Isaiah 61:1-7 is repeated in Luke 4 by Jesus when he announces the blueprint of his operations. It is the antithesis of the Immigration Bill allowed by the Australian Senate last Thursday night. It is a strong Advent voice that calls the Australian people to account. It comes not as warning, but as proclamation of theContinue reading “Advent Voices: a manifesto against our latest law”
Category Archives: Wembley Downs
Onesimus wept
Church yesterday was an exercise in role-playing the 1st century church that met in the home of Philemon of Colossae. Creative imagination saw Philemon, his presumed wife Apphia and his presumed son and heir Archippus presiding over our regular congregation who had variously become the merchants, stewards and household slaves that met in Philemon’s atriumContinue reading “Onesimus wept”
Peace is a Pair of Shoes
I love preaching at my church – it opens up so much thoughtful dialogue. This week we tackled the Advent theme of peace in relation to charitable giving. It had been the week of a photo of a NYPD cop buying a pair of shoes for a homeless vagabond. It had gone viral. Something ofContinue reading “Peace is a Pair of Shoes”
Peace is a Pair of Shoes
I love preaching at my church – it opens up so much thoughtful dialogue. This week we tackled the Advent theme of peace in relation to charitable giving. It had been the week of a photo of a NYPD cop buying a pair of shoes for a homeless vagabond. It had gone viral. Something ofContinue reading “Peace is a Pair of Shoes”
Markathon!
“Let’s do a public community reading of Mark’s gospel!” “Oh yeah!” I thought. “Who’s going to come?” So 40 people aged from 7 to 90 gathered on a hot Sunday evening for our first public community reading of Mark’s gospel. It took 90 minutes, three narrators, and about 12 voices to read various characters. (ForContinue reading “Markathon!”
Keeping the Startle in Christmas
Silverfish! One of the biggest challenges for those of us charged with narrating the Nativity each year is to allow the essence of the story to emerge through the sentiment and tinsel and, yes, the celebratory drudgery that many deem it their annual obligation to tolerate. A few Christmases ago, we ordered a heavy dutyContinue reading “Keeping the Startle in Christmas”
Advent Reflection: Peace – not absence of conflict
It may strike one as absurd that a day given to reflecting on peace revolves around that fiery wild figure that stormed out of the Judaean desert preaching repentance and baptism for the forgiveness of sins. John the Baptist seems an incongruous figure for what we imagine to be peace – serene narcosis wrapped inContinue reading “Advent Reflection: Peace – not absence of conflict”
“How would gays get on in your church?”
It was a simple question. I gave a simple answer – “The same as anybody else,” I replied. There was a question behind the question, however. As the topic of same-sex marriage rises to be the star turn at this weekend’s Australian Labor Party conference, anxious attention from both the anti and pro camps testsContinue reading ““How would gays get on in your church?””
Advent Reflection: Hope, not optimism
Pollyanna gets a bit of stick these days. The name of the main character from Eleanor H Porter’s work of classical children’s fiction has become an epithet for anyone deemed to be unrealistically optimistic. In the novel made even more well known by Walt Disney’s cinema version in 1960, Pollyanna invents “the glad game.” NoContinue reading “Advent Reflection: Hope, not optimism”
Stories from the Canning Stock Route
So runs the sub-title of a stunning Aboriginal Art exhibition that is now on tour from the National Museum of Australia. Of course, the Canning Stock Route has had its dominant “whitefella” story told many times. We claim it as the toughest, remotest and (at 1850km) longest historic stock route in the world. Around theContinue reading “Stories from the Canning Stock Route”
Wondering Pilgrim 