The Diocese of Gippsland in Australia, kicked off in style  the 2024 Season of Creation by launching The Abbey’s Prayer Tree initiative on September 1, 2024 at St Paul’s Cathedral, Sale. This initiative aims to grow a forest across Gippsland as a symbol of hope, faith and love, a forest which will become part of the world wide Anglican Communion Forest.

Watch the Launch service on this link

Dr. Cath Connelly, the director of The Abbey at Raymond Island, explained that the vision for the Abbey Prayer Trees emerged from a suggestion by a representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to become part of the Communion Forest. Although the Abbey didn’t require additional trees at the time, Connelly recognized the possibility of creating a dispersed forest throughout the diocese. This idea resonated with her observation that many visitors to the Abbey grounds sought a space for reflection and prayer.

She envisioned the Abbey Prayer Trees as a place where people could leave written prayers on trees, symbolizing a ritualistic act of expressing their inner thoughts. This concept combined with the idea of creating a space for those who might not enter the chapel to connect with their faith. The Abbey’s Grandmother tree, a remarkable specimen with a “sense of holding together death and resurrection,” was seen as an appropriate representation of this initiative. Its branches, partially dying off while others burst with new life, symbolized the cycle of renewal and the enduring power of prayer.

Find out more about the Season of Creation.