The next Ultreya for the Newcastle Diocese will be at Swansea on 3rd May 2026 at St Peters Anglican Church 28 Josephson St Swansea – Time 2.00pm – 4.00pm
Then a Newcastle Deanery Ultreya will be at St Augustine’s Merewether on 20 June 2026 from 2.00pm to 4.00pm – see attached Brochure – all welcome
Download: Ultreya 2026 (Cathedral – Merewether- Cooks Hill)
Another busy year is about to come to an end, and what a busy year it was! I hope you are all
looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we celebrate, let us remember
those who are not able to celebrate this year due to war, homelessness, natural disasters, illness
and grief.
DOWNLOAD ENCOURAGER HERE: Summer Web version 2
Following Geoff finishing his 3-year term and no-one feeling called to the role of Diocesan Co-Lay
Director (DLD), Secretariat made the decision to trial having one Diocesan Co-Lay Director. Being
Diocesan Lay Director is a huge role and I have found that having the second DLD would be very
beneficial in being able to share the load.
Secretariat made the decision to move from a 3-day weekend to a 2-day weekend in 2025. This was a
big step for the Secretariat to take. Lots of discussion on how it would work, what needed to be
left out and whether it would still have the authenticity of the 3-day weekend. Bathurst Diocese
had already experienced 2-day Cursillo so we stepped out in faith and followed the program Bathurst
had used.
Some talks were combined, so there were 10 talks instead of 15 and the authenticity was retained of
the 3-day weekend. Graham Eagleton and his amazing team coped with the changes extremely well. They
were certainly a caring, cohesive team and a blessing to the 12 candidates during the weekend. The
theme was “God Is Love” and the team and candidates certainly felt the Holy Spirit and
Gods love surrounding them all weekend.
LORRAINE PHILLIPS
Newcastle Anglican Cursillo Lay Dir
The 2026 Cursillo (MW53) will be held at Bethshan, Wyee from 21st to 23rd August 2026 – The Lay Director will be Rosalie Robinson – please mark the dates in your diary, AND pray about candidates from your Parish or from your environment.
Commissioning was on 2nd May at Kahibah Parish Church
Application Form – Download here: Candidate_Application_MW53
Bethshan Website is: https://www.bethshan.org.au/bethshan-camp-conference-centre/
2025 event was held on 1st November 2025 at St John’s Church, Sturgeon Street Raymond Terrace. It had a good attendance and concluded at lunchtime.
2o25 Report: “Thank you for an exciting Diocesan Ultreya, always uplifting, even with future challenges ahead”.
We believe about 39 people were welcomed to St John’s Anglican Church, Raymond Terrace on 1 November 2025, and those attending enjoyed a lovely morning tea, on arrival, Saturday 1st November, followed by Lay Director Lorraine’s annual report, service and Eucharist.
Claire Bell’s witness talk was well received by all and Rev’d Toni’s response beautiful.
We enjoyed singing some old favourite and some new songs accompanied by Denise on the Grand Piano.