the gippsland anglican - march 2012

Volume 109, Number 2 March 2012 Published in Gippsland Diocese since 1904

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

Local students andteachers visit Gahini

pages 10 & 11

Discussing Estheras a role model

Page 4

Jesus Christ hereand now in Bruthen

pages 12 to 14

By Jeanette Severs

TWO Gippsland menreceived awards onAustralia Day, January 26,2012. Peter Vranek, ofAvon parish, received theAustralia Day Citizen’sAward presented byWellington Shire Counciland the Local CommunityAward for Citizen of theYear presented byStratford Lion’s Club. GeoffBell, of Morwell parish,received the CommunityServices of the Year Awardpresented by Latrobe CityCouncil.Peter and his wife,

Denise, are members ofHoly Trinity Anglicanchurch in Stratford and arewell known for their activi-ty in the parish, especiallythrough the thriving opshop. Peter, in particular, isresponsible for renovationsand maintenance of the opshop. He grew up in Maffra but

has lived in Stratford formore than 50 years. Peterand Denise raised two chil-dren, Tony and Josephine,have four grandchildrenand have always con-tributed their time andenergy to the community.Peter was a plant operator,scaffolder, rigger andfarmer before he ‘retired’to become even moreinvolved in the Stratfordcommunity.He was completely sur-

prised to received theawards.“It was a shock and a

great honor to receive both

awards,” he said.“I have been getting a lot

of congratulations and peo-ple keep telling me theawards are well deserved,even people I don’t know.But the biggest honor I’vereceived is a letter fromBishop John McIntyre con-gratulating me.”Peter was nominated by

Brendan Lee, a foundingmember of Stratford LionsClub. Brendan commendedPeter for his many years ofdedicated community serv-ice including 36 years as amember of Stratford LionsClub, serving twice aspresident as well as beingregularly on various com-mittees and initiating manyfundraising activities. Hehas provided emergencyassistance over a consider-able period to disabledpeople which is ongoing;has been president of, andremains a driving force ofGippsland WoodcraftGroup; was involved inLandcare and Beefchequeuntil he retired from farm-ing; began aNeighbourhood Watchgroup in the northern areaof the town; and, throughhis membership of theStratford CommunityRepresentatives Groups,has worked with WellingtonShire to improve footpathsand wheel chair access forelderly and disabled peo-ple.Peter was an active advo-

cate for the developmentof independent living unitsin Stratford until the causewas taken up by the

Uniting Church and has, ona number of occasionstaken on an advocacy rolefor elderly and or disabledpersons, such actions gen-erally unknown to others.He assists the Stratford

primary school by provid-ing woodwork lessons forinterested children and,when asked by the schoolprincipal, makes variousitems of equipment for theschool. For 12 years hecontributed hundreds ofhours of voluntary serviceto Diabetes Australia.Using his woodwork skills,

Peter has crafted anddonated many items forvarious organisations toraffle for funds andupgrade of the entire HolyTrinity op shop building,including lining, shelvingand plumbing, is a testimo-

ny to Peter’s diverse abili-ties. Peter contributes sev-eral hours each week involuntary service throughthe op shop.Also at Holy Trinity,

Peter’s woodworking skillsare evident in the gardenseat built and donated tocommemorate 20 years ofPeg Rule’s garden bustours and in the HonourBoard on the church wall.He has also completednumerous woodcraft orhandyman jobs over time.The Stratford Men’s Shed

was, in cooperation withthe Wellington Shire, start-ed by Peter in 2010 and isan ongoing testimony toPeter’s persistence in com-pleting an important activi-ty for so many retired menneeding mateship and aregular pastime. His dedi-

cation and exampleencouraged others tobecome involved and helpto achieve their newvenue. The ‘shedders’ arenow involved in a numberof community projects.Peter regularly assists eld-erly people in need of vari-ous repair work in theirhomes.Brendan stated the

impressive account of com-munity assistance, givenso freely by Peter Vranek,is an example of contribu-tion which makes Stratfordsuch a popular place inwhich to live.Geoff Bell, of Morwell, is

another humble man whohas contributed much inhis lifetime to his commu-nity. Geoff grew up in

ABOVE: Geoff Bell, of Morwell, stands in his prolific vegetable garden with his AustraliaDay award. Photo: Jeanette Severs

Humility ofthese menawarded

continued page 20

2 Our Diocese - Missions and Ministries March 2012

The Gippsland Anglican

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IndexAust. Day awards 1

Diocesan focus 3

Esther a role model 4

AWA song 5

Janet Wallis 6

Color-in picture 7

Gonski report 8

New leaders 9

Gahini report 10,11

Bruthen parish 12-14

Diocesan calendar 15

New bishops 16

Ultreya 17

MU news 17

Reviews 18,19

Abbey progress 20

Letters to the EditorClosure of AWADear Editor,I was one of the very for-

tunate Anglicans to travelon nearly all the bus tripsorganised by AnglicanWomen of Australia Gipps-land group. I did miss thevery first trip to Canberra.It was under the leader-ship of Joan Chynoweth,wife of Bishop Chynoweth.The bus trips were a greatopportunity to get to knowthe bishop’s wife and theclergy wives at a commonlevel.The second trip was to

Philip Island. I liked thesetrips because they werewell planned and wereover two, then three,nights. One could leavethe cat, dog, chooks orhusband well set up forthose few days. We musthave travelled all over Vic-toria in that time and sawsome wondrous sights.The House of Wheels wasone of these.A lot of shopping was

done, as the bus trip wasclose to Christmas. Wehave met up with manyrelatives along the way.A fun thing to do was to

count how many peoplecalled ‘Betty’ travelled onthe bus each year. Therewere usually five: BettyGoodwin, Betty Yeates,Betty Works, Betty John-son and Betty Luxford. Wedid take a photo of them,one trip.I think it was on the long

trip to Mildura we knittedsquares to make rugs.Boy! Could some of theladies make those knittingneedles fly. Little woodendollypeg dolls were sold onone trip. One lady knittedtiny Christmas puddings touse as Christmas decora-tions, just superb.Two ladies were great

football fans. One bar-racked for the ‘bombers’(Essendon) and the otherwas a one-eyed ‘magpie’(Collingwood) supporter.They waved their scarvesaround with great prideand would leave them onthe seat as we left the bus,so they could find theircorrect place on return.One day, the temptationgot too much for some ofthe passengers and ontheir return, the twowomen found the fringe ofthe black and white scarfall tightly plaited andwound around the armrestof the seat, much to greatmerriment!On all the trips, Merryl,

Pat and all the clergywives looked after us verywell and we made longlasting friendships.What a privileged era to

live through - AWA - theAnglican Women of Aus-tralia. Thanks for the holi-days, the good coachcaptains, the planning,love and care, girls. I amsorry it has come to an

end.Sincerely,Betty LuxfordStratford

LeadershipDear Editor,Mr Westhead (The Gipps-

land Anglican February2012) made some inter-esting comments aboutBishop McIntyre’s leader-ship style. Let me takeissue with him as heseems to have distortedthe role with how it isdone.While I agree in essence

with his definition of lead-ership I think church lead-ership has differentparameters to businessleadership. Church leader-ship also includes what isoften called ‘servant lead-ership’. I see this as aleader working with othersto help them achieve theirgoals, whatever they maybe. This is done throughteaching, training and gen-erally encouraging andequipping them for thistask.

Where I do take issue isthat it is also the role ofthe leader to challenge theexisting values and ideasof the people. Without it,we run the risk of continu-ally doing and being thesame. This is good if whatwe are doing is right. Ifnot, then we need to bechallenged about our viewsand, if need be, changethem to better fit the re-sponse to the challenges ofthe day. It is in discussionof differing views that thediocese is able to formopinions and a common vi-sion. The bishop’s role as aleader is to provoke thatdiscussion.This will cause anxiety

and distress, especially ifone is from the ‘other side’of politics. Many of us donot like to have our atti-tudes and ways of livingchallenged. Let us face it;the Gospel is about chal-lenging the comfortable tobring comfort to those whoneed it. This will bringpeople who think differ-ently into opposition to thebishop’s ideas. Sometimes,I wonder if this oppositionis because one may notwant to examine one’s ownlife in the light of thegospel and bring about thechange required. We arehappy the way we are,thank you. The bishop isobviously passionate aboutthe views he holds. Iwould sooner that thanone who ‘toes the partyline’ for the sake of keep-ing the peace. As regards the separation

of Church and State, canwe separate them? We arecalled to live out our faithin our lives. The State ispart of our lives. The veryfact we are Christianmeans we must care forthe poor, the disadvan-

taged, speak out for themarginalised. Often thatmeans being involved inthe ‘State’. The politics ofthe day is a place wherewe can and need to be in-volved to bring about thechanges necessary to as-sist them into a better life.Being new to the diocese,

I cannot speak for theBishop Appointment Boardand their decisionmakingprocess. I would hope theydid take due diligence inthe background check ofour bishop. Perhaps theysaw the diocese neededsomething new or differ-ent. Perhaps in BishopMcIntyre they saw this wasthe leader the dioceseneeded at this point intime.I may not always agree

with the bishop. But I dosupport his action and hisrole as a leader to chal-lenge us; to look to our at-titudes so we can changethem if we need. The morewe are willing to be openand discuss these issues,the more unified as a dio-cese we become and thebetter we can serve ourLord.Sincerely,Tony Wicking, Rector, St John’s Bairnsdale

FreedomDear Editor,I am replying to Mr West-

head’s letter in the Febru-ary edition of TheGippsland Anglican. Iwould like to start bythanking him for his letterand you for publishing it.The letter was clear andwell written, expressing MrWesthead’s concerns andhis personal position. I be-lieve it is important that allmembers of our dioceseshould be free to expresstheir thoughts and beliefs.Mr Westhead defined the

role of the Bishop of Gipp-sland, rightly, as that of aleader. He summarised therole of a leader as estab-lishing a clear vision andco-ordinating and balanc-ing the conflicting interestsof all members of the dio-cese. This shows us aleader who is working withthe people he is leading.This is true, but I believe itis incomplete. A leadershould also extend andchallenge the understand-ing and actions of the peo-ple he is leading. A leadermust create a climate ofgrowth; this growth will in-evitably involve change. Change is always chal-

lenging. As the leader ofour diocese, our bishopmust and does create a cli-mate where each of us candeepen our spiritualgrowth. This helps us all togrow in our relationshipwith Christ and our under-standing and love of oth-ers. I do not see how this nec-

essary faith activity can beseparated from political is-sues. Bishop John has en-couraged us to commit tocertain morally based po-litical issues but he has notpushed a particular politi-cal party. Both faith activ-ity and political issues arewith us all the time and in-fluence us every day of ourlives.Mr Westhead seems to

hope we in the Churchshould always live in totalagreement with eachother. I can only see thisleading to complacencyand spiritual stagnation.It is only through beingchallenged that we areforced to examine our-selves and so to grow inthe love of God. We comefrom different life experi-ences and backgrounds,which helps form our be-liefs and also our politicalallegiances. I hope therewill never be total agree-ment across the diocese. Bishop John is leading us

by challenging us. I, forone, need to be chal-lenged. Mr Westhead’s let-ter has challenged me towrite this response.Sincerely,Carolyn Raymond,St Mary’s Morwell

Personal viewDear Editor,Mr Bill Westhead’s letter

concerning Bishop John’sleadership has promptedme to review many of theviews expressed by thebishop in The GippslandAnglican and other publi-cations. I would like tomake a personal commenton three matters raised inthe letter.I cannot endorse Bill

Westheads’s view that ourbishop has abrogated hisleadership. There aremany models and forms ofleadership, not one set ofprecepts, as the letter im-plies. The dictionary defini-tions quoted seem to applyto business managementand are not entirely appli-cable to a pastoral rolewithin the church. I wouldexpect all church leader-ship to be assessed ac-cording to a scripturalmodel of servant leader-ship, as exemplified byJesus himself. A very de-manding model indeed!I cannot accept Bill West-

head’s view that BishopJohn’s views are entirelyleftwing. They seem to bequite wide-ranging and Ifind criticism of both sideof politics. Our bishop doescertainly have and expressstrong views on social jus-tice issues and such viewswill always have politicalimplications and will not beendorsed by everyonewithin the church. Person-ally, I have not agreedwith his views on all mat-ters, but I am pleased to

continued next page

March 2012 Our Diocese - Missions and Ministries 3


OUR current DiocesanStrategic Plan comes to aclose in 2013. It is timenow to begin to reflect onwhat the key focus will befor our coming five-yearstrategic plan for 2013-2017.In our current plan, Jesus

Christ, Here and Now forGippsland, for clear and ob-vious reasons the centralfocus is on Jesus Christ whois central to our faith. The‘Here and Now’ aspect is anemphasis on the immediacyand urgency of our mission.‘For Gippsland’ emphasisesour commitment to localaction as a priority, and ourunderstanding of God’sgrace towards us and thecommunities of which weare a part in Gippsland.Because our current plan

has challenged us to be in-tentional, focused and ac-countable in ministry andmission, we can look backwith thankfulness on manynew initiatives that havetaken place across the dio-cese. For example, oneparticular focus of the planhas been on ministry withchildren and young peopleand their families. Two in-dicators of the success ofthe plan are the growingnumber of Mainly Musicgroups, and the recent ap-pointment of Richard Lan-ham in Youth and FamilyMinistry; he is employed atthe cathedral and with adiocesan-wide brief. Thereare many more stories totell.The emphasis on ‘The

