Category: Sandy’s Comments

VCC Executive Officer, Rev (Deacon) Sandy Boyce, delivered the Christmas message to the Melbourne Church of South India Christmas Carols service on 26th November 2022.

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Firstly let me acknowledge we meet on the sacred lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. It has been their land since time immemorial, land that was taken, not ceded. I wish to acknowledge their right and responsibility to care for the land and the waters. I acknowledge their Elders – past, present and emerging, and invite us all to a commitment to walk with the First Nations People as they seek truth-telling and for their voices to be heard and valued, as they seek justice, and as we all turn our attention to the imperative for reconciliation.

And let me say – welcome! It was such a joy on Wednesday to officially welcome the Melbourne Church of South India as a Member Church of the Victorian Council of Churches. We are glad to have you join this vibrant ecumenical body, and we welcome your contribution.

I have been invited here tonight as the Executive Officer, Victorian Council of Churches. And as a friend to MCSI.

I am a Minister in the Uniting Church in Australia. In fact, in the lead up to union in 1977, a great deal of consideration was given to the Church of South India model (established in 1947). We share a lot in common!

In a previous role I held in the Uniting Church, I coordinated the program for Australian people serving as volunteers with partner churches in Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Over a period of several years many volunteers were placed in India, continuing the rich heritage of those who had served as missionaries, living with and supporting the partner churches in India – Church of South India and Church of North India.

I had the privilege of visiting the volunteers, and key personnel in CSI who had responsibility for their volunteer placements.

I have visited Kerala (including a cricket match in Cochin!), but most of the time I have spent in India was in the Diocese of Madras, at the theological college in Madurai (TTS), as well as in Coimbatore and Andhra Pradesh. I learned to love so much about Indian culture, and also the strength, resilience and faithfulness of the Church of South India.

One year, I was visiting India in the Christmas season, and I visited a quite remote village with a small CSI chapel for Christian worship – memorably called Church of the Nativity. Such beautiful hospitality was extended to me, and those who accompanied me. It might also have had something to do with the fact the Bishop accompanied us!!

When most people think of the message of Christmas, they normally think about angels, wise men, shepherds, joy to the world, peace and goodwill, and “to us a child is given.” Christmas is indeed a time to celebrate God’s blessings and peace to all. For the faithful, Christmas is a celebration that God is for us, God is near us, because God was one of us, embodied in the life of Jesus.

On that visit, the Bishop gave an address to the people where he offered a profound insight. He had learned to read the text through his experience of marginalisation and oppression. He spoke about the first people who received the good news of Jesus’ birth. Those shepherds in the field, workers, farm hands, watching their flocks by night. Social outcasts viewed with suspicion and contempt. And because they working with animals they were viewed as ‘polluted’, and cruelly ostracised.

It was those simple shepherds who first received the good news the angel brought – to them was born a saviour, the Lord, who would bring peace on earth. Not through the power and domination, but through the way that Jesus lived, the message he proclaimed and the good news he embodied. Jesus, Prince of Peace.

The Kingdom/Reign of God is the reverse of human societies. In the realm of God, it is the poor and the marginalized – the people without any power or privilege, like the shepherds – who are closest to God. What good news for those longing for signs of hope. No wonder the shepherds RUSHED to greet this child, the long awaited Messiah, God’s own in their midst, sharing the human journey.

It opened my eyes to something that is self-evident – but I had not seen. And once you see it, you can’t unsee it. That the Christmas story is populated by people on the margins. The shepherds. And Mary, a teenage girl from Galilee expecting her first child a long way from home, without the support of close family and friends who could help her through the birth. Tradition has a donkey in the story but none of the gospels mention that form of transport and Mary and Joseph probably walked most of the way. They would have arrived tired from the journey, and then found no welcoming place for them to stay and so they stayed in the warmth of the place where the animals were kept safe in the cold of winter.

It’s interesting to think, what if Jesus had been born in entirely different circumstances? In the comfort of a home, with family and friends providing a warm welcome to the infant. But, instead, he arrived in a place far from home, a makeshift place for his birth, laid in the straw of an animal’s feeding trough. In a sense, not being born into grand circumstances placed him right in the midst of ordinary people living in extraordinarily difficult times – under occupation by a foreign power, and in the midst of a dark, cold, suffering world. It is a familiar story that has repeated throughout human history, and today we remember the people in Ukraine.

