The Worshipping Under Southern Skies 2020 conference, scheduled to be held in Auckland in early October this year, has been postponed for a year because of uncertainty over Covid-19 restrictions.
The conference, which had a theme of “Weaving together Liturgy and Life”, was scheduled to be held at Auckland’s Baradene College on October 1-3, 2020. It has been postponed until October 7-9, 2021.
In a note on the conference’s website (www.wuss.org.nz), Auckland diocese liturgy centre coordinator Judith Courtney wrote that, in order for the conference to have proceeded as planned this year, Auckland would have to be at alert level 1, at which more than 100 people are allowed at gatherings.
Since that cannot be guaranteed, the organising committee made the decision not to proceed this year. Since organisers believe such an event will “offer huge benefits”, it was not cancelled, but rather was postponed.
“More information on this will become available over the following months. Stay in touch,” the website notice stated.
Those who have paid registration already will receive a full refund, the notice added.
A series of digital presentations from conference presenters is to be made available, starting on October 2/3 this year. Details on how to access these were listed on the notice. There is no cost for these videos.
“You might like to gather in small groups to watch the presentations and discuss the content,” the notice suggested.
“Finally, in this trying time of life in a Covid world, I would like to thank you for staying patient, staying kind, staying connected, staying positive and staying flexible. These are such important gifts,” Ms Courtney added.
Among those listed as presenters for the now-postponed conference were Australian Jesuit Fr Richard Leonard, Auckland auxiliary Bishop Michael Gielen, National Liturgy Office director Fr John O’Connor and Auckland-based theologians Dr Rocio Figueroa and Fr Merv Duffy, SM.
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