As Sydney basks in the late winter sunshine, farmer John Walker stands in one of his drought-ravaged paddocks, the parched soil a stark reminder that the prolonged dry continues to ravage most of the state.
The NSW Council of Churches is asking churches to set aside this Sunday August 14 as a special day of prayer for rain for farmers like John Walker, who earns his livelihood from the land in the district of Young. (See box on right).
Canberra-Goulburn's Archdeacon for Rural and Regional Ministry, David Hill, says the prolonged period of drought is forcing farmers to take desperate and costly measures to survive, and rural towns and parishes are feeling the pinch.
"Farm dams are empty, cattle and sheep are again being hand fed and there are many farmers who are now carting water to keep stock alive," Archdeacon Hill says.
He adds that many farmers have "dry sown' their crops before the recent rain.
“Rural parishes and people are doing it tough. The gap between rural and city people is widening,” he says.
“The Anglican Church needs to monitor the situation very carefully. We need to be seen to be involved in the care of rural people who are suffering.”
Ninety per cent of NSW is drought affected, with 76 per cent facing extreme drought conditions.
The Bishops of the Dioceses of Bathurst, Canberra and Goulburn and Riverina have issued a joint statement imploring governments and Christians to respond with compassion to the crisis, which they say is "taking lives and livelihoods, destroying communities and bringing despair'.
President of the NSW Council of Churches Chris Moroney says governments need to work hard at providing relief.
He says that everyone can play their part in reducing water consumption, but "at the end of the day, what we really need is more rain'.
"As a community we must stop turning our back on the Creator. We all need to turn back to God and ask him to bless us with abundant and ongoing showers of rain, not just in Sydney but across the whole of the state," Mr Moroney says.
"I am inviting all our churches to keep praying for a break in the drought, but also to set aside Sunday 14 August as a special day of prayer.
"We can pray in our homes. We can pray in our churches but we must pray."
Mr Moroney, the Senior Assistant Minister at St Andrew's Cathedral, is inviting people to come to the Cathedral this Sunday where there will be special prayers for rain.
With photo and additional reporting courtesy of Lewis Hitchick/Anglican News.
