Crosslight Magazine December 2023

DECEMBER 2023

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dunk Church youth are good sports

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Christmas Reflections History What it means to us P12

is calling

Artefacts tell Uniting Church story P34

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Leave a lasting legacy.

Planning an estate is a personal process and a time to reflect on what matters most. If you are considering including Uniting in your Will, we would love to hear from you.

Call us 03 9051 4743 Visit unitingvictas.org.au/gift-in-will

Uniting is the community services organisation of the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania.

Pilgrim Summer Semester 2024 Immerse yourself in a week of study at Pilgrim this summer. Choose from one of four fabulous intensives:  Bonhoeffer’s Theology in Historical Context (Jan 29 -Feb 2)  Christianity’s Big Ideas (Jan 29 -Feb 3)  Children and Families Ministry: Issues and Context (Feb 5-9)  Gender, Justice, Empire: Old Testament Contextual Readings (Feb 12-16)

More information study@pilgrim.edu.au 03 9340 8892 Pilgrim is the theological college of the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania

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These units are available for credit towards a degree or to audit.

It’s perhaps not so much that we need " God to tear up the heavens to come down –

God is here. We need to stop tearing up the earth, and understand the meaning of the call: be still, and know that I am God.

"

Reverend David Fotheringham Moderator Vic Tas Synod

“O that you would tear up the heavens and come down.”

So begins one of the passages from Isaiah that we hear among the Bible readings set between now and Christmas.

I hear in it a plea for God to not be silent, but to come and intervene for the sake of God’s people.

It’s a plea for God to be known in mighty display, and yet for me the idea of God “tearing up the heavens” to come down sounds terrifying.

But I can also feel and understand the depths of the plea, when the world itself is torn with strife.

Writing this column a month before it will be published, with strife tearing at Israel and Gaza - with so many civilians being displaced, people being held hostage, access to effective humanitarian supplies being blocked, and so much death and destruction – it’s a plea that I deeply feel.

Our pleading prayers are filled with anguish, as our hearts are torn by the grief of it.

A year ago, when I was writing for the December Crosslight, I was anticipating the birth of a new baby in my family – my daughter, Nora.

That her birth came around the time of Christmas was a wonderful reminder of the beauty and risk, intimacy and vulnerability that are all part of birthing.

I’m very conscious this year of births that are occurring in very dangerous places.

How safe was the location of Jesus’ birth? The account in Luke’s gospel sounds quite good, with angels and shepherds and faithful prophets awaiting

Jesus’ presentation in the temple.

Matthew’s account is not so pleasant, with political intrigue, an escape by night to Egypt, and Herod’s subsequent slaughter around Bethlehem. Too much is familiar.

This Advent and Christmas, though, we are entering the ‘year of Mark’, and Mark’s gospel doesn’t give us anything about Jesus’ birth.

Instead, Mark’s account of “the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” starts with John the Baptist preparing the way, and Jesus being baptised by him.

As Jesus comes up out of the waters of baptism, Mark describes him seeing the heavens torn apart.

Rather than God coming with mighty display, the Spirit descends like a dove on him. We hear the affirmation from heaven: You are my child, my beloved; I delight in you.

It is a moment of intimacy and love, and a reminder of how God enters the world, and of the connection that we have with the Divine who is so near to us.

Mark’s gospel may not say anything about Jesus’ birth - the place and the time of Jesus’ birth are left hidden for Mark.

But the birth, its place and its moment in time, are no less sacred for that.

The particularities of danger or safety, shepherds or politics, are set aside – but God is there.

It’s perhaps not so much that we need God to tear up the heavens to come down – God is here. We need to stop tearing up the earth, and understand the meaning of the call: be still, and know that I am God. 3

Salesi set to

s ep up A journey that began as a child in the Northern Territory will culminate in mid-2025 when Tongan-born Rev Salesi Faupula is installed as the next Moderator of Victoria and Tasmania.

By Andrew Humphries

When Rev Salesi Faupula talks about the benefits of multiculturalism within the Uniting Church, he can back it up through his own life story.

And that story will be an important part of what informs his work as Moderator when he steps into the role in 18 months.

Salesi was confirmed as the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania’s next Moderator at last month’s Synod 2023, and will take over from Rev David Fotheringham from 2025-28.

Until then, he will be Moderator-elect as he continues in his role as Minister at the Canterbury Balwyn Road Uniting Church.

In a sense, Salesi’s multicultural journey to Moderator began as a small child in the Northern Territory.

Born in Tonga, Salesi’s family moved to Australia when he was a baby and he spent his first 10 years in the Yirrkala 4

Aboriginal mission in the Northern Territory, where his father was a Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga Minister.

From there the family moved to Sydney, a time in which Salesi wrestled with his identity, as Tongan born but living in middle class, predominantly white Australia.

“I didn’t like to be in school and became very sensitive to what I believed was racism, and can remember getting myself into a number of fights,” he recalled in an earlier interview with Crosslight magazine.

Salesi also remembers other instances of rebellion as he grappled with his identity.

“Religion and church were part of my father’s domain, so I would come to church, but I would sit on the fence outside,” he says.

“Being known as a Minister’s kid, I felt, was negative and I tried to distance

myself from anyone knowing my father was a Minister.”

It was a move back to Tonga, where a college place was arranged for him, that proved to be a turning point for Salesi.

“In Tonga, they are a deeply religious people, so on a Sunday everything stops and everyone goes to church, and I think I came back with this re-found faith,” he says.

Salesi’s first placement as a Minister was in Sydney, before his name came up five years later in a national search for someone who could speak Tongan to be Minister at Canterbury Balwyn Road.

He is, he admits, a “colourful mess” when asked how he would describe himself: Tongan-born, Australianraised and with a deep connection to indigenous Australians.

Such a background will, he says, inform much of what he brings to the role of Moderator.

Rev Salesi Faupula will assume the role of Moderator of Victoria and Tasmania from mid-2025.

Image: Carl Rainer

“I have worked in multicultural ministry and that is a passion of mine, because of my own sense of journey,” Salesi says. “The inclusivity and diversity of the Uniting Church is something that I have always found heartening but also challenging.

“In 1985 the Church declared itself to be a multicultural church and that journey continues in sometimes challenging waters.

“The gift I would bring is my own deeper awareness of diversity and inclusivity, and a sense of unity.

“My own story is tied up in all of this, and in the search for identity that I had.”

Salesi says a deep sense of duty was his companion as he considered nominating for the Moderator’s role.

“I just couldn’t get away from the vows that I made at ordination, and they were that I would make myself available and commit myself to serving God,” he says.

“So saying yes to the Moderator-elect nomination was about honouring those vows and fulfilling a sense of duty.

“I wrestled with the decision at times, but really I just couldn’t say no.”

The Moderator-elect Nominating Committee put Salesi’s name forward to Synod 2023, saying he possessed the necessary attributes required by a Moderator.

“Salesi has the skills to assist and encourage the fulfilment of mission and witness in the Church, and the experience to be able to preside over the meetings of Synod and its Standing Committee,” the report said.

“He has the personal confidence and humble insight to be able to speak on public issues on behalf of the Church in Victoria and Tasmania, and will be able to offer general and pastoral leadership to the ministers and people within the Synod bounds.”

As he reflects on what lies ahead, Salesi turns to the memory of his father, and his role in his son’s faith journey.

“My father never forced or imposed anything religious on me,” he says.

“I think his hope was, and it is the same with my wife and I, it is just that our children have a relationship with God, and that’s it.

“I was involved in church and it wasn’t about seeking my father’s approval, but it was something we shared.

“But when he died and I had no one to turn to for confidence it transferred to God, and that relationship with God really deepened and then I realised there was a calling.”

That calling will take another step forward in mid-2025 when Salesi becomes the spiritual head of the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania.

“If God is calling then I have to be open to it,” he says.

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wrap THAT'S A

Uniting Church members from throughout Victoria and Tasmania gathered in Melbourne last month for four days of discernment, discussion and connection as part of Synod 2023.

By Andrew Humphries How a future Uniting Church will look at both a national and state level, the announcement of our next Moderatorelect, and the resolution of some thought-provoking proposals were all part of Synod 2023 in Melbourne last month.

