NewTimes-October2008

Issue 27, No 9 October 2008 www.sa.uca.org.au/goto/NToct08

Sacred men’s business

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inside…

Streaky wants a minister 2 Call to peacemaking 3 Men’s spirituality 4 – 10 Uniting Foundation news 11 Koreans visit 12 New hymns 13 Tuvalu in danger 16

2

NEWS

New Times

Streaky Bay wants a minister Welcome to Streaky Bay, on Eyre Peninsula; an area with plenty to offer according to the local District Council.

The Council website paints an idyllic picture of the area – there are rugged coastlines with beautiful beaches and pristine bays where you can relax, go fishing or swim with sea lions and dolphins.

Streaky Bay’s iconic jetty provides recreational fishing and swimming facilities and the large caravan park on the beach offers the complete package for holiday-makers.

The township is a main service centre on Eyre Peninsula with a population of 1,200 people. But it is 720 kilometres by road from Adelaide - a car trip of around eight and a half hours.

The traditional fishing and grain-growing area is under-going a transformation.

Uniting Church SA Rural Resource minister Rev Deane Meatheringham oversees the area. He says in Streaky the main streets now have attractive median strips and the buildings and businesses have been spruced up with paint.

So why can’t Streaky Bay attract a minister?

It’s been more than a decade since there was a Uniting Church minister in the township and nearly two years since there was an Anglican placement.

Presently there is no Catholic presence either.

The Uniting and Anglican churches have had a cooperative ministry agreement for some years. At the moment they get together once a month, sharing a service in either the Uniting or Anglican buildings.

In the Uniting Church local electrician Trevlyn Smith has been holding the fort. He provides lay worship and leads the music with the aid of his guitar. He’s also been authorised to provide the sacraments in the Uniting Church.

Trevlyn’s totally committed to spreading the Gospel. In his spare time he’s setting up low powered radio stations in the region which are broadcasting ‘Vision FM’, a Christian radio station.

It looks fresh,” says Deane.

“The West Coast town is growing – new housing developments are springing up.

Trevlyn is also determined that the dwindling Uniting Church congregation in Streaky Bay should be able to continue worshipping God in church on Sunday.

“In the parish area of Streaky Bay, Poochera and Wirrulla there is the strong possibility that mining projects will soon to be underway.

On a good day, he says, between 15 and 20 people turn up to worship. Although sometimes it can be as low as five.

“Streaky Bay has always been a popular place for holiday makers, but there now appear to be more permanent residents. Some are coming because of new business opportunities and others are coming simply for a sea change.”

During holiday times the numbers are swelled by visitors.

The Uniting and Anglican churches work together, actively promoting themselves in the local newspaper, on noticeboards and at the caravan park.

Streaky Bay Uniting Church members, from left, Trevlyn and Carolyn Smith and Lorraine and Peter Irvine.

In a township ripe with opportunities, Trevlyn’s frustrated that all he can do is continue to provide the status quo.

The situation in Streaky Bay is complicated. The Uniting Church congregation can’t “I enjoy doing what I’m doing, afford to support a full time minister. A lay person in the but it’s not enough,” he says.

“I’m only just keeping the doors placement wouldn’t be ideal, as that person would not be able open. I’d like the congregation to administer the sacraments to be more actively involved in in the Anglican Church, (if mission and outreach. the cooperative ministry “What we need is a young arrangement continues). enthusiastic minister. Someone who is able to establish relationships in the community.

Someone who can carry out pastoral care.

Distribution: On the first Sunday of the month Editorial deadline for November: October 7 Advertising deadline for November: October 9 New Times is published 11 times a year by the Uniting Church SA Communications Unit.

Articles and advertising content do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor or of the Uniting Church.

New Times articles and policies are published on the Uniting Church SA website www.sa.uca.org.au.

Office: Level 2, 212 Pirie Street, Adelaide. GPO Box 2145 Adelaide, SA 5001.

OCTOBER 2008

Members of the Uniting Church SA’s Pastoral Relations and Placements team recently visited Streaky Bay and are actively working on the dilemma.

One possible solution may be to find a minister who can serve part-time in Streaky Bay and also have a part-time rural resourcing ministry role in the region.

“We’ve got a manse and a sound church building. We’ve got a well-run senior citizens home; a hospital with a doctor, a school offering a high standard of education…”

So why can’t Streaky Bay attract a minister. One reason is that the church is short of ministers. Another is that Streaky Bay is a long way from

ISSN 0726-2612 Editor: Jill Freear, Ph 8236 4230, email newtimes@sa.uca.org.au Advertising: Russell Baker, Ph 8361 6822, email ribad@bigpond.com Circulation: Sarah Urmston, Ph 8236 4260, email surmston@sa.uca.org.au Production: Joie Creative Printer: Cadillac Printing Circulation: 12,000

Adelaide and rural placements don’t appeal to everyone.

The Uniting Church in Streaky Bay. (Photos by Rev Deane Meatheringham).

Share your Billy Graham story In preparation for next year’s 50th Anniversary of the Billy Graham Crusades in Australia, the evangelist’s grandson, Will Graham, is visiting Australia this month.

Will has been invited down-under by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Australia (BGEA).

Will will meet with Australians brought to Christ during his grandfather’s crusades, at events in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

BGEA is keen to record the stories of people whose lives were changed at any of Billy Graham’s rallies - in 1959, 1968, 1969 and 1979.

People wishing to record their memories for the anniversary are being asked to email information to: info@bgea.org.au.

A charismatic speaker in his own right, Will Graham has already preached to more than 125,000 people around the world.

He is looking forward to his first visit to Australia. “This is an incredible time for the harvest of new souls from this part of the world,” he said.

“My grandfather’s events in Australia were very important milestones in his years of ministry. If one Australian takes the message of Jesus Christ to heart and surrenders his or her life to Christ, then my whole trip will be worth it.”

Will returns to Australia in May 2009 for the official 50th Anniversary celebrations of Dr Billy Graham’s first visit to Australia.

COMMENT

New Times

3

Defence expo cancellation ‘good news’ The cancellation of a major defence expo which was due to open in Adelaide next month is “good news”, according to Dr Mark Zirnsak, director of the UCA’s Justice and International Mission Unit in Victoria.

The Asia Pacific Defence and Security Exhibition (APSDE) was due to open on Remembrance Day, November 11. However organisers called off the event after learning it was to be targeted by radical protest groups.

Mark has welcomed the news, saying the expo would have promoted instability in our region and would encourage

countries to turn to military options to resolve disputes, rather than to diplomacy.

“The governments of major arms manufacturing nations had booked space for their military corporations to come to Australia,” said Mark. “They were keen to take up South Australian Premier Mike Rann’s offer to ‘survey the terrific business and investment opportunities’ that APDSE would have provided.

“The fact the expo was due to open on Remembrance Day also made a mockery of the hope for a world free of war.

Uniting Church SA Justice

officer Charlene Kent says while it’s good that the November expo has been cancelled, Adelaide is still due to host an arms trade exhibition in August next year.

“South Australia is being actively marketed as ‘the Defence State’ in a bid to encourage new business and economic development,” said Charlene.

“As part of this marketing campaign, Adelaide is being identified as the ideal location to host arms fairs, showcasing the military wares of arms traders from around the world.

“In promoting these arms

exhibitions, the organisers suggest an increased need for militarisation and armament.

They are helping to foster a culture of fear in order to profit from the manufacture of weapons.

“Such actions are contrary to the call of all Christians to be peacemakers and to the Uniting Church’s commitment as a peacemaking body.

“The global arms trade draws resources away from the measures which achieve peace through justice and genuine security.

“Addressing global issues such as poverty,

hunger, climate change and environmental degradation as outlined in the Millennium Development Goals, is one way which governments can support peace through justice.”

Peacemaking Blessed are the peacemakers core business Moderator, Rev Rod Dyson

Rev Dr Andrew Dutney Peacemaking is an inescapable dimension of the Christian calling. It’s our business as individuals and as congregations because it’s God’s business – God’s core business.

Christopher Wright, a British Old Testament scholar, names the theological issue as clearly as anyone I’ve read: “The God revealed in the scriptures is personal, purposeful and goaloriented.” And the goal of God is “to redeem the whole creation from all that sin and evil have inflicted upon it”. It is to attain ‘shalom’, or peace.

In Biblical terms shalom is not merely the absence of war, although it does include that. ‘Shalom’ is rightness or wholeness in every part of life – wholeness within the individual person, wholeness in

relationships between people and especially wholeness, rightness, or justice in the web of relationships that make up communities, societies, nations and the whole of creation. As the American ethicist John Howard Yoder said, ‘shalom’ or peace “denotes things as they should be and shall be in the divine purpose”.

Absolute pacifism was the Christian norm for the first few centuries of the church’s life.

But for most of church history Christians have generally accepted with regret that justice and peace sometimes appear to justify the maintenance of armies and the waging of war.

Nonetheless peace is God’s goal and must always be ours.

From that perspective we should be intensely sceptical about political justifications of particular wars. We must be ready to challenge social complacency about the weapons industry. We should expect each other to be shocked and repelled by the use of war as entertainment or its trappings as fashion. And we must be forthright with each other in rejecting perversions of the Biblical message that contrive to see the brutality, cruelty and wanton destruction of modern warfare as approved or even willed by God.

One day at primary school I remember being surrounded by a group of big boys. They were calling me names and began to push me around.

I was really scared. A friend of mine, Ian, stepped up and told them to stop. They laughed at him and said, “Make us!” My friend turned out to be a Judo expert and one of the bullies was surprised to find himself on the ground.

