Crosslight December 2015

Crosslight Publication of the year 2015

No. 261 December 2015

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UnitingWorld teamed up with the synod’s Intercultural unit and took a group of NextGen youth to China. Read about their experience in this month’s feature.

The Target Christmas appeal is a great way to spread the joy of Christmas in your community.

Stuck for something to read over the holidays? The communications team has suggestions to suit all tastes.

Penguin Uniting Church gets ready to celebrate 150 years of worship.

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Christmas means different things to different people. At Crosslight, as we wind down for another year, we would like to wish all our valued readers and contributors a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year. With your input, and support, throughout 2015 we have endeavoured to bring you news, issues and reflections from throughout the Uniting Church and broader community.

Your opinion matters to us, so please take the time to fill in our reader survey on page 23.

Image created by Garth Jones

Alan Austin writes about the Paris terror attack from his adopted home in France.

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Tell us what you think.

Crosslight invites readers to fill in our reader survey.

Regulars Reviews - 16 to 17 Letters - 19 Placements - 21 Moderator’s Column - 22

Editorial Heartache and hope PENNY MULVEY

A small boy, in the arms of his father, responded to questioning by a French journalist asking how he was feeling after the Paris attacks last month. The little boy said he was scared. He thought his family would have to leave their home because of the bad men who have guns. A calm and

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UCA Synod Office, 130 Little Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 Phone: (03) 9251 5200 Email: crosslight@victas.uca.org.au ISSN 1037 826X

loving father responded, “Well they have guns, but we have flowers”.

There have been over 300 terrorist attacks perpetrated on a range of communities across the globe this year. Innocent people going about their daily business have been killed, kidnapped, injured, terrorised.

Not surprisingly, the seeming randomness of such callous violence is creating a generalised fear and heightened sense of anxiety.

A father’s response to his son that flowers and candles will combat bad men with guns is not as ludicrous as it might sound. He was telling his son that those opposed to such evil, uniting in love not hate, will overcome the darkness. His quiet words soothed his son’s anxiety.

We are now in the season of Advent.

Christians around the world are preparing for Christ’s coming into the world.

Crosslight is a monthly newspaper produced by the Communications and Media Services unit of The Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania.

It is published 11 times a year.

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

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Acceptance of advertising does not imply endorsement.

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Churches light an Advent candle each week in the lead up to Christmas to remind worshippers of the grace that is found in Christ Jesus – “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5) In times of uncertainty our human response is self-protection. Ostrich-like, we seek to close our eyes to the outside world, our vision is diminished, our openness to new ideas and a broader perspective shrivels and shrinks.

The Advent season reminds us anew of where our hope is placed. Humankind is unchanged from the time of the Bible.

Pride, arrogance, power, greed, jealousy, hate – so vividly captured in the Old and New Testaments – still permeate all communities in the 21st century.

The opening words of John’s Gospel,

The team at Crosslight wishes you and your extended family a joyous Christmas and a safe beginning to the New Year.

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leading into the verse about light, remind us that the Word (Jesus) was with God in the beginning. “In him was life, and that life was the light of all humankind.”

Try not to be discouraged by issues of the micro or the macro. Pray. Seek silence and rejoice in the words of Christmas hymns, written by faithful Christians centuries before us, who understood the timelessness of God: When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we’d first begun. (Amazing Grace)

News

ReGen representatives with the award (L-R): CEO Laurence Alvis, Programs Director Trevor King, Clinical Services Director Donna Ribton-Turner, Adult Residential Withdrawal Manager Rose McCrohan & Board Chair Sandy Ross.

Berlin Guerrero ordained Uniting Church minister BERLIN Guerrero (above) will be familiar to many Uniting Church members and others more broadly involved in social justice advocacy.

In 2007, the then-United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) pastor was abducted by armed men at a memorial service for a friend who was assassinated in 2006.

Heavily involved in social justice activities in the Philippines, Pastor Guerrero had caught the ire of corrupt officials looking to stamp out opposition, particularly from those critical of government and the ruling elite.

Many Uniting Church members joined UCCP members taking part in the campaign to free Pastor Guerrero through letter writing actions and lobbying activities calling for his immediate release.

Mr Guerrero was ultimately held captive, and tortured, for 15 months before being released from trumped-up charges of sedition and murder.

Although he was officially free, his safety was not assured.

So, when he was offered sanctuary with the Uniting Church in Australia, he and his family made the difficult decision to live apart.

Permit granted HERITAGE recently announced permit approval for the proposed redevelopment at the Wesley Upper Lonsdale Street site located in Melbourne’s CBD. The permit is part of an application process for creating a revitalised precinct with contemplative spaces, dining areas and a new commercial building featuring 5 Star Green Star environmental ratings. The three parties

Safe church PENNY MULVEY AS the Uniting Church continues to address the issues revealed through the investigation of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse, different synods have developed strategies aimed at assisting congregations ensure a safe place for all.

One such resource, Growing in understanding, The church as a safe place, was recently launched by the Queensland synod.

The resource is aimed at helping congregations understand how the accepting and forgiving nature of a church environment can unwittingly enable predators to make connections.

Examples the document offers include such things as a groomer targeting a vulnerable adult, which can be justified if challenged

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

Mr Guerrero has since been reunited with his family in Australia.

Most recently he has been working with the Justice and International Mission (JIM) unit on various campaigns at the UCA synod office in Melbourne, while undertaking ministry training within the Uniting Church.

Last month marked a significant milestone in the now-Rev Guerrero’s journey, when he was ordained as a Uniting Church minister.

Social justice officer with the JIM unit Jill Ruzbacky said the journey of her colleague and friend is emblematic of the UCA and UCCP partnership.

“It was an absolute privilege to be part of Berlin’s ordination,” Ms Ruzbacky said.

“Working closely with Berlin and his family has been a very practical and meaningful expression of the partnership between our two Churches.

“To have been part of his journey from those initial conversations in the Philippines about coming to Australia, right through until his ordination has been an incredible privilege.

“I thank Berlin and his family for allowing us to be part of what has been a very special journey, and of course that journey is just beginning.”

Berlin has commenced his first placement as a Uniting Church minister at Wodonga West, North Albury, Kergunyah. He will be inducted at a service at Wodonga West on 10 December.

involved, Wesley Mission Victoria, Wesley Congregation and the synod, are now awaiting the outcome of the planning permit application with the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.

Rev Dr Mark Lawrence, general secretary of the Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, said “the synod is pleased that Heritage Victoria recognises our commitment to preserve and maintain the historic Wesley Church and its associated manse, schoolhouse and caretaker’s cottage.

with: “I was just trying to comfort you, it was a holy kiss.” This can lead to people doubting their reading of a situation and feeling embarrassed about making an accusation. As the document states: “Grooming silences the inner compass.”

Growing in understanding, The church as a safe place gently raises the difficulties created by a trusting environment, which is such an integral element of congregational life.

The document highlights that: “Acknowledging the vulnerability of the church and its members to manipulative and predatory behaviour is deeply painful. Yet this understanding is essential to building communities of faith which safeguard all those who seek Christian fellowship.”

Keeping people safe is everyone’s responsibility. If you would like to encourage discussion within your congregation on this important subject, the Queensland resource can be found at http://ucaqld.com.au/wp-content/ uploads/2015/11/TheChurchasaSafePlace.pdf

ReGen’s Ice treatment program a winner UNITINGCARE ReGen was recently awarded the 2015 Victorian Healthcare Award in the category of ‘Improving health, safety and wellbeing’.

The annual Victorian Healthcare Awards recognise innovative community health programs and organisations.

The award’s categories cover a diverse range of community health areas including mental health, palliative care, physiotherapy and drug and alcohol treatment.

UnitingCare ReGen was recognised for its targeted methamphetamine treatment programs.

Other finalists included Monash Health’s wellness and recovery centre and the mental health and wellbeing strategy for Monash doctors.

UnitingCare ReGen CEO Laurence Alvis welcomed the award as recognition of the agency’s efforts to improve treatment for individuals and families affected by methamphetamines.

Commenting on the public debate around methamphetamine use, Mr Alvis said more needed to be done to combat simplistic analysis of complex issues.

“Much public discussion of the challenges for service providers in responding to people who use methamphetamine assumes We look forward to learning the outcome of the planning permit application in due course”.

In granting its permit, Heritage Victoria stated that “on balance, it [the development proposal] provides a beneficial outcome in the form of badly needed conservation works to the Church and other heritage buildings at the site, most of which are no longer required for their original purposes.”

The proposal included demolition of the Princess Mary Club which Heritage Victoria deemed had “considerable

that they are violent and uncontrollable,” he said.

“Stigmatising media coverage and public health campaigns do little to improve the accessibility of essential health services for people who use methamphetamine, or support informed responses by service providers.”

Mr Alvis said ReGen support programs are designed to be flexible towards individual treatment needs.

“The success in achieving sustained behavioural changes among people who use methamphetamine is based on identifying individual and family needs,” he said.

“This includes developing evidence-based responses in partnership with consumers and external evaluators.”

Mr Alvis thanked UnitingCare ReGen staff for working towards innovative treatment models that make lasting change in people’s lives.

“I would particularly like to thank all our staff for their commitment to ensuring that we are providing the most effective services for our consumers,” he said.

Mr Alvis commended ReGen staff working in the adult withdrawal unit who previously identified processes in withdrawal treatment that were not working for people undertaking methamphetamine withdrawal.

“There is always more that we can do to improve our own practice and support integrated responses,” he said.

“Particularly in relation to methamphetamines and other emerging drug types across the Victorian healthcare system.” structural faults” and would have required “extensive replacement of the heritage fabric” at a cost in “the vicinity of $18 million”.

The development includes an innovative sinking fund for the preservation and maintenance of the Church in the next century and beyond. It also provides for the site not to be sold, but leased from the Uniting Church for 125 years, ensuring the Church’s future as a place of worship and community gathering for perpetuity.

POSITION VACANT

Minister of the Word – Lismore Regional Mission We are seeking a Minister of the Word offering vision and leadership, to work with a dedicated, enthusiastic team of Lay preachers and lay persons, to encourage and grow worship, pastoral oversight, discipleship, spiritual gifts and ongoing discernment in missional direction.

