new times - april 2012
DESCRIPTION
Faith that evolves: discipleship for all agesTRANSCRIPT
Issu
e 31
, No
3 Ap
ril 2
012
April 2012
Shining a light Mentoring offers a helpful hand p.10
Seven ordained Celebrating new ministers p. 24
Faith that evolves discipleship for all ages
Phone:
(08) 8236 4200
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ISSN 0726-2612
New Times is the voice of Uniting Church SA. Published monthly, February
through December, New Times represents the breadth, diversity and vision of
Uniting Church members in SA. News policies, guides and deadlines appear
online at newtimes.sa.uca.org.au. Articles and advertising do not necessarily
reflect the views of the Editor.
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EditorCaryn Rogers
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Enquiries e. [email protected]
Cover: One family, four generations of disciples. Photo: Caryn Rogers, iStock refs: p. 9 JasonDoiy
Next issue: VolunteeringThere are many ways that Uniting Church people share their time for the betterment of others – gratis. While the tasks these volunteers undertake are accompanied by a non-existent pay packet, their work ethic is often the envy of million-dollar corporations.
ContentsFEATURES
What makes for a good sermon? 6
Belonging to God 9
Shine a little light 10
A letter to The Church 11
Discussing Easter with children 12
A new thing springs up 15
Seven new ministers ordained 24
REGULAR PAGES
Moderator’s Comment 4
Letters to the Editor & Diary 20
Book reviews 22–23
newtimes.sa.uca.org.au
Email:[email protected]
Street address: Level 2, 212 Pirie St, Adelaide
Postal address:
GPO Box 2145, Adelaide SA 5001
Pilgrim Uniting Church in the City 12 Flinders Street, Adelaide
Ph: 8212 3295 • www.pilgrim.org.au
Easter 2012 HOLY WEEK 2—5 April (12pm—2pm, Open Church)
Reflective readings and prayers will be available. WEDNESDAY 4 April (6pm Seven Sites, Seven Words) A remembrance of the suffering of Indigenous Australians and the Passion of Jesus. MAUNDY THURSDAY 5 April 7.30pm Reflective Communion Service GOOD FRIDAY 6 April 8.30am A spiritual journey through Easter 9.30am Commemoration of the Cross in words and music with Pilgrim Choir 11.15am Contemplative Remembrance Service (Taize Style) EASTER DAY 8 April Celebration of Resurrection 6am Sunrise Service followed by a light meal Worship services at 8am, 9.30am and 11am
ed
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It’s interesting watching infants discover their own hands. It often starts off with stretching their arms out and then just staring. As they stare, their foreheads wrinkle in concentration, they start to wiggle their fingers one by one, and then flick them altogether, often with squeals of delight.
When the fascination dies down with these simple movements, the exploration engages other objects into the altogether exciting game of “I have hands and can hit things”.
Babies smack their hands against each other, doors, toys and everything else to make a sound which slowly, over time, begins to take the rhythm of a clap or attempts another somewhat instrumental quality. These musical instruments/hands are soon also understood to be useful at picking up and putting down items and/or throwing them across the room.
All of these wonderful occasions elicit smiles, laughs and delighted trills (and often small to large scale parental clean-ups).
Ode to handsHands. They’re a wonderful thing. In
the eyes of a young child, hands present one of the most interesting spectacles available to human capacity, both fun and functional.
Like most adults, I had grown to take my hands for granted. Clapping was a bore, chopping a chore, and typing a functional necessity.
But, in the scheme of my everyday working life as a writer, combined with finishing my honours thesis, my hands became collateral damage for the extreme word count required by my looming deadlines. My hands, no longer a thing of fascination, were workhorses pulling a plough which was too heavy a load for them to bear.
At quite literally my own hands, I suffered nerve damage to both of my arms which, after four months of constant, often-debilitating pain, is only just beginning to heal.
The injuries that I suffered determined a total change of lifestyle and a very unhappy reliance on other people. Once adamantly independent, I now found
myself at the mercy of others’ hands. I used their hands to type, to cook, to drive, to zip, to clean, to carry. And I would sit helplessly watching.
As much as the disfunctionality of it bothered me, it became a fascinating rediscovery for me of how wonderful our bodies are, and how important are each of its functions. I watched in envy as people clapped, listened jealously as they typed and longed to do normal things like brushing my teeth, sans-pain.
All the wonderful things about my hands that I had discovered as a child, I had forgotten. Now I was forced to remember.
Growing up in Sunday School, I had been riveted by stories of God’s Creation, Noah and the Ark, Jonah in the Big Fish and more. As I grew though, these stories became old and unexciting - just as my hands had done.
I had outgrown my initial fascination within these biblical stories. But, I came to encounter these stories again as an adult as part of my theological education. I was forced to ask more questions and required to find more answers to what I thought were simply tired children’s tales.
I don’t think there’s ever a time, or generation, when we have finished learning. When we believe we have, we grow cold in our arrogance and quiet in our imagination. While we will always grow beyond our initial incredulities, every now and then it is helpful to remember and remind ourselves of the first things that we learned – even if it is because we are forced to do so.
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A wise Sunday School teacher once taught me that people are not berated but loved into the Kingdom of God.
It seems to me that discipling is motivated by the sincere desire to pass on to others the love of God that Christians have themselves experienced, doing so assured that the living Jesus strengthens such obedient action. The outcome is disciples making disciples.
So what might ‘intergenerational discipleship’ look like in your congregation or faith community? Its overarching purpose is to grow followers and learners of Jesus, no matter what their age.
Rev Rob WIlliams
Caring - loving - sharingI believe that this is not an option but
a crucial goal for every community of Christ.
Families (however defined) interacting with older members with whom they worship could be one form of developing intergenerational discipleship. I’m aware of cluster groups operating in congregations – a gathering of generations around a meal with a time for worship and learning together in which relationships develop, friendships deepen and Jesus is central.
Worship is central to most congregations. To see children, youth and adults sharing in its leadership as well as providing the music and singing grows disciples. It’s not just what happens when such individuals or groups are up front. Rehearsals often provide opportunities for faith-sharing and encouragement which then enriches the life of the whole community as it worships.
But intergenerational discipleship can be a challenge for some, personally as well as corporately.
I’ve encountered those who have difficulty in relating to others older and/or younger than themselves. They honestly experience a generation gap which they can’t cross.
Some congregations give messages through their style of worship and lack of provision of activities that they have decided to focus on a single generational track.
Other congregations would dearly love to be involved in intergenerational discipleship but are a single generation community. “That’s just the way it is,” a worshipper in a small rural congregation sadly commented.
Whatever community we find ourselves in, I’m inspired by these tender words from 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8:
Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you.Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with younot only the Gospel of God but our lives as well. (TNIV)
For me, these verses encapsulate intergenerational discipleship – caring, loving, sharing.
Rev Rob Williams kicked off the tenth anniversary celebrations for Pancake Day in Rundle Mall on Tuesday 21 February.
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Caring - loving - sharingCommunity spirit is the name of the Pancake Day game - and there has been plenty of that shared over the past 10 years.
More than 365 groups have hosted their own event this year. As you read this, thousands of dollars are coming into UnitingCare agencies around the state to support the wonderful work they are doing on behalf of vulnerable and marginalised people.
In South Australia over the past 10 years there has been more than $450,000 raised – which averages out to around $45,000 a year!
We are grateful for every Pancake Day event hosted, big or small. We would like to say a special thank you though to those groups who have hosted a Pancake Day event every year for the past 10 years:
Argent Uniting Church • Ascot Community Uniting Church • Athelstone Friendship Club (Athelstone UC) Balaklava Uniting Church • Beachport Uniting Church • Brentwood Uniting Church • Bridgewater Uniting Church Fellowship Burnside
City Uniting Church • Burra Uniting Church • Campbelltown Uniting Church • Clayton Wesley Uniting Church Croydon Park Uniting Church • Crystal Brook Primary School • Dernancourt Uniting Church
Golden Grove Uniting Church • Loxton Uniting Church • Meningie Uniting Church Fellowship Modbury Uniting Church • Morialta Uniting Church • Mount Barker Uniting Church
Naracoorte Uniting Church • Para Vista Uniting Church • Parafield Gardens Uniting Church Pilgrim School • Pilgrim Uniting Church • Resthaven • Rosefield Uniting Sunday School
Tumby Bay Uniting Church • Two Wells Uniting Church • UCare Gawler Uniting Church Synod Office • UnitingCare Copper Triangle • UnitingCare Wesley Adelaide
NE Networks • UnitingCare Wesley Port Adelaide Western Link Uniting Church • Westminster Prep School
Woodville Uniting Church
Sharing the loveJulianne Rogers
This Easter season, as we celebrate the risen Christ, we remember the joy of community experienced at Pancake Day events and look forward to another year of witnessing Christ’s love to the community through UnitingCare’s work in South Australia.
To find out more check out the next Pancake Day News, available at unitingcare.sa.uca.org.au.
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What makes for a good sermon?
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Find an Easter service near you: easter.unitingpeople.org.au
I sometimes ask this question of groups: what makes a good sermon? Responses come back: I like to be taught something I like to feel the preacher understands everyday life, I like it when my attention is held, ... to be stretched, … to feel something, … a sermon to be pastoral and feel comforted, … to be challenged … to be helped.
In a congregation there are as many if not more responses and peoples’ needs do change from week to week. Imagine the challenging task of meeting all those expectations and needs in one sermon.
A helpful way of understanding the preaching process, is that the preacher goes into conversation with God, the scripture and the needs of the people. The sermon delivery then facilitates the conversation between the listener
and God becoming the foundation for a sermon that meets needs.
On any given Sunday the dilemma of diverse expectations exists. In part this can be addressed by adopting a practice that considers the whole a range of requirements for a healthy congregation without trying to do it all in one sermon. A useful question is, what does this group of people need to grow in faith and love of God from this sermon? I would suggest that we take seriously the “intent” (what do we want this sermon to do?) – is it to be pastoral, Evangelistic, to teach, to challenge?
Most preachers tend to have a fall-back position on a dominant intent which is most comfortable. To both stretch the preacher and to address the overall diet of the congregation I like to consider a
month and bring to it a weekly dominant intent, for example, a teaching sermon, an evangelistic sermon, a pastoral sermon, or a spiritual growth sermon. All these intents have a differing purpose, structure and aim for a differing response from people. Many books and websites are available to enhance sermons in the intents.
It is unrealistic to think we can meet every need every week. By giving attention to the overall diet of the congregation and by spreading our major “intents” we can go a long way to meeting the diverse needs of the congregation.
Rev Tony Eldridge is a member of the Adjunct Faculty of Uniting College for Leadership & Theology as the Lecturer in Worship & Sacraments. He is currently the Minister at Westbourne Park Uniting Church.
Rev Tony Eldridge
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March Presbytery Synod MeetingThe year’s first Presbytery Synod meeting, held at Adelaide West Uniting Church on 2-3 March, prompted robust discussion about the Uniting Church’s business and resourcing matters on the Friday evening. This was followed on Saturday by thought-provoking resourcing with keynote speaker Rev Prof John Swinton.
The following is a brief overview of parts of the meeting.
Update on co-location of Presbytery & SynodOffice with Uniting CollegeRod Dyson reported that Annesley had agreed to sell Lots 1 and 2 of their current site to Resthaven. As these Lots had been considered as a co-location option for the Presbytery and Synod SA with the Uniting College, further options for a future shared property are now being discussed. These possibilities include: a different allotment of the Annesley site, the existing Uniting College site or a new site (to be discovered). A task group will reconvene in the near future to continue to explore co-location options.
Ethical Uniting Church InvestmentsVenton Cook made a specific recommendation to change the wording of the Ethical Investment Policy of UC Invest. Venton also suggested people who have concerns in relation to mining and coal production can invest in the new UC Invest Dividend Income Fund, which excludes mining companies (in nearly all cases). There was no agreement on this proposal, though some speakers from the floor shared strong concerns. It was unanimously agreed that the proposers of this recommendation forward their recommendations to the Resources Board and Standing Committee.
The issue of Ethical Investments will be investigated in the next edition of New Times.
West Papua solidarity and supportThe Evangelical Christian Church in the land of Papua requires support and resources from Uniting Church in Australia in its ministry for peace and reconciliation. Rev Adam Tretheway and Rev Christa Megaw encourage Uniting Church communities to express solidarity with the people of Papua by resourcing and supporting partner church, the Evangelical Christian Church. They presented a heartfelt account of the current situation in Papua including human rights issues and the declining population of Papuans in their own country.
Resourcing Speaker: Rev Professor John Swinton“The task of the church is not world transformation but signaling the Kingdom through small gestures... To be human is to receive care and to be cared for... Inclusion is not enough, people need to belong...”
The Presbytery and Synod were fortunate to have Rev Professor John Swinton share extensively at the Saturday 3 March resourcing day. Prof Swinton took the Presbytery and Synod through three sessions: Spirit, life and health - The significance of theology, spirituality and religion in the process of healing and community; Resurrecting the Person – Holistic care in an inclusive community; and Leading Well – Practical ways leadership teams and carers can create inclusive, respectful communities.
The content, engagement and quality of presentation made for a memorable day with much food for thought to be taken back to Uniting Churches across the State.
It is highly recommended that you look into purchasing Prof Swinton’s books related to the resourcing day: Resurrecting the Person, Living Well and Dying Faithfully, Raging with Compassion, Spirituality and Mental Health Care. All books are available from MediaCom: mediacom.org.au
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Placements finalised since the last edition of New Times:
• Rev Ruthmary Bond (0.5) to CitySoul from 5 March 2012
• Dieter Engler, Candidate for MOW to Mitcham Village (0.5) from 1 March 2012
• Amel Manyon, Candidate for MOW to Northern Suburbs Dinka Faith Community from 1 March 2012
• Rev Adam Tretheway, Deacon to Glenelg St Andrews (0.5) from 1 April 2012
Please join us for the following special services:
INDUCTIONS
Rev Adam Tretheway, Deacon Glenelg St Andrews 1 April 2012, 4.00pm
Rev Darren LovellBurra22 April 2012, 7.00pm
Placements news:
The ministry of Lay PreachingIn late 1994 I was asked to conduct worship at my local congregation when the usual preacher was called away to another engagement. Not long after that, someone said to me, “You ought to think about becoming a Lay Preacher.” These very simple words were how the Call to Lay Preaching came to me.
