The Wellspring Community is an Australia wide Christian inclusive community

We aim to create a space where spirituality and justice, meet to deepen our relationship with God, to care for the earth, to foster the growth of an Australian spirituality and practise peace including working for a just relationship between First Nations communities and others.

Inspired by the Iona Community known world-wide for its radical Christianity, poetic Celtic worship and engagement with local and global issues, the Wellspring Community was founded in 1992.

Members and friends support each other as we actively work for

Peace & Social Justice

Spirituality & Worship

First Nations Justice

Sustainability

Ecumenical & Interfaith Relations

Hospitality & Homelessness

Wellspring Community Membership

To enquire about being a member of the Wellspring Community of Australia please email community2023@gmail.com

FOR NAIDOC WEEK 2025 – July 6-13

“The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy”.

Our Wednesday with Wellspring gathering on 2 July 2025 was both a celebration of National NAIDOC Week and an invitation to join in NAIDOC Week activities and events.

Leading our liturgy was Brooke Prentis, a member of Wellspring.  Brooke is an Aboriginal woman, a Wakka Wakka woman.  She is an Aboriginal Christian Leader, writer, speaker, educator, theologian and poet.  Brooke has appeared on national TV and radio and this week is the guest host of Soul Search on ABC RN which broadcasts at 6pm on Sunday July 6. 

Brooke is the former CEO of Common Grace and was the first Aboriginal person to be a CEO or National Director of a Christian organisation in Australia that was not Indigenous specific.  Brooke now has her own consulting business and works in schools embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in curriculum, and helping schools and organisations have a Reconciliation Action Plan.  Brooke also continues ministry working with churches on Reconciliation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice, mentoring other Aboriginal Christian Leaders and with school students connecting faith and justice.  Brooke shares a message of Reconciliation as friendship and dreams of building "An Australia built on truth, justice, love, and hope."

You are invited to follow the liturgy below and use these prayers and words for your personal reflections this week.

The full liturgy is available here.

**Please observe and respect the copyright information which is clearly set  out within the text of the liturgy below.  

“A Thanksgiving for Australia.”

By The Reverend Canon Aunty Lenore Parker’s prayer

God of Holy Dreaming,

Great Creator Spirit,

from the dawn of creation you have given your children the good things of Mother Earth.

You spoke and the gum tree grew.

In the vast desert and dense forest, and in cities at the water’s edge, Creation sings your praise.

Your presence endures as the rock at the heart of our Land.

When Jesus hung on the tree you heard the cries of all your people and became one with your wounded ones: the convicts, the hunted, the dispossessed.

The sunrise of your Son coloured the earth anew, and bathed it in glorious hope.

In Jesus we have been reconciled to you, to each other and to your whole creation.

Lead us on, Great Spirit. as we gather from the four corners of the earth;  enable us to walk together in trust from the hurt and shame of the past into the full day which has dawned in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

And so will your actions this National NAIDOC Week be:

1.      to reflect and share about the legacy and impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Christian Leaders have left a legacy in your life

2.      to keep visioning First Nations Justice and Reconciliation

3.      to find the strength to keep running with perseverance to love your Aboriginal neighbour as yourself

4.      And to celebrate – to celebrate National NAIDOC Week – to celebrate the world’s oldest, living, continuing cultures – so as to encourage the younger generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

My prayer is that you take those actions and in taking the actions you will find the places where spirituality and justice meet in these lands now called Australia.

And then perhaps together we will catch that special glimpse of the clouds that contains the rainbow – a reminder of God’s promises and love.  

BLESSING  

(If you would like a personal copy of the Aboriginal Blessing that Brooke used at Wednesday with Wellspring,  you may email her and she will send you a copy. Her email is brooke.prentis@gmail.com  )

This Blessing adapted from  The Iona Community, Iona Abbey Worship Book,  Wild Goose Publications,  Iona Community, Unit 16, Six Harmony Row, Glasgow G51 3BA, Scotland. Used with permission.

This we know, the earth does not belong to us,

we belong to the earth.

This we know, all things are connected,

like the blood that unites one family.

This we know, we did not weave the web of life,

we are merely a strand of it.

Let us give thanks for the gift of creation including the gift of each other

Let us give thanks that all things and all people

hold together in Christ.

And let us pray to the Spirit

to produce  the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control within us and between us.

Bless to us , O God,

the moon that is above us,

the earth that is beneath us,

the friends who are around us,

your image deep within us,

Amen.

FOR YOUR ONGOING REFLECTION:

Legacy – Which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Christian Leaders have left a legacy in your life and how have they impacted you?

Vision – What is your Vision for Reconciliation?

Strength – Taking inspiration from Hebrews 12:1-3, how and where can you find strength to keep running with perseverance to love your Aboriginal neighbour as yourself and working for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice?

Celebration – How are you celebrating NAIDOC Week this year?

New Booklet

The Wellspring Community of Australia:

An Introduction

We have just published a 16 page booklet that provides lots of information about the Wellspring Community including our history, ethos and areas of concern. The booklet is free to download here.

You can also buy the printed booklet from us

To order please email wellspringcommunity2023@gmail.com your name, postal address and the number of copies you require. Then pay the correct amount to

Name of Account: Wellspring Community Inc. Bendigo Bank

BSB: 633 000

Account number: 202878096

Reference: (Your name) and “Wellspring Booklet”

Cost is $10 for one copy (include postage) or $20 for three copies (includes postage)

The Wellspring Community acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the over 300 nations of Aboriginal peoples across these lands now called Australia. We pay our respects to the Elders past, present, and future. We declare that sovereignty has never been ceded.   

We support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and its three central calls of Voice, Treaty, and Truth and acknowledge it as a foundational document for justice for First Nations peoples in these lands. We acknowledge that the continuation of the cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are an essential part of the culture and soul of this nation. 

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Calendar Page

We have now added a Wellspring Calendar page to our website to help keep you informed. Please visit it here.

This is a monthly online worship time in the Iona tradition. It is held on the first Wednesday of each month beginning with an optional 15 minutes catch up. Worship begins on the hour or half hour. Everyone is welcome.

Note: There is no worship evening in the month of January.

Join Zoom Meeting here
https://zoom.us/j/3810547728?omn=93282946253

Meeting ID: 381 054 7728

7.15pm Qld, NSW, Vic, Tas, ACT, 6.45pm SA, 4.15pm WA