The Lismore Regional Mission consists of an active, vital congregation in Lismore, a UAICC Congregation and several smaller congregations in surrounding communities. Services also include Messy Church and we seek a person with skills to expand this to include a regular worship service for young families.

The Mission has strong community connections through ministry with its Red Dove Coffee Shop, Op-Shop, Food Pantry and Welfare operations, providing numerous services to the local community. These are run by lay people and external volunteers.

Lismore is located on the Far North Coast of NSW, close to Brisbane and the Gold Coast, as well as beautiful local beaches and rainforests. Two regional airports offer regular flights to major cities daily. Lismore has 6 public schools, 4 public high schools, 4 Christian schools and a major university, as well as many sporting organisations.

• The applicant must hold or be willing to obtain a Working with Children Check number.

• Only people with the right to work in Australia may apply for this position.

•To enquire or to request a copy of the congregational profile contact: Rev Maggie de Leeuw, 0410 975 955 or email maggie120@outlook.com • Applications should be sent to: Synod Associate Secretary - Rev Jane Fry janef@nswact.uca.org.au • Applications close: Friday 12th February 2016 3

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News New target for UnitingCare Christmas Appeal LAST month marked the launch of the 24th annual UnitingCare and Target Christmas Appeal, which has distributed more than 2 million gifts to local people who are doing it tough.

In past years the appeal focused on collection of gifts for distribution throughout the community. This will continue this year, and agencies will ensure that all donated gifts will remain in the local community in which they are donated.

For the first time in the appeal’s history, members of the public will be invited to purchase a $1 gift tag at Target checkouts which in turn is a dollar contribution to the UnitingCare Christmas Appeal.

National Appeal manager Catherine Robertson said all money raised will remain in the state in which it was donated.

“UnitingCare will distribute the money across the state and be able to respond to areas most in need,” Ms Robertson said.

“In the past, some donated presents didn’t match the agencies’ clientele. One agency was inundated with Barbie dolls even though their clients were predominately teenage boys. The changes to the appeal are designed to minimise these instances and give greater flexibility for agency staff to select appropriate gifts.

“In acknowledging the limitations of the appeal, Target decided to emulate the success of other retailers who have prompted customers to donate money,” she said.

Uniting Church joins Tasmanian Gambling Reform Coalition AT the start of November the Presbytery of Tasmania joined a coalition of 15 community organisations to pressure the Hodgman

“The money will enable us to respond to people living in both regional and metropolitan Melbourne. We know there are less Target stores represented in rural areas, where there often tends to be the most need. So this new donation process allows for us to respond to that need and ensure that Victorians and Tasmanians are helping their own.

Cash donations will not only enable the purchase of age-appropriate Christmas gifts, but also to assist with other areas of need such as providing food hampers for people struggling to put food on the table, assistance with bills and crisis accommodation.

“Christmas is often the hardest time for families already struggling to make ends meet,” UnitingCare Tasmania CEO Lindy O’Neill said.

“Families feel the need to produce a feast and have piles of presents under the tree. However, many have the stresses of bills, rent and putting petrol in car and it’s hard to justify spending money on gifts when they need to keep a roof over their head.

“This Christmas, thanks to generous donations, we hope to ease some of these pressures.”

Last year the appeal helped support over 42,000 families nationally.

Wimmera UnitingCare Kinship Care worker Claire Hewson and Horsham Target’s store manager Paul Sostheim help Adeline Whorlow donate a gift to Wimmera families as part of the 2015 Christmas Appeal.

For more information visit www. unitingcarechristmasappeal.com.au

Government to reduce the $200 million lost in Tasmania each year on pokies.The organisations, including Anglicare, St Vincent de Paul and the Tasmanian Council of Social Service, also want the state government to talk to the community before making a decision about what to do with the Federal Group monopoly licence on pokies.

The Federal Group is seeking an extension of its gambling monopoly in Tasmania beyond 2023.

Mark Zirnsak from the synod Commission

for Mission said three harm minimisation changes should be imposed on any future gambling licence.

“One is to reduce the amount that can be lost to a dollar-per-button press,” he said. “The second is for venue staff to be required to intervene when people are displaying signs of having a gambling problem and the third is to allow gamblers to set enforceable limits on how much they can lose across all machines.”

Kym Goodes, CEO of the Tasmanian Council of Social Service, said the ultimate goal of the

newly formed coalition was to remove pokies from pubs and clubs.

Tasmanian state treasurer Peter Gutwein is waiting on advice from his department later this month before the government considers its options early next year over the awarding of the next gambling licence.

THE JEAN SUTHERLAND MEMORIAL FUND

The Jean Sutherland Memorial Fund was established in 1971 by the Presbyterian Kindergarten Council, now known as UnitingCare Victoria and Tasmania’s Early Childhood Services.

The award is applicable within Australia and overseas to promote opportunities for studying to gain an early childhood degree.

Eligibility The applicant must hold an early childhood diploma and qualify in one of the following: • be a member of the Uniting Church; • be currently employed on a Uniting Church Early Childhood Program.

Present Award Up to $10,000.

Application Details For further information contact: Vaso Howard on (03) 9251 5262; email: vaso.howard@victas.unitingcare.org.au Closing date for Applications 29 January 2016.

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

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News Sharing hope after Sandy Hook CROSSLIGHT’S DEB BENNETT SPOKE WITH THE HERO TEACHER IN MELBOURNE ON the morning of December 14, 2012, Kaitlin Roig-Debellis posted a photo of the sunrise on her Facebook page before heading off to work. Such was her enthusiasm for life that the 26-year-old wanted to share the beauty she encountered with others.

Little did the first-grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School know that within a few short hours her life would change forever.

By the time the sun set that day, Kaitlin would be known throughout the world as the woman who miraculously saved her class of 14 students from a gunman who took the life of 20 children and six adults.

Almost three years later, Kaitlin has released a book, Choosing Hope, about the impact of the school massacre on her life.

In it she shares the lessons she has learned as she tries to overcome the despair and emotional turmoil of such a tragedy.

We recently spoke with Kaitlin at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne. She had just given a talk where she shared with the audience details of her life prior to the tragedy and how she has managed to find hope after confronting such unbelievable horror.

Kaitlin has an infectious enthusiasm for life. As a little girl she knew that teaching was her passion. Her role as a first-grade teacher was the fulfilment of her dreams.

That dream turned into a nightmare at

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9.30 that morning in December as shots rang out in the hallways of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

“First comes the initial blast of gunfire, then the sound of shattering glass. The hair on my arms stands up. I know right away what I am hearing. Columbine is happening in the place we call Pleasantville. How can it be?

Someone with a weapon is shooting their way into our perfect school. My classroom is the first one in the building. We are in grave danger, I think, sitting targets.”

Most of the audience at the Wheeler Centre were familiar with the story of how Kaitlin hid her class of 14 six- and seven-yearolds in a bathroom no bigger than a small cupboard. Somehow, she managed to keep the children quiet for 45 minutes as the sounds of a massacre echoed throughout the school. But hearing a first-hand account of the events of that day is a chilling reminder of how quickly life can change.

‘Live each day as if it’s your last’ is not a cliché when spoken by people who have, quite literally, faced the possibility of living their last day.

But it was the days, weeks and months after the tragedy that inspired Kaitlin to write about her experience. As the enormity of the tragedy became apparent, there were some days when the future seemed hopeless. She even questioned whether she had in fact survived the shooting, and would question those around her “Am I really alive?”

Therapy, and the love and support of her family and fiancé (now husband) Nick, helped her through what she calls her ‘darkest times’. While for a time she lost her sense of identity and optimism for the future, she told us that one thing that never wavered was her faith.

“Faith has always played a huge role my entire life. I have always been very connected with spirituality and with God,”

Kaitlin said.

“Obviously being in the bathroom that day I turned to prayer. As a public school teacher in America I felt a little odd, because we are not allowed to have religion in schools. But I knew in that moment that I absolutely had to pray. If some students wanted to then that was fine, if they didn’t that was fine also.

“In moving forward, one of the biggest things that helped me was the ballad ‘Amazing Grace’. It gave me such hope that even though I felt completely lost, I might eventually find my way in life – I might be found. When literally the only two things I could do were get out of bed and shower, I would just hum ‘Amazing Grace’ all day long.

“I never questioned my faith for one second. I think a big part of that is because I do have such a strong faith in God. I have absolutely no idea how this universe works and how we all come to be here and leave here. But it felt very wrong to question ‘why not us, why them,’ or ‘why me’?

“That doesn’t mean that I didn’t question why those 26 lives were lost but, for me, I don’t think that had anything to do with God.” The turning point for Kaitlin came when she stopped asking the questions that simply couldn’t be answered, and focussed on solutions.

When she returned to school with her students, Kaitlin found they were inundated with gifts and donations from throughout the country. She was grappling with a way to make her students feel joy and hope after what they had been through, and came up with the idea of empowering her students to make others feel happy.

The class devised a ‘giving project’ where they would use some of the donations given to the school to help another class at another school. The children knew how

excited they were to receive presents and wanted to share that excitement. As she explained in the book: “My students wanted to feel better and my job as their teacher was to give them the opportunity to turn that terrible tragedy into something positive. When they seized that opportunity – when they chose that glimmer of hope – was when I knew the shooting was not going to define them or me… That was a first step on our long path to healing.”

From that small idea, Kaitlin has now founded a not-for-profit called Classes4Classes, where students have the opportunity to help other students, and they in turn help another class.

The power of sharing with others is another reason Kaitlin wrote the book.

“Me standing and talking about it, it’s not like it brings it all up. It’s always there. So I think sharing my story of choosing to hope is what I should do. That’s what it’s about.

Everyone has pain – we’re not alone in this so we should share it.”

Choosing Hope by Kaitlin Roig-Debellis (with Robin Gaby Fisher), Allen & Unwin. RRP$29.99

Author Kaitlin Roig-Debellis

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

Feature The geek will inherit the Earth – religion and fandom EMMET O’CUANA If your belief system is “Jedi” then answer as such on the census form. But if you would normally answer Anglican or Jewish or Buddhist or something else to the question “what is your religion?” and for the census you answer “Jedi” then this may impact on social services provision if enough people do the same.

