Combined Pentecost Eucharist

This morning, four Wembley Downs congregations representing four different traditions gathered together at St Paul’s Anglican Church for a combined Pentecost Eucharist. Everyone wore red, the liturgical colour representing the tongues of flame that symbolise the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the120 gathered in Jerusalem soon after the departure of the resurrected Jesus.Continue reading “Combined Pentecost Eucharist”

Reviewing “Oranges & Sunshine”

The trouble with reviewing a film like Oranges & Sunshine, where one is familiar with locations and back-story, is that one can be overly critical over small detail and miss the thrust and drama of the narrative. It appeared that scenes purported to be Western Australian were filmed in South Australia. Was that a stobie poleContinue reading “Reviewing “Oranges & Sunshine””

Plagued by mice and climate change deniers – Eureka Street

Plagued by mice and climate change deniers – Eureka Street. I recall the mouse plague of ’75 in the same area – stretching 100s of kms from Eyre Peninsula across the Nullarbor to Eucla. I was driving with my brother across to Perth to take up my first ministry post. We left Ceduna at dusk.Continue reading “Plagued by mice and climate change deniers – Eureka Street”

Jousting with the evil printer monsters…

… I thought I had it licked – that small office laser printer we bought for a song a couple of years ago that is so cartridge hungry. It sits alongside the donated but too-obsolete-to-fix multifunction photocopier that occupies half the utility room. We sourced an interstate toner company that, when buying in bulk, keptContinue reading “Jousting with the evil printer monsters…”

So where to now on refugee policy?

REFUGEE PROTECTION NEEDS IGNORED IN RUSH TO ‘STOP THE BOATS’ A joint statement by Australian non-government organisations You get to the place where you feel you can write nothing more about the shameful asylum seeker detention regime – especially when long-standing champions of advocacy plead that even the Nauru strategy is preferable to the latest sleightContinue reading “So where to now on refugee policy?”

The Golden Rule – how ubiquitous!

“Treat others as you want them to treat you!” That’s the burden of this morning’s Christian Religious Education lesson emerging from the controversial (in Victoria) Access curriculum. Although a pithy sound bite from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, similar wisdom is found in sacred texts preceding Matthew 7:12 in Judaism, Buddhism and Confucianism as wellContinue reading “The Golden Rule – how ubiquitous!”

Climate change rallies around Oz today

News feeds are starting to come in as Australian state capitals host “Say yes” rallies in support of the government’s proposed carbon emissions tax. Here’s one feed featuring a speech by World Vision CEO  Tim Costello:  Australia ‘seen as climate freeloader’. The timing of the rallies clashed with this morning’s church services, but we finished givingContinue reading “Climate change rallies around Oz today”

A teaser from tomorrow’s harangue…

We can try and create events that proscribe the words of Jesus’ deepest and most intimate prayer. We set up councils and events and programmes to “promote” Christian unity. This is good and necessary work, even when frustrations put stumbling blocks in the way. It is not through the structures we create, however, but itContinue reading “A teaser from tomorrow’s harangue…”

Source Code: a movie review

I was feeling starved of movies and had a couple of hours free this morning. Source Code seemed the best of the crop at the local multiplex, although the synopsis looked as though I might be in for another version of Groundhog Day. Avoiding spoilers, this wasn’t far off the mark. It involved romance, andContinue reading “Source Code: a movie review”