Category: News

The Herb Feith Centre has announced: “With a heavy heart we announce the passing of Betty Feith. Betty was a staunch supporter of Indonesia, and strong advocate for social justice. While the Centre bears her late husband’s name, it works towards supporting her legacy of enhancing Indonesian-Australian relations too”. (@HerbFeithCentre)

Betty Feith (née Evans) passed away on 18th May 2022 after a long illness. Betty was a volunteer with the VCC for many years, especially in the library, in addition to her involvement with the NCCA (National Council of Churches in Australia).

Betty Feith was a teacher and volunteer whose work inside and outside the classroom reflected her ideals of a peaceful, just and inclusive society, and her abiding Christian faith. 

Betty was actively involved in the ACSM during the 1940s-1950s (and in 1979 was National Chairperson – Victorian Area Council of the Australian Student Christian Movement). 

In 1947, Betty met Herb Feith, whose Jewish Austrian parents had sought asylum from Nazism in Australia in 1939. Together, Betty and Herb undertook war relief activities, collecting door-to-door in Melbourne suburbs on behalf of Germans and other Europeans who were struggling with post-war shortages and hardships.

In 1950 Betty and Herb, together with a group of other University of Melbourne students and ASCM members set in motion a pioneering initiative in international aid focused on Indonesia. The main idea behind the programme – that Australian graduates would not only make available their technical expertise in response to the shortage of skilled graduates in the new Republic (in particularly in the newly formed national Indonesian public service), but also take part in Indonesian society as a whole, living and working alongside their Indonesian colleagues – had first arisen during discussions at a World University Service Assembly that year. Betty was secretary of the initial planning committee of what would become known as the Volunteer Graduate Scheme for Indonesia (VGS), the forerunner of international volunteering as it is understood today.

The VGS was officially recognised under an intergovernmental agreement by both the Australian and Indonesian governments in 1954, and later became AVI (Australian Volunteers International) which has programmes in communities across Asia, the Pacific and the world.

Jakarta was the first location to receive Australian volunteers and Indonesia continues to be the top destination under the Australian Volunteers for Development program.

The VGS scheme was designed to be an expression of unity and understanding across cultures, promoting genuine understanding of and solidarity with Indonesia. Salary equality was a central aspect of the Scheme. Volunteer graduates worked on the same pay scales and conditions as similarly qualified Indonesians – a departure from the usual custom among expatriates working in Indonesia at that time.

In January 1953, while travelling home from India, Betty visited Herb in Jakarta, where he was then employed in the Ministry of Information. They became engaged, and were married on 29 December 1953 at the South Camberwell Methodist Church, Melbourne.

From July 1954 to August 1956, Betty and Herb lived and worked in Jakarta, under the auspices of the Volunteer Graduate Scheme. Betty was employed in the English Language Inspectorate in the Ministry of Education, Instruction and Culture. 

Betty and Herb remained closely involved with Indonesia and with promoting understanding among Australians of their nearest northern neighbour. The family lived in Jakarta for a year in 1967, during which time Betty worked for the Indonesian Council of Churches.

From 1968, Betty taught English and Asian studies at various secondary schools in Melbourne. From the 1970s she taught Indonesian history and Asian studies at tertiary level, the first of their kind in Victoria. From the late 1970s Betty co-led several study tours to Indonesia in her capacity as a lecturer at the Burwood and Toorak Teachers’ Colleges.

In 1984, Betty completed a Master of Educational Studies at Monash University. For her Masters thesis, Betty wrote a history of the Volunteer Graduate Scheme, in which she documented the ethos of the Scheme as an ‘episode in education for international understanding’, underpinned by a belief in racial equality and a spirit of identification with the Indonesian Republic. This history was published in 2017 in a book entitled Bridges of Friendship.

In addition to her community involvement with refugees, Betty’s church service has focused on issues to do with peace and human rights. In 1994, she and Herb co-led an international relations workshop with the Karen Burmese leaders in Manerplaw on the Thai-Burma border. Manerplaw was at that time the headquarters of the Democratic Alliance of Burma (now Myanmar), which formed in the wake of the military regime coming into power in 1988.

For four years from 1996, Betty and Herb lived and worked in Yogyakarta, this time through the Overseas Service Bureau’s Australian Volunteers Abroad programme – the successor of the Volunteer Graduate Scheme. Betty, who gained a qualification at Deakin University in teaching English as a second language, taught English at the University of Atma Jaya.

Betty had a lifetime involvement in church and other service, including for the Christian World Service (renamed Act for Peace), the Division of Social Justice (Victoria) in the Uniting Church of Australia, and other ecumenical organisations including the Victorian Council of Churches. 

Betty described women in the Uniting Church as ‘householders (as it were) in the tents and caravans of faith and in life, as in mutuality we pilgrim together in life’s journey’ (Women in Ministry, 46). This expression of common purpose, and of ideals married to actions, reflect convictions central to Betty’s life and work as a whole.

