The Rev’d John Dring has been commissioned as the new Anglican Chaplain for John Hunter Hospital.
Fr John joins the ecumenical hospital chaplaincy staff to provide pastoral care to the hospital community including patients, family, visitors and staff members.
He said, "The role of a hospital chaplain is to bring compassionate care to all within the hospital community, with pastoral care being the essence of this ministry.
"Chaplains are often called to assist in restoring a sense of peace and calm to those finding their present plight difficult. Sickness brings with it a dependency and vulnerability that affects a whole community of people," he said.
"I have wanted for some considerable time to extend my ministry experience in the area of hospital chaplaincy. Therefore I relish this challenging ministry with open arms!" Fr John has been the Rector of the Anglican Parish of Mayfield for the past 11 years and has just celebrated 25 years of ministry.
He said, "I understand the Pastoral Care Department at John Hunter Hospital works closely with hospital staff and does an excellent job in providing comfort and support to patients and their families.
"I am looking forward to joining the team and using my ministry gifts in this important area of patient care."
The Church's Apology
The Prime Minister of Australia offered an apology to all Aborigines and the Stolen Generations for their "profound grief, suffering and loss" in February. The Rev’d Les Forester reflects on the Anglican Church’s response in recent years.
On the day of Mr Rudd's apology speech I rang the Rev’d Canon Paul Robertson and asked him to help me track down the local and national response of the Anglican Church to the stolen generations. The next day at a Clergy school I joined with the clergy in prayer, placing before God “the pain and anguish of dispossession of land, language, lore, culture and family kinship of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
Paul handed me documents that show the following views: At the Newcastle Synod of 1997 Motion 9: This Synod 1. acknowledges that the Anglican Church was involved in the policy of assimilation of the Aboriginal people. 2. apologises to our Aboriginal brothers and sisters for the hurt caused to them. 3. calls on parishes to assist members to study the report on “stolen children". 4. requests the Federal Government and the State Government of NSW to be generous and open in their response.
On Sorry Day May 26 1997 the Cathedral Service heard personal stories of loss and grief from indigenous people, and a short but powerful “sorry” was made by the church. The service was addressed by Sir Ron Wilson coordinator of the Bringing them Home Report.
Indigenous Bishop Arthur Malcolm said, "I strongly believe that what has been stolen from us is our culture, language, heritage, our very roots and dignity...Deep hurt that is not acknowledged turns into bitterness."
In 2000, Newcastle Synod motion 7 appealed to the Prime Minister on behalf of all Australians to apologise for the part played by all European settlers for this injustice. The Australian General Synod of that time unanimously offered an "unreserved apology for the tragic outcome from government policy as outlined in the Bringing them Home Report.”
The then NSW Provincial Synod President, previous Archbishop of Sydney, Harry Goodhew said, "It is undeniable that great damage has been done. If we unintentionally hurt someone we love, we apologise. If we do wrong to someone either intentionally or in a reckless manner and later come to realise the error of our ways, we apologise.”
Returning to the Unchanged
Lauren's most memorable experience, visiting a pre-school.
Lauren Eyles shares her recent cross-cultural experience with us and reflects on her return to the unchanged Australia.
Many people travel the world and mark their to-do list of tourist landmarks without getting to know their host countries.
It's a privilege to cross the line from tourist to guest and learn about people's lives - the positives and the challenges.
In July 2007 I visited South Africa with five young professionals from our region on a Rotary Group Study Exchange.
Over four and a half weeks Rotarians in Johannesburg and surrounding cities welcomed strangers from Australia into their homes and openly shared their country.
The exchange is a program of Rotary International which allows young professionals to see how their profession is practised in another part of the world, establish networks and to develop ideas to apply at home. It also aims to foster cultural understanding and peace.
During the first week of the exchange we glimpsed for the first time informal settlements and families living in building sites and parks, while many of us were driven in Jaguars and BMWs.
We had heard much about South Africa's beauty, but also of the dangers of serious crime. The electric fencing that lines the gates of many homes is subtle, but my first two host families were held at gunpoint weeks before we arrived which illustrated the tension that South Africans live with.
To help navigate our cultural journey, many hosts took leave from work to spend time with us and accompanied us to many significant sites including: the Apartheid Museum; the Sharpeville monument commemorating the tragic shootings of students during apartheid protests; and a tour of the Soweto township.
Our hosts were realistic about the challenges that the new South Africa faces but they are committed to being part of the solution.
We also witnessed many examples of hope: a book project distributing text books from overseas to African schools and libraries; a community development centre which is uniting a disadvantaged community and enabling people to develop computer and employment skills; and a safe and loving home for abandoned infants. Rotary is playing a leading role in these initiatives and many more.
