Tuesday Church began during the COVID-19 lockdowns, not as a program, but as a conversation between friends who needed space for honest questions, spiritual depth, and connection. What started as four people sitting with uncertainty has become a small and trusted community that meets online each week, holding sacred space for learning, reflection, and care…

Across the Australia Mission Centre, people are gathering in creative, courageous, and Spirit-led ways—sometimes in homes or congregations, sometimes online, and sometimes in forms that have grown naturally out of the needs and rhythms of our communities. These expressions of faith are a vital part of our shared story, revealing the many ways the Spirit continues to form community, nurture discipleship, and call us into deeper belonging…

Over the past week, I have been deeply moved by the way God’s presence becomes visible through the sacraments and through the simple act of gathering of community. Our travels from Perth to Adelaide were filled with moments that reminded me how the Spirit draws us together, invites us to deeper belonging, and meets us in worship, blessing, and hospitality…

There are moments in the life of every community when the way ahead may feel less defined than it once was. The paths we once knew have shifted. Our gatherings may feel quieter. The world around us seems louder and more uncertain. In such times, it would be easy to believe that something essential has slipped away. Yet the Spirit continues to move among us with a quiet and steady presence, inviting us not to step back, but to listen with open hearts and to lean forward with hope into what is unfolding…

At World Conference in April 1984, W Wallace Smith introduced an inspired document that was to become Section 156. In 156: 9(c) we read “Do not wonder that some women of the church are being called to priesthood responsibilities. This is in harmony with my will.”

This was eight years after the approval of World Church Resolution 1141 (April 1976) which was designed to slow down the growing movement at that time for women to be considered for ordination. WCR 1141 stated “…consideration of the ordination of women be deferred until it appears in the judgment of the First Presidency that the church, by common consent, is ready to accept such ministry.”

Some years ago I started a sermon with the statement “I understand that some of you think I have some weird ideas! Only some of you? I must be slipping!” I then went on to talk about what seems to be contradictory ideas. For example, we are living on a giant beach ball called Earth, rotating at considerable speed. According to the law of centrifugal force, we, and every other non-anchored item, should be thrown off the surface of the beach ball, also at considerable speed. But we aren’t. That is because there is an opposing (contradictory) force called gravity, which, thankfully, keeps us on the surface of this beach ball. There are ways of escaping, but only briefly…

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending a Sunset Reflections service at the Green Cathedral, led by Wendy Ballard. As the light softened over the water and the evening settled into stillness, I shared some thoughts about where I have glimpsed God in my life recently. It was such a blessing to pause and consider the many ways I have felt God’s presence near…

Going! Going! Gone! These words signal that you’re at an auction. And if they’re directed at you, there’s a good chance you’ll be smiling. Jennie Lonsdale was indeed smiling as the successful bidder at a fundraising auction, winning an invitation for herself and two friends to have lunch with Tim Costello at Dromana Estate Restaurant. I was fortunate to be one of those friends, along with Ben Smith, invited to join Jennie and Tim…

It was only after my doctors discovered I had a severe leaking Mitra valve in my heart that I realised more than ever the important part my heart played to keep me alive.  Fortunately, this impairment was found, and very quickly I had two Mitra clips inserted in my heart to stop the leakage…

It wasn’t much, but Woolcott Avenue has been home since we first landed in Australia, wide eyed, filled with anticipation, and ready to embrace the biggest adventure of our lives. Having made our arrangements from the other side of the world, I felt an enormous wave of relief when I walked through the door and discovered a space that was clean, comfortable, and wonderfully located. It was going to work just fine…