The
monthly Anglican Diocese of Bendigo
september 2014
issue 103
Hospitality: Greg Harris with the congregation at Mt Beauty and his snowboard - in the liturgically correct colour! Photo: Matt Harris
W
Ministry knows snow borders
hat do you pack for a holiday? Are you someone who, like me, makes a list of all you need before heading off ? Toiletries? – check! Clean underwear? – check! Chargers for various electronic devices? – check!
Greg Harris
Some of you might find this hard to believe, but my prayer book, clerical shirt and robes are not high on my packing list. Well that was the case until my last holiday, where they found themselves in priority between the aforementioned items and my snowboard.
would be no service this Sunday because the minister was on holidays, and no one in the diocese was available to come.
As I drove home I had one of those weird ideas and then plucked up the courage to act on it. I wrote to the Mt Beauty parish minister asking her would the parish be open to…
I recently had some holiday leave where the main agenda was snowboarding. I tried to work out accommodation that was both close to the snow and affordable.
a) allowing a ‘snowboarding archdeacon’ from a neighbouring diocese to lay down his swag and boil a kettle in their church for a couple of days, and
A couple of weeks earlier I was driving through Mount Beauty, in Wangaratta diocese, and decided to find the Anglican Church. It is built in the classic alpine A-frame design, but the noticeboard caught my attention – a note said there
b) the aforementioned ‘snowboarding archdeacon’ conducting a service for them if the minister was unavailable?
Inside:
Ministry Development Officer appointed page 3
Within a day the minister said I would be most welcome to ‘lay down my swag’ and conduct a service. Within a few minutes
South East Bendigo helps Broken Hill page 5
of that phone call the organist was ringing me asking when I was coming! It was my joy and honour to bless this small congregation at Mount Beauty by opening God’s Word with them, leading them in prayer, and breaking bread with them around the Lord’s table. What particularly moved me was when I filled in the service register, they hadn’t had a service since April - and it was now August! The next day as I was carving down the mountain I thanked our great God for the generosity of the faithful saints at Mt Beauty, who, like the Macedonian believers commended by Paul (2 Corinthians 8), gave as much as they could in rich generosity to a ‘snowboarding archdeacon’ looking for a place to lay his swag and keep warm.
Bear’s Lagoon hold Bush Olympics page 6
The mysterious Min Min light page 10