My favourite experience was a visit to an Asha Preschool, where we were mobbed by beautiful children with a fascination with our digital cameras. Later, they sang and danced for us.
Asha runs 40 preschools in Soweto and is committed to education as well as engaging communities, with the aim of creating lasting change and breaking the cycle of poverty.
Memories of visiting two HIV clinics will be with me forever. Seeing women of all ages, many with young children in tow, lining up to receive their antiretroviral medication was numbing.
Global research has led to improved treatments which are improving patients' quality of life, but 5 million people or one in ten South Africans have HIV, and a lack of education and cultural myths still leave people vulnerable to the disease. I am hopeful that the health communications initiatives I witnessed will shatter some of the myths that surround HIV and encourage people to protect their health. One innovative example was the use of television and radio soapies to educate the community on health issues.
South Africa is buzzing with potential and it is hoped that the World Cup in 2010 will bring a significant injection to the country's economy and create many employment opportunities.
I will always have affection for South Africa and its people and I encourage others to visit.
I also have a renewed appreciation for Australia. Our freedom to walk the streets and our welfare, health and education structures which assist disadvantaged members of our society, should never be taken for granted.
In the words of Nelson Mandela, "There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered".
Fr David Battrick offers an opportunity for Encounter readers to ask questions about Becoming Ministering Communities in Mission.
I have heard that because the Parish of Murrurundi has made a decision to become a Ministering Community in Mission they will no longer have a Parish Priest. Will that happen to us?
In a recent press release about the new model of ministry which is developing in the Parish of Murrurundi, Peter Rothnie, one of the new ministry team members reflected on the issues which the congregation had needed to address as it planned for the future.
He said, "We were facing some considerable challenges which were directly affecting the future of the parish. On the one hand the possible shortage of priests in the diocese meant that a new priest might not be available for us, and on the other hand there were serious issues about whether we had the financial resources to fund a new priest if one arrived in the parish. The process which we have been engaged in over the last two years has helped us to understand that many of the gifts and skills needed to keep our parish alive, and to help it to grow, are already here in the members of the congregation."
There are a number of congregations in rural parishes which are on the journey towards becoming a Ministering Community in Mission in the Diocese of Newcastle. We are committed to not only maintaining, but also developing a strong Christian presence in each of the rural towns within the diocese. The Parish of Murrurundi is the first Church in a rural context to have developed a Parish Ministry Team as envisaged by this vision.
Following the retirement of the parish priest, the framework of Ministering Communities in Mission has enabled the parish to continue in its mission and ministry without the financial and staffing obligations which it was previously committed to. The challenge for the parish is now to ensure that the work of the Church is not diminished but rather shared amongst all of the baptised. This task will be led and co-ordinated by the Parish Ministry Team with the support of a group of diocesan clergy.
On February 17, Bishop Brian commissioned four members of the congregation, Barbara Morgan, Wendy Jackson, Marie Rothnie and Peter Rothnie, (pictured below) to share together in the leadership of the parish within this ministry team. Three of the team have completed the Bishop's Certificate and are preparing to commence studies on the Bishop's Diploma. The other member of the team is enrolled on the Bishop's Certificate program. Following the endorsement of the congregation, the Parish Council has also requested that the Bishop consider applicants for ordained local ministry from within the parish ministry team. These applicants will now enter the diocesan discernment process. It is therefore possible that in due course one or more members of the ministry team may be ordained for local ministry in the parish. Until such a time as there are ordained members of the ministry team I am working with the parish to ensure that regular priestly ministry is available to the faith community in Murrurundi.
In 2008 the Parish Council of Muswellbrook has generously offered the support of its clergy on some Sundays on a regular basis and for pastoral offices and emergencies during the week (such as ministry to the dying and funerals). In addition, the Rev’d Sheila Bourne has commenced a ministry of support to the parish for a block of four days each month. Sheila's ministry includes intentional pastoral visiting amongst the congregation and wider parish, offering support to the ministry team, initiating training opportunities for Church members, and leading worship during her time in the parish.On a few Sundays during the year when I, or Sheila or clergy from Muswellbrook are unavailable, the Eucharist will be replaced by Morning Prayer. This is likely to happen on three Sundays in the first six months.
The parish and its ministry team will receive support and nurturing from a stipendiary priest for the foreseeable future. This will not end if members of the ministry team are ordained for local ministry. It is possible that in a few years’ time the ministry of gathering and celebrating at the Eucharist and presiding at pastoral offices such as baptisms, weddings and funerals may be led entirely by local people who have been ordained from within the parish. If this does become the case these clergy in ordained local ministry will be resourced, supervised and supported by the ongoing regular visits of a stipendiary priest.