Box Hill Town Hall was the venue in November for four days of deep discernment and discussion around important issues facing the Church in Victoria and Tasmania, while also providing an opportunity for members to connect and reconnect with each other in a social sense.

An important item of business was concluded on day two, with Rev Salesi Faupula confirmed as the next Moderator-elect, and the Canterbury Balwyn Road Minister will take over as Moderator from Rev David Fotheringham at the next Synod meeting in mid-2025.

How our Church might look in 10 to 15 years was an important topic of 6

discussion during Synod 2023, with members exploring both the Act2 and Faithful Futures projects.

The National Assembly’s Act2 Project will inform the shape of the Uniting Church well into the future, with a final document to be considered at next year’s Assembly meeting in Sydney.

President Rev Sharon Hollis and Act2 Project Lead Andrew Johnson briefed Synod members on the opening day, before working groups explored the project in more detail.

The Faithful Futures Project involves Victorian and Tasmanian Presbyteries and Synod working together on priorities for the Church over the next 10-15 years.

In his report for Synod 2023, Moderator David Fotheringham said the Faithful Futures Project offered an opportunity “to engage in deep discernment about how we can best respond to the vision of following Christ, walking together as First and Second Peoples, seeking

community, compassion and justice for all creation into the next 10 to 15 years”. “(This) means looking beyond some of our current worship, witness and service arrangements ahead to where we discern God’s invitation for particular effort into the future, as well as affirming the value and significance of particular current expressions in worship, witness and service which will continue to be important to prioritise.”

Members at Synod 2023 also considered, and reached consensus on a number of proposals, including those around promoting ethical procurement and investment, adopting a healthbased approach towards reducing the harm of prohibited drugs, promoting the concept of secure work, and aiming for zero emissions in the fight against climate change.

As part of the discussion around ethical procurement and investment, Synod members had the opportunity

to hear Australian-based President of the Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women's Association, Ramila Chanisheff, outline the human rights abuses that are occurring against the ethnic Uyghur population in East Turkistan.

A brutal crackdown by Chinese authorities has seen many Uyghurs killed, imprisoned and forced into labour camps to create the goods that China exports to the world.

For the first time at a Synod Meeting, members were able to take part in a number of informative and thoughtprovoking electives on a range of topics, from reducing the influence of corporations selling harmful products, to a discussion on the Church and Reconciliation beyond the Referendum.

The sessions also included a discussion on tackling disability discrimination, and what meets the definition of a ‘real’ church.

Synod 2023 included a Tributes

Service, honouring Ministers who have been ordained, received from other denominations, or retired since last year’s Synod Meeting, as well as those who have celebrated 50, 60, 65, 70, 75 and, in the case of 108 year old Rev William Morgan, 80 years since ordination or commissioning.

The service also honoured those Ministers who had died since last year’s Synod Meeting, including former Moderators Rev Ian Smith (Moderator of Victoria 1980) and Don Hall (Moderator of Tasmania 1995-1997).

Minutes of appreciation were also offered for Rev Jay Robinson, Rev Ikani Vaitohi, and Associate General Secretary Isabel Thomas Dobson, for their service as Placements Committee chairperson and deputy chairperson, Ministry and Mission Committee chairperson, and Associate General Secretary respectively.

As with past Synod Meetings, November’s event also offered members

an opportunity to reflect deeply in a theological sense, and to forge strong social connections.

Guest preacher at opening worship on day one, and theological reflections presenter, was indigenous Christian leader, writer, educator and poet Brooke Prentis, while Rev Assoc Prof Robyn Whitaker from Pilgrim Theological College offered engaging daily Bible studies.

During Synod 2023, the Synod paused in recognition of International Trans Day of Remembrance and prayed for all gender-diverse people who had ever suffered discrimination and rejection.

This was followed by an invitation for Synod members to volunteer to march behind a Uniting Church banner in next year's Midsummer Festival.

Coverage is available on the Crosslight website at www.crosslight.org.au and plenary sessions recordings at www. youtube.com/@UCA-VicTas/streams.

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week

A

in the

life Of

Rev Craig Madden, Senior Prison Chaplain

DAY

MONDAY I am up at 5.10am and begin preparing for the day ahead and the journey to Dhurringile Prison in Shepparton. I also prepare a prison bag (a plastic clear bag which is passed through by security at prisons) with printed items for service and communion at Dhurringile. On the way I stop at Tatura township, and buy two rolls for our communion service, as well as a small plastic bottle of juice which resembles grape juice or wine (I choose not to use wine for my communion services. It is just a conviction that I have in regards to this, although I am perfectly fine with our chaplains using actual wine as per the guidelines from Corrections Victoria).

I am at Dhurringile Prison at 8.15am, when I sign the chaplain’s register and get my white pass register, which allows

FRIDAY

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me in to all prisons in Victoria.

I make my first journey around the actual perimeter (via concrete pathways) of the entire prison. I am the new chaplain here, so I must wander the grounds and see who I encounter, and can begin to establish relationships with.

It is an artform to approach prisoners in their living areas (not living quarters or rooms as these are now out of bounds to all chaplains).

I drop by the Programs area, where I say hello to staff and program managers.

At 10.30am there is a football game on the oval for all prisoners. It is a long walk from the chapel area, but worth it as a part of my chaplaincy work. I use that as a touch base to meet residents who might be attending on the sidelines and I stay and talk for an hour or so.

I arrive back at the chapel area and set out the table for communion. I take out all our special cloths and accoutrements that I have purchased to make a

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

SATURDAY

Continued P10

THURSDAY

Image: Carl Rainer

Continued P10

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on . day ile Pris e for n o M rring r epa ice u r h P D am. serv 8.15 munion Com

Tuesday.

Prisoner inductions

something I do every Tuesday morning at the MAP. I talk about what chaplaincy is, and what it offers on behalf of all faiths, not just Christian or UCA. I advise prisoners that their conversations with me are confidential ... unless they are going to hurt themselves or others. I advise the new group of prisoners that there is a service every Wednesday held in one of the (tiny) prison cells, and that I am there every fourth Sunday to hold a Christian service.

At 9am I head up to the third floor to see people on the “prisoners by religion list” who are new. I introduce myself to them and, if allowed, I converse with them some more about their lives. I see four men in one unit at separate times, all in lockdown for differing reasons.

SUNDAY

MONDAY FRIDAY

From P8

SUNDAY MONDAY beautiful table and chapel setting.

A few minutes after start time one man arrives, then another, then two more. The men sign an attendance list and take their seats. I lead us in our service of worship which includes communion, and my reflection on the week’s Lectionary readings. I always have men wanting to speak further with me following a service, about their lives and what is happening in them.

I encounter some men on the way out of the chapel and tell them to come along next time I am there for a service, or to just talk. I leave the prison at 3.30pm and head back home to the northern suburbs of Melbourne.

At home I check my UCA emails, set up my calendar and close off for the day.

FRIDAY

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TUESDAY SATURDAY

TUESDAY

THURS

I am up at 5.10am to begin preparing for the day ahead, before leaving for the drive to the Metropolitan Remand Centre in Ravenhall.

I was informed late last night that the Anglican chaplain is unable to hold services today, so I agree to take their service.

By 7am I am at the reception area at MRC, where I am scanned and provided with a duress alarm. I check the chaplain’s book to see if there are any specific messages for me, where there is a complaint from another senior chaplain about prisoners smoking Bibles.

I set up the chapel, which involves placing items from the storage area into place, such as a large cross table set up with cloths, candles and special accoutrements for the services.

I call up control to ask for an announcement to be made through the prison that there will be a multi-faith service from 9.30am, and by 9.35am there are seven men in the chapel area.

I lead the service of Bible readings, confession, community prayer, reflection and communion. At 11am I conduct another service, at which 15 prisoners attend.

WEDNESDAY

I wake up at 5.10am before walking to Greensborough train station for the trip into the Melbourne Assessment Prison in Spencer Street.

I sign on using the computer in the office that I share with the Muslim chaplains, before I visit Programs where I request a copy of the “prisoner list by religion”. I look in our received area for any requests that have come through to see the Christian chaplain.

