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Wondering Pilgrim

~ the ramblings of a perambulent and often distracted sojourner

Wondering Pilgrim

Tag Archives: Wembley Downs

Firing up church and community connections

09 Wednesday Mar 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Personal

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Tags

Blackwood, Mark Riessen, postaday2011, shop fires, Wembley Downs

Pardon the weak headline – but there seems to be a thing about shop fires and church communities in our family affairs. Shopping centres and churches in town planning seem to have symbiotic connections. There are practical benefits like negotiated shared parking, one stop benefits for shopping and participation in church programs and the ambience that builds community as shoppers, business owners and church leaders relate to each other on a day to day basis. Then a crisis hits! The shopping centre burns down and the church is left to respond to a community that mourns the loss of a familiar “neighbourhood.”
It’s over two years since it happened to us and the story is told earlier on this blog (see also the stories that follow). Now it’s happened to the church where my nephew, Mark Riessen, leads ministry. The church has vacated its offices making them available as a shop front for the use of several service providers whose premises were badly smoke damaged. It’s a good news story hitting the front page of their local paper (go to March 9th edition).
Fires are devastating and one wonders what good can come from them. The trauma experienced by those concerned are answered, however, by acts of generosity and goodwill that might otherwise remain hidden. It is not the job of the church to provide these, but to recognise, stimulate, coax and encourage – maybe with a bit of modelling. The community at large discovers what is precious and what makes it a community.

-31.911079 115.772731

Wembley Downs Shops – the walls are going up!

07 Wednesday Apr 2010

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Wembley Downs

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Tags

Wembley Downs

A simple door frame at lunchtime – two hours later a whole section of wall.

This calls for another haiku!

At dawn, a grey slab
now sitting up strong and proud
September awaits.


-31.911079 115.772731

Mystery at Wembley Downs

09 Tuesday Jun 2009

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Wembley Downs

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

alien, burglary, orienteering, Wembley Downs

The RAC traytop was off-loading my wife’s disabled Colt last night. It was behind the church, where she usually parks the car. The tray had just lowered the vehicle, when some loud shouts made us look up. Torch lights were bobbing towards us from the road reserve. Behind the lights loomed two characters, running full pelt toward us, shouting. We braced ourselves, not knowing what to expect – and they ran grunting straight past us – faces red, perspiring freely on this cold winters’ evening. They were in athletic singlets and shorts.

“You can’t get through that way” I shouted.

“This is private property!” my bride murmured.

No response – except about eight more characters, similarly attired, wheezed past us. Seeing our bemused faces, one cried out “Call the police!”
Now I was confused – were they chasing someone? There had been a burglary across the road earlier that day. Was he just having a lend of me? Why were they all dressed in athletics? 
One called out “Found it!”

They turned and ran off in the direction they had come, disappearing into the dark. Who were these people?…

… next morning I found these chalk marks on the ground, leading me to pose several hypotheses

2009 06 09_0555

2009 06 09_0558

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. They are alien markings, and our intruders are extraterrestrials in search of their lost space craft.
  2. They are portals to a secret chamber where stolen goods are secreted and this was a raid by undercover police disguised as athletes.
  3. They are markers for a local orienteering club out on a practice run.

Maybe, you, dear reader, can cast a light on this mystery. Or you may have an additional hypothesis as to what was really going on here. Feel free to share.

Labyrinth – a pathway to encounter with God.

31 Friday Oct 2008

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Spirituality

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

contemplation, labyrinth, prayer, Spirituality, Wembley Downs

A bit slack today – installed new church PA system and laid down a labyrinth in the church forecourt.

What is a labyrinth? For many it conjures images of the Minotaur of ancient Crete – half man and half bull, consuming young Greek captives left to wander in a maze of dark undergoround tunnels.  While the most ancient of labyrinths can be traced to Crete, they are much more benign than that. A labyrinth comprises a simple path winding around itself to a centre – no dead ends, no nasty surprises. For many in the Christian tradition, it is symbolic of prayer – a pathway inwards, laying down cares and concerns; a meeting in communion with God at the centre; and, in retracing the pathway outwards, resolve and application.  Its presence and design lends itself to silent contemplation – the prayer of no words. Simply to walk the pathway is to encounter the stillness where we can listen and hear what is needed.

The labyrinth pictured is open, accessible, and kind of temporary/permanent. It’s only masking tape on pavers, but easily patchable. It’s my poor attempt to put into practice what I learned at a Robert Ferre workshop the other day. We already have a canvas labyrinth available for the use of schools and other community organisations. If you’re passing by, stop off for 20 minutes and give it a try.

Demolition begins – what of the future?

