Friends of Sabeel Australia
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Friends of Sabeel Australia
Australian supporters of theSABEEL Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, Jerusalem |
Our Patrons
Friends of Sabeel Australia is privileged to enjoy the encouragement and support of the following distinguished citizens who have accepted the role of patron.
Archbishop Phillip Aspinall
The Most Revd Dr Phillip Aspinall is the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia.
Bishop John Bayton
The Rt Revd John Bayton, AM has combined his vocation as artist with his ministry in different parts of Australia, and especially his beloved Jerusalem. A retired bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, John continues to work and pray for the peace of Jerusalem.Deep in the heart of every living soul lies the "HOLY CITY," the place from where we come, the place where we live out our deepest longings and desires, the place to which we shall return -- Jerusalem.
We are all exiles, pilgrims and wanderers upon the earth. We know deep down, both as individuals and as a society that our hearts are on fire for that place, our soul's longing. Above all other places I have been, and lived, Jerusalem holds and excites my art -- my painting, my sculpture, my poetry -- a heavenly place where the monochrome stonework glows with the fire of another love, for there, it is said by the rabbis God created the universe and all that is in it. It is the color of this place that I depcit on my work, color that belongs not to the "now" but to the "not-quite-yet," the pilgrims' goal, the place of three great Abrahamic Faiths -- Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Jerusalem is the place of the Temple Mount, the Dome of the Rock, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Jerusalem of every heart glows with the fire of hope burning against a background of compromise, oppression, of terror -- things for which we are all responsible, Yet nothing can separate us from this love of the heart, for it is our home. [from John's web site]
Bishop George Browning
The Rt Revd George Browning is Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Canberra-Goulburn, a position he has held since 1993. His involvement with the community includes: Member, Review Committee, Australian Honours System 1995; Board Member, Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture; Co-chair, Canberra Community Foundation; Co-chair, Canberra Bushfire Recovery Appeal; Honorary Ambassador for Canberra; Member, Ethics Committee, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies; Member, Advisory Council, Climate Institute; Honorary Member, Ginninderra Rotary Club. In 2005, Bishop Browning became Convenor of the Anglican Communion Environmental Network.Bishop Browning's Message to the STOP THE WALL RALLY
(Canberra, 9 November 2003)Australian Church Leaders Christmas Call for Justice and Peace in Palestine and Israel [PDF]
Archbishop Peter Carnley, AO
The Most Revd Peter Carnely is the former Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia. He was elected Archbishop of Perth in 1981 and retired in May 2005. Archbishop Carnley placed an emphasis on social justice and championed the cause of women's ordination in the Anglican Church of Australia. He ordained the first women to the priesthood in this country in 1992 at St. George's Cathedral, Perth. The Archbishop was Anglican Co-Chairman of Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission, and a member of the original "Eames Commission" on Women in the Episcopate. Following his retirement he has accepted the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury to chair "The Panel of Reference" created by Archbishop Williams in response to the "Windsor Report" on authority and international church relationship within the Anglican Communion.
Rev Tim Costello
Reverend Tim Costello has been the Chief Executive Officer of World Vision Australlia since March 2004. After studying law and education at Monash University and obtaining his Masters in Theology at the Melbourne College of Divinity, Tim was ordained a Baptist Minister in 1986. He established a vibrant and socially active ministry at St Kilda Baptist Church between 1986 –1994 and was elected Mayor of St Kilda in 1993. In 1995 Tim was appointed Minister of Collins Street Baptist Church and Executive Director of Urban Seed, a Christian not-for-profit organisation that provides outreach services and hospitality to the urban poor. He held this position until his move to World Vision. Tim is recognised for articulating the social conscience of many Australians on tough domestic issues such urban poverty, homelessness, problem gambling, reconciliation, and substance abuse. For nine years he was the spokesperson for the Interchurch Gambling Taskforce and a member of the National Advisory Body on Gambling. He is the former national president of the Baptist Union of Australia. Currently Tim is Chairman of the National Australia Bank external Stakeholder forum, a member of the AMP Sustainable Funds Committee, the Aid Advisory Council and the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation. In 2002 Tim Costello was awarded the prestigious Raoul Wallenberg Award for his humanitarian activities and in 2004 he was awarded "Victorian of the Year 2004" by the Victoria Day Award for Public and Community Service.
Dr Lorna Hallahan
Lorna Hallahan is Co-Ordinator of the Disability Co-ordinator of the Disability and Spirituality Project of the Flinders University and Adelaide College of Divinity Centre for Theology Science and Culture. She is also convenor of the South Australian UnitingCare Disability Network. Lorna, who lives with a mobility impairment, has recently completed her PhD in disability theory and theology.Flinders University of South Australia
Rev Gregor Henderson
Gregor Henderson has served as General Secretary for the Uniting Church in Australia and as Executive Chair of the Christian World Service commission within the National Council of Churches in Australia. In July 2006 he begins a three year term as President of the Uniting Church in Australia.I have a strong personal commitment to our Palestinian sisters and brothers. I've only visited there once, back in 1993, but hope to visit again in the next few years. Through my involvements in the WCC (Central Committee and the Public Issues Committee of Central Committee) and the NCCA, I've kept reasonably abreast of what is happening in Palestine.