The transition which has now begun into this new model of ministry has been made possible by the strong foundations which were laid by the last parish priest, Fr Jim Hudson. These preparations have included congregational study and reflection on the vision over a significant period of time. It will take some time for the congregation to grow into the new ministry-support arrangements which are in place, but they will do this from an understanding of the under-pinning vision which they have been thinking about together for the last two years.
So the parish's commitment to Ministering Communities in Mission has not prevented them from appointing a parish priest, but rather it has provided a way for them to continue in ministry by sharing the tasks of ministry amongst the whole people of God, even though they are unable to financially support a parish priest at the current time. The training and authorisation of a Parish Ministry Team is the first stage in a journey which we believe will ultimately ensure the long-term sustainable future of the parish. In some parishes this framework of ministry may be carefully considered in the future, but in most parishes the work of a stipendiary parish priest will continue, alongside the ministry of all of the baptised.
Bishop Richard Appleby has just celebrated the 25th anniversary of his consecration as Bishop as well as his 40th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood. What follows are Bishop Richard’s reflections when The Encounter spoke with him to honour such an occasion.
I look back with much thankfulness on my 25 years as a bishop. First, here in Newcastle as the auxiliary bishop from 1983 until the beginning of 1992, then as bishop of the Northern Territory (from February 1992 until mid 1999) and then, finally, as the bishop of the Northern Region of the diocese of Brisbane from mid 1999 through until my retirement in early 2006.
Having been a student at St John's College, Morpeth in the mid 60s, I did have some understanding of Newcastle diocese when I arrived here as the new auxiliary bishop in 1983. Newcastle diocese was a great place to begin my episcopal ministry.
I received huge support and encouragement. Bishop Holland, very graciously, allowed me to take responsibility for important areas of diocesan life, including the selection and training of candidates for ordination and the reorganisation of the diocesan social services, which resulted in the formation of Samaritans. I recall introducing to the Synod of 1984 the legislation to establish the Samaritans. I became the first Chair of the Board. I now know what it is to be a "re-cycled chair"!
Looking back, I can see that there has been significant cross cultural and ecumenical involvement during my time as Bishop. I used to tell people when I was the bishop of the NT, that I was the only Australian bishop with a diocese in which 25% of the parishes used a language other than English for their worship. These, of course, were the Aboriginal parishes of the diocese.
Also, cross culturally, I was, for nine years, the Australian bishop on the Council of the Church in East Asia (CCEA). CCEA brings together all of the Anglican dioceses of East Asia. One of my great thrills was the hosting of a meeting of all the CCEA bishops in Darwin.
Ecumenically, it has been my privilege to chair, for some years, the Missionary and Ecumenical Commission of the General Synod; to co-chair the group which brought the National Council of Churches in Australia into being; to take a leading role in the creation of the NT Council of Churches; to be the President of the NSW Ecumenical Council, Queensland Churches Together and now the National Council of Churches (NCCA). I was also for many years the Anglican co-chair of the national dialogue between the Anglican Church of Australia and the Uniting Church in Australia.
Elizabeth and I were very pleased to be able to return to Newcastle. We greatly enjoyed our time here when I was the auxiliary bishop of the diocese. It has been a good experience to re-connect with the community after an absence of 16 years.
Elizabeth Appleby reflects on some of her most memorable experiences as a Bishop’s wife for 25 years!
• On a visit to Rome in 1991, my first but Richard's second, we had tickets for the papal audience. Thanks to Richard's work in helping to bring to birth the new National Council of Churches in Australia his reputation in the Catholic Church was good. Our tickets were unexpectedly “up-graded” and we were sat in the front row near the cardinals. At the end of the audience, to our amazement, we were taken up onto the platform to meet Pope John Paul 11. He was charming, took us by the hand and said "my good friends from Australia". After the papal audience we had a wonderful lunch with Cardinal Cassidy, at that time head of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and now retired here in Newcastle. We enjoyed a classic Italian meal with interesting guests in a beautiful apartment overlooking St Peter's. By that evening some wonderful photos of the meeting with His Holiness had arrived at the convent where we were staying. The nuns, who spoke no English and thought it was certainly odd for a bishop to be married, even one who was “Anglicana”, were very impressed!
• Our final visit to Umbakumba, an Aboriginal community on Groote Eylandt, is also memorable. In the morning a large group of Aboriginal people, with Richard in cope and mitre, processed through the town and down to the magnificent bay where 42 adults and children were baptised in the hopefully crocodile free water. After the baptism 16 candidates were confirmed with Richard sitting on a somewhat battered chair on the sand under a huge tamarind tree. That evening we joined in “fellowship”, sitting on the sand in the moonlight. There were some brief farewell words, the singing of God Be With You Till We Meet Again and then the faithful Christians in that remote community gathered around to lay hands on us and pray for us in their own language. A very moving experience!