The Christmas story reveals that God’s liberating love will always be found and that hope will be born anew – even in the darkest corners of the world.

It would be true to say that Jesus’ birth, and his years in Egypt as a refugee, led him to deeply understand our struggles, as individuals and as a global community – of displacement, loneliness, financial hardship, and marginalisation by a society that too often gives power only to those with status and wealth.

Mary sang a song we call the Magnificat (Luke 1:26-35), of the realm of God breaking into the world, and upending systems, where there would be liberation from despair, fear and condemnation.

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.

Mary’s song proclaims that the powerful will be brought down from their thrones, the lowly lifted up, the hungry filled, and the rich sent away empty.

Now, the insights from the Bishop transformed my understanding about the Christmas story. Whereas some would spend time on arguing is the Christmas story true (what really happened?), the fresh insights opened my eyes, and also prompted me to think about power, wealth and status, and where I found my own place in the Christmas story. Because, I realised, it’s hard to see just how incredible the Christmas story is unless I was able to recognise that I was a beneficiary of education, status and power, and that so many people miss out on those privileges that I take for granted. Many are struggling. Many are denied basic human dignity.

To use this lens of displaced and marginalised people in the Christmas story brought it alive in completely fresh ways. God’s preferential option for the poor and marginalised makes these characters central to the story. And Jesus, born amongst ordinary hard working folk, is the one who would share God’s liberating love and grace and mercy, who would share the good news of hope.

If God’s preferential option is for the poor, the marginalized, and people without any power or privilege (like the shepherds), then the way to draw close to God is to be close to people who are like the shepherds in our time and place. The poor. The homeless. The lonely. The misunderstood.

Jesus manifested God’s love, in human flesh. Not through power and privilege, or wealth and status, but as one who came as a servant, offering hope, lifting people up to their full humanity.

The Christmas story marks the beginning of God renewing things on earth as they are in heaven – through the life of Jesus.

Christmas is not meant to be about consumerism and endless buying. Rather, it is the reminder we all need, each year, that we are called to follow the distinctive way of Jesus, and to manifest the love of God so all know they are welcome in God’s reign.

Now it’s our turn to be bearers of God’s love, justice, hope, peace and joy – to embody it as Jesus did. To join in with what God is doing in the world.

Christmas for Christians is intended to be a bold profession to entrust ourselves to God’s ways, and to resist the ways of the world.

The Christmas story is God’s alternative story to all the evil, injustice, brutality, suffering and death that we see around us. It will happen through loving kindness, reconciliation, peacemaking and a commitment to non-violence, and generous hospitality around a shared table where all are welcome, all are fed, all are loved.

May this blessed season of Advent bring peace, joy, love, and justice to each of you. Continue to preach the gospel in words and actions, to make the love of Jesus real to your friends, family and neighbours. Amen.

A Monash study is currently underway researching how the Victorian government has engaged with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) faith communities since the 2016 Royal Commission into Family Violence in Victoria.

Another aspect of the study is to examine how faith leaders and faith communities currently respond to family violence within their community.

The researchers (Ellen Cho, Liana Papoutsis and Shona Smith) are looking for additional participants for this study, and there has been a request to pass on the following information to any faith leaders and church committee members of Chinese Churches in Victoria (or Chinese people in leadership in congregations).

The Explanatory Statement has been translated into English, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. 

The draft email that has been circulated is below.

我們希望聽取信仰領袖和信仰社區成員的意見，了解維多利亞州政府如何與文化和語言多樣化的信仰社區交流合作，以及您目前如何應對您的信仰組織內的家庭暴力。我們會組織一次以中文進行的小組訪談。

Participation in the project will involve group discussion, discussing any interactions you may or may not have had with the Victorian government, and your faith community’s current responses and processes to family violence that might arise in the faith community. You will not be personally named or identified in any reports that arise from this study.

Group discussions will take place online over Zoom for approximately 90 minutes. As a small token of appreciation, participants will receive an $80 Coles gift voucher for taking part in a group discussion.

For full information about the research project and an example of what participating in this research might look like, please click the link to the English version of the Explanatory Statement here, the Simplified Chinese version here, and the Traditional Chinese version here.