References
Feith, Betty, Women in Ministry: The Order of Deaconesses and the Campaign for the Ordination of Women within the Methodist Church, 1942-1977, Kyarra Press, Melbourne, 1990.

Feith, Betty, ‘An Episode in Education for International Understanding: The Volunteer Graduate Scheme in Indonesia 1950-63 – ‘Putting in a Stitch or Two”, in McCarthy, Ann & Zainuddin, Ailsa Thomson (ed.), Bridges of Friendship: Reflections on Indonesia’s Early Independence and the Volunteer Graduate Scheme, Monash University Publishing, Melbourne, 2017.

https://www.australianvolunteers.com

https://www.womeninaustralia.info/biogs/AWE6101b.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Feith

@HerbFeithCentre

On this day, 24 May, in 1738 a man named John Wesley had a profound experience that changed his life – and arguably transformed the Church as well.

Wesley was an Anglican priest. He was a fervent preacher, but he was lacking in faith and growing in misery.

A spark of life began however when Wesley led a prisoner to Christ by preaching a gospel of faith and forgiveness, and he saw a man instantly transformed. His more enthusiastic Moravian friends encouraged him to have faith and to expect transformation and assurance.

On the morning of May 24, 1738, he opened his Bible to read the words: ‘There are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, even that ye should be partakers of the divine nature.’

That evening, a still depressed Wesley ‘unwillingly’ attended a Christian meeting in Aldersgate, London. There he heard a reading from the Reformer Martin Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to Romans. At about 8.45 pm, as he heard Luther’s words, something deep and dramatic took place.

In Wesley’s words: ‘While he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.’

Wesley went on with his brother Charles to pioneer the radical movement of Methodism, spreading evangelical revival across the country and the world. It probably would never have happened were it not for his ‘Aldersgate experience’.

The strange warming of the heart has become emblematic for many interpreting their own spiritual experiences. It emphasises the importance of true conversion, the possibility of deep assurance and the power of an experiential salvation.

Since Methodism wouldn’t be what it is without Aldersgate, today is celebrated across the Methodist Church.

John Wesley used to say that he thought very little of a man who did not pray four hours every day. He would rise up at 4am every day to seek God for the first four hours of the day. In his later years Wesley was known to spend up to 8 hours in prayer.

Here is John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer:
I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

A special liturgical prayer for the day reads:

‘Almighty God, in a time of great need you raised up your servants John and Charles Wesley, and by your Spirit inspired them to kindle a flame of sacred love which leaped and ran, an inextinguishable blaze. Grant that all those whose hearts have been warmed at these altar fires, being continually refreshed by your grace, may be so devoted to the increase of scriptural holiness throughout the land that in this our time of great need, your will may fully and effectively be done on earth as it is in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.’

(text from Christian Today)

Archdeacon Sue Jacka is the Rector of St Mary’s Anglican Church, Morwell, in Gippsland.

Sue is taking part in the Act for Peace Ration Challenge, 19th-25th June 2022. Act for Peace is the international humanitarian agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia.

Sue is part of Gippsland Anglicans for Refugees. She writes:

‘I’ve decided to do it again! With the Ukrainian refugee crisis there are even more refugees across the world. This challenge is very tough – for one complete week I will eat only what comes in the refugee rations just like those distributed to people who have fled their homes. It’s mainly rice and sooo boring! Will you please sponsor me and help refugees get some food, sanitary items and medical supplies?’

(The Ration Challenge website says that more than 84 million people have fled their homes worldwide because of conflict or disaster, and that number is rising. The United Nations refugee agency says conflict and disasters have now driven a record 100 million from their homes – the war in Ukraine has added significantly to the total with 8 million displaced within the country and 6 million forced to leave the nation).

Perhaps you might like to sponsor Sue, or someone else doing the Act for Peace Ration Challenge or consider doing this yourself (or join a team for solidarity!). The more sponsors, the more ‘rewards’ the person receives (eg spices, a little protein etc)

Many years ago, Geoff and I used to host a multi-faith group of young people (mainly international tertiary students) in our home for meals from time to time. On one occasion, the question was asked of a young Muslim woman: why do you fast in Ramadan? The response – in part – was: so that we know what it’s like to go without food, and will grow more compassion and empathy and care for others who live with deprivation all the time. And at the end of Ramadan, she said, they are encouraged to give money to a charity of their choice as an expression of that compassionate care.

‘The basic teaching of all religions is to develop a relationship with God and fasting is one way of achieving it because when we fast, we remember the blessing of life which we normally take for granted and sympathise with the sufferings of those who sleep on an empty stomach every day. This way we can become more compassionate towards our fellow human beings who might not enjoy the basic necessities of life’. (Prachi Wakpaijan)

‘During the Ramadan fast, we especially feel connected to the many in our neighbourhood who go without food because of poverty… When we break our fast in the evening, we make sure that we share our food with our neighbours. If one of our neighbours has nothing, we gladly share with them.” (Fatuma, a single mother of 9 children, Kenya – in online news snippet on Fasting for Solidarity)

Fasting is a spiritual endeavour in almost all religions all over the world. The idea of ’embodying’ deprivation for a time that would in turn grow compassion for, and solidarity with, those who is a really important concept. Indeed it has theological implications – taking on the experience of another’s lived reality. The Message Bible translates John 1.14 this way, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood”. Jesus took on our flesh, lived in our reality, to show us the way to live – to love God, and love neighbour as ourselves.