So in 1995 I began the necessary study - and loved it! Getting to know my way around the Bible, getting to grips with the literary and historical context and how that shaped the meaning of the words, applying all that to contemporary living – it was a wonderful time of learning and exploring for me.
But an even greater joy came with the opportunity to share the faith, proclaim the
Gospel of the grace of God, and support other Christian people as they ran into questions of what meaning this ancient faith can have in the present day.
Lay Preaching is a “Specified Ministry”, that is, there are regulations that govern it and a programme of education and formation required for accreditation. An Accredited Lay Preacher is recognised by, and can speak in, every congregation throughout the Uniting Church in Australia.
There are currently 240 people listed as active Lay Preachers in South Australia. This year 15 Lay Preachers celebrate special anniversaries (30, 40, 50, 60 years) with a combined total of over 700 years’ service. That kind of
annual tally is not uncommon.Many Uniting Church
members will remember the days when perhaps the majority of services were conducted by lay people because the one minister was responsible for four or five churches, most of which met twice on Sundays. In one celebrated case there were 15 services to be conducted each week!
The church continues to need the services of its Lay Preachers, and we believe the formation that leads to formal accreditation is of immeasurable benefit to preachers – and all teachers and worship leaders, for that matter.
Perhaps God is calling you to this ministry. A new Lay Preachers Handbook has been
produced, and is planned for distribution to all Ministers and Congregations during April. Who knows whether, as you read the Handbook, you may hear the Call of God to join in this wonderful ministry?
The book will be available from sa.uca.org.au
The first Sunday in
August is celebrated as
Lay Preachers’ Sunday in
South Australia. A special
liturgy is being prepared,
and every congregation is
encouraged to recognise
the work of Lay Preachers
on or near that day.
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The Queen isn’t the only one celebrating 60 years of service! It’s Lincoln’s Diamond Jubilee too – and you’re welcome to the celebrations.
Early in the 20th century the Methodist Church in South Australia had a vision for tertiary students: to provide a place where they could study together, make friends and be “looked after”. Finally in 1952, after searching for a suitable building for two decades, the first inaugural men of Lincoln College Adelaide moved in to 45 Brougham Place in North Adelaide with the Master Rev Frank Hambly, his wife Dulcie and their children. The Hamblys presided over Lincoln from 1952-1972. They were followed by the Rev John Whitehead and Mrs Ervyn Whitehead (1972-1974), who oversaw the conversion of Lincoln from a men’s college to a coeducational facility, ensuring the longevity of the college. They brought with them a fierce and determined sense of equality through faith.
Lincoln has nurtured, educated, cared for and supported thousands of tertiary students across the past six decades. Lincoln would like to say “thank you” to all of those in the Uniting Church community who have cared, advised, and volunteered their time.
On 27 April at 2pm former Principals of the College will return to celebrate a service in Brougham Place Uniting Church. After the formalities those gathered will move across the park to Lincoln College East Lawns for a traditional 1950s themed garden party. Please RSVP to the College if you would like to join us on 8290 6000.
More information is available online at lincoln.edu.au
Diamond Jubilee for Lincoln College
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In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commands his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations...” There is no age limit on this call to action, yet often we only focus our discipleship efforts on the young. What does it mean to go forth and make disciples of all nations – and all ages?
Belonging to GodIn the service of Congregational Reaffirmation of Baptism, the members of the congregation are invited to trace the sign of the cross on each other and to declare as they do so: “You belong to Christ”. It is a powerful moment in which we are reminded of the identity we received at our baptism. If we allow the sign and the words to tap into their deepest meaning, the power of the moment lies in its subversive intent.
Yet the power of this moment has itself been undermined by the centuries of domestication and sentimentality under which the sign of the cross has been buried. Peel back that domestication and sentimentality and what do we have? A sign of one of the most violent forms of state execution practised in the ancient world.
This is the sign that we place on each other as we declare that we belong to Christ. It is also the sign that we place on infants when they are brought for baptism. The modern parallel would be for us to mark each other – and our infants – with an image of a hangman’s noose or an electric chair. How completely bizarre!
intergenerational discipleship
Rev Dr Geoff Thompson
It would be so much easier if we just said, “You belong to Christ”. But the physical remembrance of the cross reminds us of just who this Christ is to whom we belong. The only Jesus Christ to whom the sign of the cross entitles us to belong is the Jesus who persistently challenged commonsense ways of belonging. And this persistence helped to get him killed. Jesus’ family thought he belonged to them, but Jesus told them he belonged to those gathered around him. The people of his home town thought he belonged to them, but he walked right through their midst and went on his way.
Some of Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries thought that God belonged to Israel, but again and again Jesus insisted that everyone belonged to God. Even the disciples thought that Jesus belonged to them. When they tried to isolate him from children, or sick or hungry people, he would demonstrate to the disciples to whom he belonged.
Uniting Church theologian Rev Dr Garry Deverell recently suggested that to belong to Jesus is to be “torn away from our natural roles in favour of a way
of life which … calls into question the most common paths by which we journey through life”.
Perhaps every service of baptism or reaffirmation should become an occasion for such questioning. As well as the reminder that we belong to Christ, perhaps we should challenge one another by asking, “What uncommon paths are you following?” Imagine if we warned parents at the baptism of infants that by marking their child with the cross they are deliberately exposing their child to a call to an uncommon life.
Not a call to success but to simplicity, not to career but to caring, not to wealth but to poverty. Perhaps baptism really ought to come with official warnings.
The call to belong to Christ has heavy demands, but it also announces liberation. Despite widespread anxiety about the future of the church, we are privileged to live at a time when the church has slowly but surely been weaning itself from the culture of Christendom and its lure of success, influence and status.
Perhaps more so than our forebears we are able to learn what it means to belong to Christ when there is nothing or no one else to belong to. Marked with the cross, we can become an uncommon people living out the same hope in God which enabled Jesus to let go of those natural ways of belonging.
Rev Dr Geoff Thompson is Principal of Trinity Theological College, Brisbane.
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Shine a little lightLouise Heinrich
Our society worships beauty and youth and forgets the aged, whilst some older people dismiss Gen Y as reckless and undisciplined. But rising above the age gap and having a wise elder to guide us through the storms and calm seas of life is an essential part of faith. Rev John Blanksby has been mentoring youth and young adults for 25 years, and is a firm believer in crossing the generational divide to exchange wisdom and perspective.
“When we mentor, we are not telling someone what to do,” says John. “Our job is to help young people recognise
God’s work in their lives, as well as help them to discover God’s call.”
John believes that mentoring is similar to the way Jesus invited his disciples into a relationship with Him.
This softly spoken man is not to be underestimated. Before becoming a minister, he was employed in secondary schools where he worked as a teacher, a counsellor, and a principal. The 71-year-old retiree is still actively involved in his church, Westbourne Park Uniting, where part of his role is mentoring young people.
“I enjoy spending time with young people,” he says,
speaking of his inspiration for being a positive influence.
John had experienced firsthand the importance of creating a relationship where someone can make mistakes and grow - without being harshly criticised.
“It was crucial I was mentored without judgement when facing the challenges that I did in my young adulthood.”
Some people may question the necessity of a mentor, but in John’s mind, the purpose is clear.
“In 21st century Australia, young people coming to faith have few role models. This is why having a mature Christian adult to share the journey can be so significant.
“Jesus mentored the disciples over three years. They spent time being with Him. It was a great opportunity to experience how someone close to God lives their lives. A lot of young people want a place to be accountable for what they believe God wants them to do.
“When discipling youth and young adults, I believe it’s important to incorporate them into a worshipping community, encourage them to be part of a small group, and to link them with a mature Christian
adult who can mentor them in a one-on-one relationship.”
Many would wonder how to first establish a relationship that relies heavily on vulnerability and trust with a virtual stranger, but John believes mentoring can grow out of doing things together.
“Some mentors find it helpful to share an activity with the young person rather than just sit and talk. Bo Boshers and Judson Poling call this the ‘Be-With Factor’. For me this sometimes involves going on a hike or playing a game of squash.”
“The only way for young people to change an attitude towards older people is to spend time together. If both parties are open, they will both grow. For the older person, it can be incredibly fulfilling and exciting to draw alongside people and see what God is doing.”
And if there’s no rapport?“Generally I would
recommend a trial period of three to six months, with the choice of opting out with no hurt feelings. You can’t force a relationship.”
The art of mentoring is about gently guiding an individual towards God’s truth. Everyone is capable of bringing light and insight to someone younger in faith.
“Mentors need to be good listeners, good encouragers, and willing to be open and vulnerable. The most essential requirement is a vital relationship with God.”
Dear “The Church”,
I was born into you, raised by the faces of grown ups that smiled at me, collections of casseroles after church and of course obligation. You introduced me to The Lord and to your people, well meaning individuals who dressed neatly and said things like “Jesus came into my heart” and “I have a calling to go to Africa”. I learnt to raise my hands in worship and to try earnestly to remember how bad I was when instructed to think of the cross.
I went to many of your incarnations over time, and at some point along the way, I began to wonder what was actually going on.
Questioning the things your people said to me on a Sunday led to my feeling misrepresented and disconnected from and by
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A letter to The Church, from a cynic, on the occasion of her confirmation.
you. Now this is nothing new, but it led incrementally to distaste for you altogether. I am sorry, church, but I met too many people who didn’t understand what it was they were enthusiastically espousing and who blithely assumed that their truth was the only truth.
Added to this was your not insignificant betrayal of many people I know and love, including some in my own family.
I felt your denominations were irrelevant.
I wanted to be a part of the kingdom, not a man made institution that often seemed entirely removed from the world it allegedly wanted to help.
I kept attending a variety of your faces but always looked for what was wrong and the little that was right, my ear tuned for the mistakes that would be inevitably made and my cynicism about the whole palaver at the ready, should I need it.
I began working at Brunswick around 15 months ago now. I had concerns at first, though the job and my subsequent involvement in the regular meetings of your group here came at a time when I was ready to find a solution to my sparring with you.
I have to say, your little group here in Brunswick is lovely. They have been so outrageously welcoming and full of encouragement it quite literally shocks me. I often shake my head at my good fortune, and marvel at the lack of all that I despised about you before.
So Brunswick has taught me that while a congregation can be different from my experience and challenging in its views, it can also be heartfelt, authentic and gracious. I started thinking about membership a little while ago, mainly as a response to your people here.
That was shortly before I fell in love with you.
I went to a conference a few weeks back. I was scared of it, to be honest,
on account of all the Christians that would be in attendance. We both know that I am not their type of people and they are not mine.
On arriving however, I found around 70 young people whose guileless friendship inspired and floored me and around whom I felt I was my most authentic self, cynicism and all.
During the week away I learnt a lot about you, and how you are, in your Uniting form, committed to the most basic and beautiful and important and life giving things imaginable.
I also realised with a shock, while watching Ken Sumner lead communion, that although I’ve never been someone who is ashamed of her faith, though I’ve not been afraid to talk about it, I have been so concerned about removing myself from all that I dislike about Christianity that I had at some point forgotten nearly all there is to love.
I had grown so competent at pointing out all that is wrong with you, that I had smeared my cynicism over all that was right, obscuring the possibilities you’ve been holding politely for years as I railed against your obsolescence.
I am sorry to say, I had let myself grow embarrassed of not just you but all connected with you.
As I watched Ken tenderly speak of this gorgeous tradition and remembrance, I realised for the first time, that I can actually embrace what I believe, and not become something that I hate.
I can celebrate with friends who believe and friends who don’t, because to celebrate my faith is to celebrate something both unique and beautiful and only found here, in me, and something that is a part
Continued on page 12
The path of discipleship and
church membership do not
always go hand in hand, writes
Carlynne Nunn, Community and
Outreach worker for Brunswick
Uniting Church. A young adult
who has grown up in and against
the church, Carlynne writes of
her recent change of heart and
confirmation as a member of the
Uniting Church in Australia.
What is the Easter story? In a nutshell (or should we say in an eggshell?) - Jesus is alive!
Quite young children can say ‘Jesus is alive!’ But what do the words mean to them?
The Bible provides us with an extensive Easter narrative — in fact four slightly different narratives — with three parts. Jesus suffers and dies; Jesus comes back to life and appears to people; these events change history and our own life. The second and third parts are significant only in light of the first. With children, and also with adults, we have trouble finding the balance between glorifying the details of Jesus’ suffering and glossing over it.
So, how do we tell the Easter story with our children and grandchildren?
First and foremost we tell it by the way we live in light of the Easter story: Jesus is alive — for us and for our children.
Secondly, we tell the story with words. From infancy on we tell our children about Jesus. His love for people — in Bible stories and today.
Age appropriate books will give the words and illustrations that develop children’s understandings. And that understanding is a gradual process built by hearing the Easter story year after year.
Third, we find ways of engaging with the story — either as a one-off activity or as annual Easter traditions.
• Discuss the Easter events of that day with questions like: I wonder why ...I wonder if... I wonder what it means.
• As a focus each day use an object, eg a plate and wine glass; a cross; a growing plant or go for a hillside walk, visit a cemetery and watch a sunrise.
• Read the story, encourage children to retell the story, act it out or reconstruct it with playdough.
• Church traditions such as ‘burying the hallelujah’ or following the Stations of the Cross are physical ways children can journey through Easter at church or home.
• Write ‘Jesus is alive!’ on the shell of a hard-boiled egg, or on the wrapping of a chocolate egg and share with one another.
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Discussing Easter with ChildrenMelissa Cellier & Mary-Jo Zwar
of the ancient, the holy, the transcendent and the joyful. I don’t need or want to separate them any more.
So church, I am writing to apologise I suppose. I wanted to explain that although I have insulted you, and though I thought I had good reason, I want to give us another try, if you’ll have me, for in you I now see the face of my Father.
I know you’re human, and fallible and sometimes dirty and broken and wrong, but you have the capacity for great beauty, and courage and wisdom and the ability to walk around in the mess of our lives, finding the lovely parts and making them shine and I’ve always been the type to believe the best about things anyway.
Lastly, I don’t think that church membership is the only, or the best way of doing life. But I have been placed in a fortunate position inside your monster, and believe that those that can unite to try in a corporate sense to fight for justice and mercy and love, to join the monster in its challenge against the empire, should do so. For me that means no longer pointing the finger at you in accusation, looking at myself as a part of this magnificent story and making sure that the change starts here.
With love,Carlynne.
Continued from page 11
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Discussing Easter with ChildrenHow hospitable are we to strangers? Louise Heinrich investigates a creative way that one church is reimagining mission.
Easter time is a unique opportunity for the church to have contact with the community. But Rev Ross Honey (pictured below), Lead Minister of Noarlunga Uniting Church, believes that this time of year isn’t the only occasion congregations should be welcoming those around us.
Ross thinks there’s something missing in many churches today. “There is no urgency or engagement with the community. It’s not that people aren’t kind and loving and beautiful – it’s just that congregations often don’t know how to receive strangers. Individuals are focused on tradition and how they like things being done.”
Speaking in a gentle voice, Ross’s eyes glitter with good humour and determination. This humble man has a vision for a missional church – he wants his congregation to engage with the community outside.
This has been the motivation for an unusual technique of teaching. ‘Life Conversation Partners’ are life-size cardboard figures, with real faces, real clothes, and real stories, designed to help churchgoers re-envision how to welcome strangers into their lives.
“My wife, Lorraine and I created them. It took weeks, actually.”
The Life Conversation Partners work on two levels – to remind the congregation that the purpose of a church community is to welcome and accept others. On a more practical level, they are designed to prompt people to contemplate how they would engage meaningfully with them.
“I just brought them to worship and hung question marks over their heads. And I said to the congregation, “What would you ask them? How would you share your story with them? How would these people fit into your life?
“The desired result is for us to be socially open, welcoming and supportive to anyone, to people who may not yet know the gospel.”
When Noarlunga Uniting Church amalgamated several congregations, the church council decided to sell a building in order to employ a Mission Pastor, Titus Ng. The new direction of the church began with the vision statement: ‘Out There – a church in the community, for the community.’
In early 2011, Ross read Lucy Moore’s book Messy Church, “It hit me like a thunderbolt – how we could be a different kind of church.” Moore’s book claimed that a strong community is needed to experience Messy Church, and to Ross, a strong community equals open borders.
“The Life Conversation Partners are confronting, so they can’t be ignored. As far as the church is concerned, we cannot afford to let people escape grappling with the reality.”
The reality is the church needs to be an outward-focused community, but sometimes it can be an exclusive place where newcomers find it hard to belong. Using the Life Conversation Partners as a tool, Ross is passionate about awakening the church to new possibilities of social inclusion.
Welcoming new faces
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Reverend Lu Piper, a Uniting Church volunteer in Papua New Guinea (PNG), has been awarded an OAM (Order of Australia Medal) for service to the international community in recognition of her roles in education, health and pastoral ministry.
The Medal, awarded on
The ministry of washing feet
Reverend Lu Piper has dedicated much of her life to the people of PNG. Pictured (L-R) Lesley Williams, Lu, Kathy Pereira and a PNG local (name unknown) involved with the women’s fellowship program.
Australia Day, recognises Lu’s extensive work in PNG as well as her contribution to indigenous education here in Australia and her work as a parish minister in the Anglican church.
“I have come to the point where I understand ministry is washing feet, and that alone,”
Lu says of her work. “All else is peripheral, it seems to me, and hopefully, with God’s help, it is possible to let all else go.”
Lu’s journey to her current position as a health worker in partnership with the United Church in Salamo began back in 1968 when she worked as a teacher in PNG. She spent four years in the field before being seconded by the Melanesian Council of Churches to help develop an education syllabus for Primary School students. After four years working with indigenous students in remote communities in Australia, Lu returned to PNG, where she spent several years at Gaulim Teacher’s College.
Today, Lu’s love for the people of PNG finds expression in her support for Salamo’s Health Clinics and remote Health Outposts. The clinics
are vital in an area of the world where many people live in isolated communities or remote islands. Access to health services is very limited. PNG has the highest rate of HIV infection in the Pacific, with many believing that it faces the possibility of an outbreak on a scale comparable to Africa.
In this context, development support is vital. The United Church in PNG, in partnership with UnitingWorld, is active in community development initiatives, particularly focusing on access to safe water, sanitation and health services in remote areas.
For more information on Lu Piper’s work and the development initiatives of the United Church PNG, visit the UnitingWorld website: unitingworld.org.au/pacific-projects/
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Over the past 20 years, Wellspring have constructed an identity that is faithful to the values they find in Christ’s teachings.
Wellspring is a nation-wide community that firmly adheres to values of peace, worship, reconciliation, the environment, and ecumenical faith, as well as being true to Australian social and cultural realities.
Rev John Martin, a former Uniting Church minister, felt a strong call to establish this type of community in Australia after working with the Iona Community in Scotland. He and his wife were drawn to an expression of faith and ministry which had a strong peace and justice component.
In a 1991 appeal to the NSW Synod, John spoke of individuals who, when sharing on issues of the environment or injustice, had often been met with indifference from fellow churchgoers. He proposed the formation of Wellspring, that this might be a nomadic place for communities and individuals seeking new ways of living the Gospel in the world.
The first meeting of Wellspring was held on 4 April, 1992 in Sydney and, before long, spin-offs were popping up all over the country. Many were attracted to the idea of incorporating work and worship, prayer and politics, sacred and
A new thing springs up Louise Heinrich
secular, global and local, by taking part in cell groups and daily reflection.
Since its inception, the group has attracted members and friends from cities, suburbs, rural and remotes areas across Australia, in addition to people from a diversity of denominational backgrounds.
‘Members’ live by The Rule: spiritual disciplines, life and work disciplines, and community life disciplines; ‘friends’ respect The Rule but do not live their life under its mandate.
Part of Wellspring’s premise is to speak out strongly on matters of injustice and oppression, racial and religious discrimination, and the human destruction of creation. In light of this, members are vocal about the plight of asylum seekers, disadvantaged communities, incarcerated people, new arrivals of different ethnic backgrounds, community gardens, bush regeneration, and much more. Members have been conscientious for many years about their use of water, electricity and petrol, about food production, packaging and recycling, but more are now seeking to live with integrity.
Wellspring members Jim, Margaret, Brian, Libby, Judith, Pat and Linda at a study group at the National Gathering at Uluru in 2003.
Those involved with Wellspring are deeply committed to learning from, listening to and living in solidarity with Indigenous people and communities.
Although most members are over 50, there is a youthful energy and passion, intermingled with a strong desire to share their love of justice with all generations. Well aware that their ethos reflects the values that many young people are seeking to imbue within their faith, Wellspring have consciously sought to be more engaged with future generations and their spirituality.
You are warmly invited to celebrate 20 years of the Wellspring Community in Australia, 730pm Wed 18 April, at Christ Church Uniting, Wayville. For further information contact Jean Stirling:
p. 08 8376 6371e. [email protected]
The little outback town of Oodnadatta is the newest faith community of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (Congress) in South Australia.
Last Easter, the Congress Faith Community held meetings on the open air church ground for the first time.
Visitors came from neighbouring communities as well as the first participants on an AboutFACE (Faith And Cultural Exchange) Stepping Stone journey.
Intergenerational, intercultural sharing
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In last month’s New Times, Rowan Steele reflected on his experiences as an Adelaidean visiting Far North Queensland with AboutFACE; our own South Australian towns, Oodnadatta and Port Augusta, were also Congress host communities for AboutFACE.
For 80 year old great grandmother, Mary Dixon from Werribee Uniting in Victoria, this was the first AboutFACE program she could attend, as this was the first time the program had been open to anyone over 18 years of age.
By lifting the age restriction there was greater intergenerational involvement from the communities that were being visited. Jill Ruzbacky, AboutFACE program coordinator said, “Some of the feedback we’ve had initially is that in the communities where Mary went, it was nice
for the older aunties to have someone about their own age to sit and talk with.”
Travelling from Sydney to the South Australian locations also, Kate McLean, Turramurra Uniting Church’s youth worker, commented that AboutFACE had restored her faith in the church.
“Through this program the church holds out a light to the rest of the world, as a concrete example of reconciliation to the nation,” she noted.
This month, Congress is planning to return to Oodnadatta in the second week of the school holidays with Uniting Church president, Rev Alistair Macrae, leading Bible studies.
Denise Champion, Chair of Congress SA and Synod Covenanting Coordinator, loves what the AboutFACE experience does for participants.
“AboutFACE allows me to continue in my role as a story teller,” Denise reflects. “Reconnecting with culture and stories brings healing.”
Further Stepping Stone events are planned this year. More details are available on the Mission Resourcing Page (p. 17) of this month’s edition of New Times.
Ian Dempster
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AboutFACE participants from NSW and Victoria joined the newest Congress community in Oodnadatta to learn, to grow and to be changed.
What is Stepping Stone?Stepping Stone was invented as a concept at a review meeting of the AboutFACE program in August 2010. Stepping Stone events were created as a small, introductory step into the AboutFACE program by introducing cross-cultural relationships and faith sharing within short weekend visits.
Last year in South Australia, Congress partnered with the Mission Resourcing Young Adults team for three Stepping Stone events in Oodnadatta, Hawker/Flinders Ranges and Camp Coorong.
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Mission Resourcing SA
Together we can make a difference: AboutFACE in 2012AboutFACE Stepping Stone events were created in 2011 as short term faith and cultural exchange experiences within local Aboriginal communities. Stepping Stone weekends are designed to boost knowledge and understanding between cultures, create opportunities to experience the friendship, warmth and hospitality of our indigenous brothers and sisters while exploring their real concerns and desires for themselves and for Australia.Denise Champion (Covenanting Officer), Ian Dempster (Congress Resourcing Officer), and Katrina Levi (Youth and Young Adult Administrator), are working hard to bring opportunities for Uniting Church congregations and individuals to be involved in adventures that can reshape the way we see the world and our faith.This year, there will be more opportunities to get involved with this fantastic initiative. Coming up this month is a trip to Oodnadatta, 18–22 April, for fellowship, worship, and participation in the local community. Further details for upcoming trips will be made available soon.Anyone is welcome to participate in Stepping Stone. For more information, or to register your interest, please contact Ian Dempster:
p. 08 8281 1614e. [email protected]
Discipleship is for adults tooEspecially since becoming a parent I have been deeply grateful for the many leaders in the local church who have given time to children and youth each Sunday – to teach, mentor, care and grow them as disciples. These early years are foundational for discipleship. Indeed they are critical to helping our young ones form a relationship with Jesus Christ. But I also know that the journey does not stop abruptly when they become young adults.
Years ago, during one of Thomas Bandy’s visits, I remember his insistence that adult discipleship was the engine room of the local church. As adults our growth as disciples is actually our responsibility – to read, to pray, to study the scriptures, to worship and fellowship, to engage in relationships with people who do yet know God and to be involved in transforming the world. Indeed, people who take responsibility for their discipleship are profoundly different. We can sense in them the presence of the living Christ.
But, congregations also have a responsibility. Bandy noted that one of the marks of thriving churches is that they multiply the opportunities for adult discipleship. No matter how small our congregation we can still take discipleship seriously.
We need a way of continually growing as disciples from birth to death. As disciples we don’t retire. We continue our journey with God.
In the end we all know that programmes, no matter how good they are, do not change churches. It transformed people who change churches and people are changed by an on-going, vibrant and growing relationship with Christ.
Rev Rod Dyson
Getting to know...Alan Dutton loves bushwalking, grilled Coorong mullet and CS Lewis. The Mission Officer for Rural and Regional SA, Al resources ministry teams beyond the black stump with characteristic cheerfulness.
Date of birth: The first half of the last century
Family: Married to Beulah, with three adult children and three fabulous grandchildren.
Church: Colonel Light Gardens Uniting Church
Background: Originally from Sydney, I moved to Adelaide in 1980. Following my teaching career, I spent many years on the staff of Scripture Union, including twelve years as State Director in SA. I have also worked with Mission Australia as Operations Manager, Community Services in SA, and 2003-2007 served as Mission Facilitator with the UCA Presbytery of Tasmania.
Why this job: I am passionate for local congregations to be effective participants in the mission of God.
Hopes for the role: I focus on our congregations in the country, and aspire to equip people to exercise their gifts for ministry, and to engage in God’s mission.
Role models: Nelson Mandela and Ernest Shackleton
Favourite books: Frank Tyson, The Test Within; the gospel of Luke; and anything by Geraldine Brooks or Kate Grenville.
Rev Rod Dyson Alan Dutton Stepping Stone Adventure, October 2011
Aged care in focus
Aged care can be confronting to consider, but may become an unavoidable necessity for many. In this article, the first of three in a special series on aged care, Louise Heinrich investigates what to do when someone’s not coping at home.
Many people refuse to consider aged care for themselves or their loved ones. But thinking about the future for a spouse or a parent can give them the greatest chance of having their needs met.
These times they are a changin’Margaret ‘Peggy’ Eckenrode hails from Virginia, USA, and migrated here in 1969. The 89-year-old is charismatic and articulate, with a charming North Carolina accent. She’s been living in an aged care facility for 12 years.
“After my husband died in 1995, my doctor kept recommending that I think
about moving into residential care,” Peggy remembers. “My kids took great care of me – they brought me meals, took me shopping – but I was beginning to lose my balance.
“I fell one night, and did not want to call anyone. The next afternoon, one of my daughters discovered me, and not long after, I was in an ambulance.”
Peggy’s experience is a common one. She held off the idea of aged care as long as possible – until an injury forced her to seek help quickly.
As we get older, our bodies lose the strength they once held. We become more susceptible to ill health and disease. Circumstances of later years can have an impact too – the loss of a spouse, loneliness, limited mobility – any number of these things and more make it difficult to cope with daily tasks, such as housework and taking care of ourselves. This is what aged care is for.Reaching outThe first step to receiving assistance is to contact an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT). ACATs are groups of health professionals who visit homes, have a chat about lifestyle and health, and can assess eligibility for particular services.
Peggy was assessed by an ACAT, and moved into a low-care residential facility after being on a waiting list. Medical professionals, as well as the aged and their family members, can book an ACAT visit by ringing the Government Aged Care Hotline (number at end of article).
Sometimes the excess of information can be intimidating. Aged Care Alternatives is an organisation which specialises in face-to-face meetings.
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Like many, Peggy Eckenrode held off the idea of aged care as long as possible.
