On the fourth and last Sunday of Advent, our series of guest preachers on Hot Topics in Church and Society came to a moving close. 

The preacher was Ms Meriel Wilson, a long-time activist for the LGBTIQ+ community, and a licensed Lay Preacher at St Chad’s Fullarton. Meriel told of having been born “under an Irish sky” and coming to this “wide brown country” where she felt able to express her sense of self. All the same, longing for “home”, like most migrants, has been an enduring experience for her. She spoke movingly of her dream of an inclusive and welcoming church, reminding listeners of St Paul’s words, that “nothing can separate us from the love of God”, although, unfortunately, sectors of the church do just that.

Meriel is pictured here with Lay Assistant Elizabeth lighting the candles of the Advent wreath and reading the Advent prayer at the 8.00am service

and talking with Sara and Lorraine at tea after the 9.30am service.