Their group quickly dispersed. The bullying ended but I knew that in one sense I was only safe as long as Ian was with me.

The best solution, of course, was that we could all be friends. That ‘peaceful’ solution is much harder and more time consuming than a quick forceful action.

I began thinking about peacemaking when a major defence expo was planned in Adelaide from November 11 to 13. Major global manufacturers of weaponry were to be present.

Ironically it has been cancelled because of threats of violence from some of those who were protesting against the event.

My point is not that we do not have an army to defend Australia. My point is that as Christians we are called to be peacemakers.

The Gospel of Matthew says, “Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be recognized as children of God”. Peacemaking is at the heart of God. Romans 12.18 stretches us saying, “As much as possible, and to the utmost of your ability, be at peace with everyone”.

So what can we do as Christians? One of my concerns about arms fairs is that they normalise the sale of terrible weapons. You can go to an arms fair just like you can go to a car expo.

Such events foster military solutions. Isaiah painted a wonderful alternative vision; “They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into sickles. Nation will not lift sword against nation, no longer will they learn how to make war”. I think that we are called to

Rev Rod Dyson teach, to demonstrate and to live out the ways of peace.

As peacemakers we are called to the longer but ultimately more fruitful tasks of reconciliation, understanding and respect. Where there is conflict we are called to strive for God’s justice because often injustice is the cause of war.

Peacemaking begins in our congregations and in our communities as we love and respect those who are different to us. When I see the diversity of God’s creation living together in peace, I have a sense that that is how God meant it to be.

And I haven’t even touched on the astronomical weekly expenditure on arms. Poverty, disease, rebuilding after natural disasters and sufficient funding for research into environmental friendly energy sources all wait in line as countries queue up for the latest weaponry.

Isaiah’s vision is a dream. I wonder, though, whether it will only become a reality when we say in every way we can that war in general is not okay.

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4

Men’s spirituality

How do men experience spirituality?

Rev Joan Wright Howie, the Spiritual Formation advisor with the Uniting Church Centre for Theology and Ministry in Victoria, believes men need more support to help them explore their spirituality.

Men tend to experience and explore their spirituality in different ways to women, according to Rev Joan Wright Howie, the Spiritual Formation advisor with the Uniting Church Centre for Theology and Ministry in Victoria.

Joan loosely defines spirituality as the journey

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of our inner life that fosters awareness that we are not isolated inner egos. In short, we become drawn toward a referencing point that is beyond ourselves. For Christians, we discover our identity in relationship with the God revealed in Jesus Christ.

“As we attend to our inner

Rev Gary Stuckey, Stillpoint Spirituality Centre

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There are those, for example, who would label ‘masculine spirituality’ an oxymoron: a self contradicting term. Masculine or spiritual, not masculine and spiritual is an all too common outlook. Even one of the great spiritual writers, St. Francis de Sales found it necessary to remind people, “Men have souls as well as women”.

What do people mean when they use a term like masculine spirituality? Is there such a thing? It seems to me the problem lies in the terms themselves. What do we mean by ‘masculine’ and what do we mean by ‘spirituality’?

Taking the second one first, even though spirituality escapes precise and cosy definition, spirituality is about how we respond to God’s invitation to enter into relationship. It is about how we nurture and develop that relationship in an intentional way.

Strangely, defining ‘masculine’, which is more than a gender identification, could be harder. When joined

OCTOBER 2008

men need more support and resourcing in their spiritual journeys.

“Some men find it helpful to have discipline and structure around prayer – they are supported by rules and systems.

It helps them feel more confident.

“We need to provide opportunities for people to attend to their spiritual journey and to be more conscious of journeying for men.

“We often set up gentle, feminine places for reflection – with candles, incense, trickling water and soft floaty materials.

“Yet men have told me they often pray while working in their shed. They attend to the presence of God while they are in the middle of a practical task.”

One goal of Joan’s work is to help people pay attention to God working within them.

She also promotes spiritual formation.

“Church elders and leaders are charged with having spiritual oversight of a congregation,” she says. “Yet I sometimes feel as a church,

we have got quite caught up in the practical process of worship. We need more quiet times, so we might hear God drawing us individually and as a community, into the life of the Trinity.

“We would do well to attend more to the spiritual formation of people in our communities.

“Spirituality has become a secular word. We need to reclaim the meaning of Christian spirituality and provide the tools, that are deeply grounded in Christian tradition, to explore our spirituality.

Useful resources Joan points to several resources for exploring spirituality. She has produced a book about different styles of prayer, titled ‘Uphold one another in prayer’. It is available through the Uniting Church Centre for Theology and Ministry in Victoria; call 03 9340 8800, or email merryn.gray@ctm.uca. edu.au.

She says other useful resources include the ‘Spiritual Disciplines Handbook’ by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun and Margaret Guenther’s ‘The Practice of Prayer’.

Masculine spirituality not just for men

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life and become more aware of this ‘Sacred Other’; we seek to follow Jesus and become drawn into the life of God,” says Joan.

“Being aware of the presence of God helps us to understand who we are as children of God. Different people follow different paths, but the inner journey is about longing for a relationship with the ‘Holy Other’.

“Our spirituality is informed by the religious, social, cultural and linguistic context in which we live. These factors will shape the nature of who we are and how we live out our spiritual lives.

“Because there are differences in the way men and women experience the world, they will experience and express their spirituality differently. There are things common to men that create a specific men’s spiritual journey.

“Women in our culture tend to be more introspective and reflective and therefore possibly find it easier to explore their spirituality.”

However Joan believes that men do have deep inner reflection. But she feels

to a term like spirituality, ‘masculine’ usually refers to a stereotypical way of being human. It is used to contrast an equally stereotypical way of being human, ‘feminine’.

This occurs across cultures, for example, with the Chinese yin (feminine) and yang (masculine). It is a distinction drawn in some schools of psychology, such as the Jungian, which speaks of the anima (feminine) and animus (masculine).

Masculine, viewed in this way, is seen as living more in the head than the heart, more rational than emotional, more active and less contemplative, and more concerned with the external life than the internal.

Spirituality has traditionally been seen as dealing with the internal life, living more out of the heart and fostering the contemplative. This is where masculine spirituality comes in, for it does two important things.

Firstly, it offers to those, usually men, who favour head over heart and the active life over the contemplative, a pathway of spiritual formation that nurtures them in their relationship with God. Secondly, it provides a balance, for in each of us, male and female, lives the masculine and the feminine.

I most naturally tend to

Rev Gary Stuckey experience my spiritual life in a feminine way. I listen more to my heart than my head; I feel very comfortable being contemplative; and my inner life is more real to me than my external life. I need the reminder from masculine spirituality, as do some women, that for human wholeness I

need to explore another side of my humanness.

So, masculine spirituality is not for men alone as feminine spirituality is not for women alone. Both are for all who endeavour to grow in human wholeness, in the image of God who is both masculine and feminine.

Men’s spirituality

New Times

5

Coping with death - one man’s story Vic Campbell

Mike Rayson is a hardworking pastor. He preaches, he counsels, he writes songs and he sings. He serves God as best he can.

Mike served in ministry with the Uniting Church in Port Lincoln, Marion and Seacliff before moving to the United States in 2005.

Former SA pastor Mike Rayson, who now lives in the US, is slowly coming to terms with the death of his son last year.

Toward a male spirituality Rev Sean Gilbert, Christ Church Defining the term spirituality is hard enough. Taking it a step further toward spirituality for men’ is nigh on impossible! Still, the topic is rich with possibility.

Perhaps the best place to start is an almost intuitive survey of men’s lives that have truly counted; those who left an expanded legacy of the Christian faith, although not exclusively so. In every case, from Jesus to St. Paul, Francis to Ignatius, John Wesley to Jean Calvin, Ghandi to Mandela, there existed at one or more points in their lives, a recognition of, and a yielding to, a vision of life greater than that of their own making.

I stress the word ‘yielding’ because in my own experience, there is a certain cultural taboo, even an existential terror associated with an admission of limitation or expressions of vulnerability.

We tend to press on regardless, whether it be with ‘hidden’ health issues, on the sporting arena, in close relationships or even in the pulpit, reliant upon well honed skills and resources, yet often running on empty so far as personal meaning and genuine wisdom is concerned.

If spirituality is ultimately a life response to the revealed love of God, somewhere there needs to be a point of entry into an otherwise well-defended male psyche. And to reassure men that this spiritual revolution is fully worth it, the church needs to stress the greater sense of authenticity and maleness that it brings.

We will only create further resistance with imposed religious expectations or worse still, an inference that real men must also discover a feminine side to their personality!

Without exception, I would contend, men of substance are men of spirit. They are consistently open to new perspectives and transformative vision beyond their own. Invariably they become conduits of vision and hope themselves.

In this light American poet Wendell Berry is a great and enduring example. A farmer and poet, Berry’s insights arise from his intimate attentiveness to life around him. As a young poet, he wrote (of himself): “Look in and see him looking out. He is not always quiet, but there have been times when happiness has come to him, unasked, like the stillness on the water that holds the evening clear while it subsides – and he let go what he was not...”

It occurs to me that reaching toward a men’s spirituality is ultimately a movement toward what is most real in us and a letting go of what is false. There is a lot to let go of; the need to perform, to achieve or to always look like we are in control.

Happiness in life, as Berry, Jesus and the Dali Lama suggest, is about finding one’s own ‘authentic’, or still centre, and from there – that quite sacred place often unacknowledged by the institutional church – a life of meaning, maleness and spirit can daringly flow.

He and his wife Amy and children, Sam, Laura and Oliver, relocated to Pleasant View, Tennessee, just outside Nashville. Mike’s ministry flourished. He preached and performed throughout the United States and in London, England.