Journey Inward’ and ‘TheJourney Outward’ has also

given us a balanced ap-proach to ministry and mis-sion, recognising our needto become more Christ-likein all we are and do as wejoin with God in God’s workin the world. Only by en-gagement in ministry andmission will we becomemore Christ-like and onlywhen we grow in Christ willwe be effective for God inministry and mission.Under our current plan, it

has been good to see peo-ple willing to take risks andtry new things. For me, TheAbbey has been a bench-mark of our commitment asa whole diocese to look atnew ways of engaging inministry and mission asGod’s people in God’s worldas part of the plan. It hasbeen risky and we have ex-perienced a few set-backs,but the vision continuesand grows. As it grows, ithas drawn more and morepeople into its excitement,from within and outside thechurch.Behind the scenes, struc-

tural and financial decisionshave been taken to alignour processes and financeswith the priorities of ourstrategic plan. This meansour dreams are not limitedby the constraints of struc-tural inefficiencies and thatfinancial bottom lines areheld in perspective.My first task in coming

back into the diocese afterlong service leave has beento ask the clergy to begin toreflect with you all on whatmight be the central focusof our new strategic plan.Bishop-in-Council has al-

ready set aside a date inApril as a planning day.Time will be spent at thecoming session of Synod tofurther our exploration ofwhere God is calling us tofocus in ministry and mis-sion in the five years from2013.The more people are in-

volved and the wider thediscussion ranges, thegreater the possibility wewill together discern arightthe will of God; and thehigher the ownership of theeventual plan. I encourageyou to be involved in yourparishes in the praying, re-flecting and discussion nec-essary to arrive at our newplan.In writing to the clergy, I

have suggested we beginour reflections around oneof the central themes of theGospel of Mark, which is theGospel we are readingthrough on Sundays thisyear. That theme issummed up in some keymoments in the Gospel,one of which is when Jesussays to a paralysed man:“So that you may know theSon of Man has authorityon earth to forgive sins” …“I say to you, stand up,take your mat and gohome” (Mark 2.10-11). TheGospel writer then tells usthe people were amazedand glorified God when theman did just that. Could itbe their amazement here isdue to their realisation thatGod has placed into humanhands the authority onearth to forgive sins? The clear focus on the

‘Son of Man’ in the Gospel

of Mark is certainly a focuson what Jesus does as aman. This, in turn, indicatesthe authority we have ashuman beings in Christ toact for God in God’s world.It also indicates the respon-sibility we have to act forGod in God’s world. In part,at least, this is the respon-sibility to forgive, preciselybecause wrongdoing in theworld is only overcome byforgiveness.Could this mean God sim-

ply want us to becomemore and more human interms of the humanity ofJesus and that this is ourmission for God in theworld? Could this mean atrue focus on Jesus is sim-ply a clear focus on thehuman being, the personwho is most fully human?Could this mean becomingmore Christ-like is essen-tially becoming more trulyhuman? With this under-standing, is the key focus ofthe ministry and mission of

the church to affirm our hu-manity and the humanity ofall others?I would suggest this is

worth contemplating as astarting point for our newplan. I encourage you topray, reflect and discuss aswe begin to shape a strate-gic plan for 2013 to 2017,centred again on JesusChrist, the Son of Man.

from previous page

have a bishop who doeschallenge us to thinkdeeply and respond ac-cordingly about issues ofjustice from a Christianperspective. I am uncer-tain from Bill Westhead’sletter whether he is un-happy with the views ex-pressed or whether hebelieves a bishop shouldexpress no views at all.Would he accept a bishopwho expresses only right-wing or conservativeviews?I agree the separation of

church and state is an im-portant principle, which isenshrined in our constitu-tion. But this principledoes not mean the churchshould make no commenton social or political issues.I quote from Bill Wallis’sbook God’s Politics, alsoquoted by Kevin Rudd inhis 2007 essay, Faith in

Politics: “Religion . . is notto be ideologically pre-dictable or loyally partisan. . .faith must be free tochallenge both right andleft from a consistentmoral ground”. Martin Luther King also

observed: “The churchmust be the conscience ofthe state, but never itstool”.Sincerely,Lloyd H George, Sale

ChallengeDear EditorIn February’s issue of The

Gippsland Anglican, a con-tributor to the letters pagemade comment on a per-ceived left wing bias in thecontent of our bishop’s col-umn. Bishop John was de-scribed as resorting to ‘theharangue and denuncia-tive’ and ‘abrogating hisleadership function’. He

was also accused of de-nouncing those who holdopposite but reasonedviews.I wonder whether terms

such as ‘left wing’ and‘right wing’ are useful infurthering debate. Don’tthey become weapons todiminish opponents andcloud rather than clarify is-sues?We do live in fraught and

unstable times and for pre-cisely this reason thebishop needs to speak witha clear, prophetic voiceabout issues of the daywhere justice and fairnessis undermined. He is notalone. In February, TrinityCollege is hosting theSambell lecturer in Pas-toral and Public Theology,Reverend Dr Ray Cleary,who is leading a forum ti-tled ‘The Public Domain,the Church and Justice’.Try as I might, I cannot

see our bishop as an ha-

ranguing demagogue.Even less can I see him asdenouncing those who holdviews at variance with hisown. Certainly, he chal-lenges some aspects ofpublic policy with vigor;public policy pursued byboth sides of politics buthis vehemence is directedat the idea, never theholder of the idea.What are the options?

Should the bishop be soconscious of not offendingthat he avoids contentiousissues or homogenises hiscolumn so it offends noone and, in so doing, saysnothing worth reading?Inevitably, forthright and

direct expression of opin-ion will challenge somepeople’s sensitivities. Isn’tthat what engagement ofthe church in the life of theworld is meant to beabout? In challenging us,the bishop invites us tolook anew at longheld atti-

tudes. Sometimes his chal-lenge will result in change,sometimes it won’t.Jesus wasn’t too fussed

about offending people:the money lenders in thetemple and the law-drivenPharisees, to name twogroups. Above all, he wason the side of the under-dog, the marginalised andsometimes said somerather unpalatable thingsthat offended the religiousestablishment of the day. Our bishop seems to like

this model and I urge himnot to stop being challeng-ing and forthright. If hedid opt for a more guardeddiscretion, he would beselling us and selling him-self short. As people of theGospel, we are entitled tothe principled leadershipthe bishop offers.Sincerely,Sue Fordham,St Peter by the Lake, Paynesville

Begin to focus onnext strategic plan

Right Reverend John McIntyreBishop of Gippsland

4 Our Diocese - Missions and Ministries March 2012


IN late January, people at-tended the annual CMSSummer conference, onPhillip Island. There wereBible studies, opportunitiesto hear about what God isdoing around the world, lis-ten to missionaries, meetnew people, times for re-laxation and programs forchildren and young people.‘Christianity in the Middle

East today’ held much in-terest. Bishop Mouneer Anisspoke from his experienceleading the diocese of Egyptwith North Africa and theHorn of Africa and his roleas Primate of the AnglicanProvince of Jerusalem andthe Middle East. Many Christians are emi-

grating from the MiddleEast from fear for the fu-ture and their departure isa huge loss. Christiansmust be encouraged to stayin their countries and thosewho have left need to beencouraged to return, sothey can be salt and light intheir communities and con-tribute to the developmentof their country. At the mo-ment there is uncertainty,fear and apprehension, butalso hope for the future.Lindsay Brown, Interna-

tional Director of the Lau-sanne Congress on WorldEvangelism, drew on hiswide experience of the

Church around the world.“The call of the Church is

not just to be radically dif-ferent from society, but topenetrate it. Our responseto suffering and adversity isone of the most powerfulways we can bear witnessto Christ,” he said.Among the current threats

to Christianity, Lindsaycited growth of the newatheism. Whereas pastatheists have said religionis unhelpful or not true,some people are now say-ing religion is evil and mustbe eradicated. Lindsay believes partner-

ships between churchesand Christian organisationsare vital. CMS (Church Missionary

Society) has missionaries in40 countries; the confer-ence considered the secu-larisation of Europe wherethe world of faith exists hasbeen pushed to society’smargins.Retired principal of Ridley

College, Dr Peter Adam, ledBible studies on the Book ofEsther, with scholarly expo-sition of the text, relevantapplications, telling illustra-tions, many challenges andtouches of humor. God is not mentioned in

the Book of Esther, but he ishidden behind all theevents the book describes.

The book is not about howGod used a special person,but about how God useseverything for good. Even iflife seems out of your con-trol, look for opportunitiesto serve God, he said.Esther’s resolve to go to

the King (4:15-17) to pleadfor her people showed herto be a person of greathuman courage, an exam-ple of all that human beingsare called to be. She pointsforward to Jesus who cameamong us as one whoserves. Peter’s challenge to every-

one was to trust God in badtimes as well as good, inbig matters and small, inpain as well as in joy, whenyou are not sure if God is incontrol or not.We can learn something

from Esther about how Godworks but we need the restof the Bible to understandthe full glory of the greatworks of God.Every missionary pointed

out that being with peopleand developing relation-ships with them is theirmost important activity. Ifthose watching you can seethe love of Christ lived outin your life, they will be at-tracted to the Christ youserve.Contributor: Janine Stewart

Photo: Andrew Astley

Esther is a role model

By Lesley Chisholm, Leongatha parish

IT was wonderful, as always, to gather with a fewhundred Christians at Phillip Island to hear about thework of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) both lo-cally and overseas (see story, left). Our days beganwith dramatised bible readings from the Book of Es-ther, bringing this intriguing story alive. Reverend Peter Adam made many fascinating and

challenging points as he led the bible studies. High-lights for me were:1. Esther was made queen “for such a time as this!”

to save the Jewish people. When she overcame herfear and seized the opportunity to approach the king,even though she might die, she became a person ofgreat dignity. She said: “Better to serve God even ifI fail, than to fail to serve God”. What a wonderful at-titude and a courageous one.2. We all live moment by moment with the opportu-

nity to serve God. Everyday acts have eternal conse-quences for all human beings. We affect each otherand what we do really matters, because we are madein the image of God.3. God is at work both in the ordinary and miracu-

lous, in good and bad times, through the rich butmore often through the poor. God works in coinci-dences, sometimes called ‘visible moments of grace’;but God is also working when the coincidences ormiracles are not seen. This, Peter called ‘the invisiblegrace’, which is constant and ongoing. We need totrust God is working all the time in everything thathappens, good and evil.4. We must be careful not to let God’s love of the

individual supersede the fact God cares about hispeople as a group; the flock, the church. He said:“You are here to be a blessing to your community”. Itmade me wonder how God wants us as a church tobless our community this year.Missionaries spoke about the work of God in differ-

ent areas of the world they were serving. It was won-derful to hear more from Jon and Deb, our linkmissionaries in Indonesia, who thanked us for pay-ing them to have coffee with the people God hasbrought into their path. They have formed some spe-cial relationships they hope will lead to deepeningtrust and sharing the Gospel in the future. They willattend Leongatha’s church camp in March.Lindsay Browne, a gifted evangelist and head of the

Lausanne World Congress on World Evangelism, toldstories of people coming to Christ after experiencingthe love of Christ from Christians.Bishop Mouneer Anis, Anglican bishop of Egypt and

much of northern Africa, shared his understanding ofrecent political changes in Egypt and many otherArab nations in Africa. He demystified Islam and saidmost Muslims appreciate friendship and respectful di-alogue with Christians. He explained we do not needto fear Muslims, just befriend them.The music was uplifting and fellowship such an en-

couragement. It was a blessing to be able to spend afew days being inspired in so many ways. I recom-mend SUTS next year, even for day visitors.

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Advance Notice The Organ and More! A Concert with a Difference for Lovers of

Inspirational Music Voice Hear the St Peter s Allen Organ played by local organists,

joined by vocalists and instrumentalists

Sunday, June 17, at 2pm Anglican Church, Leongatha

Admission $10 per adult (children free) including Afternoon Tea

Proceeds to support events for local children, including Christian Religious Education and Carols in the Drome.

RIGHT: Some photographs,items and vestments ondisplay during a gatheringof Anglican Women of Aus-tralia in Gippsland. The50th anniversary celebra-tion of AWA in Gippsland ison March 6, at St Paul’s An-glican Cathedral in Sale,beginning 9.30am. Angli-cans Fair is a song for AWAin Gippsland, written to mark the organisation’s 20th anniversary on October 6, 1982.It was updated to celebrate the 40th anniversary, October 15, 2002 and verses wereadded (see bottom of page). The song should be sung to the tune of ‘Widdicombe Fair’.

1. All Anglican women come gather around, All along, down along, out Gippsland way,For a wonderful organisation we’ve found ...

Chorus:With Evanne Garnsey, Gwen Graves, Miss Whitehead, Joyce Knife, all Anglican womenand all, all Anglican women and all.

2. Our foundation we owe to the work of Evanne, All along, down along, out Gippslandway,Her inspiration and vision gave birth to the plan ...

Chorus:With Audrey McDonald, Elinor Scott, Val Manchester, Hazel Fuhrmeister, Mrs Holloway,Margaret Smallbone, all Anglican women and all, all Anglican women and all.

3. Condensed, you can call us AWA, All along, down along, out Gippsland way,That’s Anglican women in every way ...

Chorus:With Audrey Delbridge, Eileen Cox, Shirley Ferguson, Joan McLaughlin, all Anglicanwomen and all, all Anglican women and all.

4. Our umbrella is up, but it’s not for the rain; All along, down along, out Gippsland way,It unites us in Christ as we serve in his name ...

Chorus:With Audrey Matthews, Jenny Rainsford, Fay Woodward, Nell Jones, Joan Less, all An-glican women and all, all Anglican women and all.

5. We’ve got Guild ladies, Mission maids, Choristers, too, All along, down along, outGippsland way,GFS, YMD and the girls of MU ...

Chorus: With Joan Chynoweth, Anita Johns, Judy Reynolds, Rosemay Cooper, Jan Huggins, AnneConnelly, all Anglican women and all, all Anglican women and all.