– The 2001 Census, Religion and the Jedi, ABS (http://tiny.cc/iyse6x) THE word fan has its root in fanatic. It dates from the pulp fiction era of the 1930s and the growth in the popularity of science fiction.

In anticipation of the impending release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with its ecstatic reception by the fan community online, I wondered if fandom was coming to share traits with personal belief. Is fandom a way of finding meaning in the world?

Over the course of interviews for this story, Rev Dr Avril Hannah-Jones and writer Karen Beilharz discussed Star Wars and other fandoms such as Doctor Who, Supernatural, Harry Potter and Buffy, as examples of fictional franchises that are intensely meaningful for their fans.

Dr Hannah-Jones describes this process as a form of ‘deep exegesis’, a “willingness to discuss and debate and criticise and celebrate.”

Are fandoms and, say, the Uniting Church’s

Rev Dr Mark Worthing, who has published books examining the intersection between Christian faith and pop culture, was approached for interview in relation to the accompanying article. He responded to the questions asked with a reflection, presented here in an edited form, on Star Wars as a modern-day monomyth and an expression of religiosity as a human experience.

AS I prepare to take a group of youth from our congregation to see the midnight showing of Star Wars: Episode VII, it is clear that – like the Lord of the Rings and the Superman franchises, this is more than just a movie. The phenomenon of fandom that has developed surrounding such film franchises has taken on an almost religious dimension. Tens of thousands give ‘Jedi’ as their religion on each Australian census. While this is a mostly tongue-in-cheek bit of humour, there is also a serious point to it. Joseph Campbell, the great 20th century expert on mythology, would not be surprised.

With many in modern Western societies intentionally abandoning traditional religions for a variety of reasons, a void is being created.

Suddenly we find ourselves within a world with great numbers of people with no defining story. Human beings have an inherent need for mythology, for heroes to cheer, for a saviour figure, and for a worldview which makes sense of our reality and shows us what values we ought to live by. If Christianity or Judaism are no longer filling these roles, people will naturally seek out a meta-narrative elsewhere. This is seldom a conscious decision, but more of a natural response to a need.

The modern fandom phenomenon develops out of this need. There are fan sites, discussion groups, toys and images that form a sort of

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

approach to ecumenism, parallel consensus models of discussion?

Dr Hannah-Jones is a Uniting Church minister at Williamstown - Electra St, known for her ‘Church of Latter Day Geeks’ services.

She strongly believes that these stories “ask questions about the meaning of life, the nature of good and evil, what it means to be human, and whether there is something beyond the physical world”. For her, fandom is a source of community, something that dovetails with traditional religion.

“Every major natural disaster over the past few years has had fan communities raising money for groups like UNICEF. The care I’ve seen in fan communities is as profound as the care I’ve seen in the best of Christian communities.”

Author Karen Beilharz has written a series of comics exploring the theme of depression Kinds of Blue and recently launched her own sci-fi series Eternal Life. She also recognises the existence of fan exegesis in these communities.

“Fans, like believers, like to congregate with others who share their passions, forming clubs with regular meetings much in the way that Christians gather in churches on Sundays,” Ms Beilharz said.

Does this represent a shift in values, of people

finding in fandom something religion once provided?

“In Australia, at least, the secular alternatives to religion are sport and Anzac Day. Nothing else will ever compete with those two Australian ‘religions’,” Dr Hannah-Jones says, giving short shrift to the viral Jedi protest movement that gave the Australian Bureau of Statistics such a fright in 2001.

“I do think that fandom fills some sort of hole for some people – whether it be that need for community (something that churches used to provide), the need for narrative to explain or explore one’s life, or the need for something to ‘worship,’” Ms Beilharz said. “But it’s different to religious belief. The function of fandom and the function of religion are still two very different things. Being a fan of Marvel’s Thor and a believer in Thor Norse god of thunder are completely different: the former does not necessarily believe that the object of his adoration is actually real, whereas the latter very much would. That belief would hold profound implications for the ways he or she lived life.”

Beilharz insists while franchises like Star Wars, Buffy and Star Trek may touch on different philosophies in their narratives, “the main

point is to entertain and transport”.

While George Lucas employed imagery of beatific goodness in a conflict against satanic evil, Star Wars lacks the allegorical substance of, say, the Narnia books.

“J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis both deliberately used fantasy to explore theological questions,” Dr Hannah-Jones said. She also cited the recent series of Doctor Who as an example of framing the concept of pacifism.

“Science fiction is certainly a terrific vehicle for ideas and the exploration of those ideas”, agrees Ms Beilharz, “and Christianity has always questioned the world and why it holds to the things it does.”

Lucas was inspired by pulp science fiction, or as New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael noted he was “hooked on the crap of his childhood”.

Now The Force Awakens feeds on the nostalgia of fans for the original films. It is a mythology of itself, a closed set of meaningful symbols. As such, divorced from the real world in a galaxy far, far away, can Star Wars be considered meaningful in a critical sense beyond what it tells us about its own fandom?

The challenge for Christian Churches, and science fiction, therefore is one and the same – to remain engaged in the world.

Members of the Church of Latter Day Geeks

iconography, as well as a whole range of rituals associated with the story.

If we look only at the example of the Star Wars series, which is one of the most successful of the emerging meta-narratives, we find a grand story with belief in a higher power (the Force) and a battle between good and evil. There are also heroes to barrack for, quests to follow, and important lessons about life to learn. We can buy t-shirts, bumper stickers, desk-top toys and any other number of items to show our support of the story. There are regular film marathons, books about sub-stories, books about the meaning of the movies, and web-based discussion communities. Fandom suddenly begins to look very religious.

If Joseph Campbell were asked he would not say that secular people today are choosing a new religion, but that they are simply filling the natural need for a meta-narrative in their lives. The religious-like following, images and rituals that develop around these stories are simply testimony to the power of the metanarrative.

Sometimes we can learn more about our own Christian and biblical meta-narrative through these other stories. For those of us who are shaped by the story of God’s salvation of a lost humanity through Jesus’s life, death and resurrection, it is this story that remains the foundational meta-narrative or story that gives us meaning.

Rev Dr Mark Worthing is the parish pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church North Adelaide.

He is the author of Graeme Clark: The man who invented the bionic ear, and a historian of science.

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News Responding to the ravages of drought DEB BENNETT THROUGHOUT the past month, the weather in Melbourne has lived up to the cliché ‘four seasons in one day’. While Melburnians have been inconvenienced by the threat of sunstroke and torrential downpours in the space of a few hours, for those living in the country the weather is no laughing matter.

Recognising the impact of extreme weather on farming districts, the state government recently announced a $27 million funding package for a range of support measures, including employment initiatives and counselling.

Last month the presbytery of LoddonMallee held a seminar at Wycheproof where representatives of congregations spoke about the effect of the on-going drought in their communities. About 20 people attended together with a regional school chaplain, a Baptist minister, the community development officer of Buloke shire council and a representative of the Rural Financial Counselling Service. It was a chance to share what organisations are doing and explore what more could be done do to assist those affected.

Jim Foley, retired minister, attended as a presbytery rep from Castlemaine. He said the area had been hard hit since 2000, when farmers suffered through seven years of what became known as the ‘Millennium drought’.

The area was then devastated by extreme flooding in 2011, and is currently enduring drought conditions that have lasted for the last three growing seasons.

Mr Foley said people spoke candidly about the social and emotional impact throughout communities.

“A doctor spoke of ‘a lot of sadness’,” Mr Foley said.

“Someone told of the anxiety in communities about young families leaving and not coming back. Another farmer spoke of hope being given up for a harvest. There was talk of a ‘ripple effect’ causing people to be on edge and niggly and an extra layer of stress around the place that included churches.”

It wasn’t all doom and gloom, and Mr Foley said humour and a positive outlook were strong throughout the day.

“Someone raised a laugh by commenting that diminished harvests meant local sporting clubs had no problem fielding teams because

there was not a lot to do on drought stricken farms at harvest time.

“People spoke of ‘wellbeing’ barbeques, often coordinated by local fire brigades. There was talk of pampering days for women, of concerts and food voucher programs involving local communities and businesses to keep the money in the town. Some spoke of churches needing to think outside their church headspace to partner with community groups in programs rather than going it alone.”

Mr Foley said everyone agreed that support was the key to managing yet another drought.

This support could come in many ways, with finance being only one avenue.

“Supporting congregations could consider attending worship services in drought areas (and taking along lunch for a social time afterwards), writing letters, arranging weekend or breaks at someone’s holiday house, hosting city weekends,” Mr Foley said.

“St Margaret’s UC, Mooroolbark, is a congregation in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne that built such a relationship.”

St Margaret’s congregation member, Marj Hookey, said one of their congregation members had been a teacher in the country and was concerned by the devastation of people and communities caused by the Millennium drought.

St Margaret’s made links with the congregational group of Wycheproof, Birchip, Culgoa and Nullawil and built relationships, sending Christmas cards and cakes.

“The people were surprised and delighted that a city congregation was interested in them,” Ms Hookey said.

“A proposal was put to the St Margaret’s church council that some of the proceeds of our fete be sent to help. Over the next five years, a total of $50,000 dollars was forwarded to the parish to be used in funding ministry and maintenance.

“The response of people coming to our fete was wonderful when they heard of where the proceeds were going. People had not known what they could do to help people in drought areas and now, here was an avenue. Time and time again people would hand over money to our stallholders and say ‘Don’t worry about the change. Keep it.’”

The relationship has developed in the years since, with visits in both directions and the congregations coming to know each other well. As Mr Foley said, such support lets rural people know they are not forgotten.

Seminar participants

Congregations interested in linking with churches in drought affected regions like Loddon-Mallee can contact presbytery ministers Gordon Bannon 0417 037 450 or Judy Berridge 0409 258 230.