At 8am the call comes through from Programs saying they are leaving shortly for prisoner inductions, which are performed every morning. If chaplains are available it is expected that they will talk at this induction, and this is

SATURDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

y. sda visit e n Wedstoral d UC g Pa ay an eetin tod urg m Cob ight. ton

At 1.45pm I begin pastoral visits around the yards, seeking out people on referrals and others I know from previous visits.

I leave the prison at 4pm and head home, knowing that at 7pm I have a board meeting at Coburg Uniting Church, where I am on the board as an elder.

NESDAY

THURSDAY

I am on the road early to be at the Metropolitan Remand Centre by 6.45am.

I wait for our new volunteer chaplain to arrive at 7am, and once he does we are ready to get going, and we head to the chaplain’s office, ready to talk about and plan out the day.

We begin to set up the chapel, print off service sheets, and set out prisoner attendance lists, before I call to control to request the announcement of a Christian service for 9.15am.

I have time for a further chat with the volunteer chaplain about how he might be feeling following four or five visits. He is extremely positive but tells me how different it is to the world of business he came from. At 10am the service is finally under way, with almost 30 men attending. As the men arrive they are full

Fr to iday. N pla go ov eed nex nning er t wSUNDAY eekfor

of life and upbeat, and most are smiling widely. They joke and laugh in a most cheerful way and it is clear they have built a community much the same as you might find in any church in suburban Melbourne.

Many times during our community prayer, the men will pray for me and my family, yet none of them act like they are in any way “spiritual superstars”.

The service runs well and the responses from the men during the liturgy and the community prayer are extremely touching, as they pray for their families, about upcoming court cases, and even ask God’s forgiveness in our community prayer.

Later in the day I ask to see a prisoner who has asked me to come and see him following our service from last week.

Our meeting is long and gratifying for us all, despite several interruptions by men saying hello, or asking if we could see them next.

We are taken aback by the depth of conversation we can have in a semisecluded spot.

I leave the prison and return home to put in a few hours on email responses, as well as my reflection that I have delivered to the men, which I will deliver on Sunday at Coburg Uniting Church.

MONDAY

TUES

FRIDAY

SATUR

I am up at 5.10am ready to tackle a day of administration.

At 8am I meet with one of our chaplains at a café in Preston and during our 90-minute meeting I ask questions and we share stories. I enquire about how she is going, and ask what her current challenges and needs are. All in all it’s an extremely rewarding meeting for us both, and her often different take on things is really wonderful to hear.

We are diverse, and we find so much to share from our faith and our journeys within the prison system.

At the end of our meeting I take a walk across the road to the Preston Market, before I head home and clean my very messy desk to find my UCA portable computer. I settle in for a day of responding to emails. Some days I ring around all of our chaplains as we are spread throughout Victoria.

I take out my hand-written list of things to do that set me up for the week ahead.

Over the weekend I take the service at Coburg Uniting Church, and on Sunday I perform my program on a local radio station. This takes several hours of administration, but the music part of it is absolute fun, and the longer than normal timeslot of three hours is easily filled.

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Reflections on the

S

Christmas As Christmas Day nears and we reflect on what that means to us as Christians, some Uniting Church leaders have offered their perspective on what the birth of Jesus represents to them.

Rev Gereldine Leonard

North East Victoria Presbytery chairperson There is no time of the year more holy for me than Christmas. Not Christmas in the secular sense, as we so often celebrate it, even in the Church, but Christmas for what it really is: the revealing of the nature of God. The Christmas story is a simple story that tells us that God, by nature, is humble and restrained, that God sets aside all majesty, all glory, and enters human experience in the birth of a child.

I have heard the Christmas story many, many times now, and still, it takes my breath away.

It is the story of light, the coming of light into all our darkness.

It is the gift of self on a divine scale that offers us longed for completeness.

The invitation of the Christmas season is to sit for a while, allowing awe and wonder to do its saving work in us.

Alison Overeem UAICC Tasmania

And so the lands call us And so our ancestors lead us As in all creation the calling of renewal of rebirth To be all that is Mother Earth The life giver The hope and healing The justice warriors The renewal of hope Embedded and threaded in the landscape of the oldest living culture on Earth The Creator forever present in the Lands, with and through First Peoples, knowing and being with the creator spirit

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in the forever time in the now and the always The birth of Jesus Is the birth of a call to justice A renewal of the hope A renewal of the hope that is Aboriginal ways of knowing and being as the “good Samaritan“ The birth is a reminder and call to hope in the justice for all A basket of oneness held in strength with and through the renewal of the gift of a birth May we all sit on and with Mother Earth, the nurturer, the giver of life and be in the hope of birth and rebirth.

t ory S Rev Fiona Morrison

Cradle Coast Resource Minister When I think about the birth of Jesus, for me, it gives me hope and comfort but it also challenges me, that God wanted and still wants to be in community with us, us humans, with me … and all the complexities and darkness and hope that entails. It reminds me in a tangible way that God is with each of us when we are struggling with whatever we are dealing with, in the depths of our grief, in our self-doubt, in our fledging moments of hope and joy, God is with us, cheering us on, getting dirty and gritty with us.

God is saying to each one of us, that you/I matter to God and that we are so valued by God that God-self came to be one of us, as a vulnerable child, offering us hope and community with the divine self. That we can get to know God better through the actions of the adult Jesus became.

Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Rev Malcolm Frazer

Warrnambool Uniting Church At our weekly Wednesday community lunches at Warrnambool we walk with people with all sorts of needs and burdens.

We try to assist by offering lunch and community and sometimes emergency relief.

But the giving is mutual.

In sharing their life struggles with us it helps open our hearts and keeps our lives earthed in God’s love, and I reckon that is the message of Christmas.

That God would get into the messy middle of it all by taking on our flesh and our troubles and struggles.

The Good News of the incarnation is that God is truly with us.

This is no distant creator.

God could have played it safe, remained as a King on a throne, high above and removed from all our sufferings.

Yet out of love for us and for all creation, God walks with us in fragility, vulnerability and in solidarity with all our humanity.

Continued P14

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From P13

Rohan Pryor

Presbytery of Tasmania chairperson I love that in the person called Jesus we see God most clearly embodied, incarnated in human form, acting with love and compassion, calling for justice and peace, eating with friends and strangers.

Careful readers of the Bible will note that the earliest Christian stories have no interest in the birth of Jesus – birth narratives were later added from which our Christmas traditions arise.

UCA theologian Sally Douglas reveals that some of the earliest Christian communities saw in Jesus the incarnation of the feminine divine, Woman Wisdom, long called ‘Sophia’ in the ancient Hebrew scriptures.

Other theologians recognise that God being born is actually more scandalous that being crucified on a cross, and that in Jesus we see the truly human one, born of a woman.

I love that the Spirit of this holy one birthed of God continues to inspire – literally gives breath to – the faithful church communities that still gather to find new and transformed life together ‘in Christ’, sharing the radically inclusive hospitality of Jesus Sophia with the world.

However Jesus was born, this birth shows that our own bodies and lives also matter, in community together with all creation, here and now.

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Nia Lavaki

Younger Generations Multicultural Communities The birth of Jesus is a time where I celebrate the gift that has been given to me, the gift being Jesus Christ.

In a world broken by sin, the season of hope we call Advent calls each one of us to turn our eyes to the stable in Bethlehem where our saviour took on flesh and became one of us, to show us the way of forgiveness and love.

John 3:16-18

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Revelation 12:1-6

Lauren Mosso

Synod chaplaincy co-ordinator The story of the birth of Jesus inspires the incarnational ministry of presence that is chaplaincy.

To become one of us, as Jesus did, is to be truly present with us.

And just as Jesus came and “pitched his tent among us” without judgment, and with great vulnerability, so we risk becoming vulnerable as we accompany people through life’s big challenges.

Good tidings of great joy happen in the midst of sorrow through the simple gift of a calm, listening presence.

My faith in this story holds me as I hold space for others because it reminds me that God breaks through again and again with unconditional love.

