Study Groups

(Four sessions beginning 24 November 2024)

What really happened back in the first century, in Jerusalem and around the Sea of Galilee, that changed the shape of world history? Who is this figure that emerges from history to have a profound impact on culture, ethics, politics, and philosophy? Join historian John Dickson on this journey through the life of Jesus. This four session course on Sunday afternoons will help the curious and those with any questions about Jesus whose birth we are preparing to celebrate.

3:00 pm – 4:30 pm in person in the Paxton Hall Room.

(Six sessions beginning 30 October 2024)

Drawing on Rowan Williams’ new book, we will explore how our human impulses – in general ways of coping with a complicated world – can lead us away from freedom and the life intended and made possible for us by the coming of Christ.

Six sessions beginning 30 October at 7:00 pm both online and in the church. The study is inspired by the book but will only be partially drawing on its material, so all resources will be provided.

(Finished! Was Lent 2024)

Join us in the Paxton-Hall room either Wednesday mornings or evenings during Lent for a small group study that will allow us to look deeply into the foundations of Christian faith; the story of the cross and resurrection which we prepare ourselves to experience anew each Lenten season.

God With Us is a book of two parts, joined together by the pen of Rowan Williams into a beautiful whole. By considering the meaning of the Cross and the meaning of the Resurrection, and taking care to link these two to both their context and our context, God With Us faithfully and creatively explains and proclaims the way that God loves us.

“We are asked to consider in this book nothing less than the fundamental meaning of life itself”
–Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James’ Church, Piccadilly

• $20 from parish office (paperback)
• $9.99 online (ePub eBook)

(Finished! Was Lent 2023)

A Cross in the Heart of God by Samuel Wells explores the meaning of the story at the very centre of Christianity: the crucifixion of Jesus. It considers the commonly held views of what Jesus’ death accomplished and draws on the whole biblical narrative to reveal an understanding of God’s redeeming purposes. In the Old Testament, Epistles and the Gospels, author Samuel Wells finds eighteen enduring motifs and images of the cross that speak powerfully of God’s will be with us in Christ, whatever the cost.

• $19.90 online (Kindle eBook)

(Finished! Was Lent 2023)

What is justice? It’s a question we encounter everywhere in life and that over the last years has increasingly demanded an answer.

In the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book, Isabelle Hamley invites us on an exhilarating journey through Scripture to discover how we, as churches, communities and individual Christians, can seek and practice justice even when enmeshed in such a fractured world.

Full of practical encouragement, Embracing Justice brilliantly weaves together biblical texts, diverse voices, contemporary stories, and personal and group meditations to reveal liberating and imaginative ways in which me may grow in discipleship – and more fully reflect the justice, mercy and compassion of Christ in our lives.

With six chapters to take us from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, this book will help us to examine ourselves more truthfully, see the world more clearly, and accept an invitation to deepen our prayer for ourselves, the world and for the Church. 

• $11.87 online (Kindle eBook)

(Finished! Was Advent 2022)

Advent is a time of expectation and preparation for the birth of Christ. We are reminded in this season that Christ is coming, and indeed, that Christ is always coming. It seems an ideal time for us to reorient ourselves around the core of our faith in Christ.
 
What does it mean to be Christian? Sometimes this is a question we may think is so basic it may not need to be answered. However, it is one thing to be able to point to elements of the Christian life such as baptism, Bible, Eucharist, and prayer, and another thing to be able to describe what we are actually doing when we engage in these rites and practices, and what difference they make to our lives.
 
This Advent we are taking the opportunity to return to the basics of faith in a way that will be accessible and enriching for both those who are new to the faith and those who have been Christians all their lives.

We are basing the study on the book, “Being Christian” by Rowan Williams. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at a cost of $15.00. Please advise the office or put your name on the list at the back of the church if you would like to purchase a copy.

• $7.50 online (Kindle eBook)

(Finished! Was July 2022)

Henri Nouwen’s thought provoking exploration of the parable of the Prodigal Son is based on Rembrandt’s painting The Return of the Prodigal Son. Over five weeks we explored the rich depths and challenges of this well known parable, through themes of homecoming, affirmation and reconciliation.

• More information: https://henrinouwen.org/read/the-return-of-the-prodigal-son/

(Finished! Was Lent 2022)

Australian Board of Mission’s (ABM’s) brilliant new Lenten Study for 2022, Repairing the Breach has seven studies that take you from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday.

Repairing the Breach examines what it means to be people of healing in a broken world. Written by a community of friends for a people of mission – and illustrated with stunning images painted by acclaimed artist, Carol Aust, Repairing the Breach inspires, provokes and cajoles.

A truly Australian resource for parishes, study groups and individuals. For reviews, see https://www.abmission.org/news.php/564/abms-2022-new-lent-study.