POSITION VACANT

Ordained Minister, Deacon, Pastor or Exiting Candidate Eurobodalla Linked Congregations, situated on the beautiful south coast of NSW at Batemans Bay and Moruya (Canberra Region Presbytery) are seeking a suitably qualified person to lead our congregations. The position requires a person who can inspire and encourage the congregations to adapt to the changing society in which we find ourselves, while maintaining and developing our comprehensive outreach programs. Leadership of worship and oversight of study and visitation programs would also be required.

This position is up to a 70% placement, with a house provided on a separate site, and appropriate allowances for travel, phone, relocation and study.

Commencement and working times are flexible.

The applicant must hold or be willing to hold a Working with Children Check number.

Only people with the right to work in Australia may apply for this position.

Initial enquiries to: Trevor Kohlhagen, Chair of Church Council.

Tel: 02 4472 1619 E: tdkclyde@gmail.com Applications should be sent to: Synod Associate Secretary Rev Jane Fry E: janef@nswact.uca.org.au Applications open.

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CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

News Homeshare bridges age divide TIM LAM WESLEY MISSION VICTORIA is breaking down generational barriers through an innovative home sharing program.

Eighty-year-old Lorraine La’Brooy joined Wesley Mission Victoria’s Homeshare program earlier this year. She wanted to continue living in her home in Edithvale, but also needed someone to assist her occasionally around the house.

“Sometimes I need a bit of help because I’m a little bit old,” Lorraine explained.

“I didn’t want a really young person who couldn’t help me, but I also didn’t want a very old person because I didn’t want to help them all the time.”

Homeshare is a shared living arrangement program that matches people aged over 65, or adults with a disability, with a younger home sharer. The home sharer provides household assistance, companionship and contributes to utility costs in return for free accommodation.

The terms of the arrangement are unique to each pairing. Some householders simply want someone to share dinner with; others may need help with cleaning, shopping, gardening and laundry.

The program has run for the past 15 years, successfully matching more than 470 people from diverse backgrounds and age groups in Victoria’s southern metropolitan region.

Wesley’s social support coordinator, Lynn Burke, introduced Lorraine to 30-year-old Sheree Tanner.

“I was a bit nervous at first when Lynn said she’s only 30,” Lorraine reflected.

“But then again, I’ve got a granddaughter who’s 35, so I thought maybe we can get along.”

Sheree is a student at Chisolm TAFE undertaking a certificate in allied health assistance. She encountered the Homeshare program through a friend who saw an advertisement in the TAFE cafeteria.

“What intrigued me and stood out to me was the mutual benefit of it,” Sheree said.

“I’ll be living in a place providing companionship, which will also be helping me out financially as I’m a student and receiving Austudy.”

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

For Sheree, volunteering as a homesharer also enhanced her career prospects in the health and medical field.

“Given my past aged-care experience, and looking after my mum when she was ill, this is what I want to do eventually as a career,” she said.

Lorraine and Sheree have lived together for more than two months. They spend many hours watching Home and Away in the living room, cooking food and visiting St Chad’s Anglican Church on Tuesdays.

“I find Sheree very easy to get along with,” Lorraine said.

“I don’t even have to ask her and she’ll get me water, or make me coffee or put my dinner on the table.”

Recently, Lorraine began helping Sheree with driving lessons. Driving for the first time can be a terrifying experience, but Lorraine provided a calm and reassuring presence in the passenger seat.

“When we got in the car, I felt Sheree was nervous. Halfway through the lesson she wanted to stop,” Lorraine recalled.

“So I said ‘no, we are going to the end of the lesson’.”

Sheree believes Lorraine’s gentle encouragement helped her overcome her nerves.

“Lorraine said we are not giving up, we are going to finish this lesson. So I stuck it out,” she said.

“It’s good to have someone like that to really push me in a positive way.”

Lorraine and Sheree have already developed a close bond and it is clear they enjoy each other’s company. Because the relationship between householder and homesharer is critical to a successful match, Wesley Mission Victoria conducts vigorous interviews and reference checks.

Lynn Burke said the matching process can be quite complex and arrangements will only proceed once both parties feel comfortable.

“People need different types of support. We look at what each person’s needs are and we assess the type of person they want to share with,” she said.

“A major thing is personality. With Sheree and Lorraine, I knew they were both quite laidback and easy-going.”

Taking on the role of a homesharer requires a certain amount of responsibility. Sheree believes only mature adults who are patient and respectful should consider the program.

Lorraine La’Brooy with housemate Sheree Tanner.

“Your heart has to be in the right spot,” she said.

“You have to genuinely care for people. You have to go in there with a good attitude.”

For Lorraine and Sheree, sharing a home together has enriched both their lives, in unexpected ways.

“I feel like I can talk to Lorraine about anything. There’s no judgement in return,” Sheree said.

“She’s just easy-going and down-to-earth. If I have any problems or anything on my mind, I can just talk to her.”

Lorraine summarised her thoughts on Sheree with a few simple words.

“She’s like family. She really is.”

If you would like to become involved in the Homeshare program, contact Lynn Burke on 9794 3000.

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Profile Penguin on parade NIGEL TAPP FOR almost 150 years the Penguin Uniting Church has worshipped on the same spot opposite the Bass Strait foreshore of the small north-west Tasmanian town.

In that time the church has become an integral community landmark and a beacon for many events and gatherings, both large and small.

Engaging with the community and other churches has been integral to the church’s life ever since the Methodists first built on the site in 1866.

The first Methodist service in the town dates back to 1864. It was held in the home of Mr John Merelie Smith only three years after Penguin was first settled and 11 years before the township was actually proclaimed.

Penguin UC will celebrate its 150th anniversary of continuous worship on the site with a day-long celebration on 17 January starting with a street parade and culminating with an afternoon tea.

Moderator Dan Wootton will preach at a 10.30 am sesqui-centenary service.

The original Methodist Church was used by the Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists for some years until the Primitives built another church up the road on Mission Hill.

In 1901 the two churches re-joined and built a new church on the Main Street site occupied by the Wesleyans to cater for the growing congregation. The current church was officially opened two years later and the original church was moved to the back of the site and used as a Sunday school before being destroyed in an arson attack in 1904.

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A newspaper report at the time praised a Mr FH Fielding, who rushed into the burning building to remove the organ while others removed pews.

Fortunately, the brave efforts of rescuers saved the new church from sustaining any damage with men being doused with water to allow them to continue to protect the building.

“During the progress of the fire a bevy of young ladies formed themselves into a temporary brigade and mounted the roof of the house of Mr Ellis, the next house to the church, and extinguished all sparks as they fell on the (roof) shingles,” the newspaper reported.

The newspaper report made it clear the newly-constructed federation church was also a target of the arsonist.

“It is evident the incendiarist (sic) intended the larger building to burn as a box containing shavings and oakum (a blend of fibres coated with tar and used to fill small cracks in buildings in the early 20th century) was discovered close to the back of the building near the gas pipes, with a piece of lighted candle in it covered with shingles leaning against the building as if to conceal the light. No stronger evidence of incendiarism could possibly be found.”

Many of the current congregation can trace roots back to the founding members of the church. Mary Brain proudly dates the history of her paternal family, the Barkers, to the late 1800s.

Retired minister Bob Hazeldine said the church, which has an average Sunday attendance of about 50, had always played a pivotal role in the life of the town.

“The church is used by church groups and local groups making it very much a community church,” he said.

“It is a focal point in the town.”

The church’s sense of mission has remained, not only to its local community but also to

the wider world. It is a financial supporter of chaplaincy services in local schools and has actively supported agencies such as Frontier Services and Operation Christmas Child, an appeal organised by Samaritan’s Purse Australia.

Its annual Easter Sunday Dawn Service on the waterfront, followed by breakfast in the church hall, is a key ecumenical event in Penguin and a Blessing of the Animals service is held every second year by Mr Hazeldine, attracting not only domestic pets but the odd goat and even a wallaby.

The church also holds special services to recognise the role played by emergency services and service clubs in the town.

Ecumenicism has always been a feature of Penguin Uniting and that includes allowing Dutch migrants to use the building on Sunday afternoons after World War II for worship until they built their own church.

Save the date: 17 January

The current Penguin church

9.30 A.M.: PARADE OF PEOPLE IN HISTORICAL COSTUMES WITH A VINTAGE CAR 10.30 A.M.: CHURCH SERVICE 12.30 P.M.: LUNCHEON INCLUDING VIEWING OF HISTORICAL DISPLAY IN THE HALL 1.30 P.M.: CONCERT 3.00 P.M.: AFTERNOON TEA ANYONE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING IS ASKED TO CONTACT MARY BRAIN 6437 1940.

Preparing for the celebrations are from left Kay Dean, Greta Marshall and Mary Brain

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

News Sharing Christmas with the gift of clean water DELPHINE VUAGNOUX NOTHING could have prepared me for the shocking reality facing refugees living in Akula camp, on the border of Ethiopia and South Sudan. Walking into Akula I was immediately aware that the refugees living there had next to nothing. It was extremely hot, dry and dusty and their homes were made from torn UNHCR tents and anything they could find. There were no toilets and the smell of faeces was overbearing.

I coordinate the Christmas Bowl appeal at Act for Peace. Akula is the location of one of Act for Peace’s international programs and is the focus of the upcoming Christmas Bowl appeal.

After decades of conflict in surrounding countries, Ethiopia is now host to more

refugees than any other country in Africa. And, as one of the world’s poorest countries, they are struggling to cope.

Akula camp is home to South Sudanese refugees who’ve fled ongoing civil war to find a better life for their families. One of the largest problems facing refugees in Akula is a lack of water, sanitation and hygiene.

There are no toilets in Akula and just one working water pump. People are forced to go to the toilet out in the open. The lack of water means that there is no way for people to wash their hands and deadly diseases are spreading rapidly.

I was moved by the courage and determination of a young mother called Kama. Kama grew up in a small, peaceful, farming community in South Sudan. She has a beautiful daughter, one-year old Nyadak, and is pregnant with her second child. But a few months ago, soldiers came to Kama’s village.

