Catholics will accept a common date for Easter in East, West, Pope says

“Celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Francis reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s willingness to accept a proposal for a common date for celebrating Easter in the West and the East.

Noting that in 2025 the date coincides on the West’s Gregorian calendar and the East’s Julian calendar, Pope Francis said that ‘I renew my appeal that this coincidence may serve as an appeal to all Christians to take a decisive step forward toward unity around a common date for Easter.’…”

– Possibly not something which keeps you awake at night, but important for some. Report from Catholic news agency OCV News.

‘Religious groups split on changes to hate-speech laws’

“A proposal to criminalise hate speech in NSW has split religious organisations, with Australia’s peak Jewish body welcoming it as long overdue, but the Anglican and Catholic churches warning it could have unintended consequences of criminalising expressions of doctrine. …

Michael Stead, the Anglican Bishop of South Sydney, said his church was ‘deeply outraged and appalled’ by the spate of attacks against the Jewish community, but cautioned against the ‘unintended consequences‘ of such a law.”

– Report from The Sydney Morning Herald.

Image of Bishop Michael Stead courtesy of The Pastor’s Heart.

Mothers Union Sydney annual seminar 2025

Mothers Union Sydney has details of their 2025 Annual Seminar coming up on Friday 28th February.

Speakers and topics:
Shining Like Stars – Anna Brotherson
Living in a Secular Age – Steve McAlpine
Equipping Our Children – Al James and Beth Braga

It’s free, but registration is required. Read about it and register here.

Action on anti-semitism

“Archbishop Kanishka Raffel and the Bishop of South Sydney, Michael Stead, have held consultations with Jewish and other faith leaders, as well as Government, as anti-semitism reaches a new level.

Firebombing of cars, graffiti hate attacks on homes and synagogues in Sydney’s east, and now the arson attack on a preschool in Maroubra, have created fear in Jewish communities. …”

– Story from Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Image: The burnt-out Maroubra childcare centre (photo by Judy Adamson)

James Boardman commissioned at Kelso

From the Diocese of Bathurst Facebook page:

“In the presence of Diocesan and other clergy, along with representatives of BCA partner churches, the Rev’d James Boardman was commissioned as Priest-in-Charge of the parish of Kelso yesterday. Charly and the children were warmly welcomed and took part in the service. We are so thankful for the support of BCA, without which, James could not serve full-time.”

Food for your prayers.

Related: Bush Church Aid.

Melbourne Anglicans mourn former Archbishop of Melbourne Keith Rayner

“Australian Anglicans are mourning the death of a former Melbourne archbishop and pivotal figure in the ordination of women in the Church.

Bishop Keith Rayner died peacefully on 12 January 2025, almost eight weeks after his 95th birthday. …”

– From The Melbourne Anglican.

Photo: Stpeters-cathedral, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Archbishop of Sydney’s Statement on further Antisemitic attacks — 13 January 2025

Here is a Media Release from the Diocese of Sydney:

“Media release

Anglican Diocese of Sydney
Archbishop’s Public Statement
More antisemitic attacks

For the second time in two months, I am taking the step of expressing the dismay of many Sydneysiders at grotesque acts of antisemitism in our city.

The recent attacks on the Allawah and Newtown synagogues, which follow attacks on private homes and property, are reprehensible and utterly unacceptable.

Any attack on a place of worship is an attack on the principles of freedom of religion, association and conscience which are foundational for our multicultural and cohesive community. Such attacks must be comprehensively rejected.

Beyond that essential principle we also recognise that antisemitism has a particular history and shape, played out across the world. Over the centuries, this has included antisemitism perpetrated by professing Christians. The Christian scriptures give no warrant whatsoever for such hateful acts. Rather, Jesus commanded his followers to love our neighbours as ourselves.

Sydney Anglicans welcome and affirm the presence and contribution of Jewish Australians for whom Sydney is the home we share and whose peace, prosperity and harmony is our common commitment.