Sacred and secular meet as we celebrate Christmas with our loved ones and enjoy favourite foods and music from contemporary carols to ancient hymns.

The presence of God is embodied with us, within us, and all around us through this wonderful story.

Isaiah 9:6-7

For a child has been born for us; a son has been given to us. And the dominion will be on his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His dominion will grow continually, and to peace there will be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and sustain it with justice and righteousness now and forever. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1260 days.

Rev Gospel Ralte

Presbytery of Gippsland Christmas, for me, is a joyful celebration of the birth of the cosmic incarnate Son of God for the salvation of the fallen humankind.

It is a universal and inclusive celebration in worshipping and feasting together.

Christmas connects Divine and humankind.

It is a time of family and community gathering in giving and sharing.

As a child in our Mizo tradition, on church ground we made an extra large wind-proof straw tent which housed over 200 gatherers including children.

In the tent, using traditional drums, after worship service we continued the festive celebration by singing our traditional Christmas songs, dancing, sharing and praying.

On Christmas Day in the evening, all church families and guests came together and enjoyed a delicious feast.

Young people went from house to house singing carols to the families, and our minister, church leaders and women’s group visited the prison and hospital with Christmas gifts.

15

Power of

youth Melton Uniting Church’s Grace Community is reaping the rewards as it embraces the benefits brought by enthusiastic young people.

By Andrew Humphries Filipino writer and polymath Jose Rizal described youth as “the hope of our future”, Greek philosopher Diogenes suggested the education of youth was “the foundation of every state”, and Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi said “the power of youth is the common wealth for the entire world”.

As denominations everywhere grapple with a decline in numbers, it’s today’s youth that many church leaders are looking at to drive a resurgence in faith.

In Melbourne’s outer west, Melton Uniting Church is one congregation tapping in to the many benefits a vibrant and engaged youth community can bring to faith organisations.

One young person doing great work there is South Sudanese student Sobur Dhieu, an important member of both the Melton congregation and grassroots community organisation African Youth Initiative.

As one of her former school teachers, Melton Church Council chairperson 16

Ian Veal knows first-hand the special qualities 22-year-old Melbourne University legal student Sobur brings to her church and community work.

Like many South Sudanese people who come to Australia, Sobur has had to deal with many challenges.

Born in a refugee camp in Kenya, she was just three when she made the journey with her family to Australia in 2004 to start a new life.

Sobur’s family settled first in Lismore in New South Wales before making the move to Melbourne in 2011, when they became involved with the Melton congregation.

Since then, Melton UC and the many gifts it brings have been a huge part of Sobur’s life.

“Melton was the congregation that my parents came to when we moved to Melbourne in 2011, although at that stage I was a little too young to be heavily involved in much at that time,” she says.

“Then in 2018, the church started a youth group and that really encouraged a lot of us to return to it.

“It was a small group initially, maybe six or seven people, but more and more people started coming and we grew really strong and have started to become a lot more multicultural.”

As the youth group has grown, so has Sobur’s role and she now proudly fills a leadership role within it. Like Sobur, the Melton church community has also known challenging times.

The congregation currently numbers about 130 people and is growing all the time, says Ian, the result of a great deal of hard work and a vision that began about five years ago.

“That vision was based around a rebuild,” he says.

“It had remained a generally strong church community over the years, but our numbers had begun to dip and, about five years ago, we had to consider an important question.

Continued P19

Sobur Dhieu is part of the vibrant Grace Community within Melton Uniting Church.

Image: Carl Rainer 17

Chairperson Ian Veal has watched Melton Uniting Church blossom over the last few years.

Image: Carl Rainer 18

From P16

“We hadn’t reached a stage that might have meant closing, but the question we asked of ourselves was: if we shut the doors tomorrow, who would notice?

“We certainly didn’t want to do that, so the next question was about how do we increase our presence in the area?

“To do that we put on a families and youth catalyst worker and also made the decision to pay our worship leader to also grow that side of the ministry.

“As well as that, we changed our business model to one in which we moved towards finding our own income.”

As part of the changes, a decision was made in 2021 to form Grace Community, an outreach of Melton Uniting Church, and a name, says Ian, which continues to gain traction.

“It was a decision based around shifting away from the norm, so yes, we still uphold the norms of the Uniting Church, but this is something different we wanted to head towards,” he says.

“It’s a name that resonates with the local community and people seem to really enjoy the mix we are offering.”

Among that mix is Grace Community’s South Sudanese members, who have been an important and vibrant presence since its inception.

Within that is a strong youth group which continues to grow under leaders like Sobur, who brings that same drive and determination to African Youth Initiative, a not-for-profit organisation in the western suburbs which aims to reconnect African youth to their communities and empower them to be positive contributors to society.

The work being done by AYI was recognised in September when it received $150,000 in State Government funding to continue its vital community engagement.

For Sobur, that work and what AYI hopes to achieve aligns nicely with Grace Community’s own values.

“Melton Uniting Church has had a long history of embracing people of South Sudanese background in their

congregations, so it all fits in nicely together,” she says.

Sobur admits that many South Sudanese people can struggle to assimilate when they arrive in Australia, as they bring with them the emotional and mental baggage of what they and generations of their family have experienced in their home country.

“One of the greatest challenges is trying to navigate the different expectations of South Sudanese culture and Western culture,” she says.

“Part of that is the language barrier many South Sudanese parents face when they try to assist their children in Australia, meaning that sometimes children can fall through the cracks.

“A lot of the parents carry deep emotional trauma from the civil war in South Sudan and, while it’s not always explicit, it means that the relationship

“Situations like that are so difficult to deal with because you have people making blanket assumptions about you and not wanting to take the time to understand you.

“Then when we read in the media about increased levels of crime, an issue that requires serious discussion, that conversation can’t take place because of those assumptions.”

Sobur is determined to bring the benefits of her legal training to the strong but sometimes misunderstood South Sudanese community.

“While I haven’t decided what my focus will be in terms of practising law, a law degree is going to provide me with so much valuable knowledge and skills to give back to the community,” she says.

“Being first-generation migrants we find that some parents don’t have the strongest literacy skills and so can’t always help their children navigate the system, so a law degree is going to be a very powerful tool in helping people understand the system.

“I have always wanted to make a difference because I want there to be long-term change and that can come through diverse voices.”

Ian says Grace Community has an important role to play as an outlet for so many youths who want to make a positive contribution to their community.

“It’s about learning acceptance of each other,” he says.

“You often hear on the news that youths in some of our south-eastern and western suburbs are constantly in trouble, and that is one of the things we have tried to stop with what we are doing here.

“We find so many of the young people who come to Grace Community are very learned and have a real drive to bring something better to their community, and that is something we are really driving as well.”

As AYI secretary, Sobur is heavily involved in a host of programs aimed at helping young members of the African

so many of the young people who come to "grace community have a real drive to bring something better to the community " Chairperson Ian Veal

between parent and child can be quite fragile.”

Coupled with these issues is a sometimes obvious racism that members of Melbourne’s South Sudanese community face on a regular basis.

On occasion, says Sobur, it’s more subtle than overt racism, but the reality is that South Sudanese people are singled out on a daily basis.

That happens, she says, as assumptions are made about them based simply on their appearance, a fact she knows only too well.

“I can remember going to the local supermarket on one occasion with my brother and cousin,” Sobur recalls.

“We were walking along the lolly section and, as I asked them what they wanted, a lady came up to us and said, ‘you know they have security cameras here if you’re planning on stealing something’.

Continued P22

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Good sports

As the Matildas took Australians on a roller coaster ride of emotions during the soccer World Cup in July and August, we were once again shown the power of sport to make a difference in our lives.

For South Sudanese members of Melton Uniting Church’s Grace Community, one sport is also making a huge impact on their lives, but it isn’t soccer.

It’s basketball that has Grace 20

Community members riding a wave of success and feel-good emotion.

Minister Rev Rose Broadstock says Grace Community is a success story in its own right and an example of the special qualities South Sudanese members bring to their faith and worship.

“As most people would know, South Sudan has experienced a terrible century of war and murder of men, women and children, which continues today,” Rose says.

