FamilyVoice Australia

Festival of Light Australia was an Australian ministry promoting Christian family values from 1973 to 2008, when its name was changed to FamilyVoice Australia.

It was founded in Adelaide in 1972, with the name and inspiration from Nationwide Festival of Light founded in the United Kingdom in 1971. It was less active after the mid 1980s, but has undergone reconstitution since 2003. Its stated mission was to be "a Christian ministry to the nation, promoting true family values in the light of the wisdom of God".

History

The Australian Festival of Light was inspired by the UK Nationwide Festival of Light , which was founded by Mary Whitehouse, Malcolm Muggeridge and others in 1971. The Nationwide Festival of Light changed its name to CARE (Christian Action Research & Education) in 1983.

News of the UK Nationwide Festival of Light soon caught the attention of the Australian Community Standards Organisation (CSO), which had recently merged with the South Australian Moral Action Committee. Key members of the Moral Action Committee included Rev Lance Shilton, Rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Adelaide and later Anglican Dean of Sydney; Dr John Court, then senior lecturer in psychology at Flinders University, and Peter Daniels. South Australian delegates at a CSO meeting in Melbourne in 1972 led the move to hold “a nationwide act of Christian witness, similar to that conducted in Britain last year (Festival of Light)”.

Rev Lance Shilton then initiated an interdenominational steering committee to establish the Australian Festival of Light at a meeting in Toorak Gardens, Adelaide, in November 1972. The committee appointed Dr Court as chairman; Rev Shilton and Mrs Roslyn Phillips as deputy chairmen, and Peter Daniels as publicity officer.

The Festival of Light was formally launched in Adelaide in June 1973 with a media conference and the release of a new book by Dr Court and SA journalist Helen Caterer, Stand Up and Be Counted, which aimed to motivate readers to defend publicly their Christian faith and values.

Lance Shilton’s network of contacts through the Australian Evangelical Alliance and the Community Standards Organisation led to the formation of independent branches of Festival of Light (which later included the Community Standards Organisation) in all Australian states. Rev Fred Nile accepted leadership of the NSW branch in July 1973, becoming the full-time director in January 1974. Mr Nile greatly increased the organisation’s activity and public profile.

Rev Fred Nile was elected national co-ordinator of the Australian Festival of Light at a meeting of state branch representatives in late 1974, where John Court was appointed the first national chairman. David and Roslyn Phillips were appointed editors of the national magazine Light and the first edition in January 1975 featured the campaign against the controversial Family Law Bill. Light was published four times a year and mailed to supporters in all state branches.

In 1981 Nile was first elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council as leader of the Call to Australia Party, later renamed the Christian Democratic Party (CDP). Call to Australia and the CDP have always been independent of Festival of Light, which was never a political party. Nile has continued as a member of the NSW parliament, but retired as director of the NSW Festival of Light in May 2007.

Mary Whitehouse visited Australia in 1973. She addressed full houses at Sydney Town Hall on 10 October and Adelaide Festival Theatre later. She led a march of 10,000 down King William Road on Sunday 14 October, where a total of 12,000 people heard the Australian Festival of Light Proclamation and endorsed it with acclamation.

Nile arranged a number of Australian visits by international speakers, including a rally in Hyde Park, Sydney in October 1976 where Malcolm Muggeridge and others addressed 35,000 people, and a second trip by Whitehouse in September 1978. Steve and Kay Stevens, previously active in the UK Festival of Light, lived in South Australia from 1978 to 1985 and were director and women's adviser to its branch. In 1981 Nile was elected to the NSW Legislative Council representing Call to Australia, later renamed the Christian Democratic Party.

21st century: reconstitution

On 9 March 2004 a special meeting of the South Australian Festival of Light and Community Standards Organisation adopted a new national constitution and changed its name to Festival of Light Australia. The national office in Adelaide provides administrative support to branches in other states. The NSW Festival of Light Community Standards Organisation remains a separate organisation.

The renewal of the Queensland branch, led for many years by George Cook until his death in November 1994, commenced in 2003 with the appointment of Geoffrey Bullock as state officer, an advisory board of fourteen, and a branch committee chaired by Andrew McColl. The renewal of the Victorian branch, led for many years by Bernie Tenni, commenced in 2005 with the appointment of an advisory board of sixteen. In 2006 Pastor Peter Stevens was appointed Victorian state officer.

In Western Australia, renewal of the branch commenced in 2006 with the appointment of Mr Richard Egan as state officer and an advisory board of seventeen, including several heads of churches.

Festival of Light Australia became "FamilyVoice Australia" on 1 July 2008.

Awards

David and Roslyn Phillips were awarded Centenary Medals in 2001, respectively for "service to family policy and community education as Chairman of the Festival of Light" and for "service to family activities and community education through the Festival of Light".

The national magazine Light has won six awards for excellence in religious journalism from the Australasian Religious Press Association.

External links

• Festival of Light website