But on May 14 last year, Mike’s world changed dramatically. He and Amy were heading for Miami to take a break from the family, when they received word that 11-yearold Sam had been kicked in the chest by a spooked horse and had died almost immediately.

“Just hours before,” recalls Mike, “we had given him a hug and said ‘see you in four days’.

It still seems quite surreal, like he’s gone on holiday or school camp.”

In the days following Sam’s death, Mike says he “transitioned into professional pastor mode”. He not only had to prepare to bury his son, he had to officiate at his funeral.

He wrote the liturgy and the sermon, prepared the service bulletin, made sure the hymns were organised and the right people had the correct readings.

Mike became numb. He turned off his feelings, put on his pastor’s hat and went to work.

“I didn’t begin to grieve, or even cry for seven days or more. I really switched off and I was no use to my family.

Certainly I didn’t know how to care for them.”

Mike began to think about God’s place in the tragedy.

“Where was the God that I faithfully served on the mission field, in churches around the world, when Sam was killed?

“It’s a difficult question to grapple with, but I’ve learnt some things about God and about me through this process.

“These kind of events throw up ‘Why?’ questions and I have thousands and thousands of ‘Why?’ questions.”

Through the loss, pain and grief, Mike has gleaned a number of insights into his faith.

“I’ve discovered a God who has promised to journey with me in the deepest possible area of pain that any parent can ever go through.”

Despite feelings of abandonment, loss and despair, Mike maintains a strong belief in the power of God to heal broken and damaged human hearts.

“When I take off my pastor’s hat, when I stop trying to intellectualise everything that’s happened, I’m not fond of the person that I see. I see someone who is still angry, who is still mad, who is still upset; who is still broken.”

Mike continues to look to God for strength, for solace and for guidance.

“I am a very weak and broken person. The only reason I can get out of bed in the morning and function is because I serve a God who, in that weakness, chooses to be my strength, and chooses to be my hope, and chooses to be my faith.”

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Men’s spirituality

Men’s theological reading group Men from Payneham Road and Argent Uniting Churches have been getting a lot of intellectual stimulation during the past four years, through a men’s only theological reading group.

Presently the group is enjoying some interesting discussions about the nature of God, while exploring Val Webb’s book ‘Like Catching Water in a Net’.

Other favourites they’ve studied include ‘Your God is too small’ by J B Phillips, ‘The Trivialization of God’ by Donald McCullough, ‘Living with the Neighbour who is different’

by Keith Rowe, and Andrew Dutney’s ‘Playing God’. The latter had the added advantage that after reading the book the group visited Parkin Wesley College and discussed the book directly with the author.

The men’s only group meets each week for an hour and

with considerable humour they discuss various books chapter by chapter.

Reading group member Wally Olding said as a child growing up in the Methodist Church he “believed everything he heard from the pulpit”, but in the last 40 years he’s started reading theological books and it’s opened his eyes to many different ideas and views.

Minister Ray Creevy says he’s also appreciated being part of the group as he became “theologically stuck” when he retired. “This group has helped stir up my thinking,” said Ray. “We’re open to all views – and so far we haven’t thrown anyone out!”

Next on the reading list is likely to be ‘Water – God’s gift for Life’ a book of ecumenical reflections on water, produced by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.

Members of the Payneham Road and Argent Uniting Churches men’s theological reading group, from left, Wally Olding, Lindsay Faulkner, Ray Creevy and Andrew Randell.

Church develops Echunga’s desert treks healthy men Rev Lawrie Linggood

Barry Atwell, general manager Resources

It is often overlooked how closely the mission of the church is related to its resources, unless of course there is not enough money. Quoting from its mandate, the Resources Board is “to assist the Synod in allocating such (financial and property) resources efficiently in accordance with the mission priorities of the church”.

The Resources staff team work closely with other ministry centres and congregations to facilitate programs and projects that enable congregations to reach out into their communities.

Earlier this year Synod Financial Services staff accompanied Mission Resourcing Network staff on a visit to the Riverland to address the impact of the drought on Riverland residents and in particular the men in the Berri/ Barmera region. As a result an ongoing program of men’s events has been implemented.

The program is funded from the Drought Assistance Fund which is administered by Financial Services. This missional initiative has resulted in men spending time together in a

range of activities designed for their interest and enjoyment.

In another example Synod Property Services staff helped the Corner Uniting Church congregation at Warradale undertake a land division on a neighbouring block, on which they were able to fit a new shed.

Congregation members and Property Services staff sourced a suitable shed and arranged for it to be erected. The shed will also offer a place for men in the community to gather and “potter”.

At Kersbrook a group of local men, some with no church affiliation, have worked tirelessly over the past few months upgrading the Uniting Church building. This project has been particularly successful in drawing together a small community and developing valuable new relationships. A Gift Funding grant, administered

by UC Invest, has supported this project.

Resources staff continually seek ways to partner with congregations to enable the mission of the church to be fulfilled. In this case connecting with men at their point of interest is just one example of healthy partnerships.

At Echunga Uniting Church we’re providing ministry to men through desert treks.

These days men are busy and don’t have time to build lasting friendships – the treks help them get to know each other.

Last year 17 of our men packed their swags and piled into seven four-wheel-drive vehicles and set out to cross the Simpson Dessert.

During the ten days in the desert without women and children, they built relationships in ways that can never be achieved on a Sunday morning.

For many the church desert trek was a unique experience and an opportunity to do something they would not normally have been able to do. Even the oldest man in the

congregation came along - at 92 years of age.

We camped out under the stars and cooked on a camp fire. We travelled through some of the toughest country this great big land of ours has to offer; heading north through Billa Kalina Station to William Creek and onto the warm waters of Dalhousie Springs. Then turning east across the Simpson Dessert and the red sand hills before conquering the biggest sand hill of all ‘Big Red’. We then had the rare experience of being in Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory all at the same time at Poeppel’s Corner and Birdsville. We visited Australia’s largest shearing shed at Cordillo Downs, before taking a swim at Innamincka and the Cullyamurra Waterhole

and returned home via the old Strzelecki track.

Last year’s trip was so successful that stories of the epic journey are still being told.

This year we headed out again through the Flinders Rangers to Italowie Gorge, before heading to Innamincka and the Cullyamurra Waterhole to do some canoeing. We returned down the border track to Cameron’s corner and down to Yunta.

Trips like these have enabled our men to get away from it all, unwind and build stronger relationships with other males.

They open up and talk about the deeper issues of life and what is important to them.

It is a great environment in which to encourage each other, share stories and mentor, as we strive to be people of faith and purpose.

Echunga Uniting Church men ventured across the Simpson Desert last year. The photo was taken at Cameron’s Corner in the northern corner of South Australia.

OCTOBER 2008

Men’s Spirituality

New Times

7

What is it about men and sheds?

Jill Freear

What is it about men and their sheds? And what is it about church sheds that make them rather special and sacred places?

Morialta Uniting Church is one of many churches that have a shed. It’s a great shed, with lots of weird and wonderful pieces of machinery and equipment – like drills and lathes and saws and other impressive masculine things.

Enjoying fellowship and friendship in the shed behind Morialta Uniting Church are (from left), Kevin Nash, Ken Palmer, Peter Thornley and Brian Hogben.

Yankalilla shed men

Ian McDonald

The Yankalilla shed men have tackled a range of “off the wall” topics in the last year. We’ve explored Men like to hang around sheds. They feel the significance of funerals, memorials, lasting comfortable there,even when the physical values and what happens once you’re dead. amenities are shonky. A shed is usually a man’s place. Another bloke’s shed raises his We have shared many stories of struggle, fear curiosity. There may be special tools, rare and stress. And stories of survival through helping spares, ingenious projects, treasured salvage or others. simply a bright idea to copy.

Each discussion opens the opportunity to reveal Sheds reveal the character of their owners the source of our assurance or comfort. Each man’s and men are comfortable with that. This makes faith is real and valid. We tread carefully because them ideal meeting places for men to get to loss of faith is traumatic. It may be our own faith know each other better. So what is there to that needs to be challenged. Sometimes our actions, know? or even our talk, reveal that it has been misplaced.

Everything! Drop an idea or an observation Those with strong, mature and stable faith are able to mentor and lead by example. The Holy Spirit in the middle and then ask for opinions. changes people, not us. We just love them.

A whole lot of values and life wisdom is uncovered.

Men are notorious for not talking about their feelings, yet they often lack opportunities to even think aloud. The informal banter and “chewing the fat” in a mate’s shed provides that opportunity.

The real value of sheds to the church is something else again. If it is true that to be mature as Christians we must be like Jesus, we must share his passion and purpose. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost with the Gospel. As Christian men, opening our sheds is a magnet for the lost. We only need to keep our experience of the Gospel and its message as our motivation and the deliberate agenda of After food and discussion, the Yankalilla Shed men advise on the ‘knock in the front end’. all that we do.

Volunteering at the Red Dove Café Summertown Uniting Church member Ivan Winter was one of hundreds of people who helped out at the Red Dove Café at the Royal Adelaide Show this year.

The café needs more than 45 volunteers a day for the duration of the show, as well as helpers before and after the event.

Indications are that this year’s proceeds will exceed last year’s profit of $41,000 which was donated to Uniting Church mission projects.

Morialta also has quite a number of ‘shed men’. Not all of them are church attendees, as the shed is also a place for outreach. Children and youth are also welcome at the shed.

The young people have been invited in on several occasions.

Usually for school holiday workshops or on youth group nights when they’ve worked alongside the men, learning how to make CD towers and other exciting wooden objects d’art.

