thespi-ans who participatedin the Beauty and theBeast theatrical per-formance at StJames’ patronalcabaret dinner in Or-bost in late July.

Photos: B Lunson

Documents

The Gippsland Anglican, September 2011