Religion

Reflecting on her recent consecration as the Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Grafton, the Right Reverand Tiffany Sparks said while her heart is bursting with joy, she feels incredibly humbled and blessed to work within the ministry while sharing inspiring and uplifting messages of love, friendship and faith, with communities within the Diocese of Grafton, which stretches between the state border and Port Macquarie.

The Birchip community came together in a spirit of unity, reflection and celebration at the Ecumenical Christmas Carol Service held at the Birchip Public Hall ... Representatives and congregations from St Mary’s Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the Uniting Church joined with community members of all ages ... In a powerful moment of solidarity, Robyn invited attendees to hold hands as a visible sign of unity and support for Jewish communities, both locally and around the world.

Join the Allora-Clifton Anglican Parish this Sunday 5th October to celebrate St. Francis and bless the animals that bring so much joy and comfort. St. Francis lived a simple, loving, and peaceful life by serving God and God’s Creation - let’s follow in his footsteps.

100 years of worship in the Nhill Uniting Church was celebrated in style ... People travelled from across the State, and interstate, to enjoy a morning of music, messages and memorabilia.

The Jeparit Uniting Church community celebrated the centenary of the laying of the foundation stone of their current building as well as the closure of their doors on Sunday. On August 16, 1925, Mr. James Menzies, a local civic leader and former trustee of the church, unveiled the foundation stone for the new building in the presence of a large gathering of local and district residents.

If you don’t hear God's call, there’s a fair chance you’ll hear the bell, in Cohuna at least! The 1915 brass beauty produced by John Danks and son belts out a solid sound that could be heard for miles. Danks bells were known for being aboard Navy vessels, and as in this case, were used for calling in the Sunday Flock.

Joanna Tucker. Copper Coast Council is set to buy an historic church near the tentatively listed UNESCO World Heritage Moonta Mines site which is continuing to deteriorate. The East Moonta Methodist Church, at the corner of Verran Terrace and Deeble Street, had another wall collapse last week.

A Lower Clarence Op-Shop that has helped thousands of people with discount grocery items is celebrating 10 years since its launch by reinventing its footprint and relocating the food pantry. The Wellspring Op-Shop food pantry on Treelands Drive, Yamba, which distributes on average 100 pallets of food each year, was an initiative of pastors Eric and Helen Aaron...

The Indian flag made its way through Nobby last week, alongside the Australian flag, as an Indian spiritual leader and his followers got to know the local community. Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji is a spiritual leader ... A few months ago, members of the branch bought a property on Felton Clifton Road ...

Isabelle Flett. Today as we celebrate the official opening of this building 100 years ago on the 19th of March, 1925, we give thanks for the faith and foresight of that early Presbyterian congregation. But, more than that, we celebrate the early settlers who saw the need 52 years before, to call the Rev. Hugh McKail in 1862 to minister to the pastoralists and their employees of the St. Arnaud-Richardson River area.

"It was a short service and concluded with Archdeacon Robert Murphy saying 'it is a new beginning for the Booligal Community Church'. However, the decision and haste in which the Riverina Diocese acted in putting St Alban's Anglican Church on the market and the decommission of the church has left the community feeling totally disheartened": Jenny Sheaffe.

Rudi Schwartz ... Quite a few South African families settled in the district, of which quite a number are Afrikaans speaking. Most of them have already joined English churches. Yet, the yearning to gather to worship God in their mother tongue led them to arrange such a service.

The community of Booligal provided the money to build St Alban’s Anglican Church in 1899 with the help of a bequest, and have maintained it for more than a century. Now the Diocese wants to sell it and there are fears the meticulously kept building could become a hunting lodge for pig shooters.

This story starts in about 1880 when the residents of the small rural community of East Laen, about 10km southwest of Donald, decided to build themselves a Methodist Church. Not much is known about this Church, but we can assume that it was a small wooden building, probably with a galvanised iron roof.

Rod Harding. It’s a funny thing, Christmas. Almost all of us celebrate Christmas in some fashion. For many, it’s a no-holds-barred occasion, with all the decorations, the food and presents, and all the family gathered together, maybe more than just once.

Maldon Kids Club Christmas Concert was absolute pandemonium, according to the coordinator of the event, Reverend Darcy Vaughan. The usually unflappable Rev. Darcy was challenged in every direction; the play featured 25 kids and a pony ... And what is the story with the robot, you ask?

In our sister publication The Clifton Courier, over the past two weeks we have been exploring the history of local churches in the area and this week Greenmount’s very own St. Joseph’s Catholic Church is featured. St. Joseph’s, which sits in an elevated position overlooking the town on Warkon Street, was built in 1958.

Michael Balderstone. The mushroom talks have been the most popular of all at the last few MardiGrass weekends, and so a Psilocybin Symposium in Nimbin Hall is planned for 7th December. People are invited to share their own entheogenic experiences as well. My first mushroom trip was truly mind-blowing. I think it helped that I had no idea what I was doing!

Denmark's Anglican Church celebrated the 125th anniversary of the consecration of St Leonard’s on October 20 ... The name St Leonard’s was chosen in 1914 because the French saint (d. 599) established a community for released prisoners in a forest ... Denmark historian Bev McGuinness spoke at the morning service and described how Norwegian carpenters had built the church.