Women also have the opportunity to visit the shed, particularly on Saturday mornings during furniture restoration workshops. Yet, while all are welcome at the shed, it’s clearly very much a male-dominated domain.

Especially on Wednesday afternoons – a time specifically reserved for the shed ‘boys’.

So just what is it about sheds that makes them so attractive, if not down-right utterly irresistible places for men?

On a certain level it clearly has to be the big boys’ toys, and the disorderly orderliness of the place. It’s also the opportunity to be creative and to give and receive expert advice. And the fact that you don’t have to turn up in your Sunday best – comfortable, old paint-splattered clothes are preferable and part of the unwritten dress code.

Men hang out here with no pressure and no expectations.

They rub shoulders while focusing on a project and they don’t have to say much at all.

Yet this is a space where important conversations do take place, on matters of life, death and faith. Here the men support each other through tough times, such as the transition into retirement, the discovery of a male health problem, the loss of a job, or the loss of a loved one and other family issues.

It’s a sacred space for friendship and fellowship, for pastoral care and concern, for mentoring, and guidance.

On occasion it’s also a place of Biblical inquiry, where questions arising from Sunday worship may be explored in a leisurely way.

The value of the shed should not be underestimated. The Morialta shed, like many other church-based sheds, is a happy, vital, creative masculine space, fulfilling many needs.

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8

Men’s spirituality

New Times

When boys become men Mannum Uniting Church minister Rod Mann has a keen interest in men’s spirituality.

In fact he’s writing his thesis for a Masters in Ministry, on the topic -‘When do boys become men?’

Rod describes spirituality as something that brings meaning and purpose to our lives, our relationships, and our world.

He believes that the Uniting Church, as a uniquely Australian church, has the opportunity and responsibility to provide words and rituals for Australian culture that encourage the search for meaning and purpose.

Rod says while the church provides rituals or ceremonies for baptism, confirmation, marriage and funerals, it doesn’t have any formal or considered process to mark the transition and stages for the journey from boyhood to manhood.

From his research he holds that boys mature in three stages and that the progression through each stage should be celebrated.

“Firstly there’s the separation of the boy from the world of the mother and family,” says Rod. “This usually happens around the age of 13 or 14. There should be a ceremony of separation and the boy should be assigned to mentors and

be given a series of tasks and commitments to work through.

“When the tasks are complete, the mentors and men in the community should hold a ceremony where the boy is initiated into manhood and welcomed into the men’s space.

“Finally, around the age of 18, the young man should be recognised by the church and the whole community as a responsible adult.”

Rod’s thesis argues that ritual has the power to change things. “Words are said, (in and with the support of community) and there is a significant shift in perception,” he says.

As part of his thesis, Rod has written three liturgies and celebratory ideas for each of the rituals marking the transition to manhood.

Rod has been part of a men’s group in Mannum and Mount Pleasant which meet monthly to discuss men’s issues.

From December he will take up a parttime position as the Ecofaith minister in Adelaide. Rod also hopes to continue a personal interest - providing pastoral care to people in Hindley Street.

Rev Rod Mann believes the church should provide rituals to mark the transition from boyhood to manhood.

Boys’ Brigade develops Christian men

Three generations of Boys’ Brigade in one family: SA Boys’ Brigade president Kevin Markham is flanked by his son Christopher and father Fred, who still helps out at the 4th SA Salisbury Company.

Wanilla to close Ruth Sheldon Wanilla Uniting Church (formerly the Methodist Church), on Eyre Peninsula, is to close next month.

Before the church was built, (at a cost of 947 pounds and 5 shillings or $1895), worship was held in various places, including a Railway store shed, in local homes, at the RSL clubrooms, and in the local school and hall.

The church was dedicated at a service on Sunday February 8, 1959. From then until the tragic bush fires swept through the district in January 2005, the building was a place of worship.

In May 1999 the worshipping congregation improved the building, with the addition of a shed and a hybrid toilet.

The congregation received a grant from the

OCTOBER 2008

then Uniting Church Investment Fund of $8000 for the improvements, and the locals worked tirelessly to fund the remaining $20,000. After many hours of voluntary labour and some generous donations, the extensions were opened in October 2001.

Sadly, with many families moving to Port Lincoln after the 2005 fires there is no longer a worshipping congregation at Wanilla.

The presence of a worshipping group in the Wanilla district can never be measured. From Sunday school and youth group, to day camps and family gatherings, together with the warm and friendly Sunday morning worship services, God’s love was proclaimed and shown to all.

All are welcome to attend Wanilla’s closing service on Sunday November 23 at 2 p.m.

Kevin Markham, Boys’ Brigade SA president For more than 100 years the Boys’ Brigade in South Australia has been working in local churches, nurturing boys and young men in their faith and personal development.

Presently there are about 100 adult leaders and boys (aged between six and 18) in four companies in Adelaide. This is a far cry from our heyday in the 1960s when there were up to 2,000 members in up to 40 companies across the state. Yet the organisation continues to serve a vital purpose.

The local church takes full ownership of its Boys’ Brigade Company in the same way it would any youth or outreach program and is responsible for its spiritual oversight as well as the selection of its leaders.

The organisation is based on the twin pillars of discipline and religion. Founder Sir William Alexander Smith strongly believed that true Christian manliness was not possible without self-discipline.

Our approach is a long-term one with long-term impacts.

Giving boys consistent and continuous spiritual guidance, Christian role-modelling and male mentoring throughout their formative years, helps develop a strong foundation for Christian service.

Boys’ Brigade continues to be a boys only organisation because we believe that boys need to be boys. They develop differently, have different interests and need to have activities devoted to them.

Activities that were once our domain are now in many school programs - so we are continually updating to provide new experiences.

Apart from expeditions, camping and outdoor activities, we offer a weekly program which covers the physical, spiritual, educational and social aspects of a boy’s life, as he figures out his place in world and the Kingdom of God. We also have camps, aquatic carnivals, and soccer and craft competitions. We get involved with model railway exhibitions, Anzac Day activities and environmental initiatives.

The aim of the movement is to advance Christ’s Kingdom and to promote habits of obedience, reverence, discipline, self respect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness.

I have no doubt, from the men and boys I talk to, that they have gained much of their understanding of Christ’s ministry and God’s saving grace from their time in Boys’ Brigade. Along the way they have developed life-long friendships and observed wonderful examples of Spirit-filled activities.

Many go on to have key church leadership roles.

• Internationally the Boys’ Brigade celebrates 125 years this year. A celebration lunch will be held at Blackwood Church of Christ on Sunday October 26. Call 8285 9896 for bookings.

Men’s spirituality

New Times

9

Westbourne Park Uniting Church’s ‘roadhogs’ Most Saturday mornings several men from Westbourne Park Uniting Church meet at the church on their bikes and head off on a 40 to 50 kilometre ride.

The bike-riding stated about a year and a half ago when the men realised they were working too hard, were stressed and unfit and needed mates.

One of the so-called ‘roadhog’ founders Alan Waldron says the hogs initially started with just two men, but numbers quickly grew.

Now the group includes riders aged from their early 30s through to their mid 70s.

Moderator Rod Dyson is also part of the group when he has time.

The group was named the ‘roadhogs’ after the John Travolta / Tim Allen film the ‘Wildhogs’. “We didn’t think we quite lived up to the ‘wild’ bit on our bicycles,” said Alan.

“The first time we went on a 40 kilometre ride it nearly killed us, but now that’s

become a matter of course.

“Rides of more than 100 kilometres, such as trips to Victor Harbor, have become common amongst some members. We’ve all lost weight and are a lot fitter.

“We ride at the pace of the slowest member and constantly talk and catch up on the week.

Topics of discussion range from children, to finances and world events. Often we continue discussions started in Bible study groups.

“Even though the rides have spawned several other activities involving partners and families, the Saturday morning rides are strictly menonly!”

One offshoot of the rides was a men’s only four-wheeldrive trip to the Victorian High Country. One of the group who had just lost his job found the adventure the complete balm needed to de-stress and reenergise.

Next year the hogs are planning a trip with their families to Lake Cobbler, north of Mount Bulla in Victoria.

The Westbourne Park Uniting Church ‘roadhogs’ enjoy a coffee after a Saturday morning ride. Standing l to r: Ion ‘Gassie’ Gaskill, Bill ‘Captain Fairweather’ Shepherd, Mike ‘Captain Farraguts’ Flynn and Peter ‘Captain Columbus’ Farley. Seated l to r: Rob ‘Captain Flash’ Tonkin, Alan ‘Big Al’ Waldron, David ‘Vanman’Carver, George ‘Captain Crash’ Apollonio, and Tim ‘Tiny Tim’ Burrow.

Exploring male spirituality through song As for the music – it’s varied. But there are a lot of gospel-style songs, as well as songs with justice and love themes.

Their favourite song is a South African song ‘May en ziwe’ (Your will be done) which is sung in Zulu. Other

favourites are ‘Lord of the Dance’ and ‘You raise me up’.

It’s evident that for this all-male chorus, singing is definitely a religious experience. As one of them quips, singing “brushes the dust off the soul”.

Members of the Adelaide West Men’s Chorus with conductor and accompanist Meredith Dowdy.

Jill Freear The 19 members of the Adelaide West Men’s Chorus are convinced that their choir is the best thing that’s ever happened for men at Adelaide West Uniting Church. In fact they claim that music lifts them up and gives them a sense of touching the divine.

The chorus started two years ago with just a few members, but grew rapidly once word spread about the group.

While they sing about once a month in church, they see themselves mainly as an outreach choir – spreading

the Gospel to people outside the church.

