It’s 6.45am and I’m in the main auditorium of the newly renovated Brisbane City Hall. The room is buzzing with excitement and friendly chatter as over 300 guests take their seats for the annual Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast.
I’m blown away by how much the event has grown, now in its 9th year. I’ve been to a few of these over the years and I’m really excited to represent BST and be among the many gathering to pray for our City – guests representing government, the corporate sector, not-for-profits and individuals from the Christian community.
Andrew Bonar once said: “It is a grand thing to get a praying minister” and our honourable Lord Mayor, Graham Quirk, definitely knows how to host a grand breakfast, appealing to so many people from various sectors.
Mrs Wendy Francis, Queensland Director of Australian Christian Lobby is our Master of Ceremonies and kicks off the formalities by getting us all to sing the national anthem. Officially opening the event is Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, welcoming the community A-list, and what an A-list it is!
Leading us in prayer:
– for Church and community, Mr Lance Mergard, Senior Chaplain for Night Watch Chaplains
– for emergency and defense, Major Alan Keane from the Red Shield Defense Services
– for youth and education, Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Dr Phillip Aspinall
– for business, legal and academia leadiers, Pastor Graeme Sansome, from Mission Australia, and
– for the disenfranchised and volunteers, Reverend Ian Wright from City Tabernacle Baptist Church.
This morning’s key note speaker is Paul de Jersey, Chief Justice of Queensland. His message is gentle, yet powerful, emphasising how important it is to take the foundations of Christian faith and influence our community to build a just and fairer society. Using Scripture and his own experiences, the Chief Justice explains where he has relied on biblical principles in his day-to-day work.
He gives the example of Lord Atkin in the case of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562. In that case, Lord Atkin drew from the biblical account of the good Samaritan and applied it in determining when a duty of care arises, which is essentially ‘the Neighbour Test’ in the context of the law of torts and negligence. The Chief Justice reminds everyone that modern society was not always forgiving when people of significant office openly professed their Christian faith. He highlights that leaders of other faiths, such as Islam and Buddhism, would not be met with the same persecution.
However, he encourages us to be bold and firm in our foundation in Jesus, quoting from Micah 6:8, that we should continue to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God for it is He who leads us in the right way to building a better society.
It’s been an absolute privilege and an honour to pray with the leaders of our community including the leaders of many churches across Brisbane. I caught up with other fellow “prayer warriors” in the Australian Prayer Network. If you’re not a member, I highly recommend that you sign up and get involved in the National 24 hour Prayer Watch and join with hundreds of other prayer warriors to pray for our country. I’m really looking forward to being a part of this again.
Next year, the Lord Mayor’s prayer breakfast will be held on Thursday 7th May. So mark it in your calendars and I’ll see you there!
Proceeds from this year’s prayer breakfast benefits the Sycamore Tree Project, a project that has over 200 volunteers and chaplains involved in all 13 correctional facilities across Queensland. Their most significant program is the Restorative Justice Program that gives prisoners the opportunity to: face the reality of their actions; hear victim’s stories and vice-versa, and give opportunity for the expression of sorrow for actions, forgiveness, restitution and reconciliation.
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