30 Thursday Oct 2008

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Personal

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community, shops, silence, Wembley Downs

A strange silence has descended on this once thriving street. Once it was busy with cars and delivery trucks as well as pedestrian traffic – neighbours walking dogs, skateboarders, children buying after school snacks, “golden girls” meeting for coffee – now there’s nobody. Even an advocate of silence, like myself, finds the silence is too loud.

But this morning the stillness is broken. The crash and thump of demolition has begun. Soon the burnt out shopping precinct will be a piece of valuable vacant land. What then? How will it be redeveloped? Some fear it will be rezoned as residential. There are complications with the current commercial zoning as it is deemed that adjacent sites, some of which are public open space, should be acquired to maximise current shopping precinct needs and potential. Naturally, there is opposition to this idea. The planning and rebuilding process threatens to be a rough ride. If a good community consultation process is established, I’m sure some win-win solutions will be found.

A community laments, remembers and hopes

26 Sunday Oct 2008

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Personal

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

community, fire, hope, Wembley Downs




Photos courtesy Brian Hills  [click each to enlarge]

About 400 people gathered this afternoon to share in a process of community affirmation and support following the loss of the Wembley Downs Shopping Centre by fire seven days ago. A short simple ceremony invited each person to hold a rock and to imagine it absorbing sorrow through its heaviness, emanating thanks and memory through its warmth, and issuing hope as the crowd built a cairn under the remaining shopping centre signage. Chris Richards spoke on behalf of the owners expressing appreciation for community support and the desire to rebuild. Pharmacist Henry Gulev, for the tenants, thanked the community for expressions of care and concern.  Councillor Elizabeth Re, on behalf of the Mayor and the City of Stirling, assured council assistance in working through the issues related to the rebirth of the site, including community consultation. The crowd, comprising business owners, shop staff, residents and neighbours adjourned to the adjacent church courtyard for refreshments provided by Indiret Singh of IGA, several neighbours and the church. The Rebuild Wembley Downs neighbourhood initiative collected messages and contact details from those wishing to help. Today saw a community rite of passage that led from desolation to expressions of hope.

From the ashes the phoenix…

24 Friday Oct 2008

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Personal

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Tags

ashes, community, fire, phoenix, regeneration, Wembley Downs

 

The community is beginning to rally. There have been very positive expressions to the proposal outlined below and which is being distributed, as I write, throughout the district. Compassion for one another – neighbour for neighbour, customer for trader, trader for customer has been working it’s way through the community. The annual District Fair tomorrow will be a venue for much meeting and sharing, and Sunday’s event will cap it.

This weekend will see the beginning of a new chapter for our neighbourhood.

COMMMUNITY GATHERING
for an act of
HEALING and HOPE

this Sunday October 26

2.30 pm (Daylight Saving Time)

at the site of the Downs Shopping Centre.

Refreshments at Church of Christ hall after

Acknowledging loss
Expressing thanks
Building hope for the future

Enquiries 9245 2593

 

Fire aftermath

21 Tuesday Oct 2008

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Ministry, Personal

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Tags

church, fire, help, hope, lament, luita St fair, scouts, Wembley Downs

LAMENT

HOPE

These two signs hang on the fence surrounding the charred remains of our local shopping centre. One expresses the deep sorrow of the community, the other is a pointer to the community spirit that will carry us  on. Both lament and hope need to find expression and it is my desire that we will find ways to appropriately process these as individuals and as a community. The Luita Street fair, though annual, is a timely event to remind us that while our loss is significant, we have not lost all. Our hope is also that the way will be clear for a swift re-establishment of the shopping precinct.

My church, just across the road from the devastation, is trying to think of ways of being useful. We can organise rides for shopping for those who have been dependent on shops they can walk to. We can become a distribution point for the local suburban paper. We can offer the listening ear for those who need to talk it through. But we are also open to ideas from the community. Tell us what you think, either by leaving a comment or by emailing. 

 

 

 

Local shops destroyed by fire

19 Sunday Oct 2008

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Personal

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

fire, Wembley Downs

Our local shops have been very handy to us – just across the road from where we live. More than that, however, they were the hub of the Wembley Downs community. As I write, the street is full of emergency vehicles while the ashes are hosed down. The crowds have dwindled now and the heartbreaking work of starting again lies ahead. These are tough times already, but the Wembley Downs community is resilient. The story of the fire is here.

Sustainable September

01 Monday Sep 2008

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in environment, Ministry

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

ecology, environment, stewardship, sustainability, Wembley Downs

It being the first day of Spring, a PeaceChurch sojourner draws my attention to Sustainable September, a Western Australian initiative involving church and community groups.

Earlier discussion here revealed several correspondents who have reservations about climate change discussions. Whichever side of the debate we fall on, and whether we believe the cause of climate change is natural or human or some of both, careful stewardship of natural resources is part of the biblical shalom for which many on all sides of the discussion yearn.

 

So let me give three cheers to all who seek to be informed, discerning, and a friend of the Creation God has given.

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