Dr Christine Gobius, National Director of Interserve Australia:

“I invited Patrick to facilitate a workshop at our first leadership team retreat. It was a humbling, growing and joyful experience. As a team we are grateful for the foundation this has given us to build on, and a shared language that we can use as our working relationship continues to develop …”

2023

Patrick led a Leadership Day at the Middle Ridge Uniting Church in Toowoomba, on Saturday 29th April. The focus centered around the awareness of our spiritual gifts.

The Church of the Annunciation at Camp Hill hosted Patrick for a morning’s reflection. The topic was “Scriptural Stories and Harvesting the Years”.

The second series of the “Drawing Water from the Well” zoom series began on Friday 21st April, and will continue fortnightly until 16th June. See the “Soul School” page for details if you would like to participate.

Patrick was interviewed recently by Mark Gladman on the topic of “Leaving on the Porch Light: Reflections on Hope”. You can listen to the podcast here by copying and pasting this address into your browser: https://spotify.link/llKKnbgk5wb.

Patrick led the Uniting Church Presbytery Ministers and Synod retreat at Mooloolaba on 13th-14th February. The topic was “Spiritual Gifts and How They Intersect”.

St Paul’s Anglican parish at Ashgrove recently invited Patrick to be a speaker at their “Cryptic Conversations” , the first in two years, Patrick spoke on “Reappreciating God as the years go by”.

St Francis’ College staff had a retreat day recently at Santa Teresa Retreat Centre at Ormiston, and invited Patrick to speak on “The Enneagram and Prayer”.

The zoom series “Drawing Water From the Well” began for 2023 in early February. See the “Soul School” page for details if you would like to be part of these input/sharing sessions.

2022

Patrick has conducted many zoom presentations this year, including “So What’s It Been All For?” (March/April), which was an exploration of the Apostles’ Creed from the vantage point of the soul. Rather than a dogmatic or doctrinal approach, we asked how what is said in the Creed is a description of what it means to participate in the human journey when we follow through with the demands and blessings of love.

There have been two Zoom dream groups operating this year, on a Wednesday and Thursday. It is gratifying to have people from all over Australia and beyond participating in these groups!

Another zoom presentation was “Drawing Water From the Well” series, which sprang out of the March/April series of “So What’s It Been All For?” This was in June/July, and will continue indefinitely from September 22. The aim of these zoom mornings is to provide a forum where people can share on a soul level rather than talking conceptually or doctrinally.

Patrick continues to travel to Toowoomba every 4-6 weeks, for individual sessions of spiritual direction.

He conducted a Pastoral Care Day in Toowoomba on Wednesday 8th June, on the topic “Continuing to Choose From the Land of Hope”.

Patrick was invited to present a weekend retreat for the parishioners of St Mary’s Anglican church at Maitland, NSW, on 15th-17th July.

Clairveaux-MacKillop College held a retreat with Patrick for staff at Santa Teresa, Ormiston on the weekend of 12th-13th August.

Mercy Community also held a three-day retreat at Santa Teresa in August, and asked Patrick to lead them through reflections upon the Sermon on the Mount.

The Toowoomba Uniting Church hosted an Enneagram Day on Saturday 20th August. Twenty people attended, and there will be a follow-up day on 1st October.

He presented a three-week series of Quiet Afternoons at Kenmore Anglican Church during May/June, adapting the material presented in the “So What’s It Been All For?” zoom series.