Archdeacon David McDougall is on a canoeing journey in the Anglican Diocese of the Murray. He engages with locals along the journey and shares daily video reflections on YouTube.
The Administrator of the Diocese, the Venerable Simon Waters, writes:
As people of faith, we have great Joy in the Hope we have in Jesus at Easter and his victory over death. As a national church, we as Anglicans have found that the time after easter and towards Pentecost is a perfect time to engage in a mission of hope across Australia.
In the Diocese of the The Murray one of the 23 diocese in the national church we have chosen to embrace this Hope 25 mission project with a journey of listening. Listening to God in the natural beauty of our diocese and in listening to the needs/hopes of the broad diversity of the population in our diocesan region.
Hope is a reframing of our sense of identity, of being, of purpose and of future planning. During this Hope 25 mission journey therefore we endeavour to collect the stories of need and hope to inform and enrich our future missional planning as parishes and as the whole diocese.
As we have travelled down the river, following the pathway of the old Home Mission Paddle steamer ‘PS Etona’, we have visited churches and communities, shared stories, meals, and the eucharist with them. There has been a collective sense of dignity as people feel that they have been acknowledged and heard as we are invited into their space.
At the conclusion of this mission journey we will create a document containing the feedback from the shared stories and the voices of all we have encountered on this journey and let this inform our diocesan mission strategy in Sharing the Good news that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand in the years ahead.
Here is one of the reflection videos from the Diocese of the Murray YouTube channel: