Monthly Archives: October 2010

WA Council of Churches full of delightful surprises.

30 Saturday Oct 2010

Posted by in mission

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What a council we had today!

It was hosted by the Syrian Orthodox Church, a small community which is itself hosted by the Norbertine Priory in Queen’s Park – a unique partnership. The richness of the opening prayer service in Aramaic (also bilingual) heralded a morning of celebrating good news of inter-church sharing at the grassroots.

  • Perth Prayer began as a small group of praying businessmen in a tall office building. It expanded quickly to other offices in this boom town. Such was the variety of Christian traditions represented that a very simple common manner of praying and sharing over a Wednesday lunch hour has been adopted. The move to the central venue of the Wesley Uniting Church in the middle of Perth and the imprimatur of the council of churches has seen this initiative become a powerful witness to the unity to which Christ calls his churches.
  • Project54 is calling individual churches across all traditions to adopt a Commonwealth nation for prayer during the lead-up to CHOGM 2011 which is scheduled for Perth in October (12 months from now). To participate, all a church has to do is register through the website at www.commonwealthprayer.org
  • Anglican Archbishop Roger Herft shared his journey as a participant on the International Anglican-Orthodox Commission. In particular he noted the respectful candor of the talks as potentially divisive issues sought a basis for discovering unity in diversity of theological perspective (eg ordination of women). In particular he noted the challenge of the assertion that if we do not express that to which we are most passionately convicted, we are acting hypocritically, and the dialogue fails to accomplish its purpose. Fr Boutros Issa of the Syrian Orthodox Church responded, outlining the history of Anglican Orthodox relations.
  • We explored the challenge of ecumenical work across Australia as we pondered the slow takeup of the National Council of Churches of Australia  “Covenanting Together” initiative.   It was hoped that the process, commenced in 1996, would have greater traction now. It was discerned that different contexts gave different means of expression to some of the intent behind the document. Although it reveals an important historic marker in the national ecumenical journey, there are more fluid church relationships alongside the traditional institutional expressions which must be taken into account.
  • Changes in governance, staff job descriptions and a freshly articulated commitment to grassroots ecumenism are pointing to a currently energised and focused council.
It’s always good to go home from a Council meeting feeling inspired and excited!

What more could you want in an Aussie Saint?

18 Monday Oct 2010

Posted by in christ, local politics, Ministry, Personal, refugees, Spirituality

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It seems Australia’s disadvantaged, including indigenous, mentally ill, and those seeking asylum, have a newly sanctioned advocate. Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop has become Australia’s first Saint.   On a day of celebration owned by Catholic and non-Catholic, religious and secular, believer and non-believer, one of our own has been ushered into the select company of the Roman Catholic Church’s Canon of Saints.

The fact that the intercessory properties of saints are hotly debated in my part of the Church does not detract from the fact that Saint Mary represents something quintessentially Australian. With a heart for the poor, she is best known for establishing schools and advancing education in rural Australia. She often had to stand up to the authorities, even enduring a period of excommunication. In other words, she was a battler and prepared to stand up for others so they could get a fair go!

What more could you want in an Aussie Saint?

Synchronicity had Mary’s  sainting day coincide with Luke 18:1-8 on the Revised Common Lectionary. It is the story of the relentless widow hammering on the door of the indifferent judge until he finally relents and gives her the justice she seeks. Jesus guides our reflection to the self-talk of the judge, who relents, not for the sake of justice, but for fear of being worn down – perhaps the tarnishing of his own reputation. Advocates for justice have a fairly realistic take on the lie of the land. Institutionalised oppression, like the judge, “fears neither God nor man.” The perseverance of the cry for natural justice, however, cannot be dampened, and the lesser resolve eventually caves in.

Perhaps this reality is at the base of St Mary’s story and it provides a beacon of hope to all who seek justice on the part of the dispossessed.

H2O

15 Friday Oct 2010

Posted by in Personal

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It’s Blog Action Day and the topic is “water.”

I grew up with a love/hate relationship with the stuff. Loved playing with it. Hated the enforced swimming lesson that entailed jumping off the Port Adelaide wharf into the canal on the end of a rope. Swallowed lots of water and never went back. Never learnt to swim  after such a dis-motivational experience. Yet I find holidays by the water very restful – whether its pounding waves against a rocky cliff-face or a still mill-pond.

I guess this  reflects the ambivalence we have in this land that thirsts for decent rainfalls – most of the time there’s not enough. Suddenly there’s too much. Like Hanrahan, there’s the prevailing mood that “we’ll all be rooned.” As a son of South Australia, once nominated as “the driest state in the driest country”, I suppose I should be somewhat more passionate about water. After all, the Murray flows now following superlatively high rainfalls, but the water fights upstream look set to continue for a while. My hometown of Adelaide will always be at the behest of access to water “allowed” to flow from the the east.

Yet my thoughts turn to other places on the planet where the need for water is not so easily met. It’s always been close at hand for me. Just turn on the nearest tap which is never far way. Thousands of communities have no access at all to potable water, let alone the convenience of a tap. For some years now my Google home page has been set to http://www.wateraid.org/australia/ – a running background reminder to just how critical water is for maintaining healthy sustainable communities. This is just one of many aid organisations aimed at improving provision of this most basic of commodities.

I hope this Blog Action Day project will heighten awareness and stimulate international and political will for imaginative solutions to water access problems.

World Communion Sunday

03 Sunday Oct 2010

Posted by in Stone-Campbell

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I used a day of leave to experience communion in a tradition quite different to that which I am accustomed, so I took myself off to the 10 am Choral Eucharist at St Georges Cathedral of the Anglican Arch Diocese of Perth, Western Australia.

I have participated in communion services of the higher liturgical traditions before, most notably at our local ecumenical Pentecost services. I was quite looking forward to cathedral pageantry and the sacred music of Bach and Handel. I was not disappointed – on the contrary there were some moments where the sacred took me by surprise.

Let me share three moments in particular:

  1. The reading of the gospel from Luke 17:5-10. I knew how this was to be done, with the bible carried aloft to the midst of the congregation with organ fanfare and choral alleluias. The whole congtregation stands in expectancy of the words to be heard. The cantor chanted the words of the passage, and it was as if I heard them anew. It was a thin moment.
  2. The address by The Reverend Bill Sykes, Chaplain Emeritus and Fellow of University College, Oxford. It was one of the best sermons I’ve heard in a long time (not that I hear many – I’m usually dishing them out!). He was speaking to the gospel text “Increase our faith” and described how he answered a question asked of him by a very intellectual post grad student – “What do you believe?” It was one of the most straightforward and comprehensive yet rational evangelistic presentations I have encountered. He went on to explain how he has set up thirty reflection groups throughout Oxford that explore a range from 220 issues pertaining to faith and life. Apparently the reflections, designed for multi-faith discussions, are in his book, The eternal vision: the ultimate collection of spiritual quotations. (Mental note to get a copy).
  3. The communion service.  The pew sheet says, “We break bread for the whole world. We invite all who seek God and are drawn to Christ, and all who walk the way of faith to come forward to receive communion or a blessing.” The Open Table in a high liturgical tradition suddenly melded with my more familiar homely table in the free church restorationist tradition.

World Communion Sunday. If you are participating in a communion service somewhere in the world today, may the peace of Christ be with you!