6. We’re Australia wide, even over the sea, All along, down along, out Gippsland way,Anglican women together in His service, free ..

Chorus:With Annabel Gibson, Ena Sheumack, Jenny Ross, Cherry Ireland, Beryl Llewellyn, Mar-garet Pamphlet, all Anglican women and all, all Anglican women and all.

7. At our workshops we share and we learn with a will, All along, down along, out Gipp-sland way,With confidence boosters and many a skill ...

Chorus:With Elvie Olden, Beryl Brien, Pat Cameron, Michele Chidgey, Pam Pincini, Jenny Mac-Robb, all Anglican women and all, all Anglican women and all.

8. Our rallies are known from the hills to the sea, All along, down along, out Gippslandway,We worship, talk, listen and drink lots of tea ...

Chorus:With Valerie Jones, Joyce Elliot, Edna South, Ethel Armstrong, Heather Baker, MarionJones, Claudette Mogensen, all Anglican women and all, all Anglican women and all.

9. When all’s said and done, is it worth the time? All along, down along, out Gippslandway,“We attest, it’s the best!” is our answer in rhyme ...

Chorus:With Merrill Johnston, Janet Wallis, Pam Davies, Margaret Scott, Neila Peart, PeggieArthur, Roma Durham, Jane Macqueen, Lindy Driver, all Anglican women and all,all Anglican women and all.

(With acknowledgements to Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davy, Dan’lWiddon, Harry Oak, Old Uncle Tom Cobbley and all; and grateful thanks to the 20th an-niversary author of the verses, Reverend Tom Binks. The new verses are all the chorusesfollowing verses 2 to 9.)

AnglicansFair at 50

AUSTRALIA’s first Bible Museum, in St Arnaud, Victoria,is now open, with free entry to all, including guided tours.The museum is open five days weekly, Tuesday to Satur-day, in Napier St, St Arnaud. Plenty of free parking isavailable on the street directly out the front of the Mu-seum. The Museum is wheelchair friendly with plenty oframps instead of stairs. Free tea and coffee is also avail-able.Displays are constantly changing as new items are added

to the collection. The displays include history of the Bible,bibles from around the world, the 400th anniversary ofthe King James Bible and illuminated manuscripts.The museum contains more than 1100 Bibles, together

with models and artefacts associated with the bible mes-sage. There are educational displays of many types, in-cluding the history of the bible in English.The bible collection has original bibles printed 400 years

ago, as well as the most recent modern editions. The col-lected age of the bibles is about 15,000 years.There are also displays focussing on fruits and food of

the bible, women of the bible, musical instruments of thebible, coins and stamps related to the bible and archeol-ogy and the bible. Visitors can also see Jewish oil lampsand buildings in the bible, such as the Jewish Temples,Tabernacle, Masada and Patriarch’s Tomb.Online at http://www.thebm.com.au or telephone 03

5495 1169.

Bible museumis now open

6 Our Diocese - Celebrating Ordained Women March 2012


By Jeanette Severs

JANET Wallis felt an earlycall to ministry. But, likeElizabeth Alfred who wasinterviewed in The Gipps-land Anglican Februaryissue, Janet thought hercall to ministry meant shewould need to marry a cler-gyman. Thankfully, timeschanged, the AnglicanChurch in Australia decidedto ordain women and even-tually Janet was able to fol-low her calling to become apriest.Notwithstanding the call to

ministry in her late teenyears, Janet remained ac-tive in the Anglican Church.She qualified and worked asa teacher, married andspent 10 years raising afamily before returning toemergency teaching and arole as a family day carefield worker.It was a move to Gipps-

land when her husband,Peter Wallis, was appointedRegistrar of the diocese,that saw her increase herinvolvement in lay ministry.“I still felt a call to ministry

but my conversations withGod were along the lines of‘well, God, you don’t meanme, you mean my husbandor son’,” Janet said.The lay reader role in Sale

parish, alongside Peter, de-veloped into visiting andpreaching and Janet felt in-creasingly comfortable withwhat was happening. Shesought guidance andBishop Arthur Jones, thenserving Gippsland Diocese,encouraged Janet to take

up some theological studyand explore the ministryrole, taking responsibilityfor pastoral visiting, leadingworship and preaching atfirst Giffard, then Seaspray.“As my pastoral and litur-

gical skills developed, thepath explored felt right andthe sense of God’s guidancestrong.”With some doubts remain-

ing, Janet returned toteaching fulltime, with afocus on working with chil-dren with special needs.“At the end of 12 months,

I knew my passion was forpeople to know the Gospeland God’s grace. So I hadto make a decision and Iwas led by my passion, em-bracing a call to ministry.”Janet was ordained dea-

con in December, 1997 andwas appointed to Rosedaleparish from January 1998.This was a part time ap-pointment as deacon-in-charge and lasted until2001. During this time shewas ordained priest (1999).“Rosedale was the fulfil-

ment of all I thought min-istry should be, workingwith people to move thechurch to different forms ofworship,” Janet recalled.“It was a very supportive

congregation and the peo-ple shared responsibilitybetween myself and otherleaders in the Rosedaleparish.”After a time, Janet felt she

needed to move on and anopportunity arose to be thepriest-in-charge of MirbooNorth parish; this enabledher to live and minister in

the same community.“At Mirboo North, there

was a real, genuine loveand faith of the people inthe church. The people inthe congregation live thescriptures day to day. Thecongregation was involvedin ministry and had a realwillingness to be involved inthe community.”Janet was rector in Mirboo

North parish from 2001 to2007, before taking up therole of priest-in-charge atLeongatha parish.Mirboo North and Leon-

gatha are similar in that, atthe time of her appoint-ment to each parish, thecongregations were grow-ing; and over time, eachcongregation has slowed inthat growth and reduced innumbers.“Leongatha parish was

and is keen to try new di-rections,” Janet said. Leon-gatha parish was featuredin the November 2009 issueof The Gippsland Anglican.Janet is currently fo-

cussing on exploring newways of being flexible andenergising people in theparish to develop the nextsteps in ministry, for herselfand for others.“I am also exploring my

role in ministering to thepeople of the parish,” shesaid.“I’ve always believed, as a

teacher, you should do reg-ular assessments; I havebrought that into my min-istry role.”Janet is conscious of her

role in Leongatha parish’sfocus on intentional andpurposeful ministry butfeels caught between con-centrating on growth innumbers of people in thecongregation or spiritualgrowth of the people al-ready part of the church.“I am reflecting on what is

the best sort of ministry forthe parish at this moment,”she said.Janet has held, and does

hold, other responsibilitiesin the diocese. She is one ofthree Rural Deans in thediocese. Her responsibilitiesinclude meeting with laypeople in the deanery re-gion, three times annually,and facilitating opportuni-ties to come together forlearning. She offers pas-toral support to clergy inthe region and is responsi-ble for some parish prop-erty matters in the region,such as building projects.Her responsibilities areshared with the Archdeacon

in the southern region.Janet became chaplain of

the Anglican Women ofAustralia Gippsland groupand remembers with loveand contentment the min-istry of the women in AWA.She helped to facilitate andsupported executive com-mittee meetings and at-tended the tri-ennial AWAconference in Traralgon.The conference enabled

her to meet AWA membersfrom throughout Australiaand internationally. Her ex-ample of chaplaincy en-couraged other AWA groupsto return to their dioceseand ask their bishop to ap-point a chaplain.“I really appreciated AWA

members’ focus on sup-porting parishes in this dio-cese, in other dioceses andoverseas. I really enjoyedbeing involved with some-thing organised by lay peo-ple; people comingtogether for a common pur-pose,” she said.Janet drew similarities

with the involvement of laypeople in Cursillo. Her owninvolvement includes at-tending Cursillo while livingin Bathurst diocese and, onmoving to Gippsland, be-coming further involved. Asa priest, she has been spir-itual adviser to a number ofCursillo teams in Gippsland.“Cursillo has helped me

grow my faith, learn inpractical terms what itmeans to be part of thebody of Christ, loved andsupported by other peo-ple,”Janet said.“Through Cursillo I have

also been honored to hearlay people talking abouttheir faith.”

In the February 2012 arti-cle about Reverend Eliza-beth Alfred, KayGoldsworthy was referredto as Bishop of Perth; itshould have been AssistantBishop of Perth.

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Janet led by God’s guiding hand RowanWilliamsspeaks indebate onwomenbishopsTHE Church of England’s

General Synod is currentlylooking at the legislativeprocess designed to make itpossible for women to bebishops while making pro-vision for those who, fortheological reasons, will notbe able to receive theirministry. The Archbishop of Canter-

bury intervened during theGeneral Synod debate onthe Business Committee’sReport on the Reference ofthe Draft Bishops andPriests (Consecration andOrdination of Women)Measure to the Dioceses.Following debate and

amendment, the motion:‘That this Synod call uponthe House of Bishops, inexercise of its powersunder Standing Order60(b), to amend the draftBishops and Priests (Conse-cration and Ordination ofWomen) Measure in themanner proposed by theArchbishops of Canterburyand York at the RevisionStage for the draft Meas-ure.’was carried in the follow-

ing form:‘That this Synod (a) noting

the significant support thedraft Bishops and Priests(Consecration and Ordina-tion of Women) Measurehas received in the Housesof Bishops, Clergy and Laityof diocesan synods, and (b)desiring that the draftMeasure be returned to theSynod for consideration onthe Final Approval Stagesubstantially unamendedso that it can be seen if theproposals embodied in it inthe form in which it hasbeen referred to the dioce-ses can attain the level ofsupport required to achieveFinal Approval, request theHouse of Bishops in the ex-ercise of its power underStanding Order 60(b) notto amend the draft Measuresubstantially.’The Archbishop, Dr Rowan

Williams, stated he felt thechurch wanted clarity abouta single structure for thediocesan episcopate; to seebishops being bishopsrather than different kindsof bishops with differentkinds of powers; and tomake provision for a minor-ity that respects their theo-logical integrity and theirneed for pastoral continuityand ecclesial integrity. His views are detailed at

http//www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/2/9/ACNS5031

March 2012 Our Diocese - Children and Family Ministries 7


THE Diocese of Gambia,part of the worldwide Angli-can Communion, at its re-cent Synod, resolved toextend the reach and in-volvement of Mothers’Union and youth in itsparishes.The Diocese of Gambia

comprises the republics ofGambia, Senegal and CapeVerde Islands and thediocesan population is8,375,867 people.This year’s Diocesan

Synod in Gambia called fordiocesan organisations tobe established in allparishes and membershipopened to anyone inter-ested to join.In a statement issued fol-

lowing the Ninth Synod ofthe Diocese of Gambia at StMary’s Cathedral, Banjul,members resolved “ThatDiocesan Organisation suchas Mothers’ Union and theAnglican Young People’s As-sociation should be estab-lished in all parishes andmembership be extendedto all those interested. Aspecial effort must be madeto reach out to women at StCuthbert’s and Church ofthe African Martyrs.”The Synod went on to rec-

ommend “the Youth Min-istry be challenged to bemore active in 2012 andsubsequent years than theyhave been in 2011; more-over that special and con-certed attention plusencouragement be given to

their ministry.” To that end, all parishes

have been asked to allowthe youths to participate inthe Sunday Service at leastonce a month, in an at-tempt to encourage youthsto be more active.A major theme of this

year’s Synod was the Mil-lennium DevelopmentGoals, in particular goalsthree to five: to promotegender equality and em-power women; to reducechild mortality; to improvematernal health. These willbe a focus during the com-ing synodal period.Diocesan Bishop, Dr

Solomon Tilewa Johnson,said in his charge to Synod:“Last year we reflectedupon Millennium Develop-ment goals one and two.The common theme is thatof social action in ourChurch. This is not at all di-vorced from our ministry inevangelism and the nurtureof believers. “St Francis used to say to

his followers, ‘go andpreach the Gospel, usingwords if necessary.’ It ispossible to reveal theGospel through our actions;that is, the ‘incarnational’approach.”The full statements are at

http://bit.ly/weoDNDSource: http://www.angli-

cancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/2/16/ACNS5039 dated February 16,2012.

ABOVE: At a mainly music activity in Warragul at the endof last year, were Vanessa Barry and Kaelan Lowe.

Photo: Bev Foster

Gambia Synodencourages MUand youth focusacross diocese

Color-in picture

Copyright: Bible Society Australia

Nativity set used with honorRIGHT: Each Christmas, StAugustine’s Anglican churchof San Remo, in Bass PhillipIsland parish, holds anevening family carols andreadings service. Each fam-ily at the service takes uppieces of a nativity setmade by Chris Robins manyyears ago. Readings areappropiate with that part ofthe service. The nativityscene is behind the chil-dren. Reverend DawnRobins and Chris began theservice many years ago andhave left a lasting memoryfor us all to share in.

