A small Blue Mountains congregation has opted to join the Diocese of Bathurst rather than face the permanent closure of their church.

The General Synod of the Anglican Church will begin its search for a new national leader in Sydney on Saturday as members gather to vote for the denominations next primate.

Marcus Cheong is not accustomed to early mornings, but he will be rising before six for the next three days in the hope he will be able to play a significant part in someone elses ministry.

For 70 years, Anglican and Presbyterian Church leaders have been battling a 'cult-like church-within-a-church. "In the end, I was told I had 'a demonic spirit of manipulation and control inherited from a great aunt who was the founder of a well-known Christian mission." And so Philippa Thorn, a life-long church-goer and mother of four, was cast aside from the 'Fellowship group she had belonged to for 40 years.

St Matthews, Manly is the 'church of the open door. The policy saved John Nicholls, who was planning to end his life until he was spotted by an old friend at the door of the church who invited him in.

Fractured Families gives an assessment of a group called 'the Fellowship which is mainly based in Melbourne. It had its origins in an intense spiritual movement in the Sydney University Evangelical Union in the 1930s and 40s.

Can a single weekend away teach you the secret of contentment? Close to 340 women assembled at Stanwell Tops to see how the Mary Andrews College Conference could bring focus to what can be a fuzzy yearning.

Ian Thuaux will be celebrating his 19th birthday in unusual circumstances for a Sydney teenager, following a sincere desire to do short-term mission to the other side of the world.