Home // January 25-29 2010 > Albury rector says church should be fun

Make Text Larger Make Text Smaller Email this Article to a Friend Print this Article

Albury rector says church should be fun

Published: January 26, 2010

Father Peter MacLeod-Miller

---

Father Peter MacLeod-Miller, the new rector of St Matthew's Church in Albury says church should be "enjoyable and fun" rather than "uptight and judgmental", and hopes to put it in practice at his parish.

The Sydney-born priest has returned to Australia after eight years in Suffolk, England and was inducted by the Bishop of Wangaratta, John Parkes, The Border Mail reports.

He signalled a new direction for the parish, which has been without a full-time rector for two years.

Fr MacLeod-Miller, 47, said he favoured High Church liturgies, calls himself a "liberal Catholic" and hopes especially to attract more young people to worship while valuing the experience of older parishioners.

"Church should be really enjoyable and fun, and shouldn't be uptight and judgmental," he said.

Although the parish recently bought a house, intending the 1869-vintage rectory to be used as a parish centre, Father MacLeod-Miller has chosen to live in the old place because it's next to the church and in the city's heart.

He wants people to know how to find him and is keen to engage with all levels of society and especially young people, people with disabilities and others who might need help, whether church members or not.

FULL STORY

Church ‘should be enjoyable and fun' (The Border Mail)

 

Response to articles is welcome. Simply follow the prompts to post your comment. No posting of more than 250 words will be published. While critical comment on stories and issues is welcomed, postings that descend to personal attacks on or impugn the integrity of other commentators will be blocked. Please use your own name, or initials, eg John Brown, or JB, or JAB, or Johnny. You are also required to add your location - as in, Sunshine, Victoria. Please provide your email address in the line supplied, followed by your contact phone number. These are requested for identification purposes only and will not be published. If you have any problems, please email news@cathnews.com


 


Recent Comments

  1. Is he Roman Catholic?

    Posted By: Questioner

  2. I'm not sure what Fr MacLeod-Miller means by calling himself a 'liberal Catholic'. He is an Anglican (though the article doesn't make that clear).

    Posted By: Lance Eccles

  3. Lance Eccles: Of course it is clear that Fr MacLeod Miller is Anglican. The story refers to High Church liturgies, and he is living in the rectory. What Catholic on this discussion board would not understand that the High Church refers to a form of Anglicanism (one which flowered from the Oxford Movement)? And the rectory reference - if he were Catholic, he'd be living in the presbytery!

    Posted By: Christina

  4. Shame all Catholics can't learn from him :)

    Posted By: John M

  5. I am a Parishioner at St Mathews Albury. I was at his installation, and saw the Roman Catholic Priest for North Albury give a fantastic ecumenical speech of welcome to Fr Peter as a fellow Christian and priest.. Albury has at least two wonderful priests.
    In relation to 'liberal Catholic', the high church Anglican community has close ties to the Roman Catholic church. We share the same lectionary and almost the same liturgy.
    I am very excited by my new rector :)

    Posted By: S BT

  6. It is good to see a priest using the words fun and enjoyable. How many of us have fun and enjoy ourselves at church? Good luck, Fr Peter! Your congregation is blessed to have you as their leader.

    Posted By: Greg

  7. I have family in the village in Suffolk Father Macleod-Miller held, and they were all very sorry when he left to return to Australia. He had an increase in the congregation, and I know he will be greatly missed.

    Posted By: margaret, victoria

^ Page Top

Bookmark and Share

More from this section

  1. Forty days for life campaign starts soon

    A "40 Days for Life" campaign, scheduled to begin on Ash Wednesday and run until March 28, is calling for support.

  2. Australia is "most sinful" nation on earth

    Australians top the list as the world's most envious people in a global tally of the seven deadly sins. They also score highly for the other six, making Australia "the most sinful nation on earth", according to a BBC magazine show.

  3. Enrolment in independent schools slowing

    The drift from public to private schools has slowed, according to new figures from the the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

     

     

  4. Data to help improve schools welcome, league tables not

    The Catholic Education Office Sydney says it values a national testing program "that can be used to inform on areas of need and drive improvements", but has cautioned against "simplistic, one dimensional league tables". The comments are in response to the Government's launch of its controversial My School website today.

  5. Wiggles honoured for Vinnies charity work

    The four original members of The Wiggles, who have made the St Vincent de Paul Society one of their special causes, were made Members of the Order of Australia this week.

Church Resources provides a range of services for the Church and not-for-profit sector, including aggregating buying power for a wide range of products and services used by health, welfare, aged care, education and parish organisations. More »

Mass streamed live daily

From Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral, Waitara, in the Broken Bay Diocese.
Weekdays live at 9.30am
Saturdays live 9.30am (followed by Adoration and Benediction)
Sundays live 9.30am
Click on this link at the appropriate time to connect.

Subscribe

To receive headlines from our faith-based news services, please subscribe below.

Email address

Newsletter

 

News Feed

Subscribe to the CathNews RSS feed to get the daily edition automatically delivered to you.
Subscribe to Faith Project RSS.