Sometimes I wonder if people have any idea what is being celebrated at Christmas, especially now that the emphasis is on holiday, not ‘holy day’. I’ve even heard people wishing others ‘a happy holiday’. A happy holiday? Which holiday? Why are they having a holiday? What happened to Christmas? How can you take Christ out of Christmas? During my recent leap into the National Archives of Australian Church Women (ACW), I came across a report about putting Christ into Christmas. I

Doris Mabel Mitchell was born in Victoria, in 1908, but spent most of her life in New South Wales (NSW). She attended Petersham Primary School and Sydney Girls’ High School. After graduating from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts, in 1928, she became a teacher. For sixteen years, teaching was her life until 1944 when Doris had a career change followed by an opportunity to travel, before returning to teaching. It was her interests after retiring early that benef

We are now in the season of Advent as Christmas approaches with its message of hope for the world because of the birth of Jesus Christ, God’s own Son. Whilst reading through a report from South Australia, during the early years of the formation of their unit of Australian Church Women (ACW), it mentions an Advent Service, which apparently took place each year. You can see below, in that 1965 report, that other familiar events were also noted but not always held by the Women’s