Photo: Roma Caulfield

8 Our Diocese - Youth, Children and Family Ministries March 2012


By Russell Powell

THE long-awaited Gonskireport has the potential toboost educational outcomesand equity in the schoolfunding system, but onlywith the recommended $5billion cash injection ac-cording to a senior Anglicaneducator.On February 20, business-

man David Gonski unveileda series of recommenda-tions including a one-offboost to address what thereport describes as imbal-ances and lack of co-ordi-nation in funding and a‘significant gap’ developingbetween low and high-per-forming students.Other measures would in-

clude collecting nationaldata to boost resources forstudents with disabilities,encouraging philanthropy inschooling, and establishinga Schooling Resource Stan-dard (SRS) as the basis ofthe funding model for stateand private schools.The principal of St An-

drew’s Cathedral School, DrJohn Collier, was at the re-port launch in Canberra. DrCollier is chair of the Asso-ciation of Heads of Inde-pendent Schools inNSW/ACT and a member ofthe Anglican EducationCommission.He says the document,

two years in the making,contains several promisinginitiatives including the SRSscheme.“The notion is a good one

in terms of a base that ap-plies to all schools, withloadings for indicators of

disadvantage which areopen to non-governmentschools as well as govern-ment schools. The method-ology for assessing schoolachievement is more prob-lematic as it would bebased on the NAPLAN test-ing, which is a narrowmethod of assessment andwas never meant for thispurpose.”Dr Collier believes overall

non-government schools,including church schools,could benefit if the entirereport was adopted. “At the top end, I doubt

there would be any increaseat all in funding, quite pos-sibly a reduction. But bearin mind that most of theschools in our sector, de-spite the stereotypes, arenot high income schools.Most independent schoolsin Australia and many An-glican schools are included,are not at the most affluentend of the range and stu-dents in those sort ofschools could expect tobenefit by having more re-sources available,” Dr Col-lier said.Already School Education

Minister Peter Garrett hasruled out a mutli-billion dol-lar injection to the systembut the government says itwill now begin work on thenext stages in developing anew funding model forschools. Based on the Gon-ski report, it will take a setof funding principles to thenext meeting of the statesand territories.Dr Collier believes that is a

disappointing result consid-ering the amount Gonski

argued for is only a 15 percent rise in the educationbudget or .05 per cent ofGross Domestic Product. Al-ready, Australia ranks nearthe bottom on the OECDscale of comparable coun-tries, in terms of educationspending.Chief executive of the

Sydney Anglican SchoolsCorporation, Dr LaurieScandrett, described thereport as “a great step for-ward” but is also worriedthe government will delayproviding the extra fundingneeded to back the Gonskifindings.“We’re concerned the gov-

ernment will not, in theforeseeable future, imple-ment significant parts ofthe report such as the in-troduction of a schoolingresource standard and therecommendation to fund agreater proportion of schoolcapital works.“The government has

pointed to the expenditureon the Building the Educ-tion Revolution (BER)school hall program as evi-dence of its significant con-tribution to capital worksfor schools.“They’ll really need to be

prepared to put dollars to-wards it or it defeats thepurposes of the equitymeasures contained in thereport,” Dr Collier said.“There’s a mismatch be-

tween politicians’ demandsthat we be the clever coun-try and the resourcing thatis available to make it so.”February 20, 2012

www.sydneyanglicans.net/news

Important InformationThis summer, electricity businesses will be modifying their powerline safety settings to reduce the risk of bushfires. This may delay restoring power if a fault occurs. Consider your need for back-up power if you are highly reliant on electricity. Remember power outages can also affect phones, radios and water pumps.

such as a swimming pool, concrete or metal tank, or dam.

If you lose power, contact your electricity distribution business on the “Faults and Emergencies” number on your most recent electricity bill.

ABOVE: Richard Lanham (centre) after his induction asassistant minister youth and families, for the Sale parishand the Gippsland diocese, in February. Richard is picturedwith Bishop John McIntyre, Dean Dr Don Saines and hissons, Elijah, Jack and Jacob and wife, Julie Lanham.

Contributor/Photo: Christine Morris

Gonski report can boost education

ABOVE: Youth participants at the Summer under the Son conference at Philip Island inJanuary, hosted by Church Missionary Society (CMS).


ABOVE: Former exchange student at St Paul’s AnglicanGrammar School, Natsuru Saito, recently graduated withHonors in Aeronautical Space Design at Melbourne Uni-versity. The Japanese exchange student arrived at StPaul’s in 2007 with very little English, no Australian friendsand a lot of courage. When asked his career ambitionsback then, he replied: “I would like to graduate from anAustralian University and work in aerospace design”. In arecent visit to St Paul’s, Natsuru and his mother, Mrs SaikoSaito, thanked the staff and students for their continualsupport and care of Natsuru during his time at the school.Natsuru returned to Japan to work in his chosen field.

March 2012 Our Diocese - Youth Ministries 9


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

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

OFFICE OF THE ! Director of Professional Standards

ABOVE: Gippsland Grammar inducted its 2012 prefects and school captains at a specialservice at its Garnsey Campus in February. The ceremony was followed by morning teafor students, school dignitaries and parents. Back row: Elliot Shaw, Executive Principal,Mike Clapper, Chelsea Fernandez, Ben Emonson, Maddie Crombie, Jake Lauria, LydiaEvans, Ben Lawless, Cara Penton, Riley McLaren, Indiarna Ellis and Head of School, JanHenry.Front row: Tom Johnston, Vice Captain Anna Bourke, School Captain Jack Daw-son, School Captain Laura McConville, Vice Captain Nick Robinson and Stephanie Bar-nett.

Photo: Lisa Baker Photography

RIGHT: St Paul’s AnglicanGrammar school principal,Lisa Moloney, received, onbehalf of the students andcommunity, an Aboriginalflag from local elder, MrsDot Mullett, and Mr RussellBroadbent. This year, StPaul’s celebrates its 30 yearanniversary. Ms Moloneysaid it is timely the schoolis recognised for efforts to-wards reconciliation and itsongoing relationship withthe Aboriginal community.Mr Broadbent addressedthe students about theirpotential to contribute tothe wellbeing of all Aus-tralians, including those inrural and indigenous com-munities. St Paul’s studentsDylan Proctor, Ebony Proc-tor and Tanika Jensen-Thain assisted principal, MsLisa Moloney, Mr RussellBroadbent and Mrs DotMullett, to raise the Aborig-inal flag at the school.

Aboriginal honorfor St Paul’s

YOUNG Anglican peacebuilders fromcountries damaged by conflict will get achance to participate in a unique workshopbeing organised by the Anglican Alliance inJuly. The program will enable young Angli-cans from Africa, Asia and Latin America achance to look at ways to prevent conflictand build the role of women in peace-building initiatives. Focussing on the role of conflict as a bar-

rier to development, it will give the youngpeople a chance to share best practice andexperiences across the Anglican Commun-ion. It takes forward the commitment fromthe Anglican Alliance’s global consultationto put peace and reconciliation at the heartof its work. The program will run in con-junction with the Community of the Crossof Nails, established at Coventry Cathedralafter its wartime devastation.

The Peacebuilders’ Exchange: Trans-

forming conflict, Changing Lives is a 10day program designed to develop thepeacebuilding skills of young Anglicanleaders. It will explore the challenge ofconflict as a barrier to successful develop-ment and allow participants to share ex-amples of best practice in conflicttransformation across the Anglican Com-munion. The initiative will allow young people to

develop peacebuilding leadership skills andask them to identify how they can be re-sourced, sustained and affirmed in theircurrent roles. Participants will be chal-lenged to consider the influence of the paston understanding conflict in the present,ways of building peace in multicultural andinterfaith contexts and the role of thechurch in building sustainable peace. Theywill also examine the role of women as me-diators and sustainers of peace.

Workshop for young peacebuilders

ABOVE: Youth at the Summer under the Son mission con-ference on Philip Island in January.


Note from the Edi-tor: Due to a tech-nological glitch,emails sent priorto February 16were lost. If yousent informationthat has not ap-peared in thisissue of The Gipp-sland Anglican, orhas not been ac-k n o w l e d g e d ,please send thisinformation again,to [email protected]

10 Our Diocese - Missions and Ministries - Links with Gahini Diocese March 2012


AFTER last year’s final VCEexams were complete, agroup of six year 12 stu-dents from GippslandGrammar and St Paul’s An-glican Grammar, in defianceof the ‘schoolies’ tradition,left Australia somewhatmore purposefully for atwo-week community serv-ice expedition to Gahini dio-cese, in Rwanda. Thispossibility was brought tolife through the efforts ofSarah Gover, Anglicare’sCommunity DevelopmentOfficer in Gippsland, andbuilds upon the already sig-nificant connection existingbetween the dioceses ofGippsland and Gahini. Thisarticle is based on a com-munal diary written by theyouth and adult partici-pants, conveying their im-pressions of this amazingcultural and life-changingexperience.Day one, November 28,

2011: So much for beingscared of flying in a plane.Rwandan driving at nighton the way to Gahinitopped all our fears, swerv-ing around motorbike ridersinto oncoming traffic andavoiding the hundreds ofpedestrians who walk alongthe edges of the roads. Thenext morning we hiked tothe village of Gahini, up asteep hill where womencarry jerry cans of waterfrom the lake. When wordgo t out that we had fris-

bees and a soccer ball, thechildren came running.They loved seeing them-selves on the displays ofour digital cameras andwere soon laughing as theyused the cameras them-selves. The children alsokept holding our hands,asking for high fives andhandshakes and marvellingover the difference in thecolor of our skin. The great-est thing about the childrenis they seemed happy andcontent and were happy toplay with the smallestthings, such as a frisbee, allday. Day two: Today we went

to Kiramuruzi, a town about20 minutes away by road.John, Mike and Jo hosted aseminar for teachers andeveryone else went to alocal school, where we wereconfronted with a swarm ofmore than 400 children.With the help of someCanadians, who were alsohere on a community proj-ect, we settled them andgot the pleasure of watch-ing them dancing andsinging for us. Their voicesare amazing, it was so gor-geous. Three hours later,leaving to hundreds ofwaves, we were so ex-hausted. The poverty wasmore evident on the carride, as you see children noolder than six years carry-ing jerry cans, bananas ortending to crops. It makes

me never want to say no tomum’s request to emptythe dishwasher ever again!(Britt)Day three: It was Sarah

and Dave’s 15th weddinganniversary, so they werecommanded by BishopAlexis to have a day in Ki-gali; I hope they had a fan-tastic time because theysure deserve it. While mostof the group tripped off toNyagatari, to run educationseminars or play with thechildren, Melissa, Aiden andI went to the rehabilitationcentre and hospital for themorning. I met with theSouth African medical stu-dents and they showed methe hospital, which was big-ger and more impressivethan I imagined. We wererequired to find the totalsurface area of a child’sskin (who had Burkit’s lym-phoma) in order to admin-ister the correct amount ofchemotherapy. In theatre, Iwitnessed a sterilisation op-eration and then I wit-nessed my first caesarean.It was so amazing. Thebaby was the second oftwins but had not de-scended properly and wasbecoming distressed. Therewas a touch-and-go mo-ment. The hospital has noneonatal resuscitation orheart machines, yet thebaby was fine within min-utes thanks to the simplemethods of the Rwandanmidwives. That amazingexperience was followed bya group of children comingup to us on our way homeand showering us with hugsand high-fives; quite a fewof us were contemplatingtaking the children home.(Ella)Day four: Today a group of

us visited a school in Rugu-rama. What seemed like asmall school actually hadmore than 600 students.The school seemed to lacka play area; however, thisdid not seem to deter thechildren, for as soon as weproduced balls, they wereinvolved in every activitywe threw their way. Ini-tially, there were not manychildren; however, we wereled through a maze ofhouses and with every doorwe passed more bright andwondrous faces joined ourtroupe. The morning activities

seemed to fly by and beforewe knew it, we were thrustin front of a group of teach-ers to give our thoughts on

what made a good teacher.Later in the afternoon,Melissa, Jon and I went fora walk and met some localsalong the road, giving us achance to try some of ourKinyarwandan. (Aiden)Day five: Today, Toni,

Jayde, Jo, Jon, Mike and Iwent (along with BishopAlexis’s son, Sam) toKabarore. Mike and Jonworked with teachers fromthe area and the rest of usplayed with a group of chil-dren. We played somegames and they told ussome stories. Today, Ellawas at the hospital, Brittplayed with the kids in therehabilitation centre andDave and Aiden helped net-work some computers inthe room at the schoolwhich the blind studentsuse. After lunch, we took ataxi bus to Kayunza to ex-plore the markets. It wasreally fun; we had a groupof kids follow us around themarket. A lot of us boughtsome beautiful African ma-terials for about 3500francs (about $6). It madeit a lot easier to buy thingswhen we had our translator,Valence. When we gothome, we went for a swimand took a kayak down atthe lake; very peaceful!(Melissa)Day six: Our rest day

began with a typically latestart as we waited for ourbus drivers to take us to Ki-gali for the day. The longand bumpy ride was spentdeep in conversation forsome, but for others play-ing ‘I Spy’ and 20 ques-tions. Once in Kigali, weheaded straight to theGenocide museum and me-morial centre. All of us weremoved by the terrifying sto-ries of the genocide in1994. After a meal, it was

time to shop. After a visit tothe foreign exchange, wespent half an hour in thesupermarket buying misseditems such as chocolate andcroissants. We were sur-prised at how cheap thingswere. Around the corner,we found a tourist souvenirshop which had a variety ofwooden carvings, clothingand jewellery. We wentcrazy in here and after halfan hour were satisfied andthought we had spent lotsof money but when trans-lated, it was hardly any-thing in Australian currency.The ride home was filledwith Mike and Jon singingall the Christian hymns totry and find something tosing to the Tanzanian choirwho will visit us tomorrow.(Toni)Day seven: ‘Jesus is alive

and well’ is the name of asong the ‘Rays of Hope’have just been singing atour celebration evening.Jesus is alive for these peo-ple, is what is in my mindthis morning as we arrivedat the parish of Kiramuruzi(Toni, Jo and myself; theothers were at the serviceat Gahini Cathedral). It wasa truly unforgettable time.From the moment we ar-rived, the singing was hap-pening. As the service started, the

choirs took their turn tosing. I guess what had animpact on me was the lackof inhibition of the Africansand their beautiful singing.Canon Patrick did the trans-lation of my sermon andthere was a response ofabout 10 people whowanted to start followingand trusting Jesus; otherswanted to confess theirsins. Afterward, we foundout this has been normal

The Church, over the years, has been blessed with the generosity of Anglicans and others in support of its mission. One way you can support this ideal in a relatively easy way, is to make a gift through your will. In the first instance, of course, you will consider carefully the needs of your immediate family and friends before proceeding with a bequest to the church.

