SWAC and its members in the news

Links to media websites

Jumble sales supports orphans.

16 Apr 2008 Blue Mountains Gazette

When Betty Russell heard a talk by a Burmese Orphanage worker and Springwood Anglican Church in 2001 she was spurred into action.…

Kiwis serve country NSW.

2 April 2008

Four New Zealand farmers found about CountryServe on our website. They are now in Australia to visit and support farmers in country NSW…

Andrew Robinson on Load-shedding, Zuma, Zim and racism.

1 April 2008 update

Well, I'm back in South Africa and life is just as hectic as it ever was…

Good Friday Celebration 2008.

21 Mar 2008

Over 500 people from all Springwood-Winmalee-Valley Heights congregations joined together in the Ministry Centre to celebrate Good Friday 2008 and to remember Jesus' great gift to humankind.…

Preachers Clubs Undergo Training in Francophone Africa?

January 2008 Langham Partnership

Muhindo Isesomo, country coordinator for the DR Congo, has realized firsthand the unique needs for the pastors in this area. The political unrest and lack of transportation have made it difficult to organize any training other than that conducted locally, by local pastors.…

No time for long term mission?.

8 January 2008 your.sydney.anglicans.net

Genuine Christians are always going to look a little weird. It's not normal to spend your hard-earned cash on or your precious time…

Diary of a ministry trainee — #12.

6 December 2007 Southern Cross

My (wonderful) year in the eye of a storm
It's summer again in Jo'burg. The streets of the northern suburbs are awash today with fragments of leaves, pummeled ruthlessly from the trees in yesterday's hailstorm.

Diary of a ministry trainee — #11.

12 November 2007 Southern Cross

A question that's big in South Africa at the moment is this: which language should we do our Christianity in?

Diary of a ministry trainee — #10.

15 October 2007 Southern Cross

On fire. Not for the gospel. Just on fire
I was very surprised to arrive home this week to find that my house had burnt down…

Diary of a ministry trainee — #9.

17 September 2007 Southern Cross

"So, you're a missionary then?" People often asked me this question back in Australia, and I was never quite sure how to answer. It's…

Finding out who Jesus would vote for.

5 September 2007 Blue Mountains Gazette

It's a general rule for Aussie blokes at a barbecue that you don't talk about religion or politics…

Diary of a ministry trainee — #8.

1 September 2007 Southern Cross

I recently spent a week on holiday with some friends near the little town of Port St Johns. We visited the local Anglican Church of the Epiphany on the Sunday. There was a noticeable absence of men…

Song soothes dry drought.

30 Aug 2007 your.sydneyanglicans.net

Sydney Anglicans eschew hip hop. Are we right to avoid its crude and criminally inspired lyrics, or is it a sign that we're not reaching a large subculture within our community? Springwood Anglican Jesse Gardiner shares his insight…

What I know about missing the beat—Jesse Gardiner.

27 Aug 2007 your.sydneyanglicans.net

So Quiet— Steve Morrison.

1 Aug 2007 Southern Cross

Former SWAC member Steve Morrison is well known in local circles, both as an Anglican minister as well as an accomplished Jazz musician…

Diary of a ministry trainee — August.

30 July 2007 Southern Cross

Often because South Africa seems quite similar to Australia on the surface — glittering shopping malls, freeways, detached houses, gum trees and barbecues — you forget how different it is…

Diary of a ministry trainee — July.

1 July 2007 Southern Cross

I have given myself a new title: job creator. Well, attempted job creator…

Investing for the future.

11 June 2007 your.sydneyanglicans.net

Stuart Brooking from Winmalee writes: The high costs of raising up missionaries means mission-minded Westerners might be better staying home and funding overseas theological…

Diary of a ministry trainee — June.

1 June 2007 Southern Cross

Just the other day I was arrested. Arrested, handcuffed, and locked in a cell…

Diary of a ministry trainee #4 — May.

1 May 2007 Southern Cross

It's rainy and dark and I've just walked home after dropping my friend Dave on the Kingsway to get a taxi home…

Fair trade fortnight challenges churches.

26 Apr 2007 your.sydneyanglicans.net

When Fair Trade fortnight begins this Sunday the challenge will be laid down for Christians to think about who produces their coffee,…

Debating Dawkins' Delusion.

9 Apr 2007 your.sydneyanglicans.net

As Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion tops sales lists worldwide, and questions about the existence of God and the relevance of Christianity re-emerge on society's agenda, Sydney Anglicans are boldly responding to criticisms of the truth of the gospel. But are staged debates the best way to convince non-believers of Christian truths? Are non-believers actually listening to the Christian response? Are Christians answering the right questions?

Diary of a ministry trainee #3.

27 Mar 2007 Southern Cross

Three mornings a week at 8am I stumble through the gate into the churchyard and walk into the Johannesburg Bible College.

Schools breathe life into Mission.

