The Messenger
St George the Martyr, Goodwood
October, 2026
Dear Friends
HOW DO WE DEEPEN our Christian life? I was asked this question recently, and it’s a good question, and one I am occasionally asked. As Christians, we look to the example of Our Lord, and when you read the Gospels one of the patterns of his behaviour was that he regularly withdrew in prayer. Prayer is the deepest foundation we can have in our lives – because it connects us with God. The persistent temptation for humanity is to make ourselves into our own gods, to isolate ourselves and lose our connection with our maker and with each other. Only by being connected with God can we finally see our place and the true choices that face us and not our own delusions.
Prayer comes in many forms but with one essential need – give it time. Always set aside a time for prayer, at a particular time, such as early morning or last thing at night. Even if prayer just starts with saying thanks to God for a day ahead or past, this is a start that will allow it to develop. One simple way of structuring prayer is by remembering the letters ACTS – A for adoration, C for confession, T for thanksgiving and S for supplication. We always start prayer by turning to God in adoration; this allows us to reject our own false gods. Then once we look to God we can start to see where we have sinned and the need for confession. Then we can give thanks for all the wonderful things in our lives, friends, health and life in whatever ways. Then finally we can ask God for what we truly need – not the needs of our ego but the needs we have to fulfill our lives as Christians.
Never forget the Lord’s Prayer as well – it is the one given to us to use by God. That’s the best recommendation that any prayer can receive. The Church has also devised around it what we call the daily offices, that is the prayers for each day. The morning and evening prayers, also known by Anglicans as Matins and Evensong have extracts from the New and Old Testaments and the psalms, which help to set a systematic reading of the Bible. One very good form of this for those who are computer literate is the from the church of England, called Daily Prayer form common Worship. It also has the form of Compline, the last service of the day, which is a very short service which is an excellent way of just learning the form of the office.
Dedication Festival
On 6 September we celebrated the 123rd anniversary of the dedication of our church in 1903. Unusually, our church was dedicated and consecrated together, owing to some creative accounting of the Rector here, Fr Wise. If there is a debt on the church it may only be dedicated until that debt is paid off. Fr Wise creatively moved all the debt to the organ fund instead, leaving a debt-free church building that was duly consecrated. This year we had as our guest preacher Bishop Sophie Relf-Christopher, the assisting bishop of Adelaide, on her second visit here.
St Francis’s Day
Last Sunday at St George’s we had the blessing of pets. We hold this every year at the start of October, in the octave of St Francis, the patron saint of animals. He became that because he tamed a man-eating wolf near Gubbio where he was living. In return the town agreed to feed the wolf when it was hungry. When the wolf died a church was built over his tomb, called St Francis of the Peace, and the skeleton of the wolf was discovered there in renovations in 1872. He also famously preached to the birds so he is remembered as the patron saint of animals. This year we had a goat, a sheep, dogs, ferrets and a hen but thankfully, no wolves.
Brass Cleaning Time
My thanks to those who found time to join in our brass cleaning day on Friday 9 October at 9.30 am. We have a lot of brass and silverware in our church, and now the colder months are past it is a good opportunity to have a polishing morning. I plan to have another day in November. All Saints and All Souls
A reminder that the start of November has the great feasts of All Saints and All Souls. Sunday 1st November is All Saints, when we commemorate the great company of saints in heaven. On All Souls, Monday 2 November, we pray for all the faithful departed, remembering that we still hold them in our love, and we trust that in God’s presence those who have chosen to serve Our Lord will grow in his love, until they see him as he is. There will be one mass at 10 am that day. Our prayers support the faithful departed in their journey towards the fullness of God’s glory. At the Commendation (Absolution), the names of the faithful departed are represented on the catafalque. The usual monthly requiem for all whose anniversaries falls in November will be on Friday 6 November. On 13 November we will have a special requiem for all those who have died unquiet deaths – this includes anyone you feel died in difficult circumstances. The lists for names are at the back of the church or email me the names. Then on Wednesday, 11 November, is Remembrance Day – there will be a requiem at 8.00 am and prayers at the War Shrine outside at 11 am. Another list is available for names to be remembered at the requiem at the back of the church for those who died or served in time of war.
Organist
Our director of music, Sarah Clay has announced her retirement from 4 April next year, when she shall take an extended holiday in Europe. We thank her for her ministry here over 16 years. She is on leave during October.