“However this small community has settled here, and really grown and developed a strong group of young people.

“There are about 30 young people who have a Sunday morning study during church, and a discipleship learning group during the week.”

And it’s the basketball teams, says Rose, that continue to offer so many opportunities to Grace Community’s younger members, many of whom

court success

Image: Carl Rainer

sometimes struggled previously to see a future.

“We have already listened in church to stories from a couple of our young people who have found a place to belong and a faith, and have managed to move away from drugs and alcohol which is rife among these young people who sometimes struggle to feel they have a future,” she says.

For Ian Veal, basketball has provided a wonderful example of what sport can

do for the self-esteem of young people when they embrace its many benefits.

Ian attends their matches every week and is blown away by what he sees both on and off the court each time.

“We’ve got two teams involving young people, some of whom come from complicated situations,” Ian says.

“I’m just loving watching them because so many of these people have been on the edge, situations like jail and things like that, but their mates have got

them out of that and into team sport.

“These were young people in real danger of falling through the cracks, and these basketball teams are pulling them out of that.

“It gives you a whole new perspective on what can be achieved.”

And it can’t be achieved, says Ian, without acknowledging who makes it all possible.

“Before and after every game we sing ‘Jesus, lover of my soul’,” he says.

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Ian Veal and Sobur Dhieu are achieving great things within Grace Community and Melton Uniting Church.

Image: Carl Rainer From P19

community, in conjunction with Grace Community.

“We have designed a lot of programs for children, young people and women,” she says.

“We have a kids’ fitness program which runs twice a year for six weeks each time, with a fitness and workshop component around setting goals, being collaborative and working together as a team.

“It’s a program combining physical aspects with how we work together to be stronger as a team.”

A women’s fitness program also runs twice a year and, in the process, is helping to break down some difficult stereotypes faced by women of South Sudanese background.

“As part of this program the women are given free gym membership and access to a personal trainer, as well as a debriefing period and the opportunity to ask questions,” Sobur says.

“This is really important because it’s helping to overcome the stigma from a cultural background around young African women going to the gym.

“From a cultural perspective it’s boys who are really encouraged to play sport but traditional views on femininity and gender roles tend to restrict what women can do.

“Without a program like this African women wouldn’t be able to look after their own health and wellbeing.”

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Another project is a community program which started last year, giving members the chance to connect over art.

“Art has really positive benefits for mental health and is a calming activity,” Sobur says.

A 10-week program in conjunction with the Western Bulldogs AFL club focusing on culture, community and personal development is also making a real difference, this time for 13-15 yearolds.

“It’s designed on an early-intervention model, so rather than waiting for young people to become disconnected, it gets to them early and teaches them life skills and helps them to realise their potential,” Sobur says.

“Community youth forums are also helping our young people to have a say on what issues they feel are relevant in terms of education, employment, mental health and youth justice.”

As part of their partnership with Melton’s South Sudanese community, Grace Community is supporting initiatives to make a difference in South Sudan itself.

One fundraising project in a region of South Sudan that many members of its Melbourne community are from will mean that residents no longer have to walk for four hours each day to collect water.

As Sobur reflects on her life almost 20 years after leaving Kenya, she is grateful

to call Australia home. She knows, too, that in Grace Community she has found a second home that allows her to fully explore her faith and open her eyes to what is possible.

It’s a gift she never takes for granted.

“It means so much to me because African people like me live in this strange bubble where we feel strongly connected to our culture because of the shared way of living and shared challenges that we face, so we tend to band together a lot,” Sobur says.

“But having a community within Melton Uniting Church that is so welcoming and caring and really tries to understand who we are, and how we can join forces to make our whole community stronger, is so special.

“They see our strength and our potential and it feels really good to be understood, loved and valued.

“There is a great sense of love and support and we will never take that for granted.

“My faith has been strengthened so much because of that support and the wonderful mentorship I have received from so many people.

“We talk often about how we can grow the church, not just in numbers but in the depth of our faith.

“I see a community that in time is better, because of what we have put in place, and has made a real impact on people’s lives.”

Give the gift of support

Moderator’s Emergency Response Fund Every year thousands of people are impacted by emergencies in Victoria and Tasmania.

The Moderator’s Emergency Response Fund is a way for those of us wanting to help when current or future emergencies occur, and to contribute to communities in need of immediate assistance.

Funds may be used within the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania to:  provide for pastoral, ministry, and mission activities to assist in the Church’s responses to disasters, emergencies or other crises  support relevant councils of the Church to undertake disaster preparation/response, programs/processes  partner with other organisations in disaster preparation/response, programs/processes.

Donations can be made at any time, not just in response to a specific emergency.

For further information, or to make a donation, visit the Synod’s website: www.victas.uca.org.au

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Uniting Family Services senior practitioner Raeleen has been supporting families for over a decade.

Uniting continues to care

By Meg Hocking This year, many Australian families are dreading the countdown to Christmas.

Forced to make devastating decisions between feeding their children, affording household bills and purchasing school supplies, Christmas will be a trimmed down affair for many.

But it's not just at Christmas that many families feel the weight of the stresses involved in everyday living.

For over a decade, Uniting Family Services senior practitioner, Raeleen, has made it her mission to support families teetering on the edge of crisis.

“My role at Uniting is to get care teams together and put support systems in place so children can stay living with the people who love them,” Raeleen says.

"We work with families to ensure that children aren't relinquished because of their high needs and disabilities.”

In her years of supporting families, Raeleen has seen how quickly someone’s life circumstances can change.

“I support one mother who grew up in a lovely area and home,” she says.

“She married, had five children and lived the white picket fence life.

“Then, one day her husband died and everything changed.

“It happened in 12 hours and she went from having everything to nothing.

“I don’t think people realise that your life can change on a dime.”

Raeleen has heart-wrenching

conversations every day with struggling family members at breaking point.

Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles call in a state of panic and hopelessness as they face the agonising decision of relinquishing the care of their children.

After struggling through years of insufficient support and no respite, some families feel they have no choice but to give up as they can no longer cope with the demands of their children’s disabilities, among other pressures.

Ella’s* story is a wonderful example of how love and compassion can turn a young life around.

At just four years old, Ella* found herself without a family.

Her biological mother, struggling with alcohol and drug dependency and complex mental illness, could no longer care for her. Ella was born with foetal alcohol syndrome and, as a result, lives with a hearing impairment, making it hard for her to communicate with others.

Extended family members, Tom* and Georgia*, worried what Ella’s future would look like entering the foster care system so young.

The pair considered kinship care but had their reservations.

“They were very unsure because they were under 25 at the time and newly engaged,” Raeleen says.

“The child had also experienced

significant trauma, and they weren’t sure if they could support her.”

Raeleen worked closely with Tom and Georgia, knowing that with just a little bit of support and guidance the couple could be a family to Ella.

“We were able to support the couple to learn sign language, so they could communicate with Ella,” Raeleen says.

“They sent me this wonderful video of them all talking together and thanking me for helping them to communicate.

“They’re a family now, and she’s such a happy child.”

Generosity, kindness and compassion are what can get a family through crisis.

"Anything you can spare can change a person's life in a way you can't begin to imagine, because when you're living in your car or sitting in a home with no electricity, it's a really dehumanising place to be,” Raeleen says.

“These moments are going to become these children's memories. Our children deserve to grow up with very strong and happy memories of childhood.”

If you’re able, please help Uniting assist families in need, and ensure no one misses out this Christmas.

To donate today, go to www. unitingvictas.org.au/christmas *This is a true story about real people.

Some details such as names have been changed to respect the wishes of the people featured.

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Pancake Day 2024

Register today.

Flip for a good cause.

Learn more 1800 668 426 unitingvictas.org.au/pancake-day

Uniting is the community services organisation of the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania.

EDUCATION AND FURTHER STUDY ASSISTANCE 2024

FUNDING GRANTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR      



  

Youth ministry projects Children & Families ministry projects Scholarships for children of soldiers Students undertaking tertiary and secondary studies Ministers with children attending primary or secondary school Children from Uniting Churches in the Bright and Beechworth areas associated with Uniting Churches in the Bright and Beechworth areas Presbyteries, congregations or groups to develop and support educational initiatives in the regional areas of Victoria and Tasmania Education for lay people, including lay preacher candidates and pastors Continuing education for ordained and lay people in placement with the UCA Women undertaking study who are currently working within the UCA or with the intention of service within the UCA.