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel
13 January 2025.”

– Source: SydneyAnglicans.net. Also as a PDF file.

Anglican Aid’s 2025 Prayer Diary

Anglican Aid have published their 2025 Prayer Diary as a PDF file on their website.

If you don’t receive a printed copy at church, this is a great alternative.

And don’t forget that you can also subscribe to Anglican Aid’s feed in the PrayerMate app for the content from the Prayer Diary.

Major fire destroys parts of St Hilary’s Kew

“The Anglican community was distressed to hear that there was a major fire at St Hilary’s Kew (on the corner of John and Rowland Streets) in the early hours of Friday 10 January. …

Thanks to the quick action of the fire fighters, they were able to save the church and the hall (both original buildings on the site). …

Offices, the main kitchen, and other spaces were significantly affected. The church has sustained some smoke and water damage”

– Story at The Melbourne Anglican.

Photo via The Melbourne Anglican.

Cross-cultural ministry that seeks to connect

“In our part of Sydney, Chinese migrants come from very diverse backgrounds. Their occupations range from working on construction sites as builders, to running their own businesses, to working in offices as white-collar workers. There is a real mix of people in Lidcombe since it is now an important transport hub in Sydney, and it attracts many Chinese migrants who settle here. …”

– At the Moore College website, Danny Au Yeung, Rector of Lidcombe Anglican Church, shares some points for prayer in a strategic part of Sydney.

Holding out the good news to multicultural western Sydney

“Minchinbury is a suburb in the heart of western Sydney located just south of Mount Druitt and Rooty Hill. The local area is a melting pot of nations, with only 53 per cent of people in the catchment born in Australia. (It’s 70 per cent across New South Wales.) If Minchinbury was a street with 100 people living in it, 10 would be Filipino, four Indian, 81 would speak more than one language, 12 would be Islamic, 33 would be Catholic, and only 15 people would have no religion. …”

– Moore College has published this encouraging report from Mike Smith in the parish of Minchinbury.

Earlier the College published this ministry story from David Misztal at Wentworthville.

2025 Summer Prayer Diary

Tara Sing at SydneyAnglicans.net has produced a very helpful resource:

“It’s summertime and we’re getting out into the sunshine, sharing the good news of the gospel and diving deep in understanding the word of God.

With the weeks packed with camps, conferences and missions, we’ve put together an eight-day prayer diary featuring some of the great kingdom initiatives that we can bring before the Lord. …”

– Find it here.

New edition of “The Link” from Armidale — Dec 2024-Jan 2025

The latest issue of Armidale Diocese’s magazine The Link is now available for download form their website.

On the cover is the Rev. Julie Cook, just announced as the new Diocesan Deacon for Women.

Download your copy here (PDF file) – and do pray for the continued ministry of the gospel in the Diocese of Armidale.

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel’s 2024 Christmas message — God does not leave us alone

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel has released his Christmas message for 2024 — God with us in our loneliness.

Good to watch – good to share — good to play in church!

See also this post from Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net, which includes a link to the text of the Archbishop’s message (PDF file).

Bishop Mark Calder’s Christmas message 2024

Here’s the Christmas 2024 Video Media Release from Bishop of Bathurst Mark Calder.

Text version below:

Joy to the World

We sing it every year, and we hear the familiar words: peace on earth. But as we look around our world, we might ask, where is the joy, and where is the peace?

The peace that Jesus came to bring was not the end of wars and strife in the world. It is a far deeper peace—peace with God. This peace comes through the forgiveness of sins, which Jesus made possible through his death and resurrection.

Because of this peace—a peace that goes beyond our understanding—we can be people of great joy. When we come to God, say sorry, and receive his forgiveness, we can know that everything we’ve mucked up in the past has been dealt with and forgiven.

This Christmas, my hope is that you will experience the peace that Jesus came to bring—a peace that leads to lasting joy.

Wishing you a joyful and peaceful Christmas.

– Good to share.

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