We offer a way of helping you to carry out your wishes. Your gift, through your bequest, will be very much appreciated. You may wish to support the Diocese of Gippsland as a whole, or your own parish, or for a particular purpose.

Making your bequest in your Will is a simple procedure, although in preparing or amending your Will you should always consult a solicitor. The Registrar of the Diocese of Gippsland has information to assist you in making a bequest, including the form of words you and your solicitor might want to use.

Telephone Brian Norris on 03 5144 2044, or go to www.gippsanglican.org.au

A LASTING GIFT: A bequest to the Anglican Diocese of Gippsland or your parish

Leaving Gippsland;next stop: Gahini

Gahini Cathedral

continued next page

March 2012 Our Diocese - Missions and Ministries - Links with Gahini Diocese 11


from previous page

for about six months.There would have been 400adults at the service and150 children; an incrediblemorning. The Tanzanian choir ar-

rived late afternoon andcame for a walk past ourunits. Everyone was sofriendly and many photoswere taken of the Tanzani-ans and Australians to-gether. We made our way tothe outdoor entertainmentarea before dinner to listento the choir warming up.This was great because inthe midst of the singingeverybody was dancing, sowe all joined in. The formalevening started with thechoirs sharing their songsand some traditional danc-ing. Bishop Alexis spokeabout the importance ofyoung people feeling wel-come in the church; theolder people are the oneswith the resources for theyounger ones to partici-pate. Lots to think about forthe Anglican Church inGippsland! (Jon)Day eight: A day of vari-

ety; many tasks to be com-pleted. An unexpected andsad start to the day whenwe learn of the death of anex-staff member at StPaul’s. We lit candles andsaid a prayer for him atbreakfast. Jon and Mikeheaded to Karangazi withBishop Alexis to give an-other seminar to localteachers. Jo and Ella headed for the

hospital to complete thegrading of the 120 pairs ofglasses, generously do-nated by the Sale commu-nity. This takes time as themachine was archaic butwe had fun doing it. Britt,Aiden, Toni, Mel and Jaydewent to the rehabilitationcentre to work with the chil-dren. Britt gave her newlittle friend there a newdress which fitted beauti-fully and gave great pleas-ure. Several of us met up at

Bertha’s to work on theGippsland card order (1500cards); a mammoth taskfor the small group of dis-abled workers in Gahini.This was the evening of ‘theGreat Debate’ involvingsome of the local young-sters mixed in teams withsome of our students anddebating the topic ‘Youngpeople have a significantrole in strengthening thechurch’. Britt stole the showwith a wonderful perform-ance as final speaker forthe affirmative team. (Jo)Day nine: An African day.

Mid-morning, Mannasehcollected Jo, Sarah andDave for a visit to Matare,Maffra’s link parish. On thedrive, Mannaseh spoke ofhis experience as a refugeein Uganda, being allocatedthe worst land infested withtsetse flies (or no land atall); no access to educa-tion; unwanted and withoutrights. This was his journeyand reflecting on it gives

him a gratefulness to God. Just past Rugurama, we

turned off the bitumen. Thelast 10 kilometres to Matarewas a one-lane, rutted anderoded dirt track. Eventu-ally the road passed over asmall crest and we werethere. The ‘village’ was anold children’s slide andswing set, the minister’shouse, a Compassion Inter-national office, a school andthe ‘church’, a one-and-a-half metre brick perimeterwall with a timber and tar-paulin structure for thesanctuary. Stepping out of the car

and looking around, wewere in one of the mostbeautiful places in theworld, surrounded by greenhills covered with forest andbanana plants and crops. Iloved this place. Parishcouncil was meeting in aschool classroom. Man-naseh led us into the meet-ing and immediately thecouncil broke out into asong of greeting; beautifulvoices, friendly smiles. Wewere welcomed and askedto speak before presentinga gift from Maffra parish toPastor Francis. Francis told us about

Matare parish. The parishhas four congregations and6512 believers on theirchurch roll. Despite beingtold our visit was only brief,Francis and his wife, Shan-tal, invited us into theirhouse for a drink, which,once inside, became a deli-cious Rwandan meal. Dur-ing the meal, rain began.We were told that as soonas we finished lunch wewould have to leave as thetrack would become im-passable. I left, moved bythe isolation, by the beauty,

by the hospitality, the re-silience, endurance, faith,passion and vision. (Dave)Day ten: Our last full day

in Rwanda. In the morning,Jon and Mike had their lastsession with the Gahiniteachers, which went well,particularly when Aidencame to answer questionsat the end. The others wereup in the rehabilitation cen-tre finishing the cards. Inthe afternoon, we had ameeting with Bishop Alexisto discuss future possibili-ties for the Gippsland andGahini relationship. Then the fun started. We

were all given a presentfrom Gahini as well as twoCDs from the Rays of Hopechoir which we enjoyedhearing on Sunday. Felicianand some of the other sen-ior choir members had goneto a great deal of trouble toprepare these. The women in the group

received traditional cos-tumes and were required totry them on and make theirspectacular re-entrance.Great thought had goneinto matching colors ofdresses and necklaces withcomplexions and personali-ties and the combined ef-fect was amazing. But itdid not end there. They hadto learn the traditionalRwandan dance (whichtook a while) while the mencheered. However, the men’s turn

was to come and we spenta merry 30 minutes stomp-ing to the rhythm of Africandrums. For me, the high-light of the whole trip un-folded in the next fewhours, as the choir mem-bers first sang to us andthen taught us some oftheir songs, which we were

able to sing together. Wethen reciprocated by teach-ing them ‘Jesus, Lover ofmy Soul’ which, after a fewpractices, they sang farbetter than we ever could.They are such instinctivemusicians with beautifulvoices but are incrediblypatient with us. A very spe-cial evening.Day eleven: Thursday, De-

cember 8; goodbye,Rwanda. After the amazingfarewell, we headed to ourrooms to pack. We had onlyjust begun when the powerwent out, so packing con-tinued by candlelight. Thegirls abandoned the task,deciding to sleep and finishpacking in the morning. Wegot up at 5am; still nopower, so cold showers andpacking in the dark. Al-though the vehicles were alittle late, we made it to theairport with time to spareand flew to Nairobi via Bu-jumbura (Burundi). Oncelanded, through immigra-tion, gathering luggage,customs and money-chang-ing, we found our tourguides and climbed into twoeight-seater vans; the lux-ury of space. As we droveto our guest house, wepassed a herd of giraffe. Timothy at the guest

house remembered Daveand I from last year. Wefound our rooms, went for a

swim, had hot showers andgenerally relaxed beforedinner and bed. (Sarah)Days twelve and thirteen:

Kenya Safari. The nextmorning, we left the guesthouse in our safari vans at8am to travel to LakeNakuru National Park. Dur-ing the drive, a lot of us re-alised how different Kenyais from Rwanda and the dif-ferent levels of poverty inthe two countries. On thedrive, we saw lots ofgazelles and zebras, whichmade us really excited toget to the safari park.Eventually we got to thepark gate where there werelots of cute little monkeys.Cute, but very cheeky andlikely to steal anything leftlying around. We gotthrough the gate and droveto Lake Nakuru Lodge,which was amazing, with afantastic view over the lakefrom the rooms, a pool anda bar. During the next two days,

we had three extensivetrips into the park, seeingwhite rhinos, impala, gi-raffes, water buffalos, os-triches, baboons, lions andmany more amazing wildanimals and birds. It was agreat way to unwind fromthe incredible Rwandan ex-perience which haschanged all of our lives.(Jayde)

ABOVE: Rays of Hope choir at practice.LEFT: During a service at Kiramaruzi church.BELOW: In the school playground.Photographers: Mike Clapper, Jo Cockwill,Melissa Irving

12 Our Diocese - Jesus Christ Here and Now in Bruthen parish March 2012


By Jeanette Severs

THE Bruthen Anglicanparish, situated east ofBairnsdale, has traditionallybeen blessed with a vibrantand active community. Itincludes the churches of StMatthew’s Bruthen, StColumb’s Swan Reach andSt Mary’s Buchan. In thepast, services have beenheld at Nicholson, TamboUpper and Gelantipy, too.Traditionally, the parish hasbeen the training ground ofmany lay ministers andnewly ordained priests. The parish’s slogan is

‘Making Christ Known’ andunderlies the currentpriest’s focus.The Bruthen community,

traditionally agricultural,holds a number of activitiesthroughout the year andthe church has been regu-larly involved. On the fourthSaturday of the month, thechurch hosts a devonshiretea stall in the local hall.Every month, lunch andhoy are held for a largegroup on Wednesday in thehall at St Columb’s SwanReach.Ladies Guild and Mothers’

Union have always been ac-tive organisations in thechurches of Bruthen parish.The annual Bruthen Blues

and Arts Festival on thethird weekend of Februaryeach year includes a Sun-day Gospel service. Lastyear, the parish screenedthe AFL grand final in StMatthew’s church hall. The hall has also been

used to screen films as partof community outreach ac-tivities.The church has tradition-

ally participated in theANZAC Day service inBruthen and sometimesbeen involved in providing ablessing or leading prayerat other community activi-ties.There has been an annual

parish dance and a signifi-

cant art and craft marketon the first weekend in Oc-tober. Unfortunately, the artand craft market retired acouple of years ago. Past activities have in-

cluded a Friday after-schoolactivity session for schoolchildren and, at SwanReach, the local school hastraditionally attended aChristmas service everyyear.Boorai Centre, a childcare

centre held in St Matthew’schurch hall four daysweekly, enables manyyoung families to be awareof the church. The currentpriest-in-charge, TomKillingbeck, has a youngfamily and his youngest twochildren participate in theBoorai Centre’s activities.The op shop has a signifi-

cant role in Bruthen, beingthe principal source of in-come for the parish andproviding a six-day-a-week

service to the community,with a score of volunteersrostered to work regularlyboth in the shop and in sup-porting roles. The shop, it-self, is a landmark in theBruthen landscape.Recent changes include

building a storage shed onthe church site, for largefurniture items and out-of-season clothes donated tothe shop.A past Anglican Bishop,

Charles Murray (born1899), grew up in Bruthen.Charles Murray’s parentshad a store in Bruthen. Heattended school in Bruthenand Bairnsdale and went onto Melbourne University andOxford. Charles Murray was or-

dained in 1923 and heldseveral appointments be-fore being consecratedBishop of the Riverina in1944. While still Bishop, hedied in a aeroplane crash inWestern Australia in 1950.Charles Murray was the firstGippsland-born bishop inthe Anglican church. (Ref.:Gibson E (2002) GreatFaithfulness.)

New incumbentTOM Killingbeck, his wife,

Tanya, and their threeyoung children, moved toBruthen’s rectory while hewas still a lay minister, em-ulating many who eitherwere appointed to theparish in the past or whotook up the mantle of layministry while a member ofthe parish. Tom was or-dained a priest in 2011 andhas brought a missionalfocus to his ministry in theparish. This stems from hisinvolvement in theCovenant Players, a theatregroup with a focus on chris-tian mission.Tom says he felt a call to

be ordained six monthsafter he became a Christianin 1995. This was someyears before he was or-dained a deacon, but hispath led him into youthministry in Warragul parish.In 2010, Tom and Tanyawere introduced to Bruthenparish and he felt this wasa good move for him andthe community. Obviouslythe parish agreed.

Tom has expressed an in-terest in promoting the layministry that has been astrong component of thehistory of the parish. Hefeels it is unnecessary torobe for regular Sundayworship and is concernedabout the barriers that oth-ers may perceive blockingtheir entry to services. Forexample, he is encouragingpeople to think about wherethey sit in the church andhow to open this up to wel-come others.“I am looking to encour-

age others to learn aboutleading services and break-ing down perceived divi-sions between clergy andthe people; between theregular congregation andvisitors; and explaining jar-gon.“The past 12 months, I

have been focussed on en-suring everyone in theparish is on the samepage,” he said.He has been introducing

“small changes in an effortto be more mission fo-cussed in what we do. Ihope we can focus on beinga witness and example toothers within and outsidethe church.”One initiative is FEZ, the

Friday Evening Service heldin the Killingbeck’s home.Attendees gather at 5pmfor a shared meal. This isfollowed by a talk with abiblical theme, then discus-sion for the adults and craftactivities for the children.FEZ is particularly focussedon young families, but doesnot exclude others.“The motivation for FEZ is,

held at the end of the week,the early meal means peo-ple with young children canattend and can go homestraight after and the chil-dren are ready for bed,”Tom said.Begun this year, FEZ is

slowly growing in numbers.Another initiative is face-

book for the church. Tomhas also placed Bruthenparish on the internet, withits own facebook page. His

SUBSCRIPTIONto The Gippsland Anglican

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A focus on missional worship

continued next page

ABOVE: St Matthew’s church in Bruthen. The churches in Bruthen parish have been wellmaintained by the congregations and memorial rose gardens are a feature at StMatthew’s and at St Columb’s Swan Reach.

Photo: Jeanette Severs

March 2012 Our Diocese - Jesus Christ Here and Now in Bruthen parish 13


from previous page

experience shows this is “afantastic way to connectwith youth and an addi-tional and modern point ofcontact for visitors, trav-ellers and locals. It is an-other way for me to link toand communicate with thecommunity,” he said.CRE has been a regular in-

volvement of the parish andTom and Tanya have contin-ued this, at Bruthen andTambo Upper primaryschools.“I am also praying for

more people to take up acall to be lay ministers inCRE,” Tom said.Music has been a regular

feature of services at StMatthew’s for some timeand Tom is continuing toencourage this. He playsthe guitar, Anker Ottossonplays the accordion and An-drea Faile plays clarinet forservices.There have been alliances

with other congregations.The Catholic congregationin Bruthen used StMatthew’s for monthly serv-ices for the past couple ofyears and the UnitingChurch service has beenheld monthly for manyyears.

