Event List

Ecumenical Q&A Forum
Bishop Philip Huggins, Anglican Bishop of East Melbourne and President of the National Council of Churches of Australia will be the guest speaker.

Please come along - all are encouraged to embrace this great opportunity to unite as a Christian body.
Rev. Jan McLeod - 6653 2058 or Cass Crocker - 6652 9185

Salem Variety Concert
Supporting the education of children in South Sudan

An Initiative of the Coffs Harbour Council of Churches
All enquiries to Jan - 6653 2058 or Cass - 6652 9185
$12 or $25 per family with afternoon tea provided

The Coffs Coast Ecumenical Council of Churches invites you to join with us at the Annual Trivia Night in support of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem’s appeal for the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza. Entry is $10 per person and please contact Rev Jan McLeod on 6653 2058 or Cass Crocker on 6652 9185 for further information.
Come alone - bring a friend or form a table of six (BYO nibbles and drinks)

Ps. Jamie Newmans from the Presbyterian Church will preach about what Luther was seeking to achieve. Please wear a name badge and bring a plate of supper to share.

Francis Tenison "Frank" Brennan SJ AO (born 6 March 1954) is an Australian Jesuit priest, human rights lawyer and academic. He is known for his 1998 involvement in the Wik debate when Paul Keating called him "the meddling priest" and the National Trust classified him as a Living National Treasure. Brennan has a longstanding reputation of advocacy in the areas of law, social justice, refugee protection, Aboriginal reconciliation and human rights activism.

Brennan is the first born son of Sir Gerard Brennan, a former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and Patricia O'Hara, an anaesthestist.

Brennan is a fourth generation Australian. He is of Irish descent on both sides of his family and has German ancestry from his paternal grandmother.

Brennan studied at Downlands College in Toowoomba, and at the University of Queensland where he graduated with honours in arts and law. He then studied at the Melbourne College of Divinity, where he graduated, again with honours, in divinity. He was awarded a Master of Laws as a result of further study at the University of Melbourne.

Brennan's contact and involvement with Aboriginal Australians began early in his priestly ministry. In 1975 he worked in the inner Sydney parish of Redfern with priest activist Fr Ted Kennedy, where he also met and worked with Mum (Shirl) Smith among others who were founding indigenous Australian legal, health and political initiatives.

In 1997, he was Rapporteur at the Australian Reconciliation Convention and the following year he was appointed an Ambassador for Reconciliation by the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. On 10 December 2008 he was appointed as the chairperson to the Australian Government's National Human Rights Consultation Committee. In 2009 this independent committee consulted with the Australian community about the protection and promotion of human rights. On 30 September 2009, it reported its recommendations to the Attorney General, the Honourable Robert McClelland MP.

Brennan is a professor of law in the Public Policy Institute at the Australian Catholic University, a visiting professorial fellow at the University of New South Wales and served as the founding director of the Uniya Jesuit Social Justice Centre in Sydney from 2001 to 2007. In 2005, he returned to Australia from a fellowship at Boston College.

During 2011, Brennan was critical of the refugee policies of the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, saying that she has led the Labor Party into moral decline and that the Malaysia Solution is morally derelict and tantamount to "offshore dumping".

On 15 August 2017 Brennan stated that if the law was changed to require clergy to report child sexual abuse learned of during confessionals he would consider breaking it. Brennan told ABC Radio National that "I as a Catholic priest would have to make a decision, whether in conscience, I could apply with such a law". He also claimed that "I think it would make children more vulnerable and not less".

During the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, Brennan dissented from traditional Catholic teaching, telling the media he would vote yes and stating that "We've got to factor that in to the common good argument about what's necessary." He stated that, while in the context of Catholic marriage he would continue to uphold marriage as being between a man and a woman, he considered the issue of civil marriage to be separate. Following the survey, Brennan was appointed by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to serve on a Philip Ruddock-led review into religions freedoms.

The story of the Christmas Bowl has now become a key part of the history of Christian compassion in Australia. On Christmas Day 1949 the Reverend Frank Byatt of Victoria placed an empty bowl on the dinner table and asked his guests to give a gift to bring relief and hope to refugees who had fled the horrors of World War II. 

Rev Byatt could never have known that his simple act would grow into the incredible outpouring of love and compassion it’s become today. Last year alone, people like you helped to raise a record-breaking $2.5 million for those around the world who are suffering hardship and hunger. 

As well as being a much loved ecumenical tradition, the Christmas Bowl appeal is a demonstration of unity for Christians in Australia. “Making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3), the Christmas Bowl brought together 1,800 churches from 19 denominations last year to help those in need. 

Sadly, the Christmas Bowl is needed now more than ever, with unprecedented numbers of people displaced around the world and millions more suffering from severe hunger. Supporting the Christmas Bowl is a powerful act of faith and love as well as a tangible act of solidarity. By taking part, we’re affirming that every displaced or hungry person is an individual worthy of empathy and compassion. 

This year, we’re helping hard working farming families in Zimbabwe who are struggling to feed their children after suffering the worst drought in 35 years. We’ve already taught hundreds of farmers new techniques that can save lives, but so many more are in need of help. 

By supporting the Christmas Bowl this year, your act of compassion will help make a life-changing difference to the people who need it most.
 

This year the World Day of Prayer will be held on Friday the 1st of March at 2.30 pm in the Sawtell Uniting Church, 24 Elizabeth Street Sawtell.

