On this page, we seek to give account of how different faith communities in Australia – in many states – are providing devotional and spiritual activities for their adherents in this time of Coronavirus – when places of worship in Australia have been closed by the government. There is much information here, more is welcome. Use our contact page if you do not find your community listed, and you wish to have your community’s offerings listed here.
Update: Youtube link to Mother Meera added.
Judaism
Jewish Care Australia Announces COVID‐19 Jewish Emergency Relief Fund
Jewish Care Australia, in partnership with JewishCare, has today launched the COVID‐19 Jewish Emergency Relief Fund to provide assistance to members of our local Jewish community who are in financial crisis as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic. Initial funding of $1 million has been provided for distribution through JewishCare.
Union for Progressive Judaism
Many UPJ congregations have chosen to offer virtual Passover Seders and services, Shabbat and daily minyan services, and courses during this time of social isolation using online meeting platforms, such as GoToMeeting, Skype and Zoom. Click here to read an article which may be useful for those new to this technology.
Listing of Union for Progressive Judaism Congregations offering Virtual Services
https://www.upj.org.au/index.php/news-and-events/1347-upj-congregations-offer-virtual-services
Temple Beth Israel: https://www.tbi.org.au/
Virtual Seders Online (Reform Judaism)
https://reformjudaism.org/virtual-seders-gatherings-and-programs
Executive Council of Australian Jewry National Bulletin #3 https://www.ecaj.org.au/australian-jewish-community-management-of-covid-19-pandemic-national-bulletin-3/
Prime Minister’s Passover Message
https://aijac.org.au/media-release/pm-morrisons-passover-message/
Hinduism:
All Hindu Temples and Shrines in Australia are closed as per the direction of the Government on 23 March 2020. Some temples continue daily puja behind closed doors and may be contacted for prayers and hommams. See here for more information.
Swaminarayan Temple Melbourne
Darshan online. See https://swaminarayan.melbourne/
Sri Durga Temple Melbourne
– Devotees can watch evening Arati online on Facebook:
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Offering Daily Virtual Sanga Opportunities During Coronavirus Lockdown
Lectures, Japa, Kirtan and other activities are online. See here for more.
Sydney Sri Ayyappa Swami Centre
Doing video on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/sydneyayyappa/videos/?ref=page_internal
Shree Swaminarayan Temple – Adelaide
Select videos available on Facebook
Perth Hindu Temple
Closed to the public, is accepting requests. https://hindu.org.au/
Perth Bala Murugan Temple
Is closed. Pujas accepted on a reduced basis. See https://www.perthmurugan.org.au/
See Facebook for Video:
Perth Iskcon
Temple is closed, advises devotees to take up daily Srimad Bhagavatam classes, all members are encouraged to attend the classes at ISKCON Perth page on www.mayapur.tv
In India, many temples have live darshan. You may need to load Flash player to view some of these darshans. Some darshans are overloaded (and the server falls over); these provide links to Youtube downloads of darshan. Darshan is frequently offered between 4AM and 11AM (sometimes 8pm) IST.
Information about live darshan is given here:
Mother Meera:
This is Mother’s message for the current situation:
“Don’t be afraid, stay calm and pray!”
Due to the current situation around the Corona Virus, we had to cancel many Darshans. Instead, Mother Meera is holding meditations on Livestream to which you are cordially invited. Their motto is: Meditation with Mother – wherever you are
The Livestreams will take place every day at 7:00 p.m Central European Time starting Friday, March 13th.
Mother Meera Darshan, Germany
– Live Darshan here
– Youtube Darshans (50+ minutes…) here
Ammachi’s Amritapuri Ashram
Ashram is closed. Amma has given a message and youtube video. See https://religionsforpeaceaustralia.org.au/?p=10159
Catholic Church
Good Friday:
Catholics around Australia will be able to watch Easter services at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney live on national television.
The Seven Network will stream The Lord’s Passion at 3pm on Good Friday and Easter Sunday Mass from 10.30am across the country on Channel 7 and on Prime 7 in regional areas, and live-streamed on 7plus.
Catholic Church: Pray at Home
From midday on March 23, 2020, all public Masses and liturgical gatherings have been suspended across Australia, with limited exceptions in some jurisdictions for weddings and funerals. The Bishops Conference is supporting the prayer life of Catholics who are unable to attend Mass. Dioceses and other Catholic organisations are also providing material and access to livestreaming of Masses.
Catholics are encouraged to utilise the resources to support your prayer life and especially to allow you to continue to keep Sunday as a day when prayer is prominent. Many Catholic organisations have been supportive in their provision of access to material that is sometimes only available via subscription. The Conference thanks St Paul’s Publications in particular for allowing the reproduction of its Scripture reflections.