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN Educational Grants, Scholarships and Bursaries For details, guidelines, closing dates and application forms visit: victas.uca.org.au/resources/grants/educational-grants-scholarships For assistance, email grants@victas.uca.org.au or telephone 03 9340 8800

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equipping Leadership for Mission

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The present of

presence

By Diane Gow

‘To sit with’ is an act of presence, of being with someone in companionable silence.

In my childhood I remember hearing this phrase used by my parents.

We grew up in a village in Norfolk, England on a small farm, my parents being Methodist.

My dad had a friend Charlie who was dying at home of cancer.

In those days most people chose to stay at home. For several months he would go and ‘sit with him’ one night a week.

I don’t know if they talked much, but if they did it would have been about the weather, crops and family. I doubt they ever spoke about the cancer or death.

The second example relates to my grandmother.

She had dementia and lived for a number of years with my aunt and her family.

She was generally happy in her dementia, knitting endless dishcloths with large needles and string wool.

On one afternoon each week the same chapel visitor came to ‘sit with’ my grandmother.

He would make her a cup of tea, would talk about people she might remember or just sit in comfortable silence.

He didn’t tell her that her husband was dead, that she was confused or wrong, but just agreed with her sane or rambling thoughts. And when he left she would smile and continue her knitting.

Being able to ‘sit with’ is probably a dying art, we need to be proactive when we face dementia or the dying, we need to tidy them away in hospices and nursing homes, and not be confronted by our fears and mortality.

We are too busy ‘to sit with’ them, we have mobile phones, social media, responsibilities and our time is precious.

When my dad was dying several years

ago I went home and spent time with him watching the last harvest he would see gathered in, he never mentioned his cancer and I felt no need to talk about it either.

We sat in the sun and talked about the village, the old days, the war, all that had changed and all that stayed the same.

Those days are some of my best memories of my father.

So sometimes remember those who might need someone to ‘sit with’ them in their grief, illness or dark night of the soul.

Because one day it will be us too who may need it.

Diane Gow is a member of Tecoma Uniting Church.

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Give

Sharni Boyall /Act for Peace

Hope

Share God’s love this Christmas by giving through the Christmas Bowl and help provide people uprooted by conflict and disaster with the food, medical care, and lifesaving support they so urgently need.

Visit https://afp.org.au/CrosslightDec, call us on 1800 025 101 or scan the code.

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Pea ce

Sharing God’s love through the Christmas Bowl Sha rni Boy all /Ac t for

Meh Reh and his family fled Myanmar over 29 years ago. Living in a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border ever since, he hopes that one day it will be safe for him and his family to return home.

Through no fault of their own, families like Meh Reh’s have had to leave behind everything they know and love. Along the Thai-Burma border, refugees have endured decades of exile, living in camps that have become home to generations who have never experienced any other way of life.

Thousands of people continue to flee Myanmar, but with this emergency no longer in the headlines, Meh Reh fears they will be forgotten.

Out of sight and out of mind, they are left trapped in a devastating limbo. At a time when more people than ever are forced to flee their homes, lifesaving aid is being stretched too thin, leaving many refugees at breaking-point without the support they need to survive.

In the face of such suffering, the legacy of Rev. Frank Byatt, the founder of the Christmas Bowl, has never been more important.

Frank believed we have a responsibility to share what we have with others who need it. He saw it as a fundamental part of living out Jesus’ call to love our neighbours as ourselves (Mark 12:31). This year, just as we did in 1949 when the Christmas Bowl began, we can come together to express our unity in Christ and take practical Christian action to share God’s love and support those less fortunate than ourselves.

In the words of Rev. Byatt, we can “get a bowl to put on [our] Christmas dinner table as a Bowl of Remembrance” so that “the love of Christ can be made more vivid through Australian Christian concern, on Christmas Day, the one great day of sharing”.

Your gift through the Christmas Bowl can help Act for Peace’s local partners in places like Myanmar, Afghanistan and Gaza, where right now millions are being displaced from their homes.

You can provide practical care so refugees and people who have been displaced can live in safety and dignity and know that they are loved and not forgotten.

Please give hope this Christmas and help create, together, a world where uprooted people have a safe place to belong.

Plea se give toda y

Act for Peace, Head of Development

The Christmas Bowl is the Christmas appeal of Act for Peace, the international humanitarian agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia. ABN 86 619 970 188 29

ANNIVERSARY

Trip down memory lane for Ministers In late October, a gathering at Wesley Uniting Church in Melbourne marked a very special 50th anniversary. In 1973, four years before the Uniting Church formed, a number of people were ordained as Methodist Ministers and, 50 years later, five of them share their journey since that momentous day.

Rev Wes Hartley

I grew up in a strong church family, with my parents, Rev Frank Hartley and Marion, being the greatest influence on my early life.

A returned missionary from India, in 1933 my mother became the first woman in Australia accepted for training by the Presbyterian Church, and this was where my parents met as my father was studying at Queens College for the Methodist ministry.

The experiences of World War II led my parents to a life of peace activism and working with the forgotten of society at Prahran Mission, and this defined my formative years.

My parents’ mentoring had a profound effect on me, leading to a strong sense of call in my final year at Wesley College, when I became one of the youngest candidates ever accepted by the Methodist Conference.

After a year at Otira Home Mission Training College, with four other Methodist candidates, in 1966 I was sent to study at the University of Western 30

Australia. As a consequence I have spent over half a century living and ministering in Western Australia.

In 1969 I was a student pastor in Perth, returning to Melbourne for further training and a similar role in East Malvern for two years, before my exit appointment to Hobart Wesley/Sandy Bay in 1973.

Upon returning to WA in 1976, I ministered in Upper Avon, Manning, and Trinity Perth, was General Secretary of the WA Council of Churches, Executive Officer of Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Council; and spent 11 years in Busselton before concluding in 2013 as Presbytery Officer of The Hunter in NSW/ ACT Synod.

I have experienced great diversity in my various appointments, with ecumenical engagement, commitment to the preaching craft and working with the less privileged in our society the most significant aspects of what ministry has meant for me.

While the nature of the church has changed, the Uniting Church in particular, my initial sense of call from nearly 60 years ago remains as strong as ever.

Ultimately we are called to be a servant community and that in itself means self-promotion or maintaining the status quo can never be an option for those who chose - or who have been chosen - to follow in the steps of Jesus.

Long may it be ever so.

Rev Dr Barry Brown

My preaching vocation began in 1962 when I was 17 years of age. I was then a helper in the Echuca Methodist Circuit and was accredited as a local preacher of that circuit in 1966 while studying at Otira College.

I married Heather Caldwell, the love of my life, at the end of 1966 and served

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From P31

as a home missionary in the KerangBarham Circuit for two years from 1967, then as a student pastor for four years at the Sunshine Methodist Mission while attending the Methodist Theological Hall in Melbourne.

I was ordained in 1973 while serving in the Ovens Valley Circuit, and I later served at Wesley Church in Melbourne, Deep Creek Parish Mission at East Doncaster, Warrnambool Uniting Church, and Croydon Uniting Church.

As a Methodist I served in three multicongregation appointments, and since union in 1977 all of my placements have been in single congregations.

As well as serving on committees at each level of the Uniting Church, I also represented the UCA for 10 years on the World Methodist Council and attended WMC conferences in Honolulu, Nairobi, and England. I have written a number of books, some collaboratively, mostly related to church history.

I retired in 2007 and provided ministerial supply for about a decade, and I continue to preach about once a month, mainly at Mooroolbark where Heather and I are members. My preaching, over recent decades, has had a strong teaching component, and I also continue to provide ministerial supervision, which I have been doing for nearly 50 years.

If I was asked to identify one satisfying aspect of my ministry it would be observing the number of present-day church leaders who were involved in ‘Focus on Youth’, which commenced at Wesley Church in Melbourne during my ministry there.