When?

28 November from 2pm to 3:30pm; OR

1 December from 11am to 12:30pm

How to participate in this research

Anyone who wishes to participate can express their interest by emailing Shona Smith (shona.smith@monash.edu) ‘I would like to participate in your research (date/time)’.

The researchers would appreciate responses about participation as soon as possible.

People interested in participating, but who are unavailable on 28 November or 1 December are asked to email Shona Smith (shona.smith@monash.edu).

In April 2022, His Holiness Mar Awa III, elected Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East in September 2021, visited Australia.

The Assyrian Church of the East is an eastern Christian Church with historic roots in disputes over the Ecumenical Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, and is a member church of the Victorian Council of Churches.

On Saturday morning, November 19, 2022, he was received by His Holiness Pope Francis at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. He was accompanied by a delegation, in Rome from Nov 16-19th for the annual meeting of the Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East.

The Patriarch offered a gift to the Pope which consisted of a stylistic Cross of the Assyrian Church of the East handmade in wood, and in turn, the Pope gifted a part of the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas to the Patriarch for the new Patriarchal Basilica of the Holy Apostles in Erbil, Iraq.

The meeting was very fraternal, and many issues concerning the Christians of the Middle East were discussed, along with matters centered around the ecumenical relations between the two Churches, and other sister Christian Churches as well.

Pope urges Catholics, Assyrian Christians to continue on common journey by Christopher Wells

In his address on Saturday, Pope Francis noted the growth in the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church in recent decades, recalling the visits of Mar Awa’s predecessors Mar Dinkha IV and Mar Gewargis III, and the signing of documents including the Common Christological Declaration and a Statement on the situation of Christians in the Middle East.
The Holy Father also expressed his appreciation for the work of the Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue between the two Churches, highlighting a study on the Anaphora [Eucharistic Prayer] of the Apostles Addai and Mari, which allowed some reciprocal admission to the Eucharist in specific circumstances; as well as a Common Declaration on the Sacramental life.
“Your meetings and dialogues have, with the help of God, borne good fruit and fostered pastoral cooperation for the benefit of our faithful, a pastoral ecumenism that is the natural way towards full unity.”
The Pope also praised their current work on “images of the Church in the Syriac and Latin patristic tradition,” noting the tendency of the Church Fathers to speak of the Church using the “simple and universally accessible” language of images, following the example of Jesus. He emphasized the importance for faithful of both Churches not only to return to their roots, but to bear witness together to “the mystery of the love between Christ and His bride, the Church.”
In this regard, Pope Francis pointed to the many things the two Churches have in common, including a common history of faith and mission, great saints, a rich theological and liturgical patrimony, and, especially in recent decades, the witness of martyrs. In the historic home of the Assyrian Church in the Middle East, many Christians have been forced to leave their homelands, while many others have struggled to remain. With Mar Awa, Pope Francis renewed his appeal for the rights of those Christians – especially the right to religious liberty and the right to full citizenship – to be respected.
Noting that the faithful of both Churches already, in some places, live in almost full communion, Pope Francis said this is “a sign of the times, a powerful incentive for us to pray and to work diligently in preparation for the much awaited day when we can celebrate together the Eucharist, the holy Qurbana, at the same altar, as the fulfilment of the unity of our Churches.”
Looking ahead to Mar Awa’s talk on synodality in the Syriac tradition, Pope Francis insisted that “the journey of synodality undertaken by the Catholic Church is and must be ecumenical, just as the ecumenical journey is synodal. It is my hope that we can pursue, ever more fraternally and concretely, our own syn-odos, our ‘common journey’, by encountering one another, showing concern for one another sharing our hopes and struggles, and above all… our prayer and praise of the Lord.”
In particular, he thanked Mar Awa for his desire to find a common date for Easter, ensuring the Catholicos-Patriarch that the Catholic Church is ready to accept any proposal that is made together. “Let us have the courage to put an end to this division…” the Pope said, adding, “The sign we should give is: one Christ for all of us.” And he expressed a dream that the separation between the Assyrian Church of the East and the Catholic Church, “the longest in the history of the Church” might be “the first to be resolved.”
Pope Francis concluded his address by entrusting the journey towards full unity to “the intercession of the martyrs and saints who, already united in heaven, encourage our progress here on earth.” And he offered to Mar Awa the gift of a relic of the Apostle Saint Thomas, associated with the foundation of the churches in Assyria, which will be placed in the new Patriarchal Cathedral of the Assyrian Church in the East in Erbil, Iraq.
“May Saint Thomas, who touched with his hand the wounds of the Lord, hasten the complete healing of our wounds from the past,” the Pope said, “so that soon we may be able to acknowledge around the same Eucharistic altar the crucified and risen Christ, and say to Him, together: ‘My Lord and my God!’”