Kama only just escaped alive, grabbing her daughter and hiding in the bush as the soldiers burnt the houses and crops and killed many of her friends and family. She fled to Ethiopia all alone, desperate to keep

her daughter and her unborn baby safe.

When she arrived in Akula she was forced to face yet another danger – dirty water and disease. Baby Nyadak and pregnant mothers like Kama are at the highest risk of dying from diseases such as hepatitis. She explained to me how terrified she was that she and her daughter would get sick and die, as have so many others in the camp.

Kama had arrived at the camp with nothing – not even a container to carry water from the far-away pump. Luckily, Kama was given a jerry-can to carry water, and soap to keep her family clean to prevent contamination from deadly diseases. This meant that she was able to carry clean water from the pump.

Such a small gift kept mother and daughter safe from deadly water-borne diseases. I will never forget how grateful she was for something as simple as a jerry-can.

I’ll also never forget Mr Merga, who I met in Akula camp. He’s a gentle man who works tirelessly for Act for Peace’s local partner there. He told me: “God asked us to help those in need, it is our Christian duty.

It’s tragic that they have had to abandon their lives and flee their homes. With your

help, I am trying to support them when they arrive.”

Mr Merga is dedicated to ensuring that no one in his community will die from a preventable disease. He works hard each and every day repairing water pumps, building toilets, distributing soap and training people in good hygiene.

What stayed with me the most was how little it takes to fix the problems refugees like Kama and dedicated staff like Mr Merga face. The solution is as simple as clean water, soap and toilets.

I hope sharing the stories of just some of the amazing people I met will encourage others to once again be involved in the Christmas Bowl appeal.

You can give to the appeal, find out more or order a church fundraising kit with worship resources, by visiting www.actforpeace.org. au/christmasbowl or calling 1800 025 101.

Kama has access to safe water.

Your gifts changed lives last Christmas Bowl DELPHINE VUAGNOUX

Than with his son Aung.

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

ACT FOR PEACE has some exciting news to share with you about Than, whose story we told you last Christmas Bowl in Crosslight. Than and his family were living in Mae La camp on the Thai-Burma border as refugees, relying on food rations to survive.

That is all about to change because Than and his family have been granted asylum in the United States of America. They will be moving later this year, and leaving the life they know. Than’s children have spent their entire lives in a refugee camp, and Than has lived there for more than 21 years.

“Life for my sons Aung and Bo will be much better in the US. I am so excited that in the US they will be able to get a good education and make a better life.”

Join us in wishing every success for Than and his family in their new life. Last year Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania raised more than $522,000 to support Burmese refugees including Than - Thank you.

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Feature

l a u t i r i p s A stment e v in

BY CHIP HENRISS

12

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

Feature

THE Commission for Mission’s Next Gen tour to China has inspired its participants to build upon their life in the church.

Throughout 11 days in September the tour took 19 young people to locations in China including Beijing, Shanghai, Yellow Mountain and Nanjing.

The youth represented 14 cultures within

quite interesting for us there because we were quite ‘famous’.

“At first we really enjoyed it. People stopped us on the street and took pictures, like loads of pictures, but then it was happening every day, all the time.

“I could tell that it was starting to annoy some of our younger people, but there was one guy in particular who absolutely loved it. Every day he would dress up as something different - for example: he would pretend that he was a famous basketball player.

The first stop for the group was Shanghai where they were able to visit sites around the city and attend a packed church the

“We sang ‘Amazing Grace’ and we sang two verses and then we didn’t know the third verse but the elderly people stood up and they sang the third verse in Chinese.

“We felt there was a cultural bridge there.

It was unintentional but it was one of the events that touched a lot of people.

“We saw the poverty and the work which they do every day just to maintain their church and community it was really touching.”

At Yellow Mountain they were inspired by the work and dedication carried out by women within the Chinese Church.

“We were able to stay with a group led by an

“I’m not saying that we don’t live our Christianity in our everyday lives, but it seems more obvious in China. They are not ashamed to be who they are.

“I’m not saying that we are ashamed here but I think that we do sort of hide our Christian faith.

“It was good to see the Gospel in action lived through people’s lives.

“I really believe that the church should be doing projects like this as a way of future investment.”

UnitingWorld hopes a Chinese delegation will now come and visit Australia and that theological students will come to study in Australia in the future.

Australia. They were accompanied by seven leaders from the synod, the Commission for Mission and UnitingWorld.

Fie Marino is the NextGen resource and development officer with the Intercultural unit. He said the trip challenged participants to live their faith every day.

“We were quite surprised. Church services in China included the things you would hear in church on a Sunday in Australia but with more of an emphasis on your duty to the community and your duty to family.

“The sermons and messages were acting out Christian life, rather than just talking about it. I think we like to talk about those sorts of things but then we go to work and forget about it. Whereas I feel in China there is this push to become more Christian, more community minded, more orientated towards people,” Mr Marino said.

He said the group also had a lot of their preconceived ideas challenged and, in many cases, overturned.

“I expected the things that I had seen in the western media. China is portrayed as a very controlled country that has a lot of regulations and rules and that sort of thing.

“I’m not saying that isn’t the case, but I did see something very different. It is very modern and progressive. I suppose because we spent most of our time in major cities so we saw that side of it. It is a very developed country,” he said.

Their Chinese hosts also had some of their preconceived ideas shattered as they were confronted by the most culturally diverse group in memory to visit their churches.

This diversity meant the group attracted a lot of interest from the local community.

“Their expectations were that the majority of us would be Anglo Australians. It was

following day.

“The Chinese church is very full, it even flows out into the street. There are people standing in the street listening. I just found it amazing.

“They’re not actually allowed to proclaim the Gospel. The way that they do proclaim the Gospel is through actions.

“The church does a lot of outreach work, a lot of mission work without mentioning the Gospel. Feeding of the poor, helping with education – they have no secret model or anything. It’s all the things that we have here in Australia, like fresh expressions of faith.

“Over there it’s all about the things that you do. It’s their actions that make them Christians. I think that’s what I find so amazing. They just act on the Gospel itself and try to become more like Jesus.”

It was this living expression of faith that had the greatest impact on the Australian visitors. Many are now working to strengthen their spiritual lives.

“I think a lot of us came back knowing ourselves in a different way. I’ve heard a few people that, after going to China, now believe that God is calling them into ministry. They are talking about becoming candidates for the ministry in the Uniting Church just through this experience of seeing the church in a different way.”

At Nanjing the group visited a theological seminary and country congregations, where they also saw similarities with congregations in Australia.

“Visiting the country congregations was something that touched us immensely because they had the same kind of issues that country people have here.

“The young people are moving towards the cities and it’s mainly just the elderly there.

One of the experiences we had was singing.

amazing woman named Reverend Ma,” Mr Marino said.

“She was very inspirational, it was really good to see how influential women are in church; we heard that there were more women ministers in China than there are men.

“You could see that she had such a great connection with people The people loved her and she went out of her way to do so many things even for us.”

At Beijing the group visited a church where Uniting Church minister and manager of Church Partnerships, Asia, Rev Dr Ji Zhang preached. It was here they came together to sing and pray together for a sick child.

“There was a young girl who had a skin issue and it was just outside the church courtyard where Dr Zhang had preached.

“The girl asked Dr Zhang for prayer and he called our group and the ministers to come and lay hands. I just found it amazing that we were in the middle of Beijing with all these young people plus the ministers of the group all laying hands on this sick person.

“I happened to be standing right next to the girl’s mother and saw her weeping as we prayed. I felt this incredible connection. I have children myself so I could just feel her pain,” Mr Marino said.

It is always an adventure to visit countries overseas, but this group feels it was more of a good investment in the future of the Church.

“What it has done for every single one of us is to strengthen our faith. It has given us a new clarity and a new mind on what it means to be Christian.

“What I think we got out of China – and what you really have to experience – is that Christianity is lived every day.

Brief history

Building intercultural bridges

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

Protestant Christianity was first introduced to China in 1807. However, it was not well received by the local Chinese as missionaries were protected by a set of unequal treaties and churches were controlled by foreign missions.

In the three decades after the Chinese Revolution in 1949, attitudes towards religion were influenced by Leninism, which considered religion a tool used in modern capitalist countries to exploit and confuse the working class.

During the Cultural Revolution (1966 to 1976), all churches were closed and religious practice banned. Christians were forced to go ‘underground’ and worship in illegal house churches.

During this period, Christians were arrested and sometimes tortured.

Bibles were destroyed and churches looted.

Churches began to re-open in 1979 as part of the reforms of the late 1970s, and in 1980 the China Christian Council (CCC) was established.

Attitudes to religion of the Chinese government and among the common Chinese people have gradually changed from antagonism to allowing religion to exist, as long as worship groups register with a governmentapproved church.

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Feature China facts • Every single day, an estimated three church communities are re-opened or newly established in China.

• Christians are allowed to join government-approved churches – the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the China Christian Council and Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church.

• Christians who do not wish to join a government-approved church worship in unregistered ‘house churches’.

• Between 23 and 70 million Christians worship in China every Sunday. The number of unregistered Christians worshipping in unofficial ‘house churches’ makes it difficult to calculate this.

• The majority of Christians in China are Protestant.

• An estimated 70 per cent of Protestant Christians in China live in rural areas.

• From 1980 to 2014, 70 million Bibles were printed and distributed in China.

• There is currently only one ordained minister for every 18,000 Christians in China.

• There are 22 seminaries and Bible schools in China and over 60,000 churches and affiliated congregations.

• In 1981, there were only 47 theological students in China enrolled by the only seminary in Nanjing. Today, there are nearly 4000 full-time students studying at 22 theological schools.

NextGen member Josh Ocampo

JOSH OCAMPO, NextGen member, reflects on his trip: I had some preconceived ideas of what it would be like, but just being there for 10 short days, these ideas changed a lot.

I had thought that maybe the Chinese church would be restricted in what they could say or preach, but it was nothing like that. The only thing I learnt was that they couldn’t preach or share the Gospel in public. Whenever we went to the Church services, we found that it was very much like how we worship here in Australia.

The big thing was the Chinese church was growing so fast, not necessarily because of any programs that they do but the conversations that they had with one another in terms of their faith and their community.

