More than 200 people attended the 13th annual Redland City Mayoral Prayer Breakfast at Wellington Point this morning to pray for the community and raise funds for school chaplaincy programs across the Redlands.
Redland City Mayor Karen Williams said the popular annual event brought residents, business and community leaders together in prayer and surpassed last year’s fundraising effort, raising about $14,000 for school chaplaincy programs in the Redlands.
“The Mayoral Prayer Breakfast is a very special event for the community and a great way to help young people in the Redlands by supporting our local school chaplaincy programs, which make a real difference to our students and schools,” she said.
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“The chaplaincy programs supported by the breakfast have the potential to change lives by providing guidance and helping local students fulfil their potential as well as opening the door to spirituality, which is important in all aspects of our lives.
“This year’s special guest speaker was business educator Wez Hone, one of Australia’s leading ‘faith in business’ thinkers who has successfully brought spirituality and Christian ethics to business, merging religious strategies with the practicalities of running a successful business.”
Mr Hone spoke about the importance of businesses looking at how to contribute to help society.
“Can you imagine a world where everybody prospers? I think that business has a big role to play in helping to achieve this,” Mr Hone said.
“It doesn’t matter if the business is a local fish shop – what’s needed is for everyone to play a part.
“School chaplaincy programs are close to my heart as my wife was a school chaplain.
“School chaplains offer students a supportive, non-judgemental, safe environment where they can talk about what is going on in their world, which is information they don’t always share with their peers.”
Cr Williams said chaplaincy is a powerful and positive force that makes a positive difference in the lives of students, schools and our community, and research shows just how successful school chaplaincy programs can be in supporting young people.
“A recent study conducted by the Research Centre for Vulnerable Children and Families at the University of Western Australia found that 96 per cent of students, teachers, parents groups, and education and mental health professionals supported the work of school chaplains,” she said.
“The research found they unanimously agreed that the work of chaplains was valuable as part of a student support team, with 82 per cent of principals and teachers involved in the study believing the social and emotional support provided by school chaplains had a real positive impact on students.
“The overwhelming view was that the programs run by school chaplains helped to develop self-esteem in students and found chaplains were particularly helpful for students who were experiencing grief and loss, or who were facing relationship difficulties.
“The compassionate, trusting and non-judgemental support of our chaplains is undoubtedly helping young people develop self-esteem, become more resilient and deal with the issues in their lives; they promote the importance of spirituality and that can only bring good for any community.
“Thank you to the many generous sponsors, including the event’s major sponsors Lee’s Liquid Waste Services and Renaissance Retirement Living, guests and organising committee who help make this event such a success each year.”
The Redland City Mayoral Prayer Breakfast 2015 was supported by:
• Lee’s Liquid Waste Services
• Renaissance Retirement Living
• Certified Roofing
• Redlands Sporting Club
• Remax Bayside Properties
• Calm Event Management
• The Good Guys Capalaba
• Champions Church
• Vision Christian Media
• Beautiful Illusions
• Elevated Photos
• Horizon Property Holdings
• Magill Mowing
• Redland City Choir
• Australian Air Force Cadets AAFC – 217 Squadron.
View the photo album of the event at https://www.flickr.com/photos/redlandcity/albums/72157655516212924