Thanks to Samir (Melbourne Assyrian Church of the East) for the news.

It was a pleasure to meet Rt. Rev. Dr. Gregorios Mar Stephanos Episcopa (Bishop) who is currently visiting Marthoma congregations in Australia. Bishop Gregorios Mar Stephanos is the inaugural Bishop of the new Marthoma Diocese of Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore.

• Ordained as Deacon 27th June 1986
• Ordained as Kassessa (clergy priest) 30th July 1986
• Ordained as Ramban 7th May 2011. A Ramban is a priest of the Jacobite Church, who is unmarried and leads a monastic life in a place of prayer called a Dayara.
• Consecrated as Episcopa (Bishop) 13th August 2011

The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian Church and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, is an autonomous Reformed Oriental church based in Kerala, India. While continuing many of the Syriac high church practices, the church is reformed in its theology and doctrines. It employs a reformed variant of the West Syriac Rite Divine Liturgy of Saint James, translated to Malayalam, the language of Kerala.

The Mar Thoma Church sees itself as continuation of the Saint Thomas Christians, a community traditionally believed to have been founded in the first century by Thomas the Apostle, who is known as Mar Thoma (Saint Thomas) in Syriac, and describes itself as “Apostolic in origin, Universal in nature, Biblical in faith, Evangelical in principle, Ecumenical in outlook, Oriental in worship, Democratic in function, and Episcopal in character”.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, Mar Thoma Christians lived in a few districts in Kerala. Since that time they have spread with the Indian diaspora to many places around the world, including Australia.

The Marthoma church has two congregations in Victoria – Parkville and Immanuel Marthoma Church (website here), Hampton Park.

(More information on Wikipedia).

Premier Daniel Andrews has announced plans to form a new Multicultural and Multifaith Law Reform Consultative Committee made up of legal experts, community and faith leaders to advise the Attorney-General on law reform.

An expression of interest process will be open to all members of the Victorian community.

The Committee will look at legislation through a cultural and religious lens to ensure laws give all multicultural and faith communities the ability to contribute to the state, free from discrimination and racism.

Furthermore, a re-elected Labor Government plans to strengthen the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 to make it easier to prosecute any individual who incites hatred or bigotry based on someone’s faith or skin colour.

In recent years there has been a rise of neo-Nazi right wing extremism in Victoria, which has led to the rise of Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and racism in the state.

Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes explained, “Recent events have shown the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act does not do enough to protect Victorians from multicultural backgrounds.”

Strengthening these laws will allow for greater protection of multicultural and faith communities in Victoria. It will ensure more prosecutions against those who incite hatred or racism against a person or group based on their cultural background or religious belief is prosecuted.

COP 27 starts this Sunday in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. You can follow proceedings on the website, https://unfccc.int/cop27

With an upcoming election, Victorians are being encouraged to write to candidates to ask them to support the letter endorsed by faith leaders (including the VCC) – see below. Letter writing resources available here.

Dear Prime Minister Albanese

We are grateful for your Government’s efforts to take the climate crisis seriously. 

Yet Australia is a wealthy country that profits from exports that are causing the crisis. We hear the cries of anguish from those most vulnerable in the human family who are losing their lives, livelihoods and homes through climate-fuelled disasters. 

We humbly and respectfully request that Australia:

• Stops approving new coal and gas projects
• Ends public subsidies for coal and gas projects
• Fully respects First Nations peoples’ rights to protect Country
• Re-starts contributions to the United Nations Green Climate Fund
• Assists extractive industry workers to prosper through jobs in sustainable industries
• Actively participates in creating and endorses a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The current level of warming is not safe. This moment in history calls for an urgent, courageous, visionary response, especially from those in power. Australia’s leadership in this response, as part of its First Nations Foreign Policy, is vital for the vulnerable communities and ecosystems who depend on it. 