Photographers: JeanetteSevers, Tom Killingbeck,Tanya Killingbeck, CarlRauth.

ABOVE and left: Memorial windows and rose bushes havebeen a significant part of the congregation’s recognition offellow worshippers who have given much to the church’smission.

TOP left: Betty Albert, TomKillingbeck and Ruth Cot-trell. Betty held the role, formany years, of coordinatorof the annual art and craftfair in Bruthen parish.ABOVE: Tom Killingbeckready for FEZ, the Fridayevening service recentlybegun at St Matthew’sBruthen.ABOVE right: Andrea Faile,Anker Ottosson and TomKillingbeck provide music.

RIGHT, below right andbelow left: Among themany volunteers at the opshop are Odarka Gibbs andVel Calvert; Trisha Crack-nell, Gail Pattison and Gle-nis Doody; Jack Soar, PatEast and Ruth Cottrell.Some of the volunteerswork in other op shops inthe region.

14 Our Diocese - Jesus Christ Here and Now in Bruthen parish March 2012


LEFT: These young peoplemet at a Scripture Unionbeach mission at Wilson’sPromontory and, with TomKillingbeck’s encourage-ment, brought their musicaltalents to the gospel serv-ice at the Bruthen bluesand arts festival.BELOW: Some of the peo-ple attending the outdoorservice at the Bruthenblues and arts festival.BELOW left: Cynthia Mc-Stephen is a member of theparish who also contributestime to community activi-ties. She was a volunteer atthe Bruthen blues and artsfestival in February.

Photos: Jeanette Severs

BELOW and below right: A massed choir performed at theBruthen Blues and Arts Festival in February. People fromMallacoota to Canberra to west of Bairnsdale travelled toBruthen to perform in the choir.

Photos: Jeanette Severs

LEFT: Tanya Killingbeck leads Sunday school inBruthen parish and teaches CRE to the junior classesat Bruthen and Tambo Upper primary schools.

Photo: Tom KillingbeckRIGHT: Making fez hats for the FEZ, Friday eveningservice, a new innovation in Bruthen parish. FEZ is en-couraging people, especially young families, to join to-gether at the rectory for a shared service, followed bybiblical talks, discussion and craft activities. It is basedon the ALPHA model of a shared meal followed by dis-cussion on a biblical topic.

Photo: Tanya Killingbeck



MOE parish’s annual outdoor eu-charist was held at the Moe BotanicGardens and this year both congre-gations of St Luke’s and Holy Trin-ity joined for the occasion. Theservice was followed by a picniclunch. Assistant priest, ReverendAbraham Maluk presided during theservice and afterward showed hisskill, assisted by Abraham Maluel,cooking the Australian barbecue.The Bor Orphanage and Commu-

nity Education Project, in SouthSudan, will benefit from a film to beshown at Lowanna College, New-borough, on March 15. The film,War Child, begins at 6.30pm andattendance proceeds will supportthe orphanage.War Child is the story of interna-

tionally renowned peace activitist,hip hop artist, refugee and childsoldier, Emmanuel Jal. The film fea-tures actual footage of Jal and the

group of child soldiers hefought with.Along with watching the

film, attendees at thescreening can sample au-thentic African food. Therewill also be a question andanswer time with ReverendAbraham Maluk and Abra-ham Malual, who are former‘lost boys’ of Sudan, withlives in some respects livedin parallel with EmmanuelJal.Tickets are available from

Select Music Systems, Traral-gon; telephone 03 51742849.Bor Orphanage and Com-

munity Education Projectwas established to developan orphanage and school forthe homeless and parentlesschildren of Bor, South Sudan.Since the recently grantedindependence for SouthSudan, people, including or-phaned children, are return-ing to the region to rebuildtheir lives.More information about the

project and orphanage canbe found at www.bororphan-age.com

ABOVE: Reverend AbrahamMaluk cooks the barbecue.

Photo: Mary Nicholls

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2012

TBA Blessing of Ena Sheumack House; Abbey of St Barnabas at A’Beckett Park, Raymond Island

International Year of People of African Descent, National Year of theFarmer, National Year of Reading

March3 Safe Ministry Education, Christ Church Drouin; 10am to

12pm; ‘The Many Faces of Trauma’ with Reverend Brenda Burney; contact Archdeacon Heather Marten or Registry office, 03 5144 2044 to register.

3 Safe Ministry Education, St Matthew’s Bruthen; 10am to 12pm; ‘The Many Faces of Trauma’ with Brian Norris; contact Archdeacon Heather Marten or Registry office, 03 5144 2044 to register.

6 Anglican Women of Australia Gippsland 50th celebration; 9.30am to 2.30pm; St Paul’s Cathedral, Sale; $10 each; RSVP to your parish representative

10 Growth in Ministry training for candidates, priests and deacons; TBC; Sale; contact Archdeacon Heather Marten, 03 5144 2044 or Dean Don Saines, 03 5144 2020

14 – 18 Conference with Dr Alexander Shaia, The Abbey of St Barnabas, A’Beckett Park; www.theabbey.org.au

18 Mothering Sunday23 - 25 Kidsplus+ Gippsland camp, Philip Island; contact parish

for application forms, or Mary Nicholls26 Mothers’ Union Lady Day; St Paul’s Cathedral Sale; 10am to

3pm; BYO lunch; contact Karin McKenzie, 03 5662 2148

April1 Palm Sunday1 Serra Club Golf Day; TBC3 Renewal of Ordination of Vows and Blessing of Oils service,

11.30am to 3pm; St Paul’s Cathedral, Sale; contact Registry to confirm details, 03 5144 2044

5 Maundy Thursday6 Good Friday7 Environment open day and workshops; Abbey of St

Barnabas, A’Beckett Park, Raymond Island; 10am to 4pm; contact Ann, 0427 445866 or [email protected]

7 St Nicholas’ Easter Craft Fair and Easter Bonnet Parade, Lakes Entrance; 9am

7 Easter Light service at St Barnabas Chapel, A’Beckett Park; 5.30pm; including commissioning of Von Dubbeld as Assistant Minister to the Abbey parish (was Paynesville parish). Led by Bishop John McIntyre.

7 – 9 St John’s Metung Giant Easter Book Sale; donations, telephone Ann and Andrew, 03 5156 2502

8 Easter Day14 – 15 Growth in Ministry training for ordination candidates, priests

and deacons; venue TBA; overnight at Bishopscourt, Sale; contact Archdeacon Heather Marten, 03 5144 2044 or Dean Dr Don Saines, 03 5144 2020

21 Bishop in Council planning day, Registry, Sale25 ANZAC Day30 - May 2 Clergy conference; Abbey of St Barnabas, A’Beckett

Park, Raymond Island

MayApril 30 - May 2 Clergy conference; Abbey of St Barnabas,

A’Beckett Park, Raymond Island1 Mothers’ Union Gippsland Executive meeting, Morwell5 Anglican Earthcare Gippsland annual general meeting, St

Paul’s Cathedral, Sale; led by Bishop John McIntyre17 Two Bishops and the Dean … Q and A on the environment

and other matters; Bishop John McIntyre, Bishop Kay Goldsworthy, Dean Dr Don Saines; Abbey of St Barnabas, A’Beckett Park; 2pm to 4pm

18 – 20 Gippsland Anglican 36th annual Synod, Sale23 Mothers’ Union Australia Council open day, Palotti College,

Millgrove, 10am to 4pm25 – 27 The Spirituality of Winter, a retreat led by Reverend Anne

Turner; Abbey of St Barnabas, A’Beckett Park27 – June 3 Vocational panel interviews; venue TBA29 – 30 Victorian Council of Churches Emergency Ministry

Training, Level 2; Traralgon; contact 03 9650 4511 or email [email protected]

June2 Lay Reader training, 9.30am to 4pm; Korumburra; contact

Reverend Jenny Ramage, Rev. Tony Wicking and Rev. Bruce Charles; register at Registry, 03 5144 2044

13 Mothers’ Union June Join In; St Mary’s Morwell; 9.30am to 3pm; Karin McKenzie, 03 5662 2148

Diocesan Calendar

Details as provided to The Gippsland Anglican at time of printing

Local priest helps raisefunds for Bor orphans

16 Our Diocese - Clergy News March 2012


THE Archbishop of Canter-bury, Dr Rowan Williams,announced the appoint-ment of Kay Brock LVO DLas his new Secretary forPublic Affairs, based atLambeth Palace. Kay Brock brings with her

a wealth of public affairsexperience having spenttime in a variety of seniorroles, including Chief ofStaff to six Lord Mayors ofLondon and Assistant Pri-vate Secretary to theQueen. She also brings aninternational understandingto the post having workedthroughout the 1990s oneconomic aid to ex-commu-nist countries in eastern Eu-rope.Speaking about her new

position, Kay said: “Nowthat many people are re-examining the values bywhich we live, the Arch-bishop of Canterbury’s rolein our society and interna-tionally has more relevancethan ever. I feel honored tobe given the opportunity toassist the Archbishop in hisvaluable work within thechurch and in the publicsphere”. Kay has a degree from Ox-

ford University and an MBAfrom the London BusinessSchool, She holds variousvoluntary positions such asChair of the charity, DanceUnited, is a trustee of theAcademy of Ancient Musicand is a Deputy Lieutenantfor Greater London.

Covenant videosMEMBERS of the Anglican

Communion with internet

access can nowwatch threevideos produced by theInter-Anglican StandingCommission on Unity Faithand Order (IASCUFO) inwhich its members speakabout the Covenant.In one video, members

from Provinces includingEngland, the West Indies,Central Africa and SouthernAfrica explain why theyconsider the Covenant im-portant for the Communion. In another, the Church of

Ceylon’s Right ReverendKumara Ilangasinghe, re-cently retired Bishop of Ku-runagala, shares histhoughts on the value ofaccountability. In the third video, mem-

bers share their thoughtsabout the sections of theCovenant. The videos were filmed by

Simon Oliver, a member ofIASCUFO who teaches atthe University of Notting-ham. A subgroup of theCommission, overseeingthe reception process forthe Anglican CommunionCovenant, decided to makethem when the Commissionwas meeting in Seoul,Korea in December. Theywanted to present theCovenant using the mem-bers of the Commission, asthey come from such a di-verse range of people fromaround the Communion. A spokesperson for IAS-

CUFO said: “We were grate-ful to the Anglican Churchof Korea for loaning us theirequipment. It’s hoped thevideos will be useful as dio-ceses and Provinces con-sider the Covenant. Thereis a lot of written material,

but it’s good to have someaudiovisual resources aswell.” The videos were produced

and edited by Jonny PerryJennings and IASCUFOmember Bishop VictoriaMatthews of Christchurch,New Zealand. You can find the videos at: The Anglican Communion

C o v e n a n thttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jq_063uf3k The Covenant and ac-

c o u n t a b i l i t yhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T228Qk5tueM The sections of the

C o v e n a n thttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E51zRTJ3eE For more information on

IASCUFO visit:http://www.aco.org/min-istry/ecumenical/commis-sions/iascufo/index.cfm February 22, 2012

http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/2/22/ACNS5048

New Pacific roleTHERE is a chance to

make a difference to devel-opment in the Pacific as theAnglican Alliance facilitatorbased at the AnglicanChurch of Melanesia in Ho-niara, Solomon Islands.Food, climate change and

youth empowerment will bethe focus for the new post,to work with Anglicanchurches and their partnersacross the Pacific region tobring together develop-ment, relief and advocacy. It is a position for some-

one with drive, commit-ment and ability to be partof the global network sup-porting the work by Angli-can churches to challengeand transform poverty andinjustice.See the job description

and personal specificationfor more information aboutthe post. Applicants shouldcomplete the applicationform and return it to [email protected] byMarch 9th.February 16, 2012,

http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/2/16/ACNS5040

103.9

Broadcasting Christian Music 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Uplifting, encouraging and empowering

Main Studio and Office: 204 Raymond St, Sale Vic, 3850

Phone: 03 5143 0355

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International news

350 yearsTHIS year, 2012,

marks 350 years sinceThe Book of CommonPrayer 1662 came intouse in the Church ofEngland. The Book ofCommon Prayer 1662was used in conjunc-tion with An AustralianPrayer Book from1978. (Last year wasthe 400th year sincepublishing of the KingJames Bible.)

ARCHBISHOP Philip Freierhas appointed ReverendCanon Dr Ray Cleary(above left) as Acting Deanof St Paul’s Cathedral, withRev. Dr Ruth Redpath(above right) named ActingPrecentor. Dr Freier’s an-nouncements on January31 followed the resignation,for personal reasons, ofBishop Mark Burton asDean a week earlier andthe appointment late lastyear of the former Precen-tor, Rev. Rachel McDougall,as Vicar of St John’sBentleigh.“I am satisfied that Canon

Cleary and Dr Redpath willprovide very good leader-ship and management forthis interim situation,”Archbishop Freier said.“I believe we are fortunate

to have two people who arealready an important partof our Cathedral to take onthese roles.”The Archbishop said the

recruitment process for thenext Dean will commencealmost immediately.

Vale MarkBAIRNSDALE parish and

Gippsland Diocese was sad-dened to hear of the deathof Reverend Mark Boughey,in South Australia. Markwas priest-in-charge ofBairnsdale parish until heresigned and returned toSouth Australia, where se-rious ill health was diag-nosed. He is survived by hiswife, Kerrie, and their two

sons. A service was held atSt John’s Bairnsdale afterhis death was announced.

