What's next HHO?
An update from me on Maternity Leave:
As we approach this coming season of change in our community I have some updates to give you and offer an invitation to take the opportunity to intentionally slow down and sustain our ministries together.
***Scroll down the page to find a video version of this update***
My last day will be on the 5th of October when we will have our annual Animal Blessing Service at weekly worship.
In this service we will have Spiritual Communion and an agape feast as well as our special liturgy for the animals.
This means we are invited to bring something to eat and drink along with us to share in fellowship after the service.
We will include a special liturgy in this service to acknowledge Rev'd Lauren's ministry with us as she offers further leadership while I am away.
On the same day we will also celebrate our first foundational years together with a 5th Birthday Party 5.00-7.00pm EAST
Be sure to put it in your calendar! It will include a Party Hat parade and creative time to share stories together.
There will be a short farewell liturgy at the close of this party space as I step back from ministry to prepare for the arrival of Baby, and take 12 months of leave to settle into parenthood.
Between now and then:
We are finishing our last stages of preparation for the Digital Mission Program, which we have developed through our partnership with The Episcopal Diocese of Texas over the last 2.5 years.
Our proof reading team is working hard alongside me to make sure that it is ready to hand over to our brothers and sisters in Texas on the 30th of September.
I invite your prayer for this, and to give thanks alongside me for the partnership which has given us stability over the last few years and covered the clergy stipend during this time.
This next season:
Pastoral Leadership
Rev'd Lauren will be offering more leadership in the community as part of her Assistant Curate role at the Cathedral and as our digital Deacon in my absence.
Rev'd Lauren offers her ministry in an honourary capacity at the moment, which means that what she does with us online is without financial support. She maintains her own business as well as living out her vocation as a Deacon.
This will mean that community life will need to take a different shape, as we are moving from a clergy supported model where 4 days of paid ministry were offered by myself for the past few years, to a clergy supported model with 2 days honourary ministry and a team approach from the Cathedral.
Our goal will be to find some alternative funding for the clergy role again, so that Rev'd Lauren might be able to work with us more, and I invite your prayers for her as she seeks out other organisations and trusts to partner with us in this.
Lay Leadership continues
Chris and Leonie will remain our Governance leaders, offering big picture and safeguarding support to the community in their ministry work alongside the Cathedral team and Rev'd Lauren.
We will have our 2 Cathedral council reps still taking part in that important ministry too, giving thanks for Barry and Julie who are currently offering this role.
The new Council reps for 2026 will be appointed at the first service of the new Church year in December on the 1st Sunday of Advent when we celebrate our lay ministries and commission new servers.
You can reach out to make contact with Chris, Leonie, Barry or Julie (and future reps) through Kerrie-Anne at holyhermits@anglicanchurchsq.org.au anytime you may have something you would like to raise.
Bishop Sarah is also available as our regional Bishop to offer extra support, and is likely to visit in 2026 to check in on how we are travelling. Feel free to reach out to her at any time via: Sarah.Plowman@anglicanchurchsq.org.au.
Sustainability and Generosity
With the winding down of our partnership funding this means that our community giving is essential to maintain our ministry.
Our aim is to raise the regular offerings to $3,500 AUD a month by December and keep them there, which will sustain our Administration Officer role at 2 days a week, and cover our website, subscription and system expenses.
We have done admirably with this so far, each month achieving beyond our slowly increasing goal.
I invite your continued prayers and creativity in this space!
What will weekly Worship be like?
Our services being lay-led/clergy supported will remain mostly the same flavour and structure.
Rev'd Lauren will be with us for the majority of Sundays and once a month one of the Cathedral team will join us online when she is in at the Cathedral.
We hope to still be able to invite plenty of Guest preachers to come and refresh our teaching ministry and see our space in action too.
We give thanks for all our servers who help to form our worship life together, and the faithfulness each brings while offering their ministry gifts online.
If you'd like to learn more about that, you can visit the Weekly Worship page, where you will find more about the roles on offer to our community members to live out their vocations. New servers are always welcome!
What about our other ministries?
We will need to slow down a bit, as we have had such a busy few years with our diverse and vibrant Ministries.
It's been rare to find a Sunday where there isn't an 'extra' gathering on our calendar over the last few years, in our workshops, open spaces and other collaborative projects.
I hope there will be more sabbath in this next season for us to treasure the work that we do get to do together on a gentler basis.
Maintaining a focus on our monthly Contemplative services, Companion Animal Ministry and other wonderful initiatives like 3D Dialogue and AI Exploration and Response will still be part of who we are, it just might mean that things happen at a slower and more sustainable pace.
Mid-Week study group will carry on as and when clergy leadership is available, and might stop and start a bit more often than we are used to.
The Digital Faith Artists and Prayer Group | Ministries will also still be active, and I encourage those involved to keep creating and posting prayers on our app wall to uphold one another as often as you can.
Pastoral Care?
We have long enjoyed the Team approach to Pastoral and Spiritual Care where members of our community can reach out to any on the Cathedral pastoral team.
This will be even more important to remember during this time - please reach out if you would like a phone, Zoom or email conversation.
You can do that by directly getting in touch with the clergy person you feel most comfortable with via this page: Pastoral and Spiritual Care or by phoning Cathedral reception at St Martin’s House on (07) 3835 2222 (9.00am to 5.00pm AEST Monday to Friday) to connect over the phone.
Rev'd Lauren is available for one-on-one chats, but please keep in mind her ministry days at 2 days a week.
Help will always be offered at HHO to those who ask for it!
The future:
My hope is to return to Ministry in October of 2026, but I won't know what that will look like until I meet our little one and get to know them.
I expect to need to find other sources of funding for my role, and perhaps I too will be offering honourary(unpaid) ministry for a little while, on the other side of Maternity Leave. It is unlikely I will be returning to 4 days a week immediately and I anticipate easing back in gently will be part of that picture.
We are very blessed in the support that we are offered by the Cathedral Team and having the extended community of the precinct behind us as we forge ahead in faith.
The experiences we have had together in the digital space over the last 5 years have formed us into who we currently are and I am so incredibly honoured to have been part of this time while we have done such amazing innovative things for God's digital Church.
I pray that this next season will teach us afresh what it means to be called God's children in the online space, offering grace and gentleness as we slow down to sustain life together and listen for God's guidance and providence.
As Mother Julian reminds us, in God's Kingdom: "All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."