‘Within the same family, can some members eat their fill while their brothers and sisters are excluded from the table? To think of those who suffer is not enough. A conversion of heart calls us to add fasting to our prayer, and to fill with God’s love the efforts that the demands of justice towards neighbour inspire us to make’.
(Pope John Paul 11)

Reflecting on Isaiah 58:1-9, Pope Francis reflects: “the Lord explains what true fasting is to these people who complained: ‘This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the poor and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. I want this, this is the fasting that I wish’”.

This week, Australia acknowledges Sorry Day (May 26th), and begins National Reconciliation Week (NRW), 27th May – 3rd June. NRW begins with the anniversary of the 1967 referendum (27th May) and finishes with Mabo Day (the anniversary of the High Court decision that recognised the pre-colonial land interests of Aboriginal and Islander peoples within Australia’s common law).

These are significant dates for First Nations Peoples as well as Second Peoples in Australia. They are dates that should also be significant for churches.

Recommended resources
Statement from the Heart website
Statement from the Heart resources (study guide, facilitator’s guide produced by the Vic/Tas UCA Synod)
Our Vision for a Just Australia: A First Peoples Heart (UCA)
A voice in the wilderness 8 part study guide (free downloadable PDF) written by Celia Kemp, Anglican Board of Mission’s Reconciliation Coordinator. As well there is a leader’s guide. 

This commendation of ‘A Voice in the Wilderness’ from Archbishop Philip Freier, Anglican Archbishop, Melbourne:
“Celia Kemp’s fine work, bringing as it does so clearly the voices of indigenous elders and leaders, resonates with the Bible’s call to reconciliation: ‘to be neighbour’ – genuinely and deeply to one another. This excellent study is a gift to the whole church”.

In his acceptance speech on Saturday night, the new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese began his speech by committing his Government to the Uluru Statement – in full:
‘On behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I commit the Uluru Statement from the Heart. We can answer its patient, gracious call for a voice enshrined in our Constitution because all of us ought to be proud, that amongst our great multicultural society, we count the oldest living continuous culture in the world’.

This week marks five years since Indigenous people from across the nation gathered at Uluru to come to a consensus position on the best way to change the Constitution to bridge the divides between black and white Australia.

In summary, the Statement addresses the Australian people and calls for constitutional change and meaningful, structural reform based on justice and self-determination for Indigenous peoples. Indigenous Australians have been calling for a voice to Parliament to be enshrined in the Constitution with a body to sit outside the Parliament, to give frank input on policies designed to address this country’s sustained failure to close the gap. The Statement calls for a Makarrata commission to supervise a process of agreement-making and truth telling.

The Statement says these reforms are necessarily sequential: a Voice first, then Treaty and Truth.

(Note: The Statement was agreed to be consensus by those who gathered at Uluru, but not all Aboriginal people support it).

The creators of the Uluru Statement have said “history is calling” the next parliament to take action. Albanese has vowed to hold a referendum during his first term, and has said he will ‘reach across the aisle’ because ‘historically, to get constitutional change, you need bipartisan support’. He said he will attempt to find common ground and shift conservative opposition to a referendum on the Voice.

There is majority support in the community for a referendum. This issue may be the defining debates of Australia’s 47th Parliament.

(The last referendum to consider changing the Constitution was in 1999 regarding whether Australia should cut ties with the monarchy to become a republic).

Wiradjuri woman Linda Burney has been re-elected and will be Labor’s Indigenous Affairs Minister. She will be the first Aboriginal woman to be Indigenous affairs minister. Ms Burney grew up in a small NSW town. Her commitment to Aboriginal affairs spans more than 30 years, was the first Aboriginal person to be elected to the NSW Parliament, serving as NSW Deputy Labor Leader and a former Shadow Minister for Education and Aboriginal Affairs. She is the first Aboriginal woman to serve in the House of Representatives.

She has said, ‘Recognition in the Constitution is about that document telling the truth and reflecting the extraordinary inheritance we all have as Australians with the length of time humanity has been in this country. It’s about removing the race powers out of the Constitution – those powers are not just about Aboriginal people. The Australian Constitution actually allows the Australian Government to make laws that could be detrimental to a particular race or people’.

Speaking about the outcome of the elections she said, ‘This is an exercise in nation-building, and this will change Australia. It’s just so exciting’.

There are several other Indigenous women elected including Senator Dorinda Cox (Greens, WA); Malarndirri McCarthy (Labor) and Jacinata Nampijinpa Price (Country Liberals Party) are expected to win the Northern Territory’s two Senate spots; and Senator Lidia Thorpe (Greens, Victoria)