Archbishop Roger Herft
The Most Reverend Roger Herft is the Anglican Archbishop of Perth and writes as follows:Since being involved in ministry in Sri Lanka I have been aware of the injustice meted out against the Palestinian population. In 1991, as Bishop of Waikato in New Zealand, I visited St George’s College, Palestine, and met with Ray and Dorothy Barraclough. I saw first hand some of this conflict. Meeting with key Church leaders from the region before and since has made me aware of the continuing nature of the conflict and the bias of the Western powers in responding to the issues faced by Arab nations in the Middle East.
Sabeel takes justice as an active expression of the desire for reconciliation. It makes an effort to go behind the rhetoric of political engagement to consider the impact of the conflict on basic human existence, both Arab and Israeli, within Palestine and beyond.
Fr Peter Kennedy
Father Peter Kennedy is a formal Chaplain to the Royal Australian Navy and to Boggo Rd Gaol in Brisbane. He now serves as priest to St Mary's Catholic Community, South Brisbane. He is active in various justice and community issues.
Bishop John Noble
The Rt Revd John Noble is Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of North Queensland. He has a background in education and a special interest in faith development and theological education.
Bishop Joseph Oudeman
The Most Revd Joseph Oudeman is an Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane and has a wide background in multicuiltural ministry in Australia and overseas.
Dr Noel Preston
Noel Preston is currently Adjunct Professor in the Key Centre for Ethics, Law Justice and Governance. He retired in November 2004 as the founding Director of the UnitingCare Centre for Social Justice. From 1995 to 1997 he was President of the Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics. He is a regular public commentator on social ethics and widely published as an ethicist. His introductory textbook Understanding Ethics (2nd ed, 2001, Federation Press) has sold 6,000 copies. In 2004 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to the community in the field of ethics. In his capacity as a social justice campaigner since the early 1970s and as a Minister of the Uniting Church he has previously held leadership roles in various church social justice portfolios including inaugural Convenor of the Uniting Church’s Commission on Social Responsibility, Queensland Director of Action for World Development and Executive Officer of the Victorian UCA Synod Division of Social Justice. He is publishing a memoir/social history in 2006 (Beyond the Boundary: a memoir exploring ethics, politics and spirituality, Zeus Publications).
Sr Josephine Warne
Sister Josephine is Head of the Community of the Holy Name, based in Melbourne.In May 2001 I attended the course, "The Bible and the Holy Land," at St George's College in Jerusalem, and there received my introduction really to the position of the Palestinian people, and the Palestinian Christians in particular. It had a very strong impact on me and I have tried ever since to keep informed, and to support those people in what I say, pray and do, in the small ways that this is possible for me. For example in 2004 I organized a Palestinian Dinner in this area, in conjunction with Anglicord, where we had over 125 dinner guests. I share the Sabeel information and literature with Community members, and sometimes local people who I know are interested. I also subscribe to the magazine, Women for Palestine, and share copies of it with others.
I value my relationship with Sabeel because it provides me with regular information about the situation in the Land of the Holy One which I cannot get from newspapers, T.V., and the other normal sources of information we have in Australia . It also enables me to pass on this information to other people, who are sometimes unaware that there are indigenous Christians living in that area, descendants of the first Christians, struggling against terrific odds to even stay alive there!
Rev John Woodley
Rev John Woodley is a Uniting Church minister who served as a Senator (for the Australian Democrats) from 1993 to 2001. Since resigning from the Senate, John has been active in the Uniting Church's Queensland Centre for Social Justice. He writes as follows about his interest in Palestinian issues:I became interested in the plight of Palestinians through my coversations with Ray Barraclough after he returned from his time in Jerusalem [as a staff member at St George's College] and also through ... through the National Council of Churches ... I strongly support the work of Sabeel in publicising the plight of Palestinian Christians, and Palestinians generally, and in exposing the twisted theology and appalling political agenda of Christian Zionism.
Dr Kevin Bray
Dr Kevin Bray is Member of the National Council of Churches of Christ in Australia, Chair of the Canberra Ecumenical Working Group on Palestine-Israel and Chair of Australians for Justice and Peace in Palestine.Kevin Bray is a (now retired) nuclear physicist-turned-public servant, with a strong interest in international issues ranging from nuclear safeguards, climate change and global fisheries to justice and peace in Palestine and Israel. As a member of the National Council of Churches of Christ in Australia, he took part in a delegation of Australian church leaders to Palestine-Israel in December 2007, at the invitation of the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem. That was his second visit to Israel and the West Bank. Kevin chairs the Canberra Ecumenical Working Group on Palestine-Israel and also Australians for Justice and Peace in Palestine. Within Churches of Christ in Australia, he convenes an ACT-based Reference Group for the Churches of Christ Theological College in Melbourne and is a Board Member of Australian Churches of Christ Indigenous Ministries.
For further information about FOS-AU is available from this web site, or from:
The Revd Dr Gregory Jenks [email]
President, Friends of Sabeel Australia Inc
PO Box 4474
Forest Lake, Qld 4078