List of Online Services
Includes Online Masses, Liturgical Resources, Liturgy of the Hours, Holy Week at Home resources.
https://www.catholic.org.au/prayathome
Anglican Church Services Online
Church @ Home – List of Live Streaming Sunday Services
With the Australian Government closing places of worship on Monday 23 March 2020, our church in-person attendance may have to pause for the time being but church leaders are working hard to keep worshipping together strong — starting with live streaming Sunday services.
NSW: Comprehensive listing of Church Services online
https://hope1032.com.au/church-at-home/
Anglican Church Southern Queensland
Links to 27 Churches providing live streaming
https://anglicanchurchsq.org.au/livestream/
Anglican Diocese of North Queensland
Home Worship Resources – click here
- Live-Streaming options and Pre-recorded Services
Anglican Church of the Ascension Heatley (in cooperation with the parishes of Mundingburra, the Cathedral, Hinchinbrook and West End):
St Margaret’s, West Cairns
Ross River Anglican Church, Townsville
The Good Shepherd, Edge Hill
Sydney Cathedral
Easter Services will be online – http://www.sydneycathedral.com/
Anglican Diocese of Melbourne
Video of services will be rendered on Diocesan Youtube Page
Anglican Diocese of Perth
Daily readings and reflections on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnglicanArchbishopPerth
List of Online Church Services here: https://www.perth.anglican.org/digital-church-hub/online-services
Anglican Diocese of Tasmania
Bishop Condie will lead Easter services online.
List of online services available here: https://anglicantas.org.au/online-church/
Australian Baptist Ministries
Baptist Churches NSW & ACT
Many churches are delivering services online; Check Facebook
Darwin Baptist Church
10:00 Service online https://www.facebook.com/DarwinBaptistChurch/
Baptist Union of Victoria
Online Baptist Church Services
https://www.buv.com.au/news/online-baptist-church-services
South Australia
Easter camp will go online. See here for more information
Tasmanian Baptists
Citywide offers an online service: https://www.citywidehobart.org.au/
Across the state many Baptist churches have begun putting services online
Summerhill Baptist Online: https://summerhillbaptist.online.church/
Jain Temples
Sydney Jain Mandal
All scheduled group activities in Mandir have been suspended to combat spread of COVID 19. That includes fortnightly Puja/pathshala and Mahaveer Jayanti program.
Melbourne Shwetambar Jain Sangh
Melbourne Jain Sangh (community)
Advises that the Temple is closed for the duration of the Covid-19 emergency.
http://www.msjs.org.au/
Syro Malabar Eparchy of St Thomas the Apostle, Melbourne
Daily Masses (Holy Qurbana) offered online, Live, Malayalam language:
he following schedule will be followed:
Sundays at 10.00 am and 5.00 pm(AEDT)
Weekdays at 10.00 am -5.00 pm (Monday-Saturday)(AEDT)
Shalom TV : https://syromalabar.org.au/watch-live/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Syro-Malabar-Eparchy-of-St-Thomas-the-Apostle-MelbourneAustralia-1491181514523271/
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
Streams services using Facebook live.
Uniting Church Australia
The Uniting Church in Australia Facebook page will host livestreamed worship from around the country from Palm Sunday.
An overview of Live Streaming in the Uniting Church of Australia is found here: https://assembly.uca.org.au/news/item/3158-livestreaming-on-assembly-platforms
This page has the planned livestream services upto the end of May.
The Assembly Home Page has information on live streaming in each state.
https://assembly.uca.org.au/component/k2/item/3154-streaming
For Uniting Church Services in Languages other than English please see here:
Brahma Kumaris
All Locations Closed Due to COVID19 Until Further Notice.
A Message of Hope and Courage during Current Times | Sister Jayanti |
Brahma Kumaris Activities Online
There are a number of meditation talks and classes available on our Australian website https://brahmakumaris.org.au/ including the Sanctuary Experience https://brahmakumaris.org.au/sanctuary-experience/, a series of meditations created to support an atmosphere of peace and stillness in people who have been affected by upheaval.
In addition, there are live talks by senior Yogis from the Blue Mountains Retreat Centre NSW every morning at 10am for 15 minutes. If people would like to listen to the talks, they can subscribe to the information service by emailing bookings.bluemountains@au.brahmakumaris.org and asking to subscribe to information about the Live talks from Leura Retreat Centre.
Most Meditation Centres around Australia have made arrangements with their students to move on to skype or zoom. Anyone interested can contact their local centre.
There is an International Yoga Bhatti organised to take place from 12 April to 31 August, organised from the International Headquarters.