While their church is growing, in terms of ministers they are lacking in that area. What they do that I found really encouraging is to train young people as well as elders in the church.

A lot of their teachings are that the

minister isn’t really the whole leadership of their church. It’s very much a shared responsibility and everyone should be able to preach the word.

The highlight of the trip was meeting the seminary students and learning from them about what they gave up just to be able to study. I heard story after story about what they had to give up in terms of time and being with their family.

The most interesting thing was that they didn’t necessarily want to be minsters.

What they wanted to do is to learn as much as they can so that they can go back home to their rural church and their local churches and preach the word and share what they’ve learnt.

NextGen China tour participants at The Great Wall .

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CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

People Mural mission WITH the help of local school children and the broader community, Glenorchy Uniting Church has added a splash of colour to a once drab and graffiti covered back wall which borders the church car park.

The striking mural depicts the church and Glenorchy Primary School and highlights the multicultural nature of the city, located about seven kilometres north of Hobart.

Glenorchy Primary is a near neighbour of the church and students from the school and the nearby Cosgrove High School painted the mural under the supervision of local artist Mark Shannon.

The mural project took about 20 months to come together and is the end result of the efforts of many people.

Church elder Gary Kelly said there were several synergies between the mural project and the concept of mission.

‘The church, in discussing this question early in 2014, appreciated that a church in

Bacchus Marsh birthday bash MORE than 120 people recently gathered to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the historic St Andrew’s Church at Bacchus Marsh.

Attendees included past and present members and previous ministers, Rev Jenny Trewhella, Rev Deacon Val Aumann and Rev Neville Edwards.

A special church service, held in the morning with guest preacher Rev Professor Emeritus Christiaan Mostert, was followed by a lunch in the hall.

The occasion acknowledged the church’s rich history, first as a Presbyterian Church right through to the present day as an active and mission-driven Uniting Church.

The theme for the celebration was “The First 150 Years” implying there is much more yet to come as the parish looks to the future.

any community models the Kingdom of God,” he said.

‘It follows that care for facilities of this kind is also a contribution to the social amenity of the local neighbourhood and a means of honouring God.” Mr Kelly said the planning and creation of the mural had drawn the wider community together – from the schools, to the artist, the Glenorchy City Council, the nearby Anglican Church and the surrounding commercial and residential neighbourhoods.

“The church understands that Christians enter into the community as salt and light bringing the Good News of Jesus by every available means. There is a connection with those whose lives are already being touched by the grace of God. “The mural has proven to be a means of such connection, as people in often surprising ways have been ready and willing to work with us on this mural.

“Council employees, school principals, neighbours and our own church members have stepped forward when needed and relationships have developed.”

Celebrations continued in the afternoon with community hymn singing and a piano performance by congregation member Benjamin West.

Historian Barbara Manly also gave an informative and humorous 150th historical presentation on the “F” words – Finance, Fundamentals and Faith.

A highlight of the 150th celebrations was Moderator Dan Wootton unveiling a new stained glass window commemorating the first 150 years of St Andrew’s.

The window was donated by Barry Wilkins (convenor of the celebrations) and his daughter Jayne in memory of their youngest daughter and sister Sally Wilkins who passed away 12 months ago.

The window, created by Geoff Butler (Mr Leadlights in Ballarat), was a collaboration between Mr Wilkins and local artist Ross Adams.

Celebrations concluded with singing of Auld Lang Syne after coffee and an anniversary cake cut by Isobel Paton – great granddaughter of the first St Andrew’s minister Rev Dr James Scott.

Glenorchy Mayor Alderman Kristie Johnston opening the mural with the students from Glenorchy Primary and Cosgrove High Schools, who painted the mural.

More than chattering CONGREGATION members from Hastings Uniting Church have created an installation protesting against the detention of refugee children.

The public display was initiated by the church women’s group, Chapel Chatterers, at a meeting in September. Inspired by actions taken by other churches, the women decided to create an installation outside Hastings Uniting Church to voice their opposition to the federal government’s asylum seeker policies.

They cut out 197 miniature figures from foam to represent the 197 children currently held in immigration detention. These were stapled to stakes and installed in the lawn outside the church. A giant banner that read

Ross Adams (Designer), Geoff Butler (Mr Leadlights Craftsman) Barry Wilkins & Jayne Wilkins (Donors)

Thank you Colleen

Colleen celebrates.

THE presbytery of Tasmania recently honoured Colleen Grieve’s 40 years of service as an ordained minister.

Ordained on 14 October 1975, Ms Grieve

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

“Detention harms children” accompanied the installation.

Ruth Harridge is a member of the Chapel Chatterers. She said the women were proud to have created the display.

“Talking to one of our ladies about it, her comment was ‘We feel it is part of our social justice outreach to the wider community’,” she said.

Robert Graham, secretary of Hastings Uniting Church, said the public displays aim to start a conversation about Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers.

“We hope people seeing the display as they pass by will reflect on actions taken by the federal government and the plight of those held in detention, but in particular that of the children,” he said.

“Some feedback has come from children who thought it to be a Halloween display, and others who thought ‘detention’ refers to being kept in at school. Parents were thereby presented with the opportunity to explain what is really being depicted.”

Chapel chatterers at work.

has served in three synods - Queensland, Tasmania and, most recently, the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania.

Ms Grieve provided ministry leadership in congregations in Brisbane and Mt Isa, and at Woodleigh Residential College in Herberton, North Queensland. She moved to Tasmania in 1990 to take up her placement with Frontier Services on the West Coast of Tasmania.

From 1996 to 2004 Ms Grieve was the minister at Longford UCA. During this period she was also the minister for Ross and Campbell Town and it was her creative vision which led to the establishment of the Midlands Patrol.

Ms Grieve understood her call as being to the wider church as well as to her specific placement. She has served on many synod and presbytery committees and task groups. Ms Grieve was the chairperson of the Congregational Life and Education Commission with oversight of camping.

She has served on the pastoral relations committee for 21 years.

Chairperson of presbytery David Reeve said the presbytery was particularly grateful for Colleen’s service as moderator of the Tasmanian synod from October 2001 to June 2002 and then as chairperson of the presbytery of Tasmania from July 2002 to October 2003.

“Colleen’s leadership during the transition from Synod of Tasmania to Synod of Victoria and Tasmania was both wise and practical,” Mr Reeve said.

“Retirement (in 2004) has not stopped Colleen. She continues to share her gifts and graces here at Longford, on the pastoral relations committee and as a mentor both within the period of discernment and in less formal ways.

“Thank you Colleen for your faithful obedience to God’s call on your life. Your continued ministry both with the people of Longford and with the presbytery of Tasmania is appreciated and valued.”

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Holiday reads As you get ready for long summer days and evenings, the team at Crosslight thought we’d share our suggestions for holiday reading.

From historical biographies to fantasy, we hope our list appeals as you kick back at the beach, by the pool or in your favourite comfy chair.

Culture wars REVIEW BY BEN GRUNDY BOOK | OUR CULTURE, WHAT’S LEFT OF IT: THE MANDARINS AND THE MASSES | THEODORE DALRYMPLE AT a glance, Theodore Dalrymple, pen name for British writer Anthony Daniels, may seem the archetypical conservative curmudgeon.

Since retiring, having worked as a physician across the British healthcare system (from prison doctor to psychiatrist) Dalrymple has written extensively on what he sees as the degradation of modern culture in the West.

Here much of Dalrymple’s collection of essays concerns his observations of the British working classes, popular culture and anecdotes from his various roles as a physician and psychiatrist.

Many of these, as the author asserts, support the view that the world has largely gone to hell.

The breakdown of the family unit and an infantilised consumer society, that shirks responsibility and restraint, are positioned as key barometers in Dalrymple’s dystopian view of the world.

Elsewhere Dalrymple is more nuanced.

He ruminates on personal encounters with patients from within the British prison system and reflects on the power of art and music.

Although published more than 10 years ago, Dalrymple’s meditations on issues such as immigration, drug use and the loss of religion through secularisation have not lost their bite.

From reflections on high art to clinical analysis of communities trapped in a cycle of poverty, Dalrymple is equally direct in his admonishment and praise of the world around him.

Some readers may not agree with much of what he writes. But through his particular, at times narrow point of view, Dalrymple delivers an eclectic mix of insightful essays.

acclaimed miniseries adaptation on BBC. The story is set during the 19th century in a world where magic once existed. ‘Practical magic’ has been lost for centuries, with only ‘theoretical magicians’, who study and discuss magic, remaining.

This changed with the emergence of the studious and reclusive Gilbert Norrell, who becomes the talk of England after bringing to life giant gargoyle statues inside York Cathedral. However, his dominance is soon challenged by his younger and brasher pupil, Jonathan Strange. Their friendship develops into a rivalry, with deadly consequences for those around them.

Commentators have compared Clarke’s writing style to Jane Austen, with its prose and witty dialogue. It convincingly imitates the style of 19th-century literature, but with a modern touch that renders it accessible to a contemporary audience.

A prominent feature of the novel is the use of footnotes. They lend authenticity to the rich history and mythology Clarke has created.

This is a quintessentially British novel that is not afraid to satirise the social class system of that era. It is infused with a refreshing dose of humour that balances the dark themes of madness and death permeating the story.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is frequently described as an historical fantasy, although it is perhaps more accurately an historical novel with fantasy elements. This is not a story about good versus evil; its morally ambiguous characters are flawed and human. They struggle with the same weaknesses many of us experience in our everyday lives – jealousy, arrogance, prejudice and fear.

Clarke has conjured up a charming magical tale brimming with complex characters, intricate plots and unexpected humour.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is perfect for long reads during the summer.

Surprise gift REVIEW BY DEB BENNETT BOOK | THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS | M.R. CAREY

Madness and magic REVIEW BY TIM LAM BOOK | JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR NORRELL | SUSANNA CLARKE SUSANNA Clarke’s 2004 novel Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell gained newfound popularity this year following a highly-

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PERHAPS my favourite book for the year, I actually read this by accident, thinking it was yet another murder mystery with ‘girl’ in the title (Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).

