Celebrating 103 years!
On the 19th July, a well -loved parishioner Mary Strange celebrated her 103rd birthday surrounded by family and friends.
Fire weather and heat policy
On Catastrophic Fire Danger days both churches will be closed and all activities and services are cancelled.
During fire season, please visit the South Australian Country Fire Service Incident and Warnings page, and ABC Emergency for up-to-date information. ABC Radio Adelaide on 891 AM broadcasts warnings on current incidents. Other useful resources are the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), Emergency + and Alert SA apps. The seven-day forecast on the BoM app may help you make decisions about attending church on a hot day.
New Service Times 2026
After our consultation sessions about our future it became clear that worshipping together is the next step. At the November meeting, Parish Council voted unanimously that from January we will be worshipping together in alternate venues with a single service at 9 am, for six months. January 4th will be at St John’s, 11th at All Hallows, 18th at St John’s, 25th at All Hallows, and following this pattern until the end of June. We will produce a service sheet for St John’s to help anyone who may not be familiar with the green book. We appreciate this may be inconvenient and uncomfortable, but the walk of faith is seldom smooth.
Visit to St. John’s Church by Coromandel Valley Primary School students
On Friday 19th September 2025, three Year 1 classes from Coromandel Valley Primary School visited St. John’s church for their Local History subject. Each session was approximately 45 minutes. Woody explained some history of buildings of worship in the times of the ancient Romans, and linked the structure of the buildings to our own St. John’s church. Throughout his chat to the students, he also referred to certain items by their name in Latin, the language of the ancient Roman Empire.
Four parishioners assisted Woody, with Sharon providing detailed and interesting aspects about each of our beautiful windows, both stained glass and leadlight, including information relevant to Bible stories and local history. Some students asked and answered questions about features of the windows, and of particular interest was their ability to detect the tiny sailor from HMS Coromandel, hiding in the tree.
The students were very curious about various items in the church, and Woody invited them to go to the front of the church and point to each one, before he explained their significance. They were also interested in our magnificent pipe organ and those in the first group were treated to a rendition of Away in a Manger by Di. Woody helped them use a hymn book to locate, follow and sing the words of the song.
All students from each class joined a queue in the aisle and individually slid across the organ seat and played three notes across the keyboard, assisted by Sharon, Wendy and Elizabeth. All the students were wonderful ambassadors for Coromandel Valley Primary School, and we are very grateful for their contribution to our collection of food for the Mary Magdalen Centre, for distribution to those in need.
Our thanks go to the students, parents and teachers for their courtesy, generosity and the interest shown in our beautiful and historic church.
(Thanks to Elizabeth Parker for this report).
Waffle Church
Don’t forget Waffle Church happens the first Sunday of the month at 5.00 pm at All Hallows’. Sometimes we make waffles, and sometimes we waffle in good and engaging ways!
News from the Guardian
The archbishop said reconciliation is a Christian obligation.
What now for reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the wake of the referendum to enshrine a voice to Parliament in the constitution?, Archbishop of Adelaide and Primate of Australia Geoff Smith asks in his address to the Adelaide Synod.
“Over the past two weeks we have seen political leaders both state and federal, quickly walking away from commitments they made prior to the referendum to pursue constitutional recognition for the first people of this nation in different ways if the referendum was lost, or introduce voices or treaties on a state basis,” Archbishop Smith notes.
The Adelaide synod in 2022 passed a resolution backing a Yes vote in the referendum. It also acknowledged the Uluru Statement, which encourages all Australians to walk alongside First Nations peoples in a movement for a better future.
Please visit the Guardian link below for the full article.
Equipping clergy and church workers to better understand the role everyone can play in preventing and responding to domestic violence is the aim of an upcoming event planned by the Domestic and Family Violence Working Group for the Diocese of Adelaide in partnership with White Ribbon Australia.
The ‘You Can Ask That’ panel event will raise awareness about gender-based violence and highlight ways to build safer communities this November during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence.
Please visit the link to the Guardian below for the full article.