+
WEEK 2 Parish Resource Sheet
(This example contains DIOCESAN statistics.
All parishes have been sent their own local content)
WEEK 3 Parish Resource Sheet
(This example contains DIOCESAN statistics.
All parishes have been sent their own local content)
WEEK 4 Parish Resource Sheet
(This example contains DIOCESAN statistics.
All parishes have been sent their own local content)
WEEK 5 Parish Resource Sheet
(This example contains DIOCESAN statistics.
All parishes have been sent their own local content)
.............................................................................................
September 2008
To all Anglican Faith Communities,
Diocese of Ballarat.
Anti-Poverty Week Month
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The Gospel accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus highlight for us the Father’s special love for those men and women who live on the fringes of our communities. These are the biblical poor and are to be found not only in the sick who were brought to Jesus but in all those who for a variety of reasons were unable to fully participate in what was going on in their towns and villages. We see his love for the poor in his ministry to the widows, to the foreigner and the sinner, the lonely, the grieving and more. Poverty in the Bible is a word that covers any situation, personal quality or circumstance that inhibits a person’s ability to fully participate in the life of the world around them. Anyone who finds themselves marginalized in any way is to be considered to be one of the poor for whom God has a special love, to whom the mission and the ministry of the Church must be addressed.
The Diocese is accepting the invitation to participate in Anti-poverty week (October 12th – 19th) and will do so as a part of our desire to be more faithful to our vocation as a Church. We will use anti-poverty week to launch a full month of prayer, of study and of action, so that each Christian and every faith community will have an opportunity to be better able to determine just how we might more effectively and compassionately engage with the poor who are in every community in the Diocese.
In commending this exciting time to you, I urge all Anglicans to participate as fully as you can in what is being offered to us by our Anglicare workers and to work alongside them that we might fulfil all that is demanded of us in Christ.
Yours in the Father’s love,
+Michael Ballarat
