By Marianne Gillard
The Anglican Diocese of Adelaide was blessed to receive a visit from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and his wife, Caroline as part of their visit to Australia from 4-14 October.
Archbishop Welby, Caroline and their team arrived in Adelaide on Friday 7 October and generously gave their time to speaking and participating in many events over their weekend stay. The timing of the Archbishop’s visit also meant he could participate in the celebration of the 175th Anniversary of the establishment of the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide.
On Friday afternoon, the Archbishop of Adelaide and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia, Geoff Smith hosted a Forum at St Peter’s Girls College, giving the clergy and lay members of the Diocese an opportunity to hear from Archbishop Justin about the Lambeth Conference and the various Lambeth Calls.
The Forum was well attended and thanks to Archbishop Justin’s profound wisdom, grace, wit, humour and insightful responses to some great questions, a very engaging and interesting discussion was enjoyed by all.
He and his party were later welcomed to Adelaide at a Reception a Government House hosted by the Governor Frances Damson AC.
That evening Archbishop Geoff Smith and his wife Lynn hosted a clergy barbeque to again share in the warmth and wisdom of the words of Archbishop Justin and Caroline and to encourage our clergy in their ministry.
On Saturday, Archbishop Justin, Caroline and their team visited AnglicareSA sites, including the Aged Care Home at Brompton and an independent living program at Kurralta Park for youth coming out of State care. Archbishop Justin later spoke about this work being “the hands and feet of Jesus in Adelaide, respecting and valuing every person as made in the image of God.”
Afterwards, Archbishop Justin, Caroline and their team visited the Anglican Parish of Modbury where the Parish went to great effort to prepare a fine luncheon and host a visit to meet with the Parish’s community garden and op shop volunteers, parish leaders and the Anglican Creation Care Network.
After lunch, Archbishop Justin and the visiting party were taken on a tour of the Parish op shop, community garden and took time to enjoy the sunshine. The Community Garden originally arose from the Parish’s Mission Action Planning in 2019.
The Parish’s desire to be a ‘community hub’ on Smart Road, through their worship centre, parish op-shop and community garden, now involves both church and community volunteers working together to grow produce and plants. The hub provides a productive vegetable and seedling crop and a peaceful place for people to gather.
The garden was initially borne out of the donation of gardening materials to the church and now offers a welcoming, spiritual, and green space to connect with the community. The Community Garden, known as Luke’s Garden, is also wheelchair and walker accessible.
Whilst at St Luke’s, Archbishop Justin was invited to plant an indigenous tree as part of the worldwide Anglican Communion Forest and dedicate both the tree and Trees for Life seedlings which are to be distributed to other Anglican parishes and schools for planting. A liturgy celebrating God’s creation and dedicating the plantings and work of the community garden to God’s glory was shared.
On Saturday evening, a Diocesan dinner for the 175th Anniversary of the Diocese was held at the Entertainment Centre, where over 700 people enjoyed a blessed, long awaited, gathering and a shared meal.
The presence and contribution of Archbishop Justin, Caroline and his team at the celebration was also a wonderful blessing. The dinner provided the opportunity for all present to celebrate and give thanks for the ‘planting’ of the Diocese in 1847, to genuinely acknowledge our past and regret for those we have hurt, and to lift our eyes to the future and God’s plan for his people here.
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s visit to Adelaide concluded with a joyous and most reflective sermon by Archbishop Justin at St Peter’s Cathedral on Sunday 8 October before he, Caroline and his team departed for Melbourne on the next leg of the tour.
The seedlings dedicated by Archbishop Justin will be distributed to parishes and schools for planting within the Diocese over the coming weeks.
Parishes and schools are invited to visit the Anglican Communion Forest website for further information.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has also kindly donated 50 trees in the name of the Diocese to ONETREEPLANTED.
One Tree Planted has planted trees in five of Australia’s states and territories and across New Zealand. Our projects are restoring forests following the destruction of the Black Summer bushfires; are rejuvenating critical habitat for wildlife like koalas and cockatoos; and safeguarding community watersheds through restoration of indigenous tree species.
Adelaide Anglicans – Caring for Creation and each other
One of the key focus areas of the refreshed Vision for the Diocese of Adelaide is Caring for creation and each other.
Adelaide Anglicans care deeply for creation and responding to climate change we will reduce our carbon footprint and water use and encourage others in the community too.
To facilitate the focus on discipleship and to care for our community we will find better and more strategic use of our resources, identify key missional goals, and where common affinities exist, co-ordinate the infrastructure, ministries and resources required. We will review governance structures, hierarchy models, legislation, administration, and compliance so it is lighter and simpler enabling more enthusiasm and flexibility.
You can find out more about the refreshed Vision and proposed strategies on the diocesan website here.
To learn what’s happening across the Diocese to care for creation or to join the Anglican Creation Care Network, visit the ACCN page on the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide’s website.
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