Elm Grove Sanctuary at Goobarragandra near Tumut in New South Wales gave birth to the first ecumenical Franciscan community in Australia.
Working closely with the churches, people of other faiths or of none, the community of The Little Followers of St Francis is a member of the Franciscan Federation of Australia www.rc.net/ffa
Founded at Elm Grove on Easter Day 1991, by Brother Edwin Thomas Lloyd-Jones & Sister Laurel Clare Lloyd-Jones the community was also the first Franciscan community in Australia to have both single and married members. Internationally there were other Franciscan communities with married members but this was a first for Australia.
Professed members take life vows of:
Professed members wear the Franciscan habit for appropriate services and events and normal dress in their day to day lives to better enable perceived barriers of separateness to be removed.
The Franciscan ethos is expressed through personal commitment to the care for all people, all of creation and by' living and teaching by example'. Members of the community live in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.
There are four Life Professed members - Br Edwin Thomas Lloyd-Jones, Sr Laurel Clare Lloyd-Jones (Dalmeny NSW), Sr Mona Jeshua Tyler (Anglican Lay Reader in the UK), Sr Anne Christina McLeod-Nibbs (Catholic Parish Support person at Lavington near Albury, NSW). There are several Associate Members who live in Australia and New Zealand..
Bishop Protectors - The community was founded with the support and blessing of Archbishop Francis P. Carroll (Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn and Bishop George V. Browning (Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn) who were the community's Bishop Protectors. They are now both retired.
Today the community is non-residential due to the limitations that come with aging and the subsequent failing physical stamina, along with the difficulties created by the far-ranging residential locations of its members. Fortunately with modern communication the ability to remain closely connected is not a problem.
In June 2001 the reluctant decision was made by the Board of Directors of the Elm Grove Sanctuary Trust (EGS Trust) who were the owners of the land, to sell the property and to move the work of the Community of LFSF and the EGS Trust to the far south coast of New South Wales. The work of both the Trust and the Community continues with members working mainly in areas of social justice, human rights and in the care of the environment.
Elm Grove Mountain Retreat http://www.elmgrovemountainretreat.com.au/ continues as a place of retreat now under the custodianship of Blair & Rhonda Montague-Drake who are continuing the vision for Elm Grove as a place of physical and spiritual celebration and healing, providing welcome and meaning for all who feel a need for respite and retreat from the challenges of our modern society.
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