Franco Parenti, Coordinator at Aged Care Alternatives, explains: “We use ‘option guides’ who are volunteers that explain the situation to clients. They are trained to speak in plain, understandable language.”Money money moneyFinances can be the most nerve-racking part of making a big decision, but the aged care system is designed to make it affordable for everyone.
The Australian Government funds a portion of aged care homes, and residents also pay fees and charges. These are under the categories of ‘Daily Care Fees’ and ‘Accommodation Payments’, and will be measured by income and assets.
If the retirement funds are running out, it is important to investigate financial options. The government provides “Financial Hardship Assistance”, under which fees can be reduced or waived. The Veterans’ Affairs Network also gives help to veterans and war widow/ers to pay their bills.
Next month, we’ll be looking at the process of choosing an aged care service.
To find out about fees, to book an ACAT, or for more information regarding aged care, contact:Aged Care Alternatives: 8271 3888agedcarealternatives.net.auORGovernment Aged Care Hotline: 1800 200 422agedcareaustralia.gov.au
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To have your upcoming event or message published here, email [email protected] with ‘Diary’ in the subject line.
DISAPPOINTED WITH GNOSTIC TEACHING
We made a 400km trip to Kent Town Uniting church on 23 October 2011 to celebrate UC Ministers ordained for 50 years. My wife’s friend, the late Rev Brian (Rusty) Nicholls was honoured. My grandfather preached there for many years.
We were bitterly disappointed when the preacher said: “We Christians are altogether too arrogant in asserting that our Christian message is the only way to God; we need to welcome people of other faiths into our fellowship and see their view of God.” This is pure Gnosticism.
He also said, “Truth is manifold”, diametrically opposing our Lord Jesus Christ, who said unambiguously, that Truth is singular. Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man/woman comes to the Father but by me.” Not many paths to God. Just one.
While he was still speaking, we began the long drive home. Oh to hear someone honour Jude 3.
L. PhillipsPort Vincent
IRAN, ANTI-SEMITISM AND THE UNITING CHURCHInternationally there is a growing belief that Israel will need to choose soon between accepting a nuclear Iran which will then attack Israel, producing a second holocaust, or pre-emptively strike against Iran, crippling its nuclear ambitions. Since conventional ordinance appears to be inadequate Israel will probably need to use nuclear weapons. It is not unrealistic to believe that this attack and the resultant surge in oil prices will produce an unprecedented rise in anti-semitism around the world. Clearly churches need to pray over every aspect of this looming crisis. However, what is the planned response of the UCA leadership? Are we encouraging governments to develop plans to protect the Israeli embassy and consulates, synagogues and Jewish businesses? Have we updated any plans in place to speak out against anti-semitism?
P. HarbisonSomerton Park
Be topical, be brief, be timely.Letters over 150 words will be edited; responses to previous letters /articles will be considered within two months of the original item’s publication only.All letters are published at the editorial team’s discretion.
Send your letters to: [email protected] or PO Box 2145, Adelaide 5001.
PUPPET SHOW: “A Day in the Life of a Donkey” on Palm Sunday, Wesley Kent Town, 10.30 a.m, followed by lunch at 27 Grenfell Street, Kent Town. The entry is free, parents and children of all ages are welcome. The play will be performed with the help of the entire audience. Scripts will be available upon entry. If you and your family are planning to attend, please RVSP Rev. Beatrice Panne 0408 894 885 or on [email protected].
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS of the Wellspring Community in Australia. The Wellspring Community SA invites you to a Thanksgiving Service and Holy Communion, to be held at Christ Church, 26 King William Road, Wayville at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 18 April followed by a light supper. For further information please contact Jean Stirling. Ph 8376 6371 or [email protected]
REV COLIN WHITE is rejoicing that he has been spared to celebrate his 90th Birthday. His family invites friends from the Church and former Parishes to join in a celebration on Saturday 21 April from 2.00-4.30pm in Dernancourt Uniting Church Hall, Balmoral Road, Dernancourt. It would help if you could advise Colin’s daughter, Lyn Zollo, by 10 April if you plan to attend. Email [email protected] or phone 0401 445 245.
STATE MISSION FELLOWSHIP – Tuesday 24 April, 10.30am at Scots Church. Speakers are David & Kath Truran, Frontier Services Outback Links volunteers. Morning tea and lunch available. All welcome.
ANOTHER WONDERFUL AFTERNOON of Favourite Hymns will be held at Mt Barker Uniting Church on Sunday, April 29th., at 2pm. Pipe organ, piano, and brass will accompany the singing, plus guest artists. Admission is free, with a cuppa to follow. Come and join us for an inspirational time. Enquiries Margaret, 0427 734 071.
TORRENSVILLE METHODIST/UNITING CHURCH celebrates 100 years of the opening of the church building in Hayward Avenue in May 1912. Past worshippers, friends and sporting club members are invited to a reunion at Adelaide West Uniting Church 312 Sir Donald Bradman Drive Brooklyn Park, Sunday May 6 2012 from 2 – 4pm. Donation for document preservation fund. Afternoon tea provided. Anyone with photos to share for display please email to [email protected] or phone John Andrewartha - 8443 3380 or Peter Whiting - 8556 5757.
PENOLA UNITING CHURCH invites all past members and friends of the former Kalangadoo Parish, which includes Glencoe and Nangwarry, and current members and friends to the 10th Anniversary of the opening of our ‘Meeting Room’ on 6 May 2012. Our guest preacher is Rev Rob Williams and luncheon will follow. Enquiries to Sue on fax/phone 0887366054
“THE WISDOM OF THE MYSTICS” a Residential Retreat offered at Stillpoint Spirituality Centre in Belair from 6 – 10 May 2012. The retreat offers an opportunity to learn about mystics within the Christian heritage, reflect in silence, share with others and experience contemplative prayer. Costs $340 - $440 (including accommodation and meals). Registrations close 26 April 2012. Contact [email protected] or telephone 8178 0048.
CUMMINS UCA CENTENARY On Sunday May 6th, Cummins Uniting Church will be celebrating 100 years since the laying of the foundation stone in 1912. Rev Trevor O’Brien will preach at a 10:30am service, with lunch provided and an afternoon of story-sharing to follow. Please RSVP for catering purposes to Rev Matthew Carratt on 08 8676 2013 or [email protected].
THE EYRE PENINSULA annual ‘Celebration’ will take place at the Ceduna Uniting Church on 10 May commencing with morning tea at 9.30 a.m. Guest Speakers Rev Ruth-Mary Bond and Rev John Dihm. RSVP Joy Stott 86252493 or email [email protected]
The Spirit & Place Art Exhibition is open every Saturday from March through to Pentecost at Willunga Uniting Church, Bethany Hall. Open during Market hours: 9AM to 12PM. Entry is free and many works are for sale. The church is an easy walk from the Willunga Farmers’ Market.
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Spencer Gulf at Sunrise on Easter morning 2005 as a Uniting Church Easter Camp celebrates at Thuruna. Photo: Amy Maddern
For many, the Easter weekend is synonymous with learning about faith, eating meals in a communal dining hall, and midnight conversations whispered in the dimness of torchlight. Yes, it’s church camp time – where we are offered the opportunity to escape the daily grind and reflect on the cross’s true influence on our lives.
As the Easter day dawns and the first rays of sun pull back the cloak of night, we celebrate the Son whose rising has pulled back the banner of darkness and shone light into the world. A new dawn, a new day, a new life.