Yours faithfully, 

First Nations and Australian and Pacific faith leaders

The Most Reverend Geoffrey Smith, Archbishop of Adelaide and Primate, Anglican Church in Australia

The Most Reverend Philip Richardson, Bishop, Diocese of Waikato and Taranaki; Archbishop and Primate, Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia

His Eminence, Cardinal Sir John Ribat, KBE MSC, Cardinal, Archbishop of Port Moresby

The Most Reverend Leonard Dawea, Archbishop, Anglican Church of Melanesia, Solomon Islands

Reverend James Bhagwan, General Secretary, Pacific Conference of Churches 

Reverend Father Soane Fotutata msc, General Secretary, Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC)

Reverend John Gilmore, President, National Council of Churches in Australia

His Eminence, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, Grand Mufti of Australia

Imam Shadi Alsuleiman, President, Australian National Imams Council

Reverend Sharon Hollis, President, Uniting Church in Australia, Assembly

Reverend Mark Kickett, Chair, Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress Australia

Uncle John Lochowiak, Chairperson, National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council

Reverend Dr (Hon.) Raymond Minniecon, Co-Chair, Indigenous Peoples Organisation; Scarred Tree Ministries, Glebe, NSW

Mr Prakash Mehta, President, Hindu Council of Australia

The Most Reverend Peter Loy Chong, Archbishop of Suva Catholic Diocese

The Most Reverend Mark Coleridge, Archbishop of Brisbane Catholic Diocese

The Most Reverend  Patrick O’Regan, Archbishop of Adelaide Catholic Diocese

The Most Reverend Kay Goldsworthy, Archbishop of Perth Anglican Diocese

Bruce Henry, Presiding Clerk, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia

Charlie Hogg, Coordinator, Brahma Kumaris Australia

Professor Anne Poelina (Nyikina Warawa), First Nations Guardian and Custodian Martuwarra Fitzroy River 

Aunty Togiab McRose Elu, Torres Strait Islander Elder, recipient of the 2021 Queensland Senior Australian of the Year Award

Ms Rikki Dank (Lhudi Noralima), Director, Gudanji For Country, Gudanji Nation

Reverend Dr Benny Giay, Moderator, West Papua Council of Churches

The Right Reverend Dr Jack Urame, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea 

Reverend Rusiate Tuidrakulu, General Secretary, South Pacific Association of Theological Schools 

The Very Reverend Quyen Vu SJ, Congregational Leader, The Society of Jesus in Australia (Australian Jesuits) 

Dr Gawaine Powell Davies, President, Federation of Australian Buddhist Councils; Chair, Buddhist Council of NSW

Rabbi Nicole Roberts, Chair, Assembly of Rabbis and Cantors of Australia, New Zealand and Asia

Venerable Thich Quang Ba, Founding President, United Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation of Canberra; Co-President, International Buddhist Confederation; Former President, Australian Sangha Association

Venerable Ajahn Brahmavamso, Abbott, Bodhinyana Monastery, WA

Sister Anne Lane pbvm, President, Society of Presentation Sisters of Australia and Papua New Guinea 

Sister Eveline Crotty rsm, Institute Leader, Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea 

Sister Monica Cavanagh sosj, Congregational Leader, Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart

Reverend Dr Bruce Yeates, Moderator, Presbyterian Church of Fiji

Reverend Taualo Penivao, General Secretary, Ekalesia Kelisiano Tuvalu

Reverend Dr Tevita Havea, President, Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga 

Reverend Dr Eteuati S. L. Tuioti, General Secretary, Methodist Church in Samoa

Reverend Vavatau Taufao, General Secretary, Congregational Christian Church Samoa

Very Rev Fr Dr Shenouda Mansour, General Secretary, New South Wales Ecumenical Council, Parish Priest, St Antonius & St Paul Coptic Orthodox Church, Guildford, NSW

Dr Rateb Jneid, President, Australian Federation of Islamic Councils

Abbas Raza Alvi, President, Indian Crescent Society of Australia

The Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen ofm conv, Bishop of Parramatta Catholic Diocese