Ordinations
We will be keeping in our prayers those being ordained here in Adelaide in November as well as Deacon Andrew Murray of Melbourne, who visited us last month. Deacon Andrew is also a member of the same priestly confraternity to which I belong, the Society of Mary, Mother of Priests. Amongst the Adelaide clergy being ordained is our friend Deacon Ben Falcon who has been taking the benediction services here this year. We are collecting money for a present for Ben, please see Fr Scott if you wish to contribute.
See you at church,
God Bless,
Fr Scott
Services
Sunday Services
8.00 am Mass
10.00 am Solemn Sung Mass
Weekday Services
Monday Fr Scott’s Day Off
Tuesday 10.00 am Mass,
followed by gardening.
Wednesday 8.00 am Mass
Thursday 12.00 noon Mass
Friday 8.00 am Mass
Saturday 8.00 am Mass
October
2 The Guardian Angels
3 George Bell, Bishop of Chichester, Ecumenist, Peacemaker, 1958
4 Francis of Assisi, Friar, Deacon, Founder of the Friars Minor, 1226
5 Augustus Short, First Bishop of Adelaide, 1883
6 William Tyndale, Translator of the Scriptures, Martyr, 1536
7 Blessed Virgin of the Rosary
9 Denys, Bishop of Paris and his Companions, Martyrs, c258
9 Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, Philosopher, Scientist, 1253
9 John Henry Newman, Priest, Teacher, Tractarian, 1890
10 Thomas Traherne, Poet, Spiritual Writer, 1674
11 PENTECOST 20
12 Elizabeth Fry, Prison Reformer, 1845
12 Wilfrid of Ripon, Bishop, Missionary, 709
13 Edward the Confessor, King of England, 1066
15 Teresa of Avila, Teacher of the Faith, 1582
15 TRANSLATION OF THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF WALSINGHAM
16 Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worchester and Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, Martyrs
17 Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, Martyr, c107
18 LUKE, EVANGELIST AND MARTYR
19 Henry Martyn, Translator of the Scriptures, Missionary in India and Persia, 1812
24 United Nations, Inaugurated 1945
25 PENTECOST 22
26 Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, Scholar, 899
26 Cedd, Abbot of Lastingham, bishop of the East Saxons, 664
28 SIMON AND JUDE, APOSTLES AND MARTYRS
29 James Hannington, Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa, Martyr in Uganda, 1885
31 Martin Luther, 1546 and other Continental Reformers
November
1 ALL SAINTS
2 ALL SOULS
3 Richard Hooker, Priest, Anglican Apologist, Teacher of the Faith, 1600
4 Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, Reformer, 1584
5 Laying of Foundation Stone of 1st Church 1882?
6 William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1944
7 Willibrord of York, Bishop, Apostle of Frisia, 739
8 PENTECOST 24
8 Saints, Martyrs, Missionaries and Teachers of the Anglican Communion
9 Margery Kempe, Mystic, c1440
10 Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome, Teacher of the Faith, 461
11 Martin, Bishop of Tours, c397
11 Armistice Day
13 Charles Simeon, Priest, Evangelical Divine, 1836
13 Benedictine Saints
14 Benedictine Souls
15 PENTECOST 25
16 Edmund Rich of Abingdon, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1240
17 Margaret, Queen of Scotland, Philanthropist, Reformer of the Church, 1093 (from 16)
17 Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, 1200
18 Elizabeth of Hungary, Princess of Thuringia, Philanthropist, 1231
19 Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, 680
19 Mechtild, Béguine of Magdeburg, Mystic, 1280
20 Edmund, King of the East Angles, Martyr
20 Priscilla Lydia Sellon, Restorer of the Religious Life in the Church of England, 1876
21 The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
22 CHRIST THE KING
22 Cecilia, Martyr at Rome, c230
23 Clement, Bishop of Rome, c100
24 Andrew Dung-Lac, 1839 and the martyrs of Vietnam
25 Catherine of Alexandria, Martyr, 4th Cent.
25 James Noble, first indigenous Australian ordained, 1941
25 Isaac Watts, Hymn Writer, 1748
29 ADVENT 1
29 Day of Intercession and Thanksgiving for the Missionary Work of the Church
30 ANDREW, APOSTLE AND MARTYR
Address for correspondence
The Parish of St George the Martyr,
The Rectory
34 Angus Street
Goodwood, SA, 5034
Email: stgeorges8@bigpond.com