25 Mar 2007 Southern Cross

Churches run in partnership with Anglican school plants are growing fast by exclusively drawing on an unchurched population. Can a parish plant a school-based church without at least an equal partnership with the host school? An experimental church run by Springwood-Winmalee Anglican Church is testing the boundaries of the existing strategy.

Mountains offers drought assistance.

9 Mar 2007 your.sydneyanglicans.net

A retired clergyman and 35 Springwood-Winmalee Anglicans will leave for the country today to visit drought-affected families in Forbes.

The new (but somewhat greyer) face of ministry.

27 Feb 2007 Southern Cross

A radical new layer of ministry called the 'permanent diaconate' meant a few more grey hairs were spotted at this year's bumper ordination service. Geoff Robson and Jeremy Halcrow explain.

A little goes a long way.

27 Feb 2007 Penrith Press

It might have been one too many tough men crying in front of him. Whatever it was, Springwood Winmalee Anglican Church minister Neil Prott "couldn't keep witnessing the pain out there without doing something about it'".

Why church musos are brassed off.

24 Feb 2007 your.sydneyanglicans.net

Graham Toulmin writes: In the last 10 years or so, my wife Wendy and I, with nearly 40 years involvement in Christian music, have noticed that, more and more young and not so young players of transposing* instruments ( that is trumpets, saxes, clarinets etc) have stopped taking part in church services. They have not dropped out of church but just disappeared from the music teams of all the congregations in our church. Southern Cross posed the question, 'why is this so?'

Comfort for farmers.

22 Feb 2007 Penrith Press

Springwood Winmalee Anglican Church will distribute food parcels and pastoral care to drought-stricken farmers in the Parkes region through Operation Countryserve 2007
View photo.

Diary of a ministry trainee #2.

12 Feb 2007 Southern Cross

Andrew Robinson reflects on his first week of short-term mission in Johannesburg - the trees, the kids, the gun-safes.

Diary of a ministry trainee #1.

29 Jan 2007 Southern Cross

Andrew Robinson is writing a monthly column about his experience with Melville Union Church in Johannesburg

Five reasons men hate church.

29 Jan 2007 Southern Cross

Springwood's Fatherhood Project is one approach to make church relevant to men

Fresh starts in ministry for 2007.

22 Jan 2007 your.sydneyanglicans.net

Neil Atwood moves to Springwood after 30 years full time lay ministry

Mission trips: holy holidays?.

15 Jan 2007 your.sydneyanglicans.net

Are short term missions just holy holidays?

Premium coffee and prostitutes help CMS.

2 Jan 2007 your.sydneyanglicans.net

About Grant and Mignonne Murray's fair trade coffee at 2007 CMS Summer School

Carols done mountains style.

26 Dec 2006 your.sydneyanglicans.net

Springwood community carols reached out to 500 people on a wet December 2006 day

Gen Y gives up beach for God.

7 Nov 2006 your.sydneyanglicans.net

Record numbers of young people are expected to give up lazy days at the beach this summer to train for Christian ministry. Anglican Youthworks has booked out both of the Youthworks' campsites by the Shoalhaven River from January 22-27 for its annual Leaders in Training (LiT) conference. Lillian Wright, 15, from Springwood…

The frontline in Congo's AIDS war .

1 Aug 2006 Southern Cross

Widespread gang rape as part of the DRC's civil war has intensified the AIDS pandemic and left the Anglican Church as the last hope.

Medicos shine light on Congo's heart of darkness .

17 Jul 2006 your.sydneyanglicans.net

Two Congolese medical workers attending a Christian conference have shared how they daily deal with pack rape and murder as their homeland suffers through the ravages of civil war.

Go home. your kids need you! .

24 Jul 2006 your.sydneyanglicans.net

Hard-working dad, Peter Morison, admits that he has been 'shaken up' by Bible-based workshops on how to be a better father run by his church, Springwood Anglican. "It's shaken me up a bit to think about the time I spend with my kids," he says. "It was said that if…

Spirituality day inspires theft and faith .

22 Nov 2005 your.sydneyanglicans.net

It is clear Springwood Anglican's Spirituality Day, inspired by the popularity of Mind/Body/Spirit events with the Mountains community, has tapped a raw nerve with many locals. So much so that the beautiful banner promoting a day of massage therapy, aromatherapy, women's health and jewellery-making, was stolen from the middle of…

Missos bring ethics to the back pocket .

8 September 2005 your.sydneyanglicans.net

From their garage in Springwood, two former CMS missionaries hope to transform the way Australians shop. This month, Grant and Mignonne Murray, who spent six years living and working in rural Tanzania, are launching a fair-trade company called Tribes & Nations. "Firstly we want to educate people about being 'fair'…

Beautiful wheels keep missionaries moving.

31 January 2004 Southern Cross

David Burn and 'Missionary Motors' are helping to provide the crucial motorised support for missionaries to conduct the local arm of their ministry.…