I’m glad I naively picked this up, as I doubt I would have chosen to read a novel about a dystopian future peopled by feral outcasts, cannibals and military personnel.

Carey has written an engaging, poignant novel full of tension, mystery and the odd shocking scene. The story centres around 10-year-old Melanie who, as the title suggests, is a very gifted child. Readers are introduced to the other main characters – teacher Miss Justineau, scientist Caroline Caldwell, Sergeant Ed Parks and Private Kieran Gallagher – through their interaction with Melanie.

The five are thrown together on an expedition to safety and the narrative is told from each individual’s viewpoint.

As we get to know what motivates the characters, the story becomes a morality tale. Different aspects of their personalities are revealed as the group face an uncertain future, having to rely on each other if they are to have any hope of survival.

Carey cleverly blends the story of a child’s innate need for love and belonging with age-old questions.

Does ‘following orders’ and acting within the law absolve a person from their actions? Does a person need to become evil in order to fight evil? Is the sacrifice of one justified for the good of many?

And, ultimately, are we willing to lose our individual humanity in order to save humanity?

Learning from the past REVIEW BY GARTH JONES BOOK | AUSTRALIA’S SECOND CHANCE | GEORGE MEGALOGENIS AUSTRALIA’S Second Chance is former Canberra press gallery journalist and newspaper columnist George Megalogenis’ second excursion into the rough tapestry of our national identity.

Megalogenis’ first book, The Australian Moment, explored the unique political, social and economic circumstances that led to the nation surviving the Global Financial Crisis.

Continuing that line of investigation, Australia’s Second Chance delves into our migrant past, present and future, examining the advantages our history and wealth (environmental/ fiscal) afford us.

The Australian Moment was framed from Megalogenis’ perspective as a firstgeneration Australian, and thus concerned primarily with events from the Whitlam era onwards.

This new work widens the author’s focus, examining the first encounters between Aboriginal Australia and the First Fleet through to the contemporary national conversation.

Megalogenis is concerned with charting the peaks and troughs of our growth and confidence, highlighting the rich contributions of multicultural Australia.

Contrasting our inherent egalitarian nature with our sometimes quixotic, isolationist tendencies, Megalogenis illustrates that our finest moments are characterised by our capacity to share.

Approachable, engaging and illuminating, Australia’s Second Chance combines history, dry economic data and political acumen informed by Megalogenis’ decade at the Canberra coal-face. In a sometimes grim zeitgeist, Australia’s Second Chance offers a hopeful blueprint for a brighter future by shining a light on our adventurous, creative and somehow more inclusive past.

Join the flock REVIEW BY ROS MARSDEN BOOK | THE EYE OF THE SHEEP | SOFIE LAGUNA READING a novel that’s won the 2015 Miles Franklin Literary Award inevitably raises expectations, but readers of Sofie Laguna’s The Eye of the Sheep will be jumping to join the cheers when they reach the last page of this vigorous story.

It’s hard to talk about The Eye of the Sheep without revealing the complexities of the main character, Jimmy Flick.

Jimmy is a small boy who for various reasons sees the world in the simplest and most complicated of ways. He is both observer and principal player in the domestic affairs of his family, but it is the gift of Jimmy’s language that leaves the reader gulping for more of his naïve and innate wisdom.

Jimmy’s poetic voice carries us from anguish to happiness to the challenges of boundless love. He lives with his father Gavin, mother Paula and older brother Robby.

But Jimmy is different. His mind and his mouth somersault 24 hours a day, whether he is devouring his collection of household equipment manuals, lying beside his mum counting sheep or discovering the beach with his uncle. “When I was slow I should have been fast, and when I was fast I should have been slow.”

As Jimmy tries to navigate the turmoil of his own family, you become entrenched in his fragile vulnerability. You want to engulf him in a protective hug and on the next page push him forward to master the trip wires disrupting his world.

The Eye of the Sheep explores serious social issues, including domestic violence and alcoholism, but in doing so it takes you into a world devoid of cliché or predictability.

This is a book you can’t bear to put down.

Pack it in your holiday suitcase and find a comfortable reading spot!

Shaping a nation REVIEW BY EMMET O’CUANA BOOK | BEARING WITNESS | PETER REES SUBTITLED ‘The remarkable life of Charles Bean, Australia’s greatest war correspondent’, this book is a timely study of the man who reported home about the experiences of the Anzacs (published

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

Holiday reads to mark the centenary of the Gallipoli landings).

Rees also evokes the spirit of Australia at the turn of the 20th century, its colonial heritage and displaced sense of Empire.

Bean is credited with recognising this identity taking shape on the field of battle in Turkey.

Rees accomplishes this by capturing a sense of Bean, of his family history and a life spent crisscrossing the world from Britain to Australia and back again.

Placing reminiscences of the future wartime journalist as a struggling student and a young man later abandoning the law for journalism within the events of the period, Rees expertly blends a personal account with historical narrative.

Bean becomes a measure for the colonial mindset, increasingly troubled by the uncomfortable facts of Empire. His interest in town planning was inspired by the overcrowding and squalor of London.

In Australia he saw the opportunity for a different kind of city, one that reflected the particular qualities of Australian life. His previous study of the NSW wool industry had already made a dent in his inherent faith in British superiority. Australians were, in his eyes, a new kind of man.

This all informed his consideration of the Digger, his criticism of the officer class and arguably defined generations of political rhetoric with regard to the Australian national character. When politicians discuss ‘plain Australians’, or ‘battlers’, there is an echo of Bean’s writing from Gallipoli and the Western Front to be heard.

This is a well observed and compelling historical account of Australia’s role in the First World War and how it shaped the country.

Much of the book also dwells on Amir’s quite complex relationship with his father, Baba, and his struggle to win Baba’s approval. Spanning several decades, the narrative explores family relationships, betrayal, redemption and the exercise of power in many forms.

The Kite Runner is a powerful book and one of the most absorbing novels I have read for many years.

A powerful story REVIEW BY NIGEL TAPP BOOK | THE KITE RUNNER | KHALED HOSSEINI I HAVE my son to thank for giving me the reason to read The Kite Runner, which was first published more than a decade ago to rave reviews. If it had not been a set English Literature text this year I may never have picked it up.

The story begins in Afghanistan in the tumultuous period after the fall of the nation’s monarchy at the hands of the Soviets, and covers the eventual rise of the Taliban. The Kite Runner centres on the relationship between privileged boy Amir and his friend Hassan, the son of his father’s Hazara servant.

The two are an interesting pairing – Hassan has nothing and is perpetually happy and giving, Amir has everything but is always sad and forlorn.

The soldier without a gun REVIEW BY PENNY MULVEY BOOK | CAPTAINS OF THE SOUL | MICHAEL GLADWIN “The only reason that I went to Vietnam,” recalled Methodist padre Roy Bedford, “was that I believed that the soldiers there needed ministry more than anywhere else.”

THIS year’s Australian Christian Book of the Year is the first significant history of Australian Army chaplains.

Capturing both chaplains’ ministry and experience, and of the department to which they have belonged, Captains of the Soul chronologically works through the different military engagements in which Australian army chaplains have served.

Gladwin has written more than just a history text. He provides narrative which interweaves the political and sectarian culture of the different timeframes as well as commentary on the tightrope chaplains walk as they strive ‘to minimise harm’.

As the army increasingly professionalised in more recent years, the issues which have confronted other Christian institutions also impacted army chaplaincy.

Gladwin writes: “There is [also] a belief among chaplains that a Christian minister depends on the empowerment and guidance of the Holy Spirit – rather than merely professional competencies – if he or she is to help anyone to encounter Christ.

The chaplain’s own priestly vocation, character and ability to connect with soldiers are the touchstones of effective uniformed ministry.”

For those interested in the role chaplaincy has played within the army, and how it has altered to reflect the changes, both in churches and society, this book is a stimulating and thought-provoking read.

Review London Calling REVIEW BY EMMET O’CUANA FILM | SPECTRE | M IN Ian Fleming’s Seven Deadlier Sins and 007’s Moral Compass, writer Benjamin Pratt excitedly quotes the following passage from the ‘Letter of James’: James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad.

Pratt makes the connection as part of his claim that Fleming intended the philandering, boozing espionage agent James Bond to be a religious allegory for service to God. For the majority of Bond’s onscreen existence that was an easy claim to make.

Bond was the archetypal ‘Cold Warrior’, a symbol for the West’s resistance against the technocratic Soviet Evil Empire. Where the cinematic Russian agents and cynical Cold War profiteers are godless, Bond, therefore, by the rule of opposites, must be godfearing.

Except Bond has shown no devotion to any higher beliefs or ideals. He reports to his direct employer M, and serves at Her Majesty’s pleasure.

Bond is a ‘bond-servant’ who uses any method to advance his country’s objectives, be it in the bedroom or fighting enemy agents on a train.

Spectre is the 24th film in the series. For the opening, Sam Mendes offers up a masked Craig seducing a Day of the Dead reveller in Mexico City without saying a word, massive property destruction, and a hair-raising helicopter ride. Then the title sequence begins.

Why Bond was in Mexico City at all is a mystery to his employer M (Ralph Fiennes), who orders geek-chic quartermaster Q (Ben Whishaw) to inject 007 with ‘smartblood’, so they can track his movements in future.

M is feeling the pinch, because another upstart intelligence director C (Sherlock’s

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Andrew Scott) is circling his department, aiming to replace the 00 project entirely with surveillance spyware technology.

No more agents in the field. Instead, representatives from nine nations will share surveillance on their citizens (only South Africa is mentioned in passing as a holdout to this trumping of personal privacy).

Bond investigates what lies behind this takeover of Her Majesty’s Secret Service, happily discovering that it is connected to the real reasons for his actions in Mexico City – even when 007 goes rogue, he is still acting in service to his country.

Along the way he encounters the daughter of an old enemy – Léa Seydoux’s ‘Bond Girl’ thankfully has a less punable name in Madeleine Swann – and discovers even more buried family secrets after the revelations of Skyfall.

Unlike previous efforts in the series, Bond’s Great Game has an impact closer to home.