The World Day of Prayer is a movement where people from 170 countries join together in worship services with a common theme and prayer focus. This year the host country will be Slovenia and the theme, prepared by women, is "Come - Everything is Ready!" The Bible study text is Luke 14:15-24.

Slovenia is a country of 2 million people which was part of the former Yugoslavia. The Slovak people have endured a traumatic history over the past century. Funds raised through World Day of Prayer will be used in programs to assist families to deal with the trauma of the past and thus, build a brighter future.

Further information: http://www.worlddayofprayeraustralia.org/world-day-of-prayer/

The Taizé Community is an ecumenical Christian monastic fraternity in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France. It is composed of more than one hundred brothers, from Catholic and Protestant traditions, who originate from about thirty countries across the world.   https://www.taize.fr/en_rubrique2601.html

The next meeting of the Coffs Harbour Council of Churches will be held on the 14th of May 2019 at the Curran Centre Coffs Harbour. Please note the meeting starts promptly at 1pm. Could someone volunteer to provide the opening prayer for this meeting please? Also, please read and bring your copy of the April Minutes to the May meeting, especially if you feel there needs to be an amendment made.

SALEM Concert in St John’s Church, Coffs Harbour. The date is set for Sunday 19^th May and the time is a 2pm start, finishing with an afternoon tea/supper around 4pm. As in the past, the Coffs Harbour Brass Band will be asked to play and the Coffs Harbour Choir to sing. Jan’s ukulele group is to be asked to play too. Kwai, and others from the Sudanese groups, will be asked to contribute concert items as well. Please come along and make this concert the success it has been in previous years.

Rev Myung Hwa has proposed that her parish would be the hosts for the Ecumenical Service on this occasion, praying for Christian unity. The service is being sponsored by the Coffs Harbour Council of Churches and one of its member churches, the Coffs Harbour Uniting Church and will be held on Tuesday  4^th June 2019, starting at 7pm. The Coffs Harbour Uniting Church is in Vernon Street Coffs Harbour and there will be a small supper afterwards. We are hoping that 2019 continues to bring many blessings, especially those flowing from a common ecumenical effort. As stated in the future pledge of the National Council of Churches covenanting document;

We pledge ourselves to continue to discuss and articulate within our churches the meaning and significance of our involvement in the quest for a more visible expression of unity and the possibilities for further engagement in ecumenical partnership.

Further information:
Rev Jan McLeod, Chair CHCC 6653 2058
Annette Morrow  0412 074 643

All are very welcome to the talk by the Very Rev'd Dr Gregory Jenks regarding Perspectives on Christian and Muslim Relations, entitled "The Nearest in Affection". Dr Gregory Jenks is an Australian religion scholar, author and lecturer and prior to his appointment as Dean of the Grafton Anglican Cathedral, he held the position of Dean of St Georges Cathedral in Jerusalem. Currently, he is Adjunct Lecturer at Charles Sturt  University and Coin Curator for the Bethsida Archaeological Excavation in Jerusalem. Dr Jenks is very active in social media and you can view his print and digital publications on : www.gregoryjenks.com

Entry is by donation     Supper is provided     Parking available in College Grounds

Presented to you by the Coffs Harbour Council of Churches
For more information call,
Rev'd Jan McLeod 6653 2058  or Cass Crocker 0421 621 524

Do you use PowerPoint screens to publicly show:
• words of songs and hymns,• downloaded pictures,
• photographs,
• embedded music?
Did you know that to do these things, even in church, you must have a
copyright licence or subscription?

Come along to the CCLI copyright workshops on Thursday 5th September at 7pm or Friday the 6th of September at 10am and learn more about copyright and the Australian Copyright Act 1968.

For more information, or to book your place, please contact Rev Jan McLeod on 6653 2058, Cass Crocker on 0421 621 524, or Annette Morrow on 0412 074 643

Extending an invitation to all the members of Coffs harbour Council of Churches and to the Coffs Harbour clergy for the upcoming commissioning of the new Rector of St. Johns, Fr. Daryl McCullough. There is much excitement and anticipation at St Johns and a big reception at Fr Daryl's commissioning service would be most welcomed.

The service will be held at St. Johns, commencing at 6.00pm on Tuesday,  21^st of January.
All are welcome.

The World Day of Prayer is an international ecumenical Christian laywomen’s initiative. It is run under the motto “Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action, ” and is celebrated annually in over 170 countries on the first Friday in March.

The World Day of Prayer is an international ecumenical Christian laywomen’s initiative. It is run under the motto “Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action, ” and is celebrated annually in over 170 countries on the first Friday in March. Rosie Doherty will speak at this event.

The World Day of Prayer is an international ecumenical Christian laywomen’s initiative. It is run under the motto “Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action, ” and is celebrated annually in over 170 countries on the first Friday in March. Please invite your friends to celebrate this world-wide prayer circle with the 2020 Liturgy prepared by the women of Zimbabwe. The theme is "Rise, take up your mat and walk" (Jn 5: 2-9)

Hugh Clifford Mackay AO is the founder of the Australian quarterly research series The Ipsos Mackay Report. He is a psychologist, sociologist, social researcher, writer and former teacher. He is a regular columnist in The Age and a regularly appearing commentator on radio and television. He will speak on the there of "Inner Self", in a challenging social/spiritual context.