The Anglican Diocese of the Murray met in Christ Church Mount Gambier recently for the Synod annual general meeting.
Eighty Synod members including clergy and lay people from as far afield as the southern suburbs of Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula and the Limestone Coast met at Christ Church Mount Gambier to discuss key issues affecting the Anglican Church and the Murray Diocese in particular.
These included the decline in the number of people in Australia identifying as having any faith including the Christian faith and the growing problem of homelessness and financial stress in Australia. The latter has resulted in Anglican Church-related organisations such as ac.care and Anglicare SA having never been busier.
The Synod was led by the current administrator of the Diocese of the Murray Brother Simon Waters.
“As a Diocese our ultimate future vision is still the missional goal of helping our people to grow deeply in their faith, to share their faith, and to make disciples,” Brother Waters said.
“It is still our future vision to minister to multiple generations where we can and to make connections with our community.
“Our future vision must centre on our imperative to continue sharing the gospel, the truth of the existence of God, of eternal life, repentance and salvation.’’
Local priest Archdeacon Neil Fernando said arrangements for the Synod had gone extremely well. He particularly commended a small local group of volunteers led by Jeff Bowman for having carried out an outstanding job in ensuring the whole event ran smoothly from start to finish.
The Synod concluded with a lay-led service with the involvement of children from Christ Church Sunday School.