Around the world on Easter, many will gather at dawn to see the light come up on an empty cross, marking that death has been defeated through Christ. At many of these camps, the feeling of joy, hope and refreshing that comes with the dawning of Easter Sunday stays years beyond those first few moments of that day.
Every year the Uniting Church calendar highlights stories of encouragement and challenge from within our mission and ministry. We only see a short snippet of those stories in the calendar, so New Times will be sharing a little more with you in each month of the coming year.
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Easter – the Rising Son
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Jesus and our darling Murray
Water: A Matter of Life and Death
Edited by: Norman Habel and Peter Trudinger
Recommended for: Those who hear the cry: “I thirst!”
In short: Following Jesus along the banks of the Murray...
“To live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to enter into the desert of our loneliness and change it by gentle and persistent efforts into a garden of solitude.” HENRY NOUWEN
In a diverse, intelligent and theological collection of nine essays, Water: A Matter of Life and Death takes the reader to the banks of the Murray-Darling, the shores of Oceania and Jacob’s well, and accepts Henri Nouwen’s invitation to enter into the dust, wind and water of our existence.
David Paton (Thou Shalt not Covet the Environment’s Water p. 9-18) and Paul Babie with Mark Brindal (Australian Water Law: Property, The Constitution and an Anticommons Tragedy p. 19-34) ground the text from an environmental and legal context around the Murray-Darling Crisis. From there Water meanders into a theological pool that challenges the reader to take Jesus’ promise of “living water” serious (Clive Ayre’s Water: More than a Symbol p. 49-62) and to remember, retell and rethink biblical interpretations skewed by our anthropocentric readings (with contributions by Barbara Deutschmann, Raymond Person, Jr and Phoebe Stroede, Anne Elvey and Alan Cadwallader). Water concludes with a biblical and historical look at the sacramental nature of water in which Margaret Daly-Denton’s theology paints a landscape filled with practical and liturgical possibilities for a church in a Desert Land.
Almost out of place; sadly yet beautifully so, is Jione Havea’s deeply theological reflections on “Home” for the peoples of Oceania faced by the challenge of the rising sea on their shores. Rising Sea, Drifting Bones, Dispersing Homes offers a gift for pilgrim people who, like the ancestors of the islanders in Oceania, find “their homes not in a particular location but in paths of their journeys...” (p. 3), homes that exist “...not because of us... but because it has welcomed someone (including us) into its shade” (p. 41).
“I thirst” is a cry we know too well. It is a cry of close to two billion people. It is a cry from our land. It is a cry from the cross. In, what looks like, our “sixth hour” (John 4:6; 19:28 cf p. 101) Water: A Matter of Life and Death challenges us to “discern God’s presence in the water in a new and vibrant way” (p. 5).
- eDuard Helmbold
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I became a fan of Julian of Norwich on seeing the icon of her with a black cat for company (I’m sure there was some mention of knitting too!). She is well known for her saying “All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”
Julian of Norwich (1342-c.1416) was a Benedictine nun and mystic who lived a secluded life at Norwich. Her Revelations of Divine Love is the first book written in English by a woman and describes her sixteen visions (‘showings’) of the crucified Christ as she suffered a serious life threatening illness. Quiet reading will yield such wonders as, “The fullness of joy is to behold God in everything” and “The more the soul sees of God, the more it desires him by his grace.”
This volume has an introduction which explains a little of the context of the time, of Julian’s background and theology, with a final page of comment about the translation. Readers may be surprised that Julian speaks of Christ as Mother, although she was not the first to do so, and then goes on to use the masculine pronoun eg “our Mother, he….”. There is so much more to ponder.
The body of the book consists of 195 readings – to be savoured and re-read and reflected on. With awe and wonder and deep gratitude that this work is made so easily available to modern readers.
- Glenys Badger
Lion’s handbooks will be well known to New Times readers and this volume will seem familiar even at first glance. Its language is very easy to read and the book is filled with full page colour photos, charts, maps, and discussion boxes. Peter Walker assumes no prior knowledge of the Bible and intends his book to be a complete introduction to the Christian scriptures to be read alongside the Bible as a sort of coach or learned friend. Each book of the Bible is given separate treatment, although in less detail than the better known Lion Handbook to the Bible, and there is useful
discussion of the different genres of Biblical writing and how they should be read differently from each other.
The Bible presented in The Lion Guide to the Bible is God focussed and Christ centred.
As Walker says, “the important debates about interpretation can be left for later.” As a school chaplain I value this easy introduction to the Bible and recommend it to new Christians and to church leaders and teachers of discipleship.
- Damien Tann
Devotions to devour Revelations of Divine Love
Two hands for beginnersBook: The Lion Guide to the BibleAuthor: Peter WalkerRecommended for: Those new to reading and studying the Bible.In short: An introduction to the Bible’s stories, themes, ideas and background.Available from: online bookstoresRRP: $39.99
Author: Fr. John-Julian, OJN
Recommended for: those wanting to share in the deep spirituality of Julian of Norwich.
In short: Unabridged contemporary English Edition set out in a series of Readings suitable for daily reflection.
Available from: Uniting Church SA office
RRP: $24.95
Elisabeth Elliot’s precursor to this book, Through the Gates of Splendour, described in depth how a passionate group of young men left the safety of suburban America and took the gospel to an untouched Amazonian tribe. In the end through mistrust and fear all four men were murdered.
Her second book Shadow of the Almighty provides clarity on the life of one of those four men, her late husband, Jim Elliot. Through his journals, letters and first hand accounts from friends a quite remarkable picture is built of the young man, one that continues to inspire 60 years later.
Jim Elliot knew God, and saw it as nothing to give up his life for Him. This is a challenge to us all.
I thoroughly recommend Through the Gates of Splendour to be read alongside Shadow of the Almighty. It is less of a narrative and more an autobiographical spiritual journey. At times it is harder to digest, but provides a needed depth to the tale of sacrifice that continues to inspire generations.
- Callum Iles
Jim Elliot continues to inspire Book: Shadow of the AlmightyAuthor: Elisabeth ElliotRecommended for: A biography of Jim Elliot, whose life was tragically taken in the 50s by an Ecuadorean tribe he was ministering to.In short: It is a heart-breaking but inspiring tale that every Christian with a heart for the lost should familiarise themselves with.Available from: online bookstores
RRP: $16.95
23
On Sunday 18 March at 2pm, seven new Ministers of the Word were ordained at Adelaide West Uniting Church, [as pictured] Michael Dowling, Dieter Engler, Amel Manyon, Douglas Monaghan, Julia Pitman, Peter Riggs and Nathan Whillas.
Starting off with a song from the Sudanese youth choir, led in rousing hymns by Moderator Rev Rob Williams and with an inspirational message from Rev Dr Ian Price, this ordination service was bursting with energy and joy from the beginning to the end.
Attended by around 600 friends, family and church members, the service was a wonderful celebration of the journey these seven very different candidates had taken. With the entire church auditorium and foyer filled with supportive guests, sharing in communion with the newly ordained ministers was certainly an exercise in community care and logistics as congregants bustled to congratulate and receive communion from their new ministers.
Congratulations to all seven new Reverends – we wish you all the best with your future placements.
Seven new Ministers ordained