(Finished! Was Lent 2022)

As Archbishop of Cape Town at the height of the Apartheid regime in South Africa, Desmond Tutu saw many shocking and violent incidents. Later, as Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as a leading peace negotiator in many troubled parts of the world, he heard many appalling stories of man’s inhumanity to man. Yet he still has a firm conviction that we are ‘made by goodness for goodness’. Another way of putting this is – the essential truth about all of us is that we are made in the image and likeness of God… The truth of human goodness can get hidden under the fear that we cannot live up to its demands, or it can get buried under faults or failures, or it can just get forgotten. In this thoughtful and important book, the Archbishop (with his daughter, Mpho Tutu) shows how we can find our way back to goodness by changing our attitudes, by practising forgiveness, and by prayer. Then we will begin to see the goodness and beauty of others.

• $15.00 online (eBook, various formats)

(Finished! Was Advent 2021)

In Light of the World: A Beginner’s Guide to Advent, author, professor, and biblical scholar Amy-Jill Levine explores the biblical texts surrounding the story of the birth of Jesus. Join us as together we trace the Christmas narrative through the stories of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary, the journey to Bethlehem, and the visit from the Magi. These stories open conversations around connections of the Gospel stories to the Old Testament, the role of women in first-century Jewish culture, the importance of Mary’s visitation and the revolutionary implications of Mary’s Magnificat, the census and the stable, and the star of Bethlehem and the flight to Egypt.

Books available to purchase privately on Kindle (approx. $14) and a number of hard copies of the book have been ordered at a cost of $23.00. Please order and pay for the books via the parish office.

• Abington Press (Paperback, EPUB eBook)
• Amazon (Kindle MOBI eBook, audiobook)

(Finished! Was Advent 2021)

This year’s Synod asked for a study on the words ‘and the Son’ in the Nicene Creed. It has been created and we would like to offer the opportunity for a small group to explore the study together. The study has three sessions and is perfect for Advent. Please contact Sue if you would like to join via Zoom.

(Finished! Was 31 Aug – 5 Oct 2021)

As we continue to journey through the season of Ordinary time in the church calendar, we have the opportunity to reflect on how we may encounter God in the most mundane and ordinary aspects of our lives (such as waking up or even in brushing our teeth). This study will be based on the book by Tish Harrison Warren Liturgy of the ordinary. Over six weeks we will look at the different places we may encounter God in our everyday routines and how that shapes our lives of faith. Please contact the office or Lauren Martin on 0415260599 if you are interested in the joining the study.  
 
Liturgy of the ordinary can be purchased for under $13 on Kindle or for around $30 for a hardback copy. It is also possible to get an audiobook version if you prefer.

• Koorong Books (hardback, EPUB eBook (DRM free), audiobook)
• Amazon (Kindle MOBI eBook, audiobook)

(Finished! Was May – Jun 2021)

May is Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month. Small group studies reflecting on power, abuse and the meaning of love will be offered through the lens of the Sunday lectionary readings. Join us in the church after the Eucharist for four Wednesdays from 12 May for a short study and discussion using reflection materials produced by the ACSQ Domestic and Family Violence Working Group. See www.faithfulandeffective.com/healthy-churches/resources/domestic-and-family-violence/ for the study materials. (Our study will use weeks 2–5 of these materials.)

(Finished! Was Lent 2021)

Head to Heart to Hands – Practicing faith in our time

As the Sunrise marks a new day…..
so too can it make a new day in our Faith.

This year’s Lenten study groups ran for 6 weekly sessions from Thursday 18 February to Thursday 25 March.

The Lenten studies invited us to explore the Year ‘B’ Gospel, and consider what it might mean for us to practice faith in our time. The cost of the book is $9.95, and can be ordered via the Parish Office. These studies are wonderful ways to get to know one another more deeply, and to open new insights into what the Gospel means to each of us.

(Finished! Was Advent 2020)

Walk this Way is a four week program using videos and discussion questions from the St Francis College Short Course series. 

Journey is a word often used in the context of Christian learning, or faith education, and we love to travel! Of course, the season of Advent is full of references to travel. Take Mary’s mid-pregnancy and hasty trip to visit Elizabeth, and the most famous Christmas journey when Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem to participate in the census. Jesus is born on a journey.  

And what an intriguing journey we are on – we look forward to the arrival of a defenceless infant when so many anticipated the advent of a mighty and strong vanquisher. We learn about the ministry of a radical who offended the ruling elite and was put to death for sedition and treason when so many expected a great warrior who would defeat their enemies. We anticipate the stirrings of hope in the resurrection when Jesus’ closest friends were in despair, and so the journey goes.

‘Walk This Way – an Advent journey with Jesus’, aims to enrich Christmas preparation – travel with and learn from the Gospel stories, from others who have walked this way before, and from your fellow walkers. 

(Finished! Was 8 Sep – 6 Oct 2020)

Climate for Change seeks to strengthen hope through a determination to work with others to create a future for all. Our hope lies in the knowledge that God has not abandoned creation but rather has called us all to help restore and respect it.

Jeni Nix, a Third Order Franciscan, will lead these studies which have been produced by the Anglican Board of Mission as a contribution to the global ecumenical Season of Creation.