News consumers are being bombarded by images of the ever-escalating war in the Middle East, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the natural disasters in the Atlantic, and the assassination attempts on US presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Advertise with News of The Area today.
It’s worth it for your business.
Message us.
Phone us – (02) 4981 8882.
Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au

“Our priorities can become skewed by the tyranny of the urgent and before we know it, we can find the changes and challenges of life have shifted our direction away from the things that matter,” Reverend Richard Goscombe of St Andrew’s Anglican Church in Tea Gardens told the News Of The Area.

“It gets harder and harder to find the time to stop and ‘smell the roses’, let alone consider the most important things in life.”

According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), a 2023 survey found Australians use social media as their main source of news.

It’s a trend driven by 46 percent of 18-24 year olds, a third of whom say they rely on information shared by celebrities and “influencers”.

The Anglican, Catholic and Uniting parishes all have churches in Tea Gardens, Karuah, Bulahdelah and Stroud.

They have long been an important part of everyday life, but are no longer a priority.

Reverend Goscombe offers a refreshingly realistic perspective on why this is the case.

“Sometimes this can be because of a change in thinking, possibly the result of a bad experience with a church, or [because] the spotlight rightly shone upon those who perpetrated abuse of children [as] exposed in the Royal Commission.

“Not the least, was the decision made by the Diocese to close Cedar Wharf Lodge in Bulahdelah which affected the community there so significantly.”

The Cedar Wharf Lodge nursing home in Bulahdelah was a major bone of contention during the 10 September Bulahdelah Meet the Candidates event, but it has since been reported that Stroud Community Lodge has purchased the facility and plans to reopen it.

“The pressures of life have seen us ‘drift’ from things we see as priorities, and now we find it hard to get back to where we used to be, no matter how much we still want God in our lives,” Rev. Goscombe said.

“You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian, but Church is still the best place… to get to know [God].

“So, all are invited to join us for Back To Church Sunday on 20 October.”

Parish service times are St Andrews in Tea Gardens at 8:30, St Columba at Karuah under the gumtree from 9am and St Johns Bulahdelah at 10:30.

By Thomas O’KEEFE