New BishopsTHE Election Synod of the

Diocese of North West Aus-tralia met on February 10 to11 this year and electedReverend Gary Nelson to bethe next Bishop of NorthWest Australia. Gary cur-rently serves as Director ofExternal Studies at MooreTheological College. Pleasepray for Gary, Christine andthe Diocese of North WestAustralia in this time oftransition.Bishop Stuart Robinson

has announced two ground-breaking appointments asassistant bishops for theDiocese of Canberra andGoulburn.Archdeacon Genieve

Blackwell, currently rectorof Yass, will become thefirst female bishop conse-crated in NSW. She will bebased at the parish of Tur-vey Park in Wagga Wagga,where she grew up, and willserve the west and north-west of the Diocese.The Diocese will help fund

an assistant to support Ge-nieve in the local pastoralwork at Turvey Park. Archdeacon Ian Lambert is

to remain rector of Bate-mans Bay but take on abrand new role; regionalbishop responsible for theSouth Coast, Monaro andSnowy. There has neverbeen an Anglican Bishopbased on the south coast.

Interim appointmentsat St Paul’s Cathedral



FORTY cursillistas andother interested peoplegathered for a diocesanCursillo Ultreya, held at StJames’ Traralgon on Satur-day February 18, this year.The highlight of the Ultreyawas the witness talk pre-sented by Bishop JohnMcIntyre. He shared some of his

thoughts, inspiring atten-dees to confidently live outtheir lives as Christ’s follow-ers, despite individual de-fects and shortcomings. Heemphasised the brokennessof Jesus on the Cross andthe message He was sent tosave us. The Ultreya was led by Mal

and Marita Campbell and allappreciated their thoroughpreparation and ability tokeep the session moving.Thought provoking ques-tions about forgivenesswere discussed during thegroup reunions. We welcomed Margaret

Tatman, leader of thisyear’s Women’s Cursillo,and husband, John, andleaders of the 2010 Cursil-los, Len and Chris Makin.Thanks to Traralgon cursil-

listas for looking after theafternoon tea and thosewho attended.The 2012 Men’s 34 and

Women’s 35 Cursillos, againto run parallel this year, willbe from Thursday, June 28to Sunday, July 1, at Black-wood House, GippslandGrammar School, Sale.Sharlene Asmus has cre-ated an online site for Cur-sillo Gippsland and weinvite you to join and keepupdated with Cursilloevents. Website athttp://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=284386

94822Alternatively, contact Peter

Down, [email protected] orLiz Hall, [email protected] or telephone 03 56881286.

Contributor: Liz Hall

ABOVE: Mal and MaritaCampbell organised and ledthe Ultreya at Traralgon.TOP: Attendees at the Cur-sillo Ultreya held at StJames’ Traralgon on Febru-ary 18.

Photos: Liz Hall

Cursillo in June at Sale

Come on the CWCIsafari in GippslandA REGIONAL Safari will be hosted in

central and east Gippsland by ChristianWomen Communicating Internationally(CWCI). Speaker is Beth Allison (right)on the topic, Lasting Foundations.Beth was a lawyer, specialising in fam-

ily law, before she completed a Bache-lor of Theology and worked as anassociate pastor in a large church foreight years. Her role included preach-ing, leadership training and develop-ment, oversight of small groups,healing and prayer teams and estab-lishing a recovery ministries program. The first meeting, hosted by Latrobe

Valley CWCI, is on Monday, March 26,at 7pm at Morwell Community Church,on the Princes Highway, Morwell.On Tuesday, March 27, christian

women are invited to the home of MaryJondahl, in Laws Lane, Denison. CWCIis hosting a morning safari, beginning10am.The safari will travel to Bairnsdale

Baptist Church, Princes Highway, Luc-know, for a gathering at 5pm on Tues-day evening.On Wednesday, March 28, the safari

will be at Paynesville Uniting Church in

King St, Paynesville, at 10am.On Wednesday evening, women will

gather at 5pm at the Orbost UnitingChurch in Browning St, Orbost.For enquiries, contact Irene Hood,

telephone 03 5167 1391 or mobile:0428 671391

ABOVE: Members of Leongatha Mothers’ Union worked to-gether at their February meeting to make bookmarks tobe presented to the congregation as gifts on MotheringSunday, March 18. Pictured holding the bookmarks arePearl Christofferson, Eileen Wisdom, Ruth Sage.

Photo: Karin McKenzieBELOW: Members of Mothers’ Union Gippsland Executive,Jan Misiurka, Jenny McRobb, Karin McKenzie and Bev Fos-ter, as they begin planning for a Family Forum to be heldin October. Further details will be published in a futureissue of The Gippsland Anglican.

Easter art exhibition

THE Bairnsdale UnitingChurch will hold an art ex-hibition during the longweekend of Friday, April 6(Good Friday) to Tuesday,April 10. The theme for allexhibited works is ‘Spiritu-ality in everyday life’, allow-ing artists to explore a widerange of creative ideas in avariety of media. The two- or three-dimen-

sional works will be exhib-ited in the spacious andmodern auditorium of thechurch, with an acquisitiveprize of $450 for each cate-gory: painting, drawing,photography, fabrics, sculp-ture, woodwork and more.

A previous exhibition twoyears ago (above) attractedartists from across Gipps-land. Artists are entitled tosell their work at the exhi-bition.Entry is by gold coin dona-

tion. Artists and potentialviewers please note thatmore details can be ob-tained from the websitebairnsdaleunitingchurch.weebly.com or telephoneJenny Eckhardt, 03 51524046 or Jacqui Nicholson.03 5156 7183.The exhibition opens at

midday on Good Friday andis open each day until 4pm.

Contributor: J. Eckhardt

18 Literary and Media Reviews March 2012


Pfennigwerth, F (2011)The Scrolls Illumi-nated: An illuminatingpresentation ofSolomon’s Song ofSongs, Ruth, Lamenta-tions, Ecclesiastes andEsther from the Bible.

By Jeanette Severs

ARTIST, Fiona Pfennigw-erth, brings her immensetalent to the task of illumi-nating a number of textswith waterolour illustrationsof Australian fauna andflora. She invites the readerto explore and respond tothese stories through the il-lustrations and verses con-tained within the book.Available through the Bible

Society of Australia, the fivebooks in this illuminatedvolume (Solomon’s Song ofSongs, Ruth, Lamentations,Ecclesiastes, and Esther)are arranged as a set in theHebrew Bible called TheScrolls, which are read atfive of the annual Jewishfestivals. This edition usesthe English Standard Ver-sion with images of Aus-tralian nature illustrated byAustralian artist, FionaPfennigwerth.Fruits of the orchard and

Australian bush and rain-forests, along with delicateillustrations of leaves fromivy, myrtle, native rasp-berry and maple, border orintersperse texts. The king-fisher provides splashes ofbright blue among delicateflowers and softly drawnfeathers from a powerfulowl illustrate the stories in-cluded in the book.Rainforest motifs from na-

tional parks in New SouthWales suggest decorations

fit for a Persian palace inthe story of Esther.Drawings of mangrove

roots separate the prologueand epilogue of Ecclessi-astes while stormy skies,migratory seabirds, soldiercrabs, pre-dawn mist anddriftwood illustrated fromtidal mudflats near PortStephens, NSW, connectwords to themes.Snow gums consumed by

fire, summer alpine wild-flowers and flowers of theBog carraway, inspired bywalks in the Snowy Moun-tains, illustrate alternatetranslations of Lamenta-tions.The Songs of Solomon are

illustrated with a richnessfrom the Australian bush,with butterflies, lillies,frangipani, flannel flower,early nancy and lush fruitsproviding a sense of peaceand wonder alongside thetext.The artist provides a key

to the illustrations and astory amended to eachchapter informs the readerof the inspiration to the del-icate paintings.This is a book to enjoy, to

dip into and relish the textsand accompanied illumina-tions or to open at the firstpage and slowly readthrough. It is a book to beshared and discussed, asbible stories should be. Theillustrations are to beshared and discussed, too.I strongly recommend this

softcover book. It is onethat could reside on yourcoffee table and encouragediscussion with visitors ormake a special gift. Avail-able from the Bible Societyof Australia, telephone1300 139179, email [email protected] orwww.biblesociety.org.au

Beauty in the textand illustrations

Brain, M (2011) en-gage! how the churchcan reconnect withyoung people. Can-berra: Barton Books

By Tom Killingbeck

I HAD the pleasure ofreading Matt Brain’s bookengage! how the churchcan reconnect with youngpeople with the intent of re-viewing it, hoping thatwould be that. Fortunately,reading this book is not thatsimple.You see, Matt, with his

years of experience withinthe youth ministry field andwith an eye to the AnglicanChurch’s current standingwith young people in Aus-tralia, has crafted a power-ful book. Its core aim is toallow churches to under-stand this new generationof ‘digital natives’ andbridge the gap betweenworldviews of those in thechurch already (and whohave often been there for anumber of years) and thosewho are ignorant of churchand ignoring it (who mayhave never set foot inside achurch at all).This book is essentially an

accessible theology of mis-sion to young people.Initially, Matt offers a look

at the differences that haveoccurred, the ‘situation’ orlocation of people from acompletely different cul-

tural milieu, who speak adifferent language. See,when old people (if we’regoing to say ‘young people’,we can surely use ‘old peo-ple,’ right?) say, “Kids thesedays...”, what they are al-luding to is correct. Thingshave changed. The way inwhich youth think about is-sues and life is different.Our particular issue is sim-

ilar to that of Paul, Mattstates. What follows is anexamination of 2 Corinthi-ans 4 and its implicationsfor us in the 21st century;and then a very compre-hensive application of theprinciples of the text for ourown use. Initially, the book is quite

heavy going, but once thefoundation is laid, he goesinto detail about how Chris-tians can reach out toyoung people.One of the key things

about the book is that it isnot just about gathering in-formation. “...The chal-lenge is to turn theinformation into a pastoraldecision,” he writes in thethird section, aptly named‘Deciding: new possibilitiesin mission to digital na-tives’. We need to applywhat we have learned,turning our beliefs into ouractions. It is the pivotalpoint in the book, really;and one which needs to beheartily embraced by allwith a desire to see youngpeople back in our

churches.With a sprinkling of per-

sonal stories and tacklingsocial data from variousstreams, Brain’s book be-comes not just a stale text-book but an accessibleguide to moving from dis-dain and condescension(how church can feel) tomissional and forward-thinking (how church needsto be). To be honest, this is the

kind of book I wish I hadread before I started out inyouth ministry, as it is avery solid basis for commu-nicating Christ to ‘digitalnatives’ of all ages. It willnot give you easy answers;it will, hopefully, make yousearch until you find theright way to communicateto young people in yourneck of the woods.

Reconnect with youth

Treat, SR (2004) How to Succeed inMarriage. Ohio: The Pilgrim Press

By Jeanette Severs

THIS small book (32 pages) is written byStephen Treat, a pastor and a clinician inmarital and family therapy. He believes“any marriage can be fun, exciting, chal-lenging and fulfilling” and has written thistext “for young couples, older adults,blended families and other mixed mar-riages”.He writes that marriages need both the

love of the two people and spiritual love tobe successful; but that finances, jobs, sex-uality and other issues become stumblingblocks that overwhelm and overshadow acouple’s relationship with each other andwith God.Pastor Treat emphasises the importance

of thinking about and discussing what youexpect from marriage and your relation-ships with each other and with God in thatmarriage. He discusses the importance of acovenant and to ensure respect, faith,trust, understanding and loyalty are strongin the relationship before marriage.Treat looks at many myths surrounding

marriage. He writes of the importance ofhaving a mature and peer-oriented rela-tionship with our parents before we entermarriage; how the tensions we feel be-tween ourselves and our parents can eas-ily be replicated with our partner in our

marriage. He discusses a range of behav-iors and provides advice for when ‘oppo-sites attract’.Prayers are included throughout the book

and meditations are suggested in the clos-ing pages.This is a quick reference guide, part of the

Looking Up series of thoughtful and inspi-rational booklets. It introduces subjectsand discussions that will be enough forsome people while being a guide for otherslooking for more information.Available at Christian bookstores, the

Gippsland Mothers’ Union book stall atgatherings and www.pilgrimpress.com

A quick and easy marriageguide, with prayers included

March 2012 Literary and Media Reviews 19


Fletcher, B (2011) SING a newsong: Australian hymnody and therenewal of the Church since the1960s. Canberra: Barton Books

By Fay Magee

MUSICAL and church history has beenmade in the form of a new book chartingthe development of the Australian HymnBook, SING a new song: Australianhymnody and the renewal of the Churchsince the 1960s by renowned Australianhistorian Brian Fletcher.To quote the back cover, “This challeng-

ing book breaks new ground in the field ofAustralian religious history by exploringthe much neglected field of hymnody. Itcentres on the work of the AustralianHymn Book Committee and the publicationof the Australian Hymn Book and Togetherin Song, compilations that placed Australiaon the world map of hymnody for the firsttime. “SING a new song explores how these

two hymnals evolved through a complexand demanding compilation and editorialprocess, based on a firm belief that hymnsare rich cultural artefacts possessing thecapacity to influence the mindset and out-look of those who sing them.”Those congregations who have been

using both the Australian Hymn Book andTogether in Song may have forgotten howsignificant the ecumenical nature of thisproject was. These days, many Christiansare post-denominational, prepared to wor-ship in different traditions over time. Inmany ways, the Australian project,through these two editions, has facilitatedmuch more ecumenical fellowship. It has also brought into one collection so

much of the best of current congregationalsong from a variety of sources, local andglobal.