Tri-Diocesan Covenant Explained
On April 2, Anglican and Roman Catholic relations in the Diocesan area will strengthen with the signing of a historic covenant, furthering ecumenical developments. Bishop Brian Farran reports:
In 2004 Australian leaders of member churches of the National Council of Churches (the peak Australian ecumenical body) signed a series of agreements under the notional heading of Covenant that signified areas of co-operation and sharing that the member churches would undertake with each other.
In the various sections of the ambit agreement, differing churches signed, pledging their co-operation at agreed levels with each other. Some segments were signed by all churches; other segments signed by those able to co-operate in the specified area.
The Tri-Diocesan Covenant was developed from this national context and in regard to the very significant and long-term discussions at both international and national levels undertaken by both the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
The Tri-Diocesan Covenant will be signed in Christ Church Cathedral Newcastle at a service developed by representatives from the three Dioceses of Newcastle, Maitland-Newcastle and Broken Bay on April 2 commencing at 7.45pm.
The signatories to the Covenant will be the four bishops and a representative priest and lay person from each Diocese.
The intention is that every parish from each of the three Dioceses will be represented at the service and will receive a laminated copy of the Covenant to be displayed in their parish churches.
This Tri-Diocesan Covenant has attracted both national and international church and media interest. It is a trail-blazing event in the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches in Australia. The significance of this Covenant is not to be underestimated.
The Roman Catholic Dioceses are sure that they will be strongly represented at the service in Christ Church Cathedral. The Diocese of Broken Bay that includes our Central Coast parishes and the northern and beachside suburbs of Sydney is hiring buses to bring their folk to the service.
We need Anglicans from every parish in the Diocese to be present to celebrate this marvellous ecumenical event. This is one small step to be obedient to the great prayer of Jesus that “we all may be one”. The Covenant that is to be signed is as follows:
A Covenant between the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle, the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle and the Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay
In the spirit of the mutual recognition of what unites us as expressed in the documents of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission and the recent agreed statement of the International Anglican and Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, and in the light of the tradition of collaboration and mutual respect which already exists between us, the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle, the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, and the Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay hereby enter a covenant relationship in which we commit ourselves to:
• an annual Episcopal Dialogue in the both Hunter-Manning and Central Coast areas between the respective Anglican and Catholic Bishops
• an annual Ecumenical Service of Worship in both the Hunter-Manning and Central Coast areas
• an annual Joint Clergy Day for the clergy of the three Dioceses to come together to reflect on pastoral, social or theological issues which we face together
• an annual Service of Reconciliation to focus on the restoration and growth of relationships between the Roman Catholic and Anglican Communions
• an annual exchange of pulpits by the respective Anglican and Catholic Bishops in both the Hunter-Manning and Central Coast areas
• a twice-yearly meeting of the Ecumenical Commissions and Bishops of the three Dioceses
• an annual dinner to be shared by the Bishops of the three Dioceses to foster their friendship and communion
• the exploration of possibilities for the sharing of church plant
• an annual review and re-affirmation of the Covenant.
I warmly invite every priest and deacon and as many parishioners as possible to throng Christ Church Cathedral for this significant ecumenical event.
Join us at Christ Church Cathedral at 7.45pm on April 2 when the Covenant will be signed and ecumenism celebrated.
What the Bishops have to say:
Bishop Michael Malone: sees the tri-Diocesan covenant as a natural development arising from the warm relationship that has long existed between the Catholic and Anglican dioceses in the Hunter.
He said, "It's been a work in progress for many years. I think the Christian Churches too, by this covenanting process, are showing that they are prepared to try to walk the way of harmony together.
“Does all of this mean there's going to be some kind of organic unity in centuries to come? Maybe - but I think most ecumenical people would say that we want to get to a point where we respect each other's culture and tradition, we respect the liturgical practice of each one, with a sense that ‘I'm prepared to learn from you, and I hope you're prepared to learn from me’.
“Who knows where that attitude might lead? I could foresee a time when inter-communion between the Anglican and Catholic traditions, particularly here in Maitland-Newcastle and the Newcastle Anglican diocese, could be a reality.”
Bishop David Walker: sees that an important principle underlying the Covenant is the prayer of Jesus, that “all may be one”.
"Unity and peace were important emphases in Jesus' proclamation. Events of history have shattered the peace and unity of the Christian family, and have made it difficult for us to live together the common share in the life of our risen Lord, which stems from our Baptism. Pope John Paul saw ecumenism as the heart of his pontificate.
“Pope Benedict XVI has reiterated this message. Not to move in this direction is to ignore what our Catholic community is proclaiming very forcefully today.
"This Covenant is a pledge to continue the things that we are doing together, and a commitment to be open to further involvement in the future. It is also meant to be a challenge to our respective communities to enter, either formally or informally, into closer relationships with other Christians."