The Most Reverend Timothy Harris, Bishop of Townsville Catholic Diocese

The Right Reverend Dr Keith Joseph, Bishop, Anglican Church North Queensland

Mr Mahanbir Grewal, Founder and President, Guru Nanak Society of Australia

Rabbi Jonathan Keren-Black, Environmental Advisor, Assembly of Rabbis and Cantors, Australia and New Zealand

Pastor Rob Buckingham, Senior Minister, Bayside Church (Pentecostal)

Dr Shailesh Kumar Diwedi, Hindu priest Canberra

The Most Reverend Paul Bird CScR, Bishop of Ballarat Catholic Diocese

The Most Reverend Charles Gauci, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Darwin and the NT

The Right Reverend Kate Prowd, Assistant Bishop, Oodthenong Episcopate, Anglican Diocese of Melbourne

The Right Reverend Paul Barker, Assistant Bishop, Anglican Diocese of Melbourne

The Right Reverend Genieve Blackwell, Assistant Bishop, Anglican Diocese of Melbourne

Ms Anne Walker, National Executive Director, Catholic Religious Australia

Mrs Philippa Rowland, Chair, Religions for Peace Australia

Br Christopher John SSF, Minister General, Society of St Francis 

The Right Reverend Cam Venables, Archbishop’s Commissary; Bishop, Anglican Church Southern Queensland

The Right Reverend Jeremy Greaves, Bishop, Anglican Church Southern Queensland

The Right Reverend John Roundhill, Bishop, Anglican Church Southern Queensland

Bishop Philip Huggins, Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture; Anglican Church, Diocese of Melbourne

The Most Reverend Shane Mackinlay, Bishop of Sandhurst Catholic Diocese

Pastor Collin Keleb, Chairman, Vanuatu Christian Council

Reverend Roger Mwareow, Chairman, Nauru Congregational Church

Reverend Nafatali Falealii, General Secretary, Congregational Christian Church in American Samoa 

Pastor Jeledrick Binejal, General Secretary, United Church of Christ Congregations, Marshall Islands 

Pastor Var Kaemo, President, Eglise Protestante du Kanaky, Nouvelle Caledonie  

Mr Nga Mataio, General Secretary, Cook Islands Christian Church

Mrs Céline Hoiore, General Secretary,  Etaretia Poritetani Maohi, Maohi Nui 

Jessiee Kaur Singh, President, WIN Foundation (Women’s Interfaith Network); President, COMMON Australia

Mr Adel Salman, President, Islamic Council of Victoria

Rabbi Shoshana Kaminsky, Beit Shalom Synagogue, Adelaide

Venerable Bhante Sujato, SuttaCentral, Theravada tradition

Sister Margaret Guy rsc, Vicar, Congregation of the Sisters of Charity

Reverend Trevor Trotter, Regional Director, St Columban’s Mission Society, Melbourne

Sister Louise Cleary, Congregational Leader, Brigidine Sisters

Reverend Peter O’Neill, Leader, St Columbans Mission Society, Melbourne

Father Tom McDonough CP, Provincial Superior, The Passionists of Holy Spirit Province 

Reverend Dr Peter Catt, Dean, St John’s Anglican Cathedral, Brisbane

Mrs Balbir Grewal, Treasurer, Guru Nanak Society of Australia

Professor Anthony Maher, Executive Director, Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, Charles Sturt University

Professor Neil Ormerod, Sydney College of Divinity

Professor Mohamad Abdalla, Centre for Islamic Thought and Education, University of South Australia

Associate Professor Mehmet Ozalp, Director, Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation, Charles Sturt University

Reverend Dr Patrick McInerney, Director, Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations

Reverend Dr Josephine Inkpin, Anglican priest and Minister of Pitt Street Uniting Church, Sydney

Sister Jan Barnett sosj, Josephite Justice Coordinator

Sister Elizabeth Rogerson ibvm, Leadership Team, Loreto Sisters Australia and South East Asia

Subhana Barzaghi,  Zen Buddhist Roshi, Spiritual Director Sydney Zen Centre, Annandale

Gillian Coote, Zen Buddhist Roshi, Sydney Zen Centre, Annandale

Dr Susan Murphy, Zen Buddhist Roshi, Spiritual Director Zen Open Circle (Aust), and Hobart Zen

