Church under Coronavirus: Bathurst Diocese

Posted on June 7, 2020 
Filed under Australian dioceses, COVID19

“Why was there no special gathering to mark the 150th anniversary of the Diocese of Bathurst on 5 May 2020? Was there much to celebrate anyway?

Consider the state of the Diocese. Spasmodic rainfall has not broken an extended drought in the region. In recent decades the church has been impoverished. Successfully sued for a multi-million dollar debt, it had to sell much church property. Griefs for these losses endure. Only the generosity of Sydney Diocese keeps things going.

More property still must be sold to help redress wrongs done to victims of sexual abuse. The Diocese is clouded with sadness for those ‘scarred and forever damaged’, as Mark Calder, Bishop of Bathurst, recently described the victims. …”

– In The Australian Church Record, ACL Emeritus Vice President Allan Blanch writes of much encouragement in Bathurst Diocese, despite much stress.

(Allan is the author of From Strength to Strength – A Life of Marcus Loane and A Pioneering Pastor: Thomas Sharpe of Norfolk Island and Bathurst.)