They love touching people with music. They’re rewarded simply by seeing the change in people’s faces. Applause makes them feel like they are walking on air.

Conductor and accompanist Meredith Dowdy says the incredible thing is that more than half of the chorus initially felt that they couldn’t sing and weren’t musical.

“I really encouraged people with a yearning to give it a go; to come to practise and hang in and see,” said Meredith. “After a month or so

they really started to like it.

“Most of them don’t read music, but it is amazing what can happen through working together and mentoring each other.

“There are three African guys in the group. Music is such a natural dimension for them and this influences the others. They are very passionate about singing. It shows in the way they present themselves – they really enjoy themselves.

“Members of the group have also become very close and are very supportive of each other.”

OCTOBER 2008

10

MEN’S SPIRITUALITY

New Times

Poetry provides opportunity Book Review: for creative expression

Men: Firing through all of Life

THE EFFECTIVE LIVING Centre based at Christ Church holds a quarterly Poets Corner - hosting local poets who read their work and speak about their life story.

The Poets Corner also inspires church members to unleash their own creativity, exploring their spirituality and other subjects through poetry.

Christ Church member John Pfitzner explores the wonder of imperfection in the following poem.

Letting go The golf professional, giving me a lesson, remarks, ‘Golf’s not a game for perfectionists.’

Aggrieved, I reply, ‘I’m a professional perfectionist; I’m an editor.’

He watches me hit some balls and says, ‘We have to throw off the shackles.’

He gets me to loosen my grip and to let go through the swing, not trying so hard to do everything right.

I chortle with amazement as the 7-iron connects, and the ball, shot after shot, follows its long, high arc down the fairway.

The artist, taking us on a sketching excursion in the national park, emphasises, ‘Remember, we’re making marks on paper.

We’re not trying to reproduce what’s there.’

My eye is caught by a jumble of logs, parts of a gum tree cut down and dismembered, the sunshine causing sharp contrasts of shade and light.

I’m intrigued by how well the pen finds its way on the page, released from the need to get it right, not concerned to be exact,

having nothing to prove.

The artist, quietly encouraging, sees something here to build on.

‘Keep practising,’ he says, ‘and the line will come.’

We listen to the poet as she reads and talks about her work.

She finds her subject matter in everyday objects and experiences that attract and intrigue her.

She enjoys the search for language to embody what she sees.

For me she is demystifying this exacting art, making it less forbidding.

Something is released in me, and the next day I wonder if I can write a poem for Diana’s birthday.

I’m not trying to meet a standard.

What I’m looking for is authenticity, the words that only I know how to say.

The poem is ungainly, but it speaks truly.

I start to think of other themes I might begin to explore.

Where did it come from, this idea that unless it’s perfect it’s no good?

Perhaps it was meant to spur us on to greater efforts.

But what was the good of even trying if you couldn’t be sure of getting it right?

I’m getting gamer at having a go, and I’m learning to let go.

I’m learning that it doesn’t have to be exactly right – the golf shot, the sketch, the poem.

My life.

It doesn’t have to be perfect.

It only has to be true.

A WILL TO CARE The generosity and forethought of people who have made a Bequest (a gift in their Will) can help us enormously.

Al Stewart Blue Bottle Books: RRP $19.95

This is an easy-to-read book for men asking questions.

What is life all about? How did I get here? What do I do with the rest of my life? Where exactly did my 30’s or 40’s go?

Questions about marriage and family, jobs, success and failure, and God, are sometimes unexpected.

Al Stewart suggests that sometimes the wrong reactions to life’s questions can have disastrous results for our lives, and for the lives of others.

Men looking for answers or who want to fix something will find this book useful. Sections on ‘Midlife’, ‘the Good News’ and ‘The Search For Answers’ are based on Old Testament teaching from the Book of Ecclesiastes.

The book asks the big question about men’s mid-life - is it half full or half empty.

Section 3 talks about ‘God’s Plan for our Eternity’ and radical solutions that men need to undertake in their life’s walk.

Eternity is in each man’s heart. Faith in action is trust in their God.

“Where there’s a Will There’s a way” For more than 100 years UnitingCare Wesley Adelaide has found a way to provide practical assistance and support to South Australians who are isolated, lonely and depressed

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You can help by remembering us in your Will

Contact: UnitingCare Wesley Adelaide Inc. 10 Pitt St., Adelaide SA 5000 GPO Box 2534 Adelaide SA 5001 Ph (08) 8202 5177 www.ucwesleyadelaide.org.au

OCTOBER 2008

Bishop Stewart taps a number of exciting prospects in learning to live by trust in God: • Joy and gratitude, not life crushing rules.

• Freedom from looking sideways all the time.

• Freedom from worry about the future.

A book for Aussie men, written by an Aussie who is not afraid to open up about changes as men age, and who knows mid-life is the “half full glass” for your eternity. A Joy to read.

- John D. Hoens, Pine Rivers Uniting Church, Queensland.

Reprinted from ‘Journey’.

Book Review:

‘Reveal: Where are you?’

Greg L Hawkins and Cally Parkinson Willow Creek; RRP $19.95

Whether you’re a fan of Willow Creek or not, ‘Reveal’ is interesting. The book questions the effectiveness of evaluating a church’s success by measuring “bums on seats” and participation in programs. It’s based on extensive research on why people leave the church, undertaken by the Willow Creek Community Church in the US. The research showed that increasing participation doesn’t necessarily equate to spiritual growth. Instead they have defined a “spiritual continuum” and explore what helps and hinders spiritual growth. The book suggests the things that are important in people’s faith journeys may be unexpected.

The research showed that 25 percent of members felt that their spiritual journey had stalled or were dissatisfied with what the church was offering.

They warn that too often churches operate on a “one size fits all” model, rather than recognising that everyone is at a different point in their faith journey.

Perhaps the best aspect of the book is the final “So what can you do now” chapter. It offers some simple and specific steps to ensure your church is focusing on helping people deepen their relationship with God rather than simply on participating in church activities.

- Shannon Short

NEWS

New Times

11

New season for foundation support and feedback regarding the grant process.

While the downturn in the share market and tougher economic times has meant fewer funds have been available, the board believes that many funding opportunities still exist for innovative and creative mission-orientated projects aligned with the church’s Strategic Plan.

“We don’t have the same funds that we had 12 months ago,” said Phil. “But having said that, we are still receiving applications and making allocations at each of our meetings.

Last month the board provisionally approved three grant applications. Next year’s ‘Big Year Out’ program has been granted $34,950; up to $60,000 has been granted to the Journey congregation at Elizabeth Downs for ministry with children, youth and young families; and an outreach worker position at Athelstone Uniting Church has been approved in principle, with funding of up to $115,000 over three years.

The Uniting Foundation Board, from back left: Mark Morelli, Barry Atwell, John Munchenberg and Ian Price; from front left: Graham Humphris, Annette Atwell, Valerie Williams (manager), Kate White, Donald Sarre, and chairperson Phil Pynor in the foreground.

Funding for ‘Mal-function’

An innovative week-long festival of events planned by Malvern and Unley Uniting Church has been given funding support from the Uniting Foundation.

The Christian outreach festival, called ‘Malfunction’ will be held from March 22 – 28 next year.

The festival aims to connect the church with people of all ages, interests and backgrounds.

Events planned so far include community prayers, free dinners with entertainment and a speaker, BBQs outside local pubs and outdoor

New city congregation

A new Uniting Church community, designed for young adults, has opened in central Adelaide.

CitySoul was officially launched at the end of August.

The new congregation, with 40 founding members, meets on Wednesday nights in Waymouth Street, above the ‘Underground’, a venue for Christian rock bands.

The church’s ministry team includes Tim Hein as lead pastor and Nathan Vawser as mission activator.

Tim believes the new church will help more South Australians, particularly university students and central city residents, to connect with Jesus. “every day I meet young people who want to do more than just listen,” said Tim. “They actually want to live and embody the cause of God in their life.”

CitySoul has been established with funding of $197,000 from the Uniting Foundation.

cinemas. The week will culminate in a Saturday street festival with choir competitions, Christian celebrities and climbing walls at the front of Malvern Church.

Minister Rev Jonathan Davies and youth pastor Benji Callen say they are planning an event that will live long in the memories of the Unley community.

The Uniting Foundation Board has approved initial funding of $25,000 for the project. If it’s a success a further $25,000 will be granted so that ‘Mal-function’ can be repeated in 2011.

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In the past few months a number of strategic changes have been implemented to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Uniting Foundation.

New by-laws have simplified the application process and improved the Uniting Foundation Board’s ability to respond to missional initiatives.

Board chairperson, Rev Phil Pynor said the previous application process was complicated, but the new streamlined process is far simpler and more transparent.

“The board will be sticking to the new application process with rigor and diligence in order to preserve the integrity of the new process.”

A change in the composition of the board has also added greater experience and diversity.

“The board is outstanding - we have lay and ordained members with the right mix of skills and a good understanding of church culture,” said Phil.

In addition the Uniting Foundation’s new manager Valerie Williams is able to provide congregations with

& ask for Gayle OCTOBER 2008

12

MAGAZINE

New Times

Sudanese feel at home in UCA Meera Atkinson Several hundred Sudanese people have found refuge and a home-place for worship and support in Uniting Churches throughout Adelaide.

That’s despite the fact that neither the Uniting Church nor its preceding denominations have been the denominational “home-place” in the Sudan.

So for many Sudanese people in Adelaide, their new geographical home has led to a new spiritual home.

The Uniting Church’s national director of Multicultural and Cross-cultural ministry, Rev Tony Floyd says the Sudanese people’s experiences in their homeland contrast sharply with what they’ve experienced in Australia.