Kynan Sutherland, Zen Sensei, Spiritual Director Castlemaine Zen, Vic

Reverend Dr David Millikan, Minister Nowra Uniting Church, NSW

Maggie Gluek, Zen Buddhist Roshi, Sydney Zen Centre, Annandale

Reverend Meredith Williams, Minister of the Word, Uniting Church in Australia

Ms Anna Markey, lead teacher, Coast and City Sangha Buddhist Community (SA)

Rabbi Sheryl Nosan, Jewish Spirituality Australia

Rev Dr Linda Chapman OAM

Father Neil Forgie, Anglican Priest, Cairns

Doug Hewitt AM, Leader, Christians for Peace Newcastle NSW, Retired Associate Professor Australian Catholic University

Very Reverend Robert Riedling, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Catholic Diocese of Parramatta

Rev Sandy Boyce, Executive Officer, Victorian Council of Churches

Dharmachari Tejopala Rawls, Triratna Buddhist Order, Melbourne

Rev. Simon Hansford, Moderator, Synod of NSW & the ACT, Uniting Church in Australia

Thea Ormerod, President, Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC)

30 October. Rev Philip Liebelt led the Warrnambool Uniting Church Op Shop Annual Service, telling Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus stories, and talking to the children about trash and treasure. The Op Shop has contributed $1,000,000 to the church’s work in the community over the six and a quarter year history of the shop. A great reason to support Op Shops!

As more and more people are waking up to the serious environmental impacts of the fast fashion industry, people around the world are searching for more sustainable ways to shop. This has led to a huge (and very well deserved!) surge in popularity for second-hand clothes.

Australia’s re-use charities are the biggest network diverting clothing from landfill and currently extend the life of $527m worth of preloved clothes.

Buying second-hand clothes helps to keep them in circulation for much longer. This is good for you, and it’s also better for the planet.

The fashion industry is extremely wasteful. Australians buy almost 15kg of clothes every year (or 56 new items) every year and most of it ends up in landfill, according to a recent report, making Australia one of the highest consumers of textiles per capita in the world. At the other end of the fashion cycle, roughly 260,000 tonnes, or 10kg a person, reaches landfill each year.

Only 7,000 tonnes of textiles are recycled in Australia, a very small percentage of clothing purchased.

On top of the huge amount of landfill, the textile industry also relies heavily on fossil fuels and other chemicals. Globally, 98m tonnes of nonrenewable resources are used in the fashion industry, including oil to produce synthetic fibres, fertilisers to grow cotton, and chemicals to produce dye.

In Australia, two-thirds of clothing is made up of synthetic fibres, which are often derived from petroleum.

One of the best ways to keep clothes out of landfill and reduce their impact is to keep them in circulation for longer. Keeping clothes in use for just an extra 9 months can reduce their carbon, water and waste footprint by 20-30%.

Buying second-hand clothes is a super simple and effective way to extend their active lifespan, keep them in circulation and out of landfill.

And, as we approach Christmas, it might impact on what we purchase, and where we purchase from.

Give thanks for the daily opportunities to serve customers, to pray and give witness to God’s love. Give thanks too for the volunteers who work in op-shops, and for all who donate items.

Sources
The Guardian

Anglican Focus

National Clothing Product Stewardship Scheme

Fashion Journal

How Australia’s op shops are caught up in the cost of living crisis

Melbourne has a large Greek population. The Greek Orthodox Church is a member of the Victorian Council of Churches.

October 28th is celebrated by Greek communities around the world as Ohi Day or Oxi Day (Greek: Επέτειος του Όχι, romanized: Epéteios tou Óchi, lit. ’Anniversary of the No’; Greek pronunciation: [eˈpetios tu ˈoçi]).

In 1940 the Greek prime minister Ioannis Metaxas told Italian dictator Benito Mussolini that Axis Forces were not welcome in Greece. He allegedly answered Mussolini’s request to occupy certain territories with a single laconic word: όχι (No!). However, his actual reply was, “Alors, c’est la guerre!” (Then it is war!).

In response to Metaxas’s refusal, Italian troops stationed in Albania, then an Italian protectorate, attacked the Greek border at 05:30 am.