The process, as detailed in Fletcher’sbook, outlines the workings of the hymnbook committee since 1967. It encouragesus to reflect on the journey of the churchover those years, not just musically but ona broader scale of ‘being church’ in achanging world. It highlights the work of significant,

maybe otherwise, ‘unsung’ heroes of theAustralian church like Professor Wesley Mil-gate and Reverend Laurie Bartlett. Wehave much to be grateful for and there ismuch to sing about!SING a new song is available online from

Barton Bookshttp://www.bartonbooks.com.au/ RRP$30, or from St Peter’s Bookroom, tele-phone 03 9663 7487 or online athttp://web.stpeters.org.au/bookroom/local.shtml

Explore renewal of theChurch and hymnody

Dethlefs, N (2011) InHis Strength: Lettersfrom Afghanistan2005-2009. CBM Aus-tralia

By Tony Wicking

IN some ways, I find thelife of a missionary some-what romantic. Those faraway places, sometimesexotic, bringing the gospelinto the lives of the locals.Isn’t it something most ofus would like to do? Cer-tainly it was something Ilooked into many years agobut found it not my calling. Now, I know the life is not

romantic. It is hard work,often a slog and can be fullof great danger and uncer-tainties. However, when Iread the regular communi-cations from missionariesthey are somewhat dry andoften lack the backgroundto the situation in whichthey find themselves. They tell us what they did,

what they hope to do andkeep us up to date withfamily news. They seek usto pray for them as theyendeavour to do that. Rarely have I read ac-

counts of the life of a mis-sionary and what is goingon around them. This is notthe case in this book byNoriko Dethlefs.Noriko and her husband,

Roger, were sent toAfghanistan in 2005 byChristian Blind Mission.Roger is an ophthalmologistwith an interest in servingin places with inadequateeye care services. Noriko isan accountant but was lec-turing in Japanese at Wol-longong University andqualified to teach English asa second language. InAfghanistan they served inHerat, near the Iranian bor-der, and then in Kabal.Roger worked as an oph-thalmologist. Noriko taughtEnglish and worked withcommunity groups, espe-cially with women.The book is a collection of

her emails sent to herfriends around the worldwhile she was inAfghanistan. These are notjust ‘what we did’ letters.They describe with a rich-ness of detail the day-to-day experiences she andRoger experienced. These ranged from the op-

pressive summer heat tofrozen winters. They givewonderful insights into thelives of the Afghani peopleand issues faced by themissionaries she was with. She writes with some

humor about cultural differ-ences, such as men walkingholding hands but husbandand wife not doing so. Ofhow everything is done incommunity even if it is withthe same gender. Of theaged care being undertakenby families and not institu-tions.

She writes about a familylying to a daughter whowas overseas, about thehealth of the mother. Whenthe daughter returned tofind her mother died sometime ago, it was explainedshe could mourn in commu-nity. Noriko’s work with thewomen and their desire tolearn and have an impact inthe future of Afghanistanwas encouraging. Noriko writes about the

faith differences betweenIslam and Christianity andof the difficulty Muslimshave understanding how aChristian talks about a Godwho loves. This is con-trasted with the fatalism ofAllah’s will.There are accounts of

hardships placed upon themissionaries because ofkidnapping and murder offoreigners and of terroristactivities. These includedbeing confined to theircompounds because thearea was too dangerous. Allthis was worth reading forthe insights of missionarylife in Afghanistan.My one disappointment

with the book was in whatthe title suggested but didnot deliver. There was verylittle explanation of how shewas able to do her work inGod’s strength. Sure, it wascertainly implied because ofall she experienced. But the book could have

been written by anybodyworking there. I found verylittle explanation of how itwas she derived strengthfrom God. I would haveliked more definite exam-ples of how God gave herstrength in the situations inwhich she found herself. Toward the end of the

book she does give a sum-mary of things learned buteven then I found it unsat-isfying.In spite of that I would

recommend the book. It iseasy to read and I can seewhy the National Director ofCBM Australia states theywere the first emails heopened. The book richly describes

the type of life a missionarymay encounter, the culturaldifferences and their impactupon a foreigner, the funand joy of knowing peoplefrom a different culture.

Missionary insights

Standish, A (2011)Australia throughwomen’s eyes. Aus-tralian Scholarly Pub-lishing in associationwith the State Libraryof Victoria

THROUGHOUT the 19thcentury, British women asdiverse as Louisa Meredith,Marianne North and Beat-rice Webb travelled to theAustralian colonies andwrote about the emergingwhite civilisation theyfound. Some were visitors,others settlers, but all werefascinated by the possibili-ties of this ‘new world’.Here, Australia is seen

through the eyes of suchwomen writers. It is a landof strange and un-Englishflora and fauna and of won-drously growing cities; aplace where European cul-tural institutions are begin-ning to flourish; and whereIndigenous culture was be-

coming invisible.When Louisa Meredith ar-

rived in Van Diemen’s Landin 1841, after a year livingin New South Wales, shewas struck by how muchthe colony resembled herhomeland.Finding signs of ‘home’ in

both the landscape and so-cial life of the colonies is atheme that recurs in thewritings of female colonists.All were fascinated by theevidence of white civilisa-tion emerging in thisstrange, yet somehow fa-miliar, continent.But, in celebrating this

progress, these narrativesalso marginalise or silenceIndigenous experience; forAustralia to be ‘home’, itseems, it must also bewhite.Ann Standish is an histo-

rian, editor and writer, andhas taught at Melbourneand Deakin universities andworked in book publishing.You can buy this book at

the Readings online shop.

RRP $39.95; Paperback;Illustrated; 344pages;ISBN 9781921509070.

Women explore Australia

20 Our Diocese - News March 2012


from page one

Morwell and, with his latewife, raised four childrenand now has five grandchil-dren. He was a carrier for40 years and has freely do-nated his trucks and forkliftfor community work, in-cluding for the churches inMorwell, including buildinga church. Now retired, he is busy

with his prolific vegetablegarden and a part time ca-reer as a courier for a localpharmacy.There are many awards on

Geoff Bell’s walls and he isproud of them all. This in-cludes a rare Girl GuidesHelpers Award for a Malebadge and various badgesand certificates that de-scribe his life’s contributionto Red Cross (31-plusyears) and Lions Club (42years), among others. Bothorganisations have recog-nised him with life member-

ship. He has been a Red Cross

blood donor since he was a‘lad’. When Geoff began do-nating blood, his motherhad to sign a form givingpermission because he wasaged under 21 years.With enjoyment, he de-

scribed his first encounteras a blood donor: the nursetied a tourniquet on hisarm, deadened the site witha hypodermic needle, useda scalpel to cut an incision,poked in a tube, connectedit to a bottle; and the nurseremained there, shakingthe bottle regularly as theblood drained in. Some years ago, Geoff re-

ceived his award for donat-ing an accrued 100 pints ofblood. He continues to do-nated blood regularly.Every week throughout

the year, Geoff donatesvegetables from his gardento people in the commu-nity; friends, family, neigh-

bours and others. This in-cludes weekly deliveries toSt Mary’s Morwell and thenow retired Canon FrankLowe and giving manypumpkins to the churcheach year. He credits Frank Lowe with

saving his life. It was onone of Geoff’s regularstrolls past the church,dropping off a box of veg-etables, that Frank chal-lenged him to give upcigarettes. Geoff said hestopped that day, in 1981,“and I still supply him withvegies weekly”.He enjoys talking about

what he has done and stilldoes in the community andsharing his passion for hisgarden.“I didn’t do it for recogni-

tion, I did it because I’ve al-ways enjoyed it. When youlive in a country commu-nity, you should give yourtime to the community,”Geoff Bell said.

ABOVE: Peter Vranek, of Stratford, receives his AustraliaDay Citizen’s Award from Wellington Shire. He is picturedwith Mayor Scott Rossetti.

Photo: Denise Vranek

Humility of these men awarded

By Edie Ashley

IN August 2011, the De-velopment Working Groupfor the St Barnabas Abbeyat A’Beckett Park proposeda new step in developingthe vision for the Abbey asa Centre for Spirituality andthe Environment, as a vitalpart of the whole diocesanmission.In September 2011,

Bishop John McIntyre metwith Paynesville’s parishcouncil to explore withthem the possibility of be-coming the Abbey Parish.In February this year,Bishop in Council approvedthe proposal.In practice this means an

Abbey Chapter will be es-tablished under the leader-ship of Bishop John.Membership of The AbbeyChapter will include theBishop, the Registrar, theCathedral Dean and theAbbey Priest, with repre-sentatives of Bishop inCouncil, Paynesville ParishCouncil and Anglican Earth-care Gippsland Inc. Archdeacon Edie Ashley

will be appointed AbbeyPriest. Edie will live in EnaSheumack House and pro-vide leadership for the nextphase of development ofservices and facilities at theAbbey and to foster devel-opment of a supportivecommunity based at TheAbbey.The local parish of Pay-

nesville will fashion its lifeand ministry and mission toinclude the diocesan mis-sion of the Abbey as an in-tegral component of its lifeand mission. The ministryof the Abbey Parish will re-flect the relationships of

priest and people in missiontogether; this includes thelocal mission and ministryin Paynesville, Eagle Point,Raymond Island and New-lands Arm and the widermission at the Abbey.Von (Evonne) Dubbeld (far

right) will be appointed tothe Abbey Parish as Assis-tant Minister on a part-timebasis. Von, her husband,Mick, and their four chil-dren, Rowan, Sean, Beccaand Beth, will move fromCann River to live in ChurchHouse, adjacent to StPeter’s by the Lake AnglicanChurch in Paynesville. Von’s ministry focus will

ensure the ministry of thelocal parish will continuedespite the broader role ofthe parish and the AbbeyPriest.Members of the Gippsland

Diocese are invited to theAbbey for the Saturday ofEaster, April 7, to witnessVon Dubbeld’s commission-ing as Assistant Minister.This will be held during theEaster Light Service, whichbegins at 5.30pm. Earlier on the same day, a

Sustainability Open Day willbe held at the Abbey, be-ginning 10am and finishingabout 4pm. More detailsabout the SustainabilityOpen Day in the diocesancalendar in this issue of TheGippsland Anglican and onthe Abbey website.

Abbey ProgramTHIS year the Abbey pro-

gram will bring a number ofsignificant church leadersand thinkers to Gippsland.Dr Alexander Shaia will

visit the Abbey from March

14 to 18. Dr Shaia is an in-ternationally recognisedteacher on the gospels. Hisrecent book, The HiddenPower of the Gospels, hasattracted praise from acrossthe world and is contribut-ing to an ongoing discus-sion about Christiandiscipleship. In the book, DrShaia traces themes in thefour gospels and suggests away of reading and usingthe gospels that is simulta-neously new and ancient. The workshop at the

Abbey is open to everyoneand will have two themes.The first day will focus onpreaching, praying and cel-ebrating Year B: Gospel ofMark. Remaining days willexplore Creating and Nur-turing Vital Community:Lessons and Practices, es-pecially wisdom the Gospelof John and the Third Spiri-tual Path. For more information on

the event, visit the AnamCara Community website(www.anamcara-gipps-land.org). For more infor-mation on Dr Shaia, visitwww.quadratos.com. Con-tact Colin Thornby, [email protected] ortelephone 0403 776402.Les Mathieson, CEO of

East Gippsland Water andMichele Adler, Horticultural-ist, along with Trevor Cald-well, Raquel Harris, Iainand Ann Miller, Lee Rannochand others, will presenttalks, demonstrations andworkshops at the Sustain-ability Open Day; 10am to4pm at the Abbey, EasterSaturday, April 7.In April 2008, Bishop Kay

Goldsworthy became thefirst woman to be conse-crated as a bishop in the

Anglican Church of Aus-tralia, at St George’s Cathe-dral, Perth. She is currentlyAssistant Bishop of the An-glican Diocese of Perth,Western Australia. Bishop Kay has a passion

for the environment andwith Bishop John McIntyreand Dean Dr Don Saines, ofGippsland Diocese, willmeet with people in Gipps-land and join the panel forTwo Bishops and the Dean... Q and A on the environ-ment and other matters onMay 17.Reverend John Stewart is

Director of the Living WellCentre for Christian Spiritu-ality and an Associate Priestof St George’s church,Malvern. He is a highly a re-spected and experiencedspiritual director andsought after retreat leader.John Stewart, with RobertFordham and Rev. BrianTurner, will lead a men’s re-treat at the Abbey, August3 to 5.Susanna Pain is Archdea-

con of North Canberra andRector of Holy Covenant,Jamison in Canberra. Sheis linked to Gippslandthrough her great grandfa-ther, Arthur Wellesley Pain,who served as Gippsland’sfirst bishop from 1902 to1917. Susanna is a dancer, sto-

ryteller and spiritual direc-tor with extensiveexperience working withcreative forms of spiritualand life formation. Susannahas agreed to lead a week-end workshop, November 9to 11, titled Water andDance, a retreat to explorethe theme of water in all itsguises.Reverend Anne Turner is

hosting a retreat on May 25to 27 focussing on the Spir-ituality of Winter. From Au-gust 31 to September 2,she will lead a retreat onthe Spirituality of Spring.Archdeacon Ted and Mrs

Annabel Gibson will host aretreat for those who haveenjoyed the A’Beckett Parksite in past years. On July24 to 26, it is a chance tore-visit, remember andshare the vision for the fu-ture.A retreat titled Fire and

Creative Written Expressionwill be hosted by Archdea-con Philip Muston and MrsSue Fordham on August 18and 19 at the Abbey.The very talented Fay

Magee, of Cowes parish,will join with Dean Dr DonSaines for workshops onWind and Music, from Sep-tember 14 to 16.For more information or to

register for a workshop orretreat, telephone theAbbey, telephone 0351566580 or [email protected] Thefull 2012 Abbey program isat www.theabbey.org.au

Paynesville parish reflects Abbey progress

the gippsland anglican - march 2012

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