Although starting in Mexico and containing a requisite secret lair in Africa, Spectre closes on the banks of the Thames.

The Daniel Craig films have been increasingly intimate, focused on Bond the person. In Spectre he is explicitly an avatar for Britain, isolated by the bureaucracy of ‘the West’. In Goldeneye, Bond is described

by M as “a sexist, misogynist dinosaur, a relic of the Cold War”; now he represents a nation’s sense of authority under threat from intelligence-sharing initiatives and technology.

It is strange to see a Bond film flirt with technophobia given its emphasis on gadgets.

Yet in Spectre, Whishaw’s Q is distinctly hacker-like, a contrast to the upper-class Establishment quartermaster played by Desmond Llewelyn. Andrew Scott’s C is automatically assumed to be villainous simply for arguing in favour of enhanced global surveillance.

Recently the UK Home Office presented a draft Investigatory Powers Bill that would make C smack his lips. Tory MP Derek Davis has suggested the public’s apathy around surveillance is due to too much affection for the idea of James Bond: “We’re the country that invented James

Bond and we like our spies. We have a wonderful illusion about our security services, a very comforting illusion. But it means we’re too comfortable.”

In the end it is that sense of privilege, of British superiority and London as the centre of global power, that Bond defends in Spectre. It is a work of nostalgia for the idea of Empire, under threat from a world moving too fast technologically for Bond’s Aston Martin to keep up with.

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Reflection Reflection from France ALAN AUSTIN is a Uniting Church member and former Crosslight journalist who lives in Nîmes in the south of France.

In the week following the attack, he shared his reflections on the impact of terror in his adopted homeland.

THE message was rapidly shared among neighbours in our small village near Nîmes: we will place a candle – une bougie – in our window tonight to show notre solidarité. At that time there were no answers to the questions: what motivated such horrendous attacks overnight in Paris killing almost 130 people and injuring hundreds more? What could have or should have been done to prevent this?

What can now be done in response?

Late that night my wife and I walked through our village to see the candles and share the mourning across the nation. A neighbouring couple – whose children live in Paris – had multiple candles in every window. Chantal insisted we call in despite the hour and being unannounced – “just for un bisou”. An embrace was all we could manage. None of us had words.

As this is written, four days later, there are still no answers. Plenty have been offered, of course. This is proof to some that

Christ is for life, not just for Christmas A puzzle for you: why is Christmas Day like an iceberg?

Because on Christmas Day we only see one tenth of the Story!

It’s a little like those gym memberships that some of us have taken out from time-to-time. You know the ones where we start off with great enthusiasm but never quite make it to the end of that three month commitment? For a variety of reasons we fail to live up to our own expectations. We struggle to go the full distance. Often it is because we have not prepared for all the consequences of the commitment.

Christmas can be a little like that, and like that iceberg, we discover that there is far more to Christ than Christmas.

The tradition that Jesus had a remarkable birth is relatively late. The stories of his birth are found only in the first two chapters of Matthew and Luke, both written near the end of the first century.

Earlier writers (as well as the rest of the New Testament) do not refer to a special birth. Paul, our earliest writer, does not.

Neither does Mark, the earliest Gospel.

Moreover, though the Gospel of John is probably later than Matthew and Luke, John does not mention it either.

Early Christians did not concern themselves with this birth of Jesus. It was his teaching, death and resurrection that occupied their worship and preaching. In the very earliest documents of Christianity (most New Testament letters, and also the Gospel of Mark) there is only one passing reference to his birth.

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military spending must be increased and armed force against enemies be escalated.

To others, proof that military spending must be cut and the application of armed force ended. To several, this demands closure of national borders to refugee flows from war zones such as Syria. To others, this requires renewed efforts to welcome and support those needing a safe haven and at risk of radicalisation if refused.

Pakistan in the last month”.

Some are warning that religious fanatics prepared to die to bring about a worldwide caliphate are increasing in number and boldness. Others highlight the rapid condemnation of such action by Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Iran, Iraq, Morocco and Egypt.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister responded immediately with “our condolences to

Some have claimed this attack on an overtly secular nation with a strong Christian history is evidence of the hatred Islam has for secularism or Christianity.

Others, including Stafford, our Anglican minister here in the Gard, reminded us the day after the massacres that “the events in Paris have also been the experience of Ankara, Istanbul, Lebanon, Syria and

the government and people of France for the heinous terrorist attacks that took place yesterday which are in violation and contravention of all ethics, morals and religions”.

In Cairo, Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, the head of Sunni Islam’s Al-Azhar university, also instantly condemned the attacks and urged global unity against extremism.

Indeed the main Gospel message does not rely upon these stories of the birth of Jesus at all. It was clearly possible to write a gospel without mentioning the birth of Jesus. How so?

Because the full essence of the story of Jesus is found

in the adult Jesus’ life and witness, his death and resurrection. That is where we will discover the full consequence of the Good News. Below the surface of Christmas is the cross.

Christmas is just the tip of the ice-berg. This little baby we delight in will grow up and claim not just our delight for one day – but this baby, if we remain attentive, we will discover, grows. His teachings and actions will claim much more from us than we can perhaps anticipate – no matter how wise and thoughtful.

The adult Jesus called forth a new way of living, a new way of being. No longer

would humanity have to guess at the presence of God. In this baby, we begin to have a hint of all that is to come. The consequences of this birth can only be fully appreciated if we reveal the rest of the ice-berg.

We need to stay the distance.

Is it any wonder that the Christmas tree is prominently displayed in churches? The Christmas tree acts as a metaphor, a reminder, of the tree on which Jesus was crucified.

The tree is always to be set within the vicinity of the cross, so that its visual proximity may cause us to think about the relationship between the two pieces of wood.

In fact, some churches will take their Christmas tree, cut off the branches, cut the trunk into two pieces, and then nail those two pieces together in the form of a cross,

“We denounce this hateful incident,” he said on Egyptian television. “The time has come for the world to unite to confront this monster.”

Some have claimed this shows an inherent evil in Islam, suggesting it encourages adherents to destroy people outside that faith. Others remind us that 28 majority Muslim countries have been invaded by the overtly Christian USA since World War II in order to appropriate their oil or other assets. Many of these invasions had the support of France, Australia and other ‘Christian’ allies.

While processing all these conflicting opinions, the support of the entire world, including Australia, has been received and greatly appreciated. Everyone with a TV in France saw footage of Sydney’s opera house lit with the tricolour, along with similar images of the Penshaw monument in England, New York’s One World trade centre and Rio de Janeiro’s statue of Christ the Redeemer.

In our window three candles burned through Saturday night. One for the deceased, as is our local custom, biblical or not. One for the injured – some hundreds physically, thousands grieving for family and friends lost, and millions sharing that souffrance. And one for the leaders – of France, of other nations, of international agencies and of the religious communities – to whom we look for decisions which will take the world towards justice and peace.

and display that cross during Holy Week and Good Friday.

Our Christmas celebrations cannot contain the Good News – nor can the manger.

The adult Christ bursts beyond our careful containment lines, this Christ will take our heart and our life, will bring us to places of challenge and possibility.

Raymond E Brown expands this understanding in his small book An Adult Christ at Christmas (1978), inviting us to put the adult Christ back into Christmas.

Brown invites us to see that the infancy narratives we have in Matthew and Luke are written ‘backwards’.

Having listened and experienced the stories of the adult Jesus and who he is, the writers framed the infancy narratives, characters, settings and story-lines to reflect who the adult Jesus is. It’s a bit like hearing a proud mother of a top surgeon exclaim that she always knew her daughter would be a surgeon by the way she cut up her sausages as a small child. We might silently reflect that the mother is reading back into the childhood of her daughter the experience and reality of her daughter as an adult. The writers of the infancy narratives, Brown claims, actually wrote about (and were referencing) an adult Jesus in the details of the infancy narratives.

Whichever way we wish to engage the Christmas Story we know there is much more depth to what we can capture in one Christmas Day experience. In putting the adult Christ back into Christmas and recognising that the story-line is only a hint of the whole story – we can commit ourselves to a life-time of discovering and learning more of the adult Christ and the Good News that is birthed in him.

Rev Dr Jennifer Byrnes Executive Director Centre for Theology & Ministry

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

Letters Peace on Earth?

MANY Christmas messages include a greeting of peace. What can that mean when our daily news is filled with reports of ‘terror’ and ‘fear’? The latest reason for this is the detonations of young people in France. We hear these words almost without flinching, even as our leaders speak of the ‘work of the devil’, and the necessity of rooting out evil.

We are a long way from Remembrance Day and declarations that the slaughter had brought us to the war to end all wars!

This year many dignified words and ceremonies have revisited the trauma of war at Gallipoli, the Somme, Kokoda and, concluding the Second World War, the atomic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The 20th century was the most bloody, as observed by Neil Astley in his book, The Hundred Years’ War: Modern War Poems, (Bloodaxe Books, 2014).

In 2003 many Melburnians saw the sign ‘No War’ on the side of St Paul’s Cathedral. People joined vigil with millions around the globe to declare that war on Iraq was not in our name.

We know the result. Syria is the latest community to be torn apart. Allied leaders discuss the merits of bombing in contrast to ‘boots’ on the ground.

Suicide bombers retaliate.

These conflicts are being generated in the region of the so-called Holy Land; the region where the gospel of peace appeared. Therefore I ask quite specifically, aren’t Christians called to take the call to peace utterly seriously? Jesus, whose human birth and death confronted the violence in us, called followers to a different way.

The debate about war and Christian involvement is centuries old. The dominant voice has been the ‘realist’ approach that supports Christian involvement in war.

But there has been an alternative calling. It sprang from Jesus himself, the ‘Prince of Peace’. It has generated Christian communities founded on the practice of non-violence. Usually those who attempt to practise non-violence are accused of being irresponsible; as citizens they should take up arms as necessary. But who, in the light of increasing, unceasing violence, can be convinced by this attitude?

There is an alternative, taken up by the first Christians (and present in minority Christian communities ever since): allegiance to Jesus and the refusal to be violent. Wouldn’t such a practice be a joyous gift to the world? Costly, certainly. But no more costly than the