Louise Markus is the federal member for Macquarie and the new president of the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship. In this interview with the ACL's Katherine Spackman she discusses what the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship does.

This year's National Day of Prayer and Fasting (NDOPF) will be on Sunday 2nd March 2014 in Canberra and around Australia.



The prayer service in Canberra will take place at in the Great Hall of Parliament House from 10am - 4pm.



Other local events have been organised around Australia for those who cannot make the journey to Canberra.



Queensland will hold their NDOPF on Saturday 1st March in the Premier's Room of the Parliamentary Annexe from 10am - 4pm. Other events have been organised in Toowoomba and Ipswich, as well as in Victoria and Western Australia. Follow this link to find out if there's an event on near you.



If you're unable to attend a local event, we encourage you to pray on the day in your own local church..



The NDOPF will be followed by 40 days of prayer and fasting throughout Lent, from 5th March to 13th April in your location.



For more information, please visit nationaldayofprayer.com.au

MEDIA RELEASE



For release: Wednesday, 15th January 2014



The Australian Christian Lobby believes the support of mainstream politics for the Lords’ Prayer in Parliament means the latest Greens’ push to remove it will fail.



ACL Managing Director Lyle Shelton said Labor and the Coalition have consistently told ACL, through its election questionnaires over the past three federal elections, that they support parliament opening with prayer and will not change this.



“It is disappointing the acting Greens leader Senator Richard di Natale wants to take away something of Australia's cultural heritage. We daily recognise indigenous heritage in parliament and prayer in parliament recognises western cultural heritage” Mr Shelton said.



”The Christian ethos underpinning western civilisation has fostered free and prosperous societies, including our liberal democracy,” he said.



“When people talk of separation of church and state it does not imply that Christian and/or religious ideas or worldviews do not have a place in the public square. That was not the intention of the drafters of the Australian constitution when talking about religion,” he said.



“The Lord’s Prayer has a legitimate place in parliament and should continue to be a part of the daily ceremonial opening,” Mr Shelton said.



Mr Shelton said the election commitments of both Labor and the Coalition meant that the Greens’ plan should fail.

Last Sunday, Pope Francis announced this Saturday 7th September a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria:



"To this end, brothers and sisters, I have decided to proclaim for the whole Church on 7 September next, a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, the Middle East, and throughout the world, and I also invite each person, including our fellow Christians, followers of other religions and all men of good will, to participate, in whatever way they can, in this initiative."



Click here to find out more.



The civil conflict in Syria began in 2011, with the death toll said to be well over 100,000. The United Nations estimates that more than 1.5 million refugees have now fled the country to Jordan and Lebanon. Last month, a chemical weapons attack alone killed over 1,400 civilians.



In July this year, ACL renewed calls for Australia's humanitarian intake to give greater weighting to vulnerable minorities, particularly those displaced by the conflict in Syria and the wider Middle East.



 

 



 



 



 



 



 



 



A National Day of Prayer and Fasting will be held on Sunday, February 10, 2013. It encourages local churches, para-church groups and individuals to pray and fast on this day as they feel led. You can also participate in the gathering which will be held in the Great Hall at Parliament House in Canberra from 10am-4pm. Find out more by visiting the official website.



This will be followed by 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting during Lent, from Ash Wednesday February 13 to Palm Sunday March 24. Please visit this website for more details.

 



All are welcome to attend the Memorial Mass for the Unborn, organised by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney's Life, Marriage and Family Centre. It will unite with other pro-life groups around Sydney to commemorate the profound loss, and in solidarity with bereaved mothers and fathers hurt by abortion.



It will be offered by the Archbishop of Sydney, His Eminence George Cardinal Pell. As part of the event, 82 candles will be lit in remembrance of the innocent lives ended on this day in NSW.



 



Details are as follows:



When: Friday 14th September 2012



Where: St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney



Time: 7:30pm



Click here for more information.

ACL's Managing Director Jim Wallace attended the governor's prayer breakfast in Western Australia on Thursday.



The breakfast was a celebration of 20 years of the event. It is a time where Western Australia's leaders and the community get together for fellowship, to display unity across Christian denominations, and to express the needs and aspirations of the community.



This year's guest speaker was the Hon John Anderson AO, National party leader and later Deputy Prime Minister of Australia. You can listen to the audio of his speech here.



Speakers at the event over the last 20 years - of which Mr Wallace is one - were invited to dine with the governor the evening before the breakfast (please see attached image of attendees).

Registrations are now open for the annual Australian National Prayer Breakfast which will be held at Parliament House on Sunday 16th to Monday 17th September.



The National Prayer Breakfast is hosted by the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship with the support of a small organising committee. Since 1982 it has been recognised as a unique forum for the leaders of our nation to come together to pray for Australia, current issues and one another.



In 2012 the theme is Leadership in the Modern World and special guests speakers include Mr Neville Cox, Dr Megan Best and Mr Glenn Williams.  The event begins on Sunday afternoon with afternoon tea before a session on "Leadership in a moral minefield" by Dr Megan Best and a welcome service in the evening. On Monday there'll be a prayer breakfast in the Great Hall with Mr Cox followed by a session on "Leadership: Virtues, Vision and Human Flourishing" presented by Mr Cox and Mr Williams. 



Tickets are $95 for adults and $50 for students. Register today via the website.

A National Day of Prayer and Fasting for Life is to be held this Sunday, October 31, to combat “a wave of anti-life sentiment which seems to be sweeping Australia”.

The special day is being organised by the Canberra Declaration team, who are encouraging all people of faith to get involved.

“Let us call to the author of life and ask him to intervene in our nation. You might be able to miss a meal, refuse dessert or fast for the day. Ask your friends to do the same. Ask your church to join with you,” said Dr Graham McLennan from the Canberra Declaration team.

Dr Lachlan Dunjey from Medicine with Morality and one of the supporters of the Canberra Declaration said, “The battle for the intrinsic value of all human life intensifies across Australia with the push for euthanasia, unrestricted abortion, the elimination of all that is less than perfect, destructive embryo research and the overriding of conscience in medicine. It is more important than ever before for God’s people to declare that all humanity is created in the Image of God and support this Declaration.”

Ps Matt Prater from www.historymakersradio.com and one of the instigators of the Day of Prayer and Fasting said that Sunday 31 October is the final day of a worldwide 40 day call to prayer and fasting to halt the destruction of life on our planet through abortion. It is also the day the Welsh Revival commenced in 1904 and, sadly, is known as the day Halloween is held. “We must pray for our youth to see the light of Jesus, and not be deceived with the darkness of Halloween,” Ps Prater said.

Warwick Marsh from the Canberra Declaration team said, “We ask people to pray for the following: that Christians throughout Australia will humble themselves and pray according to 2 Chronicles 7:14 for revival and reformation in our nation; that God will give the media, our nation and its leaders a revelation of the beauty and sanctity of life and that hundreds of thousands of people will be motivated to sign the Canberra Declaration online and in petition format”.

For further information go to www.canberradeclaration.org.au