That was the year that was

I am a little unsure about the likelihood of any blogging for the next week or so; so I am thinking to make this my final contribution for 2008. Do I hear the sound of muffled cheers bounding through cyber space??

So, let’s make this a year in review type missive. Some things change and some things seem to remain the same. This time last year I was knee deep in property type things and this year I am just as knee deep but the consistency of that which I am wading through seems thicker and darker. This too shall pass!?

Some highlights of the year? Without doubt for me, a major one was our Easter Sunday / Holy Communion celebration. Six of our young people spent several weeks with Kath and I looking at the why, what and how of Holy Communion and then together shared in the Easter Day celebration. It was a very significant time for them and also for us as a church community. Yes, we are offering the same opportunity in 2009 and we appear to have good interest already.

Several new people have joined us during the year and it has been exciting and encouraging to see them contributing to the life of our faith community. Many people this year have put their hand up to be more involved in our many and varied ministries and this has made a huge difference to our effectiveness and given other leaders wonderful support.

Most of our key events went through some changes and in all cases it seems that those adjustments worked out well. Going back as far as Christmas Eve last year, to ANZAC Day, the Women’s Conference and Melbourne Cup all had their challenges and all came through strongly.

Our experiment with the Aberdoon House Coffee shop ended in the first half of the year much to the relief of my wife! The exercise was worthwhile but showed up the difficulty of running anything in this area on a volunteer basis.

The end of 2008 and throughout 2009 seems to have been a year of shaking. Significant people – some foundation members – have left us during the year and I have felt this loss very deeply. However, I remain convinced that we are called to establish a new congregation in this region that is culturally and contextually relevant to the people that we serve. Having this vision endorsed by the support of our leadership team and indeed by the great encouragement of so many of you has carried me through one of the most difficult times of my ministry.

Any living community will go through constant change and we are very much alive and very much in transit!

Of course a major highlight for me this year has been my ordination in October. When I began the journey somewhat reluctantly back in May 2007, I could not have imagined what a great trip it would be. During the journey I was lead to reflect very deeply on what and why I believed the things that I was committed to. Key relationships deepened during this time and my faith was greatly strengthened. The wonderful bonus for me was the Ordination service itself where I felt the awesome support of my local congregation along with people who have journeyed with me for a long time. It was a day that I will never forget and all of you were an important part of it. Thank you.

On the personal front Veronica and John have had a very significant year. We chalked up two significant zeros, had a marvellous Asian adventure and a couple of months back were presented with our fifth grand child! No wonder we are a little tired at the end of it all!?

Blessings for Christmas - John

Oran Park theology

T’was 15 days before Christmas and all through the North West, not a soul was stirring, because they were all at the shops! Well .. something like that.

Last Saturday I enjoyed a bloke’s day out at Oran Park with the resident Rev Heads of our congregation. It was good to simply enjoy spending several hours doing not much and having my ear drums punctured at the same time!

I work on the strange theory that we are all created in the image of God and therefore all of us – yes, even those of you who don’t believe in this guff - and everything that we do is spiritual in nature. Yes, even watching cars go round a track can say something to me about faith and God.

You know, I can cope with this car racing thing when they start off. It’s easy enough really; the one in front is winning. But then they have pit stops and the one in front is not actually winning at all. As a matter of fact the guy at the back could be in front! This inevitably leads to Pastor John turning to Andrew M and plaintively asking – at a moment when traffic is at such a low ebb that you can hear yourself speak – ‘So who’s in front?’ Life is a little like that. Sometimes the person who appears to be in front isn’t doing nearly as well as we might think.

For those of you who might get intimidated by the front runners, I invite you to relax; a pit stop might not be far off. Just keep on circulating long enough and pure attrition will get you near the lead. A funny thing is that when you do get to the front it is not that much fun after all. It is quite lonely out in front and before you know it, everyone is trying to knock you off!

Speaking of noise! Did I mention that it was noisy at Oran Park last week? It gets very noisy at this time of the year doesn’t it? I only have to sneeze at our place nowadays and a stupid furry reindeer starts singing – at least I think it is singing – ‘Santa Claus is coming to town’. It is only that the dear (excuse the pun) thing is owned by she who must be obeyed that it hasn’t landed on Mile End Road by now.

So much noise and if we are not careful we will miss the miracle. It must have been noisy for those shepherds long ago with choirs of angels dropping in on them. Maybe it needed something like that to get their attention? The sheep were probably baaing away and maybe the shepherds were yelling at each other over the noise of sheep and a crackling camp fire? So much noise. That is why the season of Advent is so important to me. These four Sundays leading up to Christmas become an important discipline to focus the various weekly themes of hope, peace, joy and love. For me it is a way of filtering out the intruding noise.

Did you know that a visit to V8 land is a journey into a world of red and blue? Not just red and blue but also a land of so many names. We have Holden and Ford of course; but even more names like tyre people, oil people, sponsor type people of all sorts and of course drivers names; Skaife, Winchup, Lowndes, Ingall, Tander and even the names of past gods such as Brock are worshipped in this amphitheatre of noise and speed. Even Jesus Christ gets a mention from time to time!?

Speed! I didn’t mention speed. How can you reflect on the races without considering speed? Man, these guys – they are usually blokes – absolutely fly!! They go past so quick that apart from a number or a name, you have no idea who is in that car. I saw Jamie Winchup win the first race on Saturday. At least I am told that I saw him win the race. It could have been my grand mother!? Now, that would have been a good trick.

Is Christmas turning into a noisy blur for you? This time of year is all about kids and family and we have to get everything just right.

Actually it isn’t about either of those things. It is about God. About a God who refuses to be alone and in the midst of so much confusion, noise and speed, he comes to us as a helpless baby. I reckon that is worth the effort of at least checking it out.

Cheers – John