“Their personal stories are beyond imagining,” said Tony.

“The forced wanderings, deaths, uncertainties, camps, terrors and dislocation.

“They’ve also shared stories about life in Australia. The warmth of welcomes and frustrations, the unfamiliar and impossibly complex bureaucracies.”

One Sudanese man told Tony that he finally has a home in Australia, for the first time in more than 20 years.

Another has asked if the Uniting Church could start congregations in the Sudan to show Sudanese churches how to live in complex, difficult and unjust situations.

The Sudanese have also spoken enthusiastically about Adelaide individuals and faith communities.

“They spoke with excitement and amazement about complete strangers who welcome them into their own homes, sharing meals and conversation,” said Tony.

“They speak of people who give time and energy to figure out the complex paperwork, sitting with them again and again as they deal with inadequate housing situations, unfamiliar language and culture, and the strangeness of electronic banking and social welfare.”

The members of the large and growing Sudanese communities in Adelaide are clear that these personal relationships and small groups within Uniting Church congregations are having a profound effect.

There is no large program or complex strategic plan in action here, rather it is an organic grassroots swelling brought about by members responding faithfully to human need.

Church members like Wendy Sinnott and Pat Thomas of Modbury Uniting Church are working closely with many Sudanese families.

“One is struck by their powerful commitment to something that is so big it almost doesn’t bear thinking about,” said Tony.

Modbury Uniting Church members Pat Thomas with Rebekah and her son Thomas.

South Korean partners visit SA

ELEVEN MEMBERS of our partner church in South Korea were in South Australia for a six day whirl-wind tour last month.

The Korean visitors included the moderators of the two Korean Presbyteries, Iksan and Gunsan, to which South Australia relates, and a General Secretary. They were accompanied by ministers, deacons and an evangelist, also from the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK).

The PROK church partnership was originally established with the former Mount Lofty Members of our partner church from the Presbyterian Church in Presbytery. However that South Korea visited South Australia for six days last month. partnership has since been taken up by the Presbytery of Cleland Conservation Park, Parkin Wesley College, the South Australia. A three year Mount Lofty Summit, the THE SALVATION ARMY has launched a campaign highlighting Corner Uniting Church and the Memorandum of Understanding the fact that suicide prevention is everybody’s business. Statistics Barossa Valley and the Lower Korean Uniting Church at St was signed between the partners show one Australian life is lost to suicide every five hours and that Lakes.

Morris. in South Korea last year.

1,800 Australians took their lives last year.

A reciprocal visit to South The visitors also took The Koreans’ tour included a As part of the ‘Hope for Life’ campaign the Salvos have Korean by members of the meeting with SA Moderator Rev time out to enjoy some launched an online training program called ‘Living Hope’. The Uniting Church SA is planned South Australian highlights, Rod Dyson, visits to the UAICC program is aimed at clergy, chaplains and others who support for next year. including the Central Market, at Salisbury and Kalparrin, people bereaved by suicide. More information is available by calling 02 8736 3240 or online at: www.suicideprevention.salvos. org.au.

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OCTOBER 2008

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MAGAZINE

New Times

13

Huge year for ‘BYO’ youth Being chased by the tailend of a typhoon is one of the highlights of the year so far for the five participants on the inaugural ‘Big Year Out’ program.

The year-long program in Christian living and service is being offered by Parkin Wesley College.

The participants recently returned from a mission exposure trip to the Philippines where they had the close encounter with the typhoon.

Other highlights of the trip included the hospitality offered by members of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, visiting Smokey Mountain II – a Manila rubbish dump, and visiting a pastor in jail.

Grace Mitchell from Rosefield Uniting Church said it was interesting to experience hospitality.

“We came across poor shanty towns with buildings with cracking paint,” said Grace.

“That contrasted sharply with the warm hand-shakes, genuine smiles and piles of food we were offered. Giving food is a way of honouring people; and we were honoured because we were God’s people.

“We tried squid, seaweed, coconut milk from the husk and ten different types of banana.”

Sharnie Pattinson from

Nairne Uniting Church was inspired by the work of a Filipino pastor who has been jailed for more than a year without just cause.

“Pastor Berlin wants to go home,” said Sharnie, “but he knows he’s in prison to do God’s work and to help others grow their faith. It’s amazing what he’s doing and inspirational to see the choir.”

For Ellen Mitchell it was the visit to Smokey Mountain II that left a lasting impression.

“It’s a wasteland of rubbish that a number of families live on,” said Ellen. “A significant moment for me was when an old man on the ground, tried to reach out to us.

“I went over and talked to him and asked if I could take his photo. That man deserved to be recognised by me, as God would recognise him.”

Dave Maschmedt from Aberfoyle Uniting Church was struck by the importance of freedom.

“One of the Filipino pastors told me that because he has been set free by Jesus he won’t be held back by the government or corrupt laws,” said Dave.

“The concept of being set free by Jesus in everyday life has been haunting me ever since. That pastor was happy to stand up for the people, even if

Parkin Wesley College’s ‘Big Year Out’ participants from back left, Peter Grant, Dave Maschmedt, Ellen Mitchell, Sharnie Pattinson and Grace Mitchell. it meant being an enemy of the in South Australia. relationships with people with State.” mental illness and physical Between them they have and intellectual disabilities, interacted with a Sudanese Peter Grant, from Ascot and experienced ministry with playgroup at Maughan Community Church was Aboriginal people.

Church; visited and forged stunned by the government’s ability to silence people.

“I was shocked to hear about a young mother who helped others with breast-feeding,” If you would like to hear more about plans for the Big Year said Peter. “She was warned Out next year, several information events have been organised. not to and was eventually Big Year Out Breakfast event: October 8 at 7.30am at Najjar’s dragged off to prison.

Café, 21 O’Connell St, North Adelaide. A free breakfast for ministers and leaders working with young adults. RSVP to: “People can be gunned Nicola Shaw on 8416 8427 or email: nichola.shaw@flinders. down in the Philippines edu.au without warning. There is Big Year Out Information evening: October 21 from 7.30pm an overwhelming sense of to 9pm at Parkin-Wesley College’s Commonspace. For young hopelessness, yet the people’s adults, parents, ministers and leaders. RSVP to Nicola Shaw. spirit and passion is not Big Year Out cuppa and chat: Short information sessions quenched by this.” designed for ministers and youth leaders will be organised in The young people have also suburban locations. Contact Nichola Shaw for details or visit: had a number of interesting http://thebigyearout.com experiences within the church

Big Year Out 2009

Extending the hymn writing tradition It’s an unusual, but highly productive creative partnership.

For the past ten years Uniting Church minister Don Bell and microbiologist musician Maarten Ryder have been working together writing new traditional hymns for today’s churches.

Don writes the lyrics and Maarten composes the music.

Together they are seeking to further a tradition that they fear is in danger of getting lost.

So far the inspired duo has written 35 hymns and more are mulling around in the creative juices.

Most of the hymns are suitable for general use, but some are also for particular days and seasons of the church

year, such as Advent, Easter, Baptism and Communion.

Don describes the songs as a serious attempt to extend the hymn writing tradition. A friend once described them as word-music icons. He says this is a fitting metaphor, as icons are religious works of art, which are for contemplation and worship, and are miniatures requiring tight restraint and discipline.

“The main thing is that the tune works well and that the words have density. Hymns need to be full of substance and able to grow on people,” says Don. Some of the hymns have been trialed at various churches around Adelaide,

as well as the Stillpoint Faith community. Don and Maarten are keen for them to be put to use in the wider church.

So far about half of the 35 hymns have been posted online at www.newtraditionalhymns. com. Each hymn is provided with a melody line and text for singers, as well a full accompaniment for keyboard, which can be downloaded.

For those who want to hear the music, a file may be downloaded so the melody line can be played on a computer.

On the website there is also a foreword by Graham Tulloch, Professor of English at Flinders University. Graham supervised Don’s postgraduate studies on the language of worship, which led to the hymn writing.

Rev Don Bell and Maarten Ryder have produced a collection of new traditional hymns which they hope will be used by the church at large.

OCTOBER 2008

14

MAGAZINE

THE WAY So Rev John Minchin does not believe Jesus entirely when he said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6. (August ‘New Times’).

How then does he view Easter?

Are the main events portrayed in Easter, God’s plan A. B. C. for the salvation of the world?

What about Peter’s Spiritfilled statement in Acts 4:12?

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name (Jesus) under heaven by which we must be saved.”

Would it be truthful to say that the core belief of the Christian church universal is that salvation from sin and the hope of bodily resurrection to everlasting life in God’s Kingdom, from the human stand point, is conditioned solely on faith in Jesus Christ? YES or NO? Don Hancock Bute THE WAY An article in the August ‘New Times’ raised the question of how those involved in interfaith dialogue can understand John 14:6 in a non-divisive way. If we are to understand this saying in context, we should remember that Jesus’ contemporaries knew God as Jehovah, Holy and Great.

When they came to God they did not come to God as their Father.

Likewise when Muslims come to God, they come to Him as Allah, Holy and Great, but not as their Father. Those who know God as their Father, recognise that this revelation has come through the ‘Son’- ‘the only one who came down from Heaven’.

As Christians may we celebrate all heart knowledge of God, no matter how incomplete or imperfect - that heart knowledge of God, which despite denials or imperfect head knowledge, results in goodness and love. Let us also take seriously that most telling of all measures of real knowledge of the Father: that we must genuinely love our enemies and so become ‘perfect’ (Matt 5:48) and mature children of our Father in heaven (Matt 5:44).

