Basic information about the Community of Aidan and Hilda in Australia can be found below, but for further news and updates visit their website aidanandhilda-au.org
One of the objectives of the Community is healing fragmented people and communities. You can see an example of this from Australia on You Tube here and an explanation below:
In Australia there is a long history of denial of the brutality and injustice of the frontier wars at the time of first settlement and systematic mistreatment of the Indigenous people since. It has been our practice for some time to research our local and family histories in order to make appropriate and specific apologies for past mistreatment of Indigenous people.
We have done this in the area where we live, and have made pilgrimages to places where we or our ancestors have lived in the past in order to do this. We are now being asked by Indigenous people to pray for the healing of the land in places which are perceived to be troubled or a massacre has occurred. When we have no personal connection with the place we help the locals prepare their own liturgies including saying sorry, sometimes in small informal gatherings and sometimes in a sorry service in a local church to which the wider community is invited.
We welcome the participation of anyone with the same intention, and help prepare a suitable liturgy with each group. There is a role for everyone in the process including old Australians, new arrivals, and the Indigenous people.
For details, visit our news page.
Rod Kennedy has created a new website providing related resources http://www.fortheway.org It is well worth visiting.
From an ignorant guy who loves Australia, God and you lot.
Greetings from the Holy Island of Lindisfarne.
This time last year I was with you. You are much in my thoughts. I have been working through notes with the possibility of an Australian version of 'Church of the Isles' in collaboration with Brent Lyons-Lee. What follows are a few reflections and prayers.
The masculine spirit that is natural to Australia is sunny disposition, straight talking and sportive strength. A religious spirit that is not natural to Australia is the second hand, second rate, head-without-heart, rigid mentality that disconnects the part from the whole. Its imported religion reflects the 19th-20th century settlers who hover round the edge of Australia, fearing to embrace heartland roots and vaster destiny.
We are an international movement of people who seek to restore Christianity as a way of life, and to earth this in a way that is indigenous to each land. We seek to weave together God-given strands in Christianity which have become separated. We believe Australia has an opportunity to pattern a Christianity which weaves together eastern and western strands and offer hope to the world.
We will live a rhythm of prayer and action, mind and body, justice and simplicity. We will apply the ‘can-do’ attitude of ‘the Battlers’ to spiritual as well as physical dimensions of life.We will practise awareness of God in the elements. We will heal the land, model justice, build community and speak truth to power - all in the love of Christ.
Those who make promises to follow the Way of Life wear a wooden cross with a circle. This represents the integration of primal realities with God’s all-embracing mercy. Christ's sacrifice was intended to transform the whole of creation and the whole of life. The circle is a primal symbol that embraces all creatures and all people. The flag of Australia's Aboriginal People contains the circle of the sun, a unifying factor that gives life. In a quite different way the circle of the sun has been a unifying factor for settler Australians: it has produced a sunny disposition, an enjoyment of the outdoors and an out-going attitude. The cross is a universal symbol that speaks of forgiveness, hope and life rising from the ashes of wrongs and weakness. The official flag of Australia contains the cross. This is currently in the form of the British union flag. Many Australians wish that, if there were to be a republic, an indigenous form of the cross would be included in any new flag. Why not the circle and the cross?
Modern Australians cannot connect with particular places in the way Aboriginal peoples did: but we can embrace our connectedness. We cannot have their dreams: but we can learn to dream. We cannot just back-pack away from the places were we live and work: but we can learn to renounce possessiveness and travel light. We cannot act as if mental processes have remained unchanged: but when there are silences we can enter into and not abort them
I arise today in the wisdom of the One who brought to birth the giant plains, the water and the first beings. I arise today in the brightness of the One who created the blazing sun, the shining stars and the twinkle in our eyes. I arise today mercy of the One who gave us dreams and memories and hearts.
I arise today in the Eternal Flow of Mercy who was here when the land began to breathe, when the first tribes began to roam, and when the colonists came to settle. I arise today in the Eternal Flow of Wisdom who is dimly perceived in the stones, the stories and the studies of all our peoples. I arise today in the Eternal Flow of Life who seeps through land, and limb and love.
Sometimes we take earth for granted. For this we are sorry. Sometimes we take those who were before us for granted. For this we are sorry. Sometime we take those who have come after us for granted. For this we are sorry.
You are a God who hurts when we hurt others. You are a God who does not hold this against us. You are a God who teaches us through our reaping what we sow. You are a God who shares our life.
Things touch my heart. This brings tears. This makes me say “I forgive”. And it is love that flows. I wish you and yours a Happy New Year.
| Leader | In longest days we pray, may the Light of Lights come to us |
| All | We wait for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning |
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Silence, confession, or meditative singing followed by one
of these readinngs
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| Reader | Psalms 4; 17:1-8; 139:7-12; or Isaiah 45:2-8; 55: 6-11; or psalm 119:113-20 (4th week) |
| Leader | We wait expectantly, longingly for God the True Sun to shine upon us |
| All | Come, O God Most High |
| Leader | As we journey with the unborn Christ towards the light of birth |
| All | Come, O God Most High |
| Leader | As darkness flees and the Dawn from on high appears |
| All | Come, O God Most High |
| Leader | As you spoke to Joseph and the Magi in dreams and speak still to us |
| All | Come, O God Most High |
| Females | O God of life, bring to us your light |
| Males | O God of life, open to us your joy |
| Females | O God of life, soften to us your anger |
| Males | O God of life, crown to us your goodness. |
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A candle is lit
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| Leader | Christ is the light that comes into the world |
| All | A light that no darkness will quench |
There may be singing, such as the following, to the tune Bunessan