Rev Denis Tomlins

I was ordained at the Ascot Vale Congregational Church in Melbourne by the Rev Dr Harold Fulton Leatherland, Principal of the Congregational Theological College.

The service also marked the conclusion of three years as student minister at the Ascot Vale church.

I had commenced training in 1968, spending the first 12 months studying at Kew. The following years I attended lectures and events at the United Faculty 32

of Theology in Parkville, and it was there that I joined with students from Ormond, Queens and Trinity, along with members of the Jesuit community and Churches of Christ.

Having left school at 15 years of age, these were ‘heady days’ for me, and I was privileged over the years to spend time in classrooms led by Dr Davis McCaughey, Harold Leatherland, Geoffrey Barnes, Robert Anderson, Arthur Blanksby, Harry Wardlaw, Nigel Watson, Graeme Griffin, Denham Grierson, George Yule, Norman Young and Max Thomas.

Following my ordination, I was offered a placement that “… was too good to refuse”, so with my wife Marg and three young children, we headed north to the Lockyer Valley Cooperative Parish in Gatton, Queensland.

Our ministry team was responsible for the care of communities at 12 preaching centres, each a gathering point for farmers from a very productive agricultural area in south-east Queensland.

We grew to love the people and the deep trust they shared in their appreciation of God’s goodness and faithfulness in the good times and rougher times. We saw both and the people’s resilience was inspiring.

At the end of 1978 we headed back south and to a position with the Council for Christian Education in Schools.

I was the second chaplain to be appointed to Corio Technical School, and served from 1979 to 1985. From 1986 to the end of 1992 I was the minister of Alexander Thomson Uniting Church, and shared with colleagues Wes Trigg and Ralph Clarke in its formation with a neighbouring congregation as the Belmont Uniting Church.

From 1993 to my retirement at the end of 2006, I was the Foundation/Senior Chaplain at Christian College Geelong.

Having gained a teaching qualification whilst at Corio, I spent those years in the classroom with senior VCE students in addition to other college responsibilities.

There was a marked contrast between the state and independent schools, yet in each young people were asking the same fundamental questions about life: origins, meaning, purpose, and responsibilities for themselves, each other and the rest of the natural world.

Memories from those classrooms with those young people will remain with me, and kept me grounded and focused on those basic questions of life, as if our very existence as a species depended on finding meaningful answers.

I am grateful beyond words for the privileges and challenges I have had over my time as a Minister of The Word and Sacrament.

I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my wife Marg, along with our children Michelle, Jason and Peter.

Their unstinting support to me and the communities we have served, over each and every year, has been outstanding.

ANNIVERSARY

our Minister’s wife encouraged me to consider ministry, so that it became my calling.

Her action all those years ago demonstrates that in our churches we should be more mindful of being encouragers.

Rev Rosalind Terry

Rev Ian Porter

I began my journey in ministry almost 60 years ago, prompted to consider it when our Minister’s wife said to me, after a service I took as a lay preacher, that I should consider the ministry.

When I reflect on my years in ministry, what stands out for me is the importance of the pastoral dimension. I am not saying by this that worship and preaching is less important – I always put heart and soul into that as well.

In the pastoral area you are dealing with the lives of people at every level from birth to death. Besides the many baptisms, confirmations, weddings and funerals, there are the traumas that people experience in which pastoral care and support is very significant, not only to provide comfort and support at a human level, but spiritually too, because such experiences can be a challenge to personal faith.

For me, all this means that in ministry one needs to be a good listener and observer, and in that way you make the best conditions for being able to help people with their spiritual problems.

I have had two rural parishes, Natimuk, and Donald; one regional, St Andrew’s Bendigo, and two suburban ones, Bentleigh, and St Stephen’s Caulfield.

I have loved them all, including their challenges, so I feel very blessed that

When I reflect back over 50 years of ordained ministry, it appears to me like a year in the life of a daffodil.

When first inducted into the Burnie Parish, with pastoral care for three smaller congregations, the bulb was planted. I knew nothing much, I’d never chaired a meeting, I’d only ever attended one funeral and one marriage.

I was the first woman minister in the Methodist Church in Tasmania, and on many occasions the people and my two ministerial colleagues, Tom Verrier and Nairn Kerr, had to teach me how to “do” ministry.

Gradually a tiny shoot appeared above the ground, and when I met Rev Dorothy Wacker, who had then been ordained for 19 years, I wondered how she had survived so long in ministry.

Five more parish ministries followed, and in between, a stint as Presbytery Minister in the Western Australian Presbytery of Stirling.

So much more to learn, explore, trial with successes and failures along the way: youth clubs, teaching religious education, starting a men’s group and

a religious book club, a ministry to the financially stressed with meal and services attached, a care program with folk confined to their homes, worship in nursing homes, usually with ecumenical co-workers, chairing presbytery meetings in two states, Synod committee meetings, learning to use Power Point, and the list goes on and on.

Always, growing together with my congregations in love and service.

A more recent gift was the opportunity to offer the Choir of High Hopes (the Hobart version of the Hard Knocks Choir) hospitality in our church hall, and what a ministry activity that has been over the last 15 years for myself and the congregation.

Through it all on a personal level I had been exploring spirituality through silent retreats, weeks at Taizé and Iona, reading and reflection with colleagues, as well as drawing and poetry whilst in nature.

These times of focus on God’s loving presence were what kept me alive through those 40 years of “active ministry” and the following 10 years of “retirement”.

The bulb had come to mature flower, even if at times it had felt a little dehydrated or battered by the elements.

Retirement, what a strange concept.

One is ordained for life, and ministry continues after the pastoral ties are cut.

But I have become slower, and even more forgetful. I am learning to pull back and work within my capacity.

Scots-Memorial Minister Rev Dr John Broughton presents Rev Rosalind Terry with a certificate marking 50 years of ordination.

Image: Jan Glanville 33

past In touch with ur

Compile a history of the Uniting Church in artefacts was the brief given to archivist Christine Gordon earlier this year for a presentation to the Assembly Standing Committee.

The result was an eclectic collection of six historic pieces, each telling a particular story about the Church.

Whale’s tooth This is a tabua (Tam-Boo-wah) from Fiji. Tabua are pierced and braided whales’ teeth, originally taken from the lower jaw of sperm whales and are highly significant and valuable objects in traditional Fijian society. Fijians consider them to be kavakaturanga (chiefly items).

This one was presented by the Methodist Church in Fiji to the Methodist Church in Australia on the eve of its becoming part of the Uniting Church in Australia on June 21, 1977. Inscribed “Special general conference, Methodist Church of Australasia, The Methodist church in

Fiji acknowledges its gratitude to the Methodist Church in Australia for its long associations with our conference. May God Bless you as you join The Uniting Church. 21st June 1977, Suva, Fiji”.

We can’t tell the history of the Uniting Church without recognising our predecessor Churches, the Congregational Union of Australia, the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the Methodist Church of Australasia, the presence they were here in Australia and with our partner Churches. So, this then, is the representation of our past and of the relationships built with our neighbouring countries, starting in 1827 in Tonga with the Methodist Church, the 1880s in Korea with the Presbyterian Church and even further back if you look at the work of the LMS in the Pacific and Asia. And of course, those partnerships and more continue today through the work of UnitingWorld.

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Basis of Union (1) This is a fairly nondescript item, but perhaps the most important one when talking about the history of the Uniting Church in Australia – it is the original Basis of Union signed by the members of the Joint Commission.

The Commission was made up of seven members each (all men) of the ante(cee)dent churches in the mid1950s. The work of the Commission was undertaken in three main stages.

First, a statement entitled ‘Faith of the Church’ was prepared and presented to the churches in 1959. Comments on the first report were received and taken into account in the preparation of the Second Report – ‘The Church; its Nature, Function and Ordering’. This report, together with a proposal for a Basis of Union, was presented to the churches in 1964 and was subsequently discussed very widely and at every level of the churches’ life. The third stage began with a detailed examination of all comments and suggested amendments to the proposed Basis of 1964. The federal courts had given freedom to the Commission in its work of revision since none of the recommended changes was passed on as mandatory.