John Wallace Port Augusta UCA

New Times BILL OF RIGHTS A Bill of Rights, or charter of human rights as mentioned in the September 2008 New Times, does not protect or guarantee our freedoms and/or rights.

However vaguely worded, such a document is prescriptive and therefore becomes restrictive.

Parliaments make laws: courts (judges) interpret those laws.

Judges may, and sometimes do, interpret them in quite different ways from that which the lawmakers intended.

A little bit of research will confirm these two statements.

Trying to overcome a judgment by making additional laws, or amending laws, is a path to a police state.

I came across an article on various influences, including that of the judiciary, in moulding the moral environment of democracies, which is illuminating. I can copy it for anyone interested in reading it.

I am opposed to a charter of human rights for a number of reasons, including those mentioned here. However well intentioned, such a charter (or bill) inevitably reduces our freedoms.

Daphne Freeman Port Lincoln THE LAST CONGREGATIONALISTS I am about to begin a research project, making a written record of the church memories of former Congregationalists who still hold spiritual beliefs. If you would like to share your memories of Congregationalism with me, please contact me on (03) 9815 1938 or email: gryou2@netspace. net.au. While I am based in Victoria, participants may take part either by sending short, specific pieces of writing about their Congregational memories or by answering a set of questions designed to trigger responses about areas of Congregational experience.

Gwynith Young Hawthorn VIC

About your letters Please keep your letters short — about 150 words is ideal.

Longer letters will be cut or rejected.

You’re welcome to email letters to newtimes@sa.uca.org.au or they can be posted to us at GPO Box 2145, Adelaide 5001

“I am doing up my old bathroom. The taps are still good but the powdercoating is chipped. Can I get them re done or even chrome plated to match the rest of my new bathroom?” A. P. Unley.

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OCTOBER 2008

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Book Review:

The Word of God Upon My Lips: A Messenger Speaks Michael Hitt Council Oak Books LLC: RRP $37.95

‘The Word of God Upon My Lips’ is the spiritual journey of a post-modern liberal American English professor and his encounters with spiritual guides.

The book describes how Michael Hitt was possessed by a demonic spirit and, on a different occasion, possessed by the spirit of a deceased person.

Experiences he found most disconcerting.

Through a fusion of Christian, Buddhist, Native American and Jewish Kabbalah spiritualities he encounters a maggid, a “Messenger of the Holy”. Hitt maintains that he is not “possessed” but feels “ a deep merging with the Spirit of God in body, soul and mind”.

Although warned by his mother (who used to channel spirits herself) Hitt has been encouraged by his wife, a United Methodist minister.

Together they run a prayer meeting in which his wife and others have long q and a sessions with “the Messenger”.

These sessions have been recorded and a number of “prophecies” are transcribed for the reader. Thus they claim there are many ways to God (not just through Jesus Christ).

Those who adhere to traditional Christianity will disagree with virtually everything in this book.

However as an evangelical, I found it interesting as it illustrated some worrying trends.

- Peter Harbison

Mission book wins top award THE AUSTRALIAN CHRISTIAN Book of the Year in 2008 is ‘God Next Door: Spirituality and Mission in the Neighbourhood’ by Simon Carey Holt, published by Acorn Press in Melbourne.

‘God Next Door’ focuses on Jesus’ command to “love your neighbour as yourself” and explains how living Jesus’ words will transform neighbourhoods.

The Australian Christian Book award judges said the publication was a timely and necessary challenge to all Australian Christians who are busy “doing church” and to churches where a programfocus may have inadvertently dulled ideas of mission.

Holt shares practical wisdom on “how to” engage neighbours and neighbourhoods. The judges said he demonstrates the value of reclaiming the neighbourhood, in an era in which we retreat into homes with large TVs and small front yards. (See book review below).

Second prize went to ‘My Seventh Monsoon’ a contemporary Australian missionary biography by Nepal based Melbourne writer Naomi Reed, published by Ark House Press, Sydney.

The book which won third prize was ‘666 and all that: the Truth About the Future’, by John Dickson and Greg Clarke, published by Aquila Press, Sydney.

The Australian Theological Writers Award was won by Graham Cole for ‘He Who Gives Life: The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit’.

Book Review:

‘God Next Door: Spirituality and Mission in the Neighbourhood Simon Carey Holt Published by Acorn Press: RRP $24.75

Simon Holt teaches in spirituality and practical theology at Whitley College in Melbourne, and I suspect that this small but wellwritten, refreshing and elegantly produced book is the outworking of his own experience and reflection about living and connecting as a neighbour.

Holt’s thesis is that we have allowed our understanding of neighbour and neighbourhood to become too broad. He argues that neighbourhood as a place is in danger of being superseded by personal and scattered networks and that community is being destroyed by “a souldeadening placelessness”.

Helpfully, he identifies a

range of factors in modern neighbourhood life that work against any experience of community. His plea is that as the people of God we might recapture a sense of neighbour and neighbourhood that literally includes the people next door, up the road and in the apartment above. He argues that it’s this neighbourhood that is important to being human, important to the way God is encountered and important to the identity and mission of the church.

Neighbourhood – literally – is a place of the Spirit and in the third part of the book Holt suggests a number of creative and practical ways that we might co-operate and join with the Spirit who is at work in mission within our neighbourhoods.

This book is a timely call.

It’s a call to be fully present where we are, proclaiming and embodying the good news of Jesus in our most immediate context. It’s a call to model the God who took on flesh and blood and who moved into the neighbourhood – “the God enfleshed in our most mundane surroundings, forever sanctifying them as sacred”.

- Alan Dutton

Christian Pilgrimage Opportunity Israel – Italy- Germany -0berammergau May 2010 Escorted by Rev Ken Anderson An opportunity to see the sights, reflect on Biblical and History in the company of other Christians.

Experience the famous Passion Play- held every 10 years as a culmination to the 18 Day Pilgrimage.

Information Presentation Dernancourt Uniting Church, Thursday October 9, 7.30pm.

Information from www.pilgrimage.com.au Rev Ken Anderson 0438 204 386 or ken@missiontravel.com.au Pilgrimage Travel Tours 1300 554 654

15 MAGAZINE

New Times Rev Ken Anderson is leading a Christian Pilgrimage through the Holylands and Oberammergau for 18 days in May 2010 and also a “Footsteps of St Paul” experience through Greece and Turkey in September 2009. An information evening will be held at Dernancourt Uniting Church on October 9 at 7.30pm; or contact Ken on 0438 204 386 or email: ken@ willowcreek.org.au.

Moderator Rev Rod Dyson will open Dernancourt Uniting Church’s Intergenerational Courtyard immediately before the congregation’s annual fete and auction at 8.45am on Saturday October 18. Enquiries to 8369 0802.

All the worship services at NCYC09 will focus on water.

Film makers are asked to create short (three minute) digital movies of water sources. More information is at http://ncyc. org.au/get-involved/artistsfilmmakers/. Deadline October 30.

Broadview Uniting Church will hold their annual Spring fair on Saturday November 1 from 8.30am 12.30pm, (cnr Galway and Collingrove Aves, Broadview); stalls, sausage sizzle and Devonshire morning teas.

The Salvation Army Companion Club is holding a ‘Pleasant Sunday Afternoon’ on November 9 at 2.30pm at 55 George Street, Norwood.

Enquiries to 8431 7260.

Would your congregation like to help ex-prisoners reintegrate into society? On Saturday October 25 Tabor College is holding a day-long ‘Caring for Ex-Offenders’ program, which aims to help Christian prisoners connect with mission focused, welcoming churches. To register contact Geoff Strelan on 8295 6970 or email: gstrelan@adam. com.au.

For more Uniting Church events, visit Uniting Church online www.sa.uca.org.au and click on “What’s On”. There is an online form which you can fill out to contribute notices to Notebook.

The annual luncheon for spouses and partners of ministers will be held on Friday October 17 at the Church of the Trinity, 318 Goodwood Road, Clarence Park at 12 noon.

Bring a plate; the theme is ‘What about blue!’ Enquiries to Lesley Catford on 8332 9796 or Helen Blanksby 8351 5770.

Adelaide West Uniting Church is holding a Spring Community Fair on Saturday October 18 from 9am til 3pm. There will be stalls, a pancake breakfast, hot food, entertainment and activities for children and youth at 312 Sir Donald Bradman Drive, Brooklyn Park, ph 8234 1199.

A ‘Bridging the Gap’ workshop for people in local churches to discover skills to engage cross-culturally with their neighbours will be held on Saturday October 18, from 9.30 am - 4.00 pm at Rostrevor Baptist Church, 288 Montacute Rd, Rostrevor. Cost $20.

Enquiries to Wendy on 8371 0811 or wendyr@sa.su.org.au.

Uniting Foundation manager Valerie Williams is available to speak to congregations and church groups about the Uniting Foundation’s work. Contact Valerie at vwilliams@sa.uca. org.au or 8236 4234.

An art exhibition highlighting the plight of the Murray River will open at the Corner Uniting Church (corner of Diagonal and Oaklands Roads, Warradale) on Sunday October 5 at noon.

The exhibition ends on Friday October 31. Opening times Tuesdays to Fridays from 10am to 3.30pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 1pm to 3.30pm.

The café will also be open.

Scots Church is hosting a project called ‘Wired Church’ which will provide a knowledge/ideas base for churches as they deal with IT issues. Visit: http://scotschurch. org and look under the ‘Wired Church’ heading.

Yorketown Uniting Church is celebrating 100 years of worship and witness to the community with a pooled tea on Sunday October 26 at 6pm, followed by a hymnal service at 7pm. Enquiries to 8852 1630.

