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Heather Johnson of The Green House Buderim writes: Over the last few years my family (four households) has returned to our original family land at Buderim which includes 25 acres of bush. We are keen environmentalists and are in the process of obtaining Nature Refuge Status through the State Government. This will ensure that the land can never be developed.
   
We have also been attempting to develop community access. A house we own, at 168 Lindsay Rd called the Green House, has been renovated to be used to as a base for day programs or small groups camping. 

As part of the observances for the 150th anniversaries of the State of Queensland and of the Brisbane Anglican Diocese, St Mark’s church will hold a Service to acknowledge and apologize for past injustices suffered by aboriginals and islanders on Buderim, and to pray for the healing of the land. This will take place at St Mark’s at 3pm on Saturday 21st of November.

The decision to have this service follows contact with some of the local aboriginal and islander elders and discussion about how to deal with the ongoing pain resulting from past experiences. In this Service we are following the example of some local South Sea islanders who have recently visited their home islands to apologize for and repent of their anger at the ‘blackbirders’.  These were the people who originally brought the islanders here against their will to work on the cane fields.

We will tell stories about the life of the islanders and aboriginals on Buderim. These will include examples of injustice and discrimination and also instances of cooperation, and good will between racial groups. 

The aboriginal and islander families who have lived on Buderim will be acknowledged. These people contributed importantly to Buderim’s prosperity, often without being able to share in it.  We will apologize for the sins of white people against the indigenous and islander peoples.  In particular we will acknowledge the collective culture of silence about past injustices.  During the Service prayers of repentance for past wrongs and intercessions for the healing of the land and the people will be offered.  At the Service the Eucharist will be celebrated with these intentions.

This is a community event.  All interested people are welcome.  Any enquiries can be directed to Heather Johnston at The Green House ph 07 54534102 or sailsteralba@gmail.com

See Website www.fortheway.org/Green%20House.html

Rod and Judy Kennedy

See this site for Prayers  and Illustrated Garden Meditations
www.fortheway.org/Pilgrims%20Place.html
On the first Wednesday of each month from 7:00am till sunset we will open our downstairs lounge and garden to provide visitors with opportunities for stillness and meditation. We trust that this will be an oasis, a place of withdrawal and meeting, of spiritual refreshment and support.

We have been encountering editing problems, Please ignote a few out of date items we have not been able to delete.

Endogenous Christianity

A major goal that numbers of Australian and New Zealand Christians share passionately is  to see people groups develop worship patterns and content appropriate to each particular situation. When the monk Aidan began to minister at Lindisfarne important underlying truths were adhered to but the church grew according to the needs of local conditions. This is an enduring theme in the recently published book Emerging Downunder Church: Creating Celtic New Monastic Villages of God by Ray Simpson and Brent Lyons Lee

We read that Emerging Downunder “--- taps into the current hunger for spirituality, the death pains of obsolete church forms, and the rising tide of hope felt by many Christians. We are eager to work with Australians of different cultures and sub-cultures.

Help Received

Help Received

We wish to thank two organisations that have done a lot to make our sessions with Ray much easier.

Stillpoint is a small organisation that stepped out in faith to run quite a big weekend retreat for 60 people at the Mercy Centre. They seek to foster Christian Spirituality in ways that have quite some similarities to the work done by David Adam and Ray Simpson. Check out the Stillpoint Site
http://www.stillpoint.org.au/

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Recently I have been thinking quite a bit about the place played by read Scripture in our lives today. In the ancient world many people were great listeners but did not themselves read. They depended upon the specialist reader’s skill and on the preacher’s skill. I found it most helpful to be able to go to downloadable Audio Scripture sites such as http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/audio/. It would be interesting to hear how others get on. Do you find it easier to listen to the bible and good Christian teaching material rather than reading it?  Rod Kennedy

This page is maintained by Rod and Judy Kennedy

Ph 07 5495 3228  Email rodandjudy@iprimus.com.au

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