On the morning of 28 October, the Greek population took to the streets, irrespective of political affiliation, shouting ‘ohi’. From 1942, it has been celebrated as Ohi Day.

It is a celebration of resistance, even though it ultimately led to the beginning of Greece’s participation in World War 2.

Reflecting on this, Archbishop Demetrios (U.S.A) wrote:

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ

Our commemoration of OXI Day each year leads us to reflect on a very challenging time in our world and for the people of Greece.  As war was spreading throughout Europe, the Axis forces demanded the surrender of Greece on October 28, 1940.  Bravely and honorably, the Greek people replied, “NO.”   Today, we honor the bravery and sacrifice of our fathers and mothers who stood valiantly against the armies of the fascist powers.  They proclaimed a resolute “NO” to occupation.  The people of Greece affirmed their love of liberty and their right of self-determination.  They saw the evil and unchecked power of fascist regimes, and in their response they committed their lives to protecting their country.  In faith they knew that no matter the outcome they were willing to stand courageously in the face of this threat knowing that ultimately nothing could separate them from the nobility of their heritage and the love of God.

Today, we are inspired by our forbearers as we celebrate their courage and honor their memory.  They said “NO” to those who advanced power and control at any cost.  They stood firm against an ideology and its forces that would only separate them from their freedom, their rights, and their way of life.  We find courage in their example and hope and strength in the promise that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39).

The experience of God’s love and the promise that His love is always with us helped the people of Greece in hope and faith to endure all things (I Corinthians 13:7).  They knew that the power of God’s love was greater than the power of fascist regimes.  They knew that the love of God was essential to their freedom, and to their love for their families and communities, and for their country.

With the assurance and truth of God’s love, we are able to stand firm against any evil use of power or false ideology.  As the people of Greece in 1940 and as many witnesses of our faith have done, we can boldly proclaim “NO” in the face of those who seek to destroy life and liberty, those who use power to abuse and manipulate others, and those who try to separate us from our faith and the love of God.

As we commemorate the valiant people of Greece on OXI Day, and we laud their courage before the world, may we give thanks to God for the witness offered to us and to generations to come. 

Sincere condolences to members of God’s Squad who were celebrating 50 years with a ride that ended in tragedy with a fatal accident involving Barry ‘Baz’ Porter. May our God hold him in loving embrace, and comfort those who mourn his passing.

The book launch of ‘The First 50 years’ culminates a project to gather the history of the God’s Squad, from its origins in Sydney in 1971 to the beginning of God’s Squad in 1972 under the leadership of John Smith, with the blessing and guidance of the original Sydney chapter. From that base in Melbourne, God’s Squad spread from Australia, where it has had multiple chapters for many years, throughout Europe, into New Zealand and also the USA.

Since its birth, out of the counterculture Jesus movement days of the late 60s and early 70s God’s Squad has continued, for nearly five decades, to devote its efforts amongst those on the fringes of society. The Club continues to primarily exist to minister among motorcycle clubs and associated groups, where it is an accepted and relevant expression of the Christian Church.

God’s Squad has also maintained a long commitment of service among the poor, advocacy for the rights of first nation people, active ministry in prisons, schools and the public space. All of this is built on a foundation that takes the call of radical discipleship in Christ seriously, which finds its roots in his teaching.

On the occasion of Melbourne Chapter’s 25th anniversary back in 1997, John Smith offered the following reflection on our behalf. This still holds true.

“… our faith and commitment remain stronger than ever. You need a faith to live by and a friend to stand by. Like Jesus, who we follow, we are committed friends of the outcasts of this world. We are friends, not to manipulate our mates to faith – but because we talk and live a faith that is free for all. True love is no weak sentiment – for Christ it led to crucifixion.
To all our mates on the bike scene, we want to say on our Anniversary, we are a club that exists not for ourselves, but for non-members. If you ever need an honest believing friend, we are here for you and so is Christ.
Cheers and God be with you.”

As part of the 50 years celebrations, a Thanksgiving Church service was held on Sunday October 2, hosted at TLC Church, 265 Canterbury Rd, Bayswater North. Tim Costello was the guest preacher. https://www.youtube.com/c/TlcchurchOrgAu

Sources: God’s Squad website and Facebook page