This Basis of Union was completed by the Joint Commission on Church 36

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(2) Union and presented to the Churches for consideration in 1971. Following approval of the Basis of Union by the Conference of the Congregational Union in 1973, the General Conference of the Methodist Church in 1974 and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1974, the Basis became a permanent document to guide the life of the Uniting Church and paved the way to form and enter the UCA. The only change to the Basis came in 1992 when the ASC resolved to issue the non-inclusive language edition which saw the elimination of the male personal pronouns with reference to God and, female personal pronouns for the church were also replaced. Generic usage of ‘man’ and ‘mankind’ were also changed in each instance.

Multi-cultural banner (2) In 1985, the UCA declared itself to be a Multicultural Church. The Basis of Union pointed to the fact that the Uniting Church united not only three former denominations but also Christians of many races, cultures and languages. The statement reads “the multicultural Uniting Church seeks to be a sign of hope within the Australian community, and particularly to those

who are pushed to its fringes on racial and economic grounds”. In 1987, the Tongan National Conference was the first National Conference to be formed.

There are now 13, with the Ibero-Latino National Conference forming in 2019.

Each week, people across the Uniting Church worship in over 40 languages.

This banner came to symbolise the multi-cultural/cross-cultural nature of our church and is featured on all the MCCM posters. It is fitting that it now hangs at Bankstown Uniting Church, one of the most diverse CALD congregations in the country, with dedicated Arabic and Tongan services each week.

Covenant and Covenant painting (3) Three years after the formation of UAICC in 1985, Congress brought to the 5th Assembly, a request to establish a Covenant with the Aboriginal members and the wider membership of the Uniting Church. At the 7th Assembly in 1994, that Covenant was realised and here is the original Covenant signed by then President Jill Tabart and Bill Hollingsworth, then Chairperson of the UAICC. The words of Covenant Painting were also presented to the members of that

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(5) Assembly by Djiniyini Gondarra. The final paragraphs are astounding and as rich and generous today, as they were 30 years ago: “Your members of the Assembly and visitors are being initiated in receiving this painting – You are invited to stand with us, the members of Congress in our struggle. Even though you cannot understand the deep meaning of this painting, the more you seek to discover Aboriginal spirituality, the more your spirit will touch ours, and our covenanting together will become a reality. This painting we offer as a sign of our covenanting together.”

Mardi Gras banner (4) In March 1998, 17 Uniting Church ministers and more than 120 members marched in the Sydney Mardi Gras.

Although there had been a number of people from the Uniting Church in previous marches, 1998 was the first time people from the UCA had entered a float in the parade.

The group’s leading banner read “Celebrating diversity, members of the Uniting Church”. A second banner had a giant hole where the church’s logo had been removed shortly before the parade after the NSW Council of Synod had requested the group not to march with

the Uniting Church logo.

Here is that cut-out piece of the banner, featuring the UCA logo and the signatures of the 140 participants.

I chose this banner to symbolise the strong core belief in social justice that the UCA has always been associated with. Our Church, among other things, was the first to make apologies to the Stolen Generation, the Forgotten Australians and the survivors of institutional abuse; we have been advocates for refugees, those in detention, those suffering from domestic violence and supports people with disability. We were the first mainstream church to allow our ministers to conduct same-gender marriages. One of the most significant letters I have seen was a letter from Nelson Mandela thanking our Church for a donation of $10,000 to his political campaign after he won election to the South African Presidency in 1994.

Radio transmitter (5) In 1926, Alf Traeger joined Rev John Flynn in an experimental trip to Central Australia to test out wireless equipment which would enable remote family’s access to medical treatment by using radio equipment. This was essential to setting up the Australian Inland

Mission Aerial Medical Service. As a result of these experiences, when Traeger returned to Adelaide he found that a person could drive the generator using bicycle pedals and he built his transceiver into a box. His famous "pedal wireless" was a pedal-operated generator which provided power for a transceiver.

Over time, emergency call systems linked country-dwellers with hospitals and sets were used by the School of the Air, doctors, ambulances, councils, taxis, airlines and ships.

This particular radio transmitter was used by Rev Fred Patterson in the Southern Patrol in 1933.

I also have this original minted $20 note from 1994, which depicts John Flynn. As well as forming Patrol Padres and the Aerial Medical Service, Flynn also recognised the need for medical care for residents of the vast Australian outback and established bush hospitals, nursing homes and welfare centres.

Whilst Frontier Services continue the legacy of the Bush Chaplain and the Outback Links program, the UnitingCare Australia network is one of the largest networks of social services providers in Australia, supporting 1.4 million people every year across urban, rural and remote communities.

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Celebrating the joy of Christmas Uniting AgeWell wishes Crosslight readers and families peace and happiness this Christmas and New Year.

We thank our clients and residents for entrusting us with your care.

To families and friends and the wider Uniting AgeWell community, thank you for your partnership as we worked together to help those we care for maintain their independence, wellbeing and their community connections.

And heartfelt thanks to our staff and volunteers for making a difference to the lives of older people by providing care and support with kindness and respect, helping them to live well every day of the year.

1300 783 435 unitingagewell.org 38

The Church and rebirth

By Paul Tonson

Crosslight is a bi-monthly magazine produced by the Communications unit of the Uniting Church in Australia Synod of Victoria and Tasmania.

Opinions expressed in Crosslight do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the policies of the Uniting Church.

Advertising Crosslight accepts advertising in good faith.

Acceptance of advertising does not imply endorsement. Advertising material is at the discretion of the publisher.

Advertising deadlines for February 2024 Issue: Bookings December 19, 2023

About the Act 2 Project, I have two viewpoints to share, of which the first is crucial for understanding the second.

I hope these viewpoints can deepen the conversation we have to have.

The first viewpoint is that I love and treasure the UCA for the unique place it occupies among the faith communities in Australia as an openly pluralist community that honours the dignity of differences of theological understanding, of ethnicity and of sexual orientation and gender.

I admire the UCA consensus decision making that by happenstance is essentially the pattern of our indigenous people since long ago.

I appreciate the way these characteristics have been life-giving for me, especially in the privilege of ordained ministry over 30 years.

Nevertheless, the second viewpoint is my suspicion that the Act 2 process may be a kind of by-path meadow (John Bunyan) for us as a pilgrim church.

I am challenged by the radical truth at the heart of the life and death of Jesus: “He who will save his life will lose it, but he who will lose his life will save it”. (Mk 8:35-37 et.al) How do we save the church if we are unwilling to lose it?

Our Christian faith has given most of us perfect peace in the faith of our own death, and of our loved ones.

However, it seems we cannot face the death of the church in the same way.

Why is this?

I imagine most readers will have realised that the Constantiniancolonising church was ever an albatross for what began as a house church movement.

The large bureaucracy and red tape of our beloved UCA is also an albatross.

Expanding due diligence laws and procedures are oppressive for congregations that average under 30 people.

We are trying to grapple with a momentous culture change in our society: many people no longer want to be members of organisations, let alone get their 40-year service badge.

The former church of buoyant congregations is in palliative care.

Only the most radical change in our concept of church will meet this challenge, which may mean complete de-institutionalising.

The energy of our day lies with people who want to engage one another in meetups, spontaneous and short term, over coffee.

Surely it is a serendipity that 30 is just the right number to create house church, neighbourhood meetups.

Rev Dr Paul Tonson is a former Uniting Church Minister within the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania.

Copy & images for production January 06, 2024 Print ready supplied PDF January 16, 2024 See crosslight.org.au for full details.

Distribution Crosslight is usually distributed the first Sunday of the month.

Circulation: 16,000 Editor Andrew Humphries Ph: 0439 110 251 andrew.humphries@victas.uca.org.au Graphic design, Photography and print services Carl Rainer (03) 9340 8826 carl.rainer@victas.uca.org.au Advertising and Distribution Andrew Humphries Ph: 0439 110 251 andrew.humphries@victas.uca.org.au

UCA Synod office 130 Lonsdale St Melbourne Victoria 3000

Feedback & correspondence crosslight@victas.uca.org.au ISSN 1037 826X Next issue: February, 2024

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