Buddhists:
Buddhist Society of Western Australia:
Will continue to live stream Guided Meditation / Dhamma Talk (without live audience) on Friday nights. The Monks and Nuns have made themselves available to do this live stream each Friday night. Ajahn Brahmali will be leading the meditation and giving the talk this coning Friday night. Questions can be addressed to him in the normal ‘live streaming’ way. The system has been serviced and is operating well. We will attempt to keep these talks happening right through this crisis.
See: Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/BuddhistSocietyWA/
Diamond Way Buddhism Melbourne:
See Youtube: Buddhist Meditation for Beginners, Guided by Lama Ole Nydahl
Dhammanet – Youtube
Lokanta 717 service daily. Several times daily. Youtube link
Albury Wat (Albury Buddhist Monastery
The health and wellbeing of the community is our top priority.
In order to help slow the spread of COVID-19 we decided to turn our regular Sunday service to be online service on facebook live. Every Sunday, April 5 – June 28
https://www.facebook.com/events/517491935601123/
Start 10.00 am
10.00am Dhammachak Chanting
10.18am Meditation
10.45am End of the online service
Melbourne Buddhist Centre
Thursday Nights at the Melbourne Buddhist Centre
Thursday Nights Dharma Zoom Event
26 March, 7.30-8.30pm,
‘Itir’s’ Journey to Ordination
Thursday nights go online! Zoom in to hear Itir talk about her journey to Ordination. This will be our first live streamed talk with opportunities for Q&A.The talk will start promptly at 7.30pm. Please follow this Zoom link to join us:
Please go to this page to obtain the Zoom link – Zoom is now using passwords. Contact Melbourne Buddhist Centre for more.
Melbourne Buddhist Centre will soon start a comprehensive online service. See more here
Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple Western Australia
Online English Dharma Chanting Service
For Global FGS and Buddha’s Light Members
New Video: 4/4 (Saturday), 7:30pm (GMT+8)
This Week’s Speaker: Venerable Dr. Juewei
Topic: My Dharma Reflection of the Coronavirus
Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/pg/FGSWesternAustralia/posts/?ref=page_internal
Quakers Australia (Society of Friends)
In response to the Coronavirus disruption, changes have been made to the planned Easter Family Gathering 2020. Firstly, the Easter Family Gathering will take place on the platform zoom.us and be available to anyone with internet access. We will be inspired by Yearly Meetings around the world who are sharing ways to have community around cancelled events. We will be forging new ways to meet and eat together, to share activities, listen to stories and exchange ideas. Read more here.
For other updates and changes to Friends Meetings during the Coronavirus lockdown, please go here.
Cragieburn Gurudwara
NO ATTENDANCE AT GURUDWARA!
Live streaming of Parkash
https://igurudwara.com/craigieburn/live-streaming-from-gurudwara-sahib/
See Main Page for Diwan times.
Guru sewa is being done in collaboration with Khalsa Foundation:
Sikh Volunteers Australia
Sikh Volunteers Australia is calling out to all International students struggling during the coronavirus crisis. Free food delivery or collection available in three city councils area. Please see attached poster for more information. Food delivery has been extended until 20 April.
Sikh Community Brisbane
Brisbane Sikh Temple
Will deliver food to the needy within 25 kilometre radius from the Eight Mile Plains Sikh Temple. Ring orders through upto 2pm.
Those people who wish to donate please Donate, we need Rice, personal necessities, (Toilet Roll, paper towel, hand wash soap or liquid, tissue box). There is a free food pickup service – particularly for vegetarian foods. See Facebook for more information.
Please Note – We have only vegetarian food and This project is for every community especially to self-isolated people due to Coronavirus, elderly people or anyone who need it so please don’t hesitate we will try to help as much as we can .
We will keep update all information.
Stay Safe Stay Strong Stay Kind
Contact: 0432710523, 0430 501 168, 0430 103 025
Hobart Mosque
Mosque Access Suspended Temporarily
The Federal Government of Australia has announced some further measures to stop spread of coronavirus and closing the places of worship is one of them. We have also received the latest statements from the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) regarding this. Jumna at MCOT is suspended.
After having a discussion among the committee members, TMA have decided to suspend the Five Daily Congregational Prayers at the Hobart Mosque until further notice. Please increase Istighfar during this crisis. May Allah swt protect us all from this calamity and allow us to resume our worship in the Masjid soon
See Facebook for notice.
Sydney Bahá’í Temple
In accord with the directions of the Government, the Sydney Bahá’í Temple is closed. Online worship is in consideration. Watch this page for news. Meanwhile,
Virtual devotions are being offered by the Bahá’í House of Worship for North America every day, same time, same place…. live at 1:30 pm U.S. ET, 12:30 pm CT, 11:30 am MT, 10:30 am PT on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BahaiTempleNorthAmerica/
There is much information here, more is welcome. Use our contact page if you do not find your community listed, and you wish to have your commumnity’s offerings listed here.
