Visit to St Nectarios Church, Burwood

As part of their Formation Program, students of St Andrew’s visited St Nectarios Church, Burwood on Friday, 6^th September. The Parish Priest, Fr George Liangas welcomed them and gave a short tour of the historic Church presenting the relics of St Nectarios for veneration. A talk followed on ‘The Ministry to Children in the Church’. Fr George, a qualified child psychiatrist, introduced the students to the stages of child physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual development. He offered insights into the place of the priest as a pastor to young people, comparing and contrasting it to the role of a counsellor or psychologist. The presentation concluded with a role play in which the students acted out a pastoral meeting between a priest, parent and child to highlight some of the principles raised during the lecture. Many thanks to Fr George and the Ladies Philoptochos for their wonderful hospitality and an enjoyable day.