Youth & young adults ministry (part-time) Do you have a passion for working with young adults and youth in the north east of Adelaide?

Do you enjoy multiplying small groups to reach new people?

Are you a catalyst for growing fresh expression of church?

Can you invest in others to develop their leadership ability?

Tea Tree Gully Uniting Church is calling for ‘expressions of interest’ in our youth and young adult ministry position.

Ring or e-mail for a copy of the job description and youth ministry plan.

Tea Tree Gully Uniting Church is an innovative evangelical congregation with a mission to the City of Tea Tree Gully and beyond. www.ttguc.org.au

office@ttguc.org.au

ph 08 8396 3252

Geranium Uniting Church celebrates 100 years on November 1 and 2. Celebrations include the Geranium Strawberry Fete on November 1 at 7.30pm at the primary school; a centenary service on November 2 at 10am (Rev Frank Tuppin to preach); followed by a cuppa, memorabilia display and lunch.

Enquiries and accommodation requests to Rod Brown on 8577 4033 or email:strathwood@ internode.on.net.

Writing for ‘New Times’

A ‘Peace on Earth’ concert will be held next month to mark the 50th anniversary of the beginning of Pope John XXIII’s papacy and his contribution to ecumenism. Archbishop Philip Wilson will be the speaker.

Proceeds to the Christmas Bowl Appeal. $20/$5. Concert on Sunday November 2 at 2.30pm at St Patrick’s, Grote Street.

Enquiries to joancb@adam. com.au or Doris Henderson on 0409 671 031.

Would you like to know how to write stories and take photographs that are suitable for publication in New Times?

Ministry moves Exit student Matthew Bond has taken up .7 position with the newly formed Adelaide East Uniting Church and will be inducted on November 21 at 6pm at Kensington Park Uniting Church; Grant Jewell will start a .7 placement at Adelaide Plains from January next year; Rev Ross Honey will be inducted at Noarlunga on October 19, Rev Peter Morel was inducted as the St Andrews Hospital chaplain on September 30, Rev Tony Goodluck will be inducted at Modbury Uniting Church on November 16 at 2pm.

Amandus: Lutheran Disability Services “To include people with a disability in Christian Community”

Team Leader- Supported Accommodation Are you interested in working in a nurturing Christian environment to lead a team of dedicated staff to support adults with a disability to live independent and fulfilled lives?

Amandus is seeking to employ a person who desires to use their well developed leadership skills to have an impact on this quality organization.

An attractive remuneration package available (DSA 5 + salary packaging) To receive a copy of the Position Description, or to make a confidential enquiry, please phone or email. Applications must include a copy of your current CV and the details of two Referees.

1 Edmund Avenue Unley SA 5061 Ph: 8271 0272 admin@amandus.org.au.

Applications must be received by 5pm on Friday 31st October

Job Title: Part – Time Pastor Description: Part time Pastor (20 hours per week), needed for Salisbury East Church of Christ. The mission-oriented congregation of approximately 80 meet every Sunday morning for Worship and Sunday school.

Requirement: We seek a Pastor who is a mature Christian with strong leadership and preaching skills. The person must be able to inspire people to discover their gifts and talents, and to model and encourage a ministry of discipleship. In conjunction with the Elders and Deacons That person will be required to assist in planning and leading worship services, providing pastoral care, and participating in other activities as directed by the Board.

Salary: Recommended by Churches of Christ in SA & NT (Approx. $25,000 P.A.) For Job Specifications please apply to: Mr Kevin Dyer PO Box 35 SALISBURY SA 5108 Phone: 8258 4570 Or email robertbell7@bigpond.com.au

A free workshop will be held during the upcoming Presbytery Synod meeting.

Phone Jill Freear on 8236 4230 for details and bookings.

Work Wanted CARPETS LAID. Expert repairs. 0417 872 105 or 8344 4725.

EXPERIENCED HANDYMAN Household repairs and maintenance. “Your spare pair of hands.” Phone 8346 0933.

Accommodation Holiday accommodation. Baptist Camp Halls Gap. Located in the heart of The Grampians National Park. Church and Family Groups welcome. Bookings: www.baptistcamp.info or David: 0439 001 547.

BROADVIEW UNITING CHURCH Is seeking to fill the position of

DIRECTOR OF MUSIC MINISTRY This is a permanent part time appointment (0.4 FTE) The Director of Music Ministry (DoMM) will be responsible for the music during the Sunday Worship Service and other church events, through performance and organization.

Start date 1 December, 2008 Job and Person Specification available from: Dr Margaret Arstall 0418 823 163 Margaret.Arstall@nwahs.sa.gov.au Rev Rebecca Purling 8342 1583 mareb@picknowl.com.au Applications close 31 October, 2008

NONCONFORMIST MINISTER The North Adelaide Baptist Church, a traditional, open, city fellowship of over 70 members and adherents offers dignified, sincere worship with hymns, a choir and one of the best pipe organs in Adelaide. www.nabc.org.au The Church is seeking a progressive but mainstream ordained Minister.

Enquiries by phone, email or mail to: The Moderator 8332 4355 roger.monk@unisa.edu.au P.O. Box 84, Magill, S.A. 5072 OCTOBER 2008

16

MAGAZINE

New Times

Tuvalu threatened by climate change Kim Cain Communications director Synod of Victoria and Tasmania Tuvalu is drowning. It’s due to climate change. This nation, the world’s smallest, is made up of nine low-lying islands north of Fiji. The highest point is a mere 1.5 metres above sea level.

Tuvalu has a tiny economy; the average annual income is about A$400 per year. It has a population of about 12,000 with as many as 3,000 living and working overseas.

Slowly, but surely, Tuvalu is being swamped by the relentless waves of the Pacific Ocean.

Tuvaluans know it, but they don’t accept that sinking is their ultimate fate.

Leaders of Government, opposition, church, and town council all want the world to join them in saving their nation, and in doing so, save the world itself from the worst effects of climate change.

“Don’t give up on us” is the simple plea of the head of the Christian Church of Tuvalu, (EKT).

Rev Tofina Falani, the church’s president, says his country is “on the frontline of climate change, and the evidence is before our eyes.

“We may be small - a peanut to a rich nation – but I am so thankful for God who gave us these small islands to call out home.

“Words can’t explain it, but I am so thankful for this twenty six square miles and I don’t want to be forced to leave this place.”

But Falani acknowledges the problems his country has: big tides, coastal erosion, salty pools and ponds and “swimming holes that were once clear waters where you could see the bottom that are now made up of low, dark salty water.”

Tuvalu’s Environment minister, Tavau Teii, says his nation and the world thought they had 50 years to save Tuvalu, but recent research indicates they now have only 30.

The situation is dire. Walk along the northern reaches of Funafuti Island – the main atoll in the Tuvalu group, and the evidence is OCTOBER 2008

clear. Large coconut trees have been washed into the lagoon – not by waves but by tides. A strand of a dozen more trees awaits their fate.

Tuvalu has a rising salty water table due to rising tides, this causes sanitation problems, which in turn affects sewage, and this is impacting on the reef around which the whole lagoon exists.

EKT general secretary, Rev Dr Kitionia Tausi, says the time for discussion has passed.

“Enough talking. We all know the sea is rising. It is time to reclaim Tuvalu.

“Why can’t we raise Tuvalu up?” he asks. “It is only 26 square miles, and that is counting all the islands!

“With international help, we could raise Tuvalu, build sea walls to protect us from the tidal surges and increase the prosperity of our people.”

Where will these Tuvaluan children call home in the future, if the world doesn’t act now to stop the nine coral atolls in the Tuvaluan group from being swamped by sea water?

He cites the example of Japan building a whole airport on an artificial island.

Other Tuvuan leaders are not pinning their hopes on the world coming to their rescue. Opposition leader and former Prime Minister, Matia Toafu, says Tuvalu can offer to contribute to a solution by helping in carbon emissions trading schemes.

Even though Tuvalu hardly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions he says his country should examine if parts of the ocean or sea bed in their own backyard could be used for carbon storage.

All the island’s leaders know they must convince the world that Tuvalu is worth saving.

Funafuti Island, the main island in the Tuvalu group, is very low and narrow and highly susceptible to king tides caused by climate change.

language somewhere else, and see my Tuvaluan friends and family elsewhere, I want to be in Tuvalu. Not someone else’s land, but in these little atolls the land God gave us.”

The main island in Tuvalu is just meters wide where the road passes between the ocean waters on the left and the atoll’s lagoon on the right.

There are some big shoes to fill in the Outback

Kelesoma Saloa, the Prime Minister’s secretary, says,” we are putting before the world the question: “Is it still possible for Tuvalu to exist on the face of the earth?”

“We are asking the global community to give us that chance.”

The government is working through international forums – especially at the United Nations and through regional councils with powers like Australia.

There is the hope that the world might be saved, through saving Tuvalu.

EKT president Rev Tofina Falani says “this is our land; we call it ‘fennua’- our home.

We love Tuvalu. While I can eat Tuvaluan food in another country, speak the Tuvaluan

I

n Australia’s Outback, the need for Ministry is as great as the vast and varied landscapes.

Frontier Services would like to hear from Ministers and Deacons who might be interested in becoming a Patrol Minister. Our 22 Ministers travel thousands of kilometres each year acting as friends and spiritual guides to people on remote properties, mine sites and Aboriginal communities.

Vacancies occur regularly as Ministers move on and our service expands.

Right now we have a vacancy for a Patrol Minister in WA’s East Kimberley region based out of Kununurra.

To find out more about Patrol Ministry, or about the current vacancy, contact the Rev David Thiem on (02) 8270 1322 or david.t@frontierservices.org.