2021 Martyrs Day Ceremonies and a Message from the Primate

Martyrs Window at St Cuthbert’s Prospect, South Australia. The window incorporates the cross, a gift of the Anglican Church of Japan, which was presented by the late Canon Frank Coaldrake in memory of their former parishioner, Lilla Lashmar, one of the New Guinea Martyrs. © Angela McKay. Used with permission.

“The martyrs’ deaths were very sad and seem an incredible waste, and yet their commitment to Jesus, the work they had been sent to do, and the people they had been sent to serve was a great encouragement to the church in PNG.”

This is part of a message from the Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia, the Most Reverend Geoff Smith, to commemorate the recent New Guinea Martyrs Day.

Anglican churches around the country celebrated the day on or around 2 September this year.
ABM has collected just a sample of sermons which offer reflections on the New Guinea Martyrs and what their sacrifices may mean for us today.

You can read the whole message from Archbishop Geoff here.
https://adelaideguardian.com/2021/09/02/the-new-guinea-martyrs-are-more-than-a-sentimental-memory/

In case you missed the livestream of the service at St Mark’s Hurstville, where the preacher was the chair of the ABM Board, Fr Andrew Sempell, you can watch a recording here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbMqn3R6asw

And former ABM volunteer in Papua New Guinea, and lay minister at Ballina-Lennox Head Anglican Church in Grafton Diocese, talks here for Martyrs Day about his experiences working as a dentist for several weeks each year from 2001 to 2018 in and around Popondetta in Oro Province.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx5660O5b9k

And, finally, a Martyrs Day service at St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne, where the Dean, the Very Rev’d Dr Andreas Loewe, spoke about Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and the Martyrs of New Guinea as models to future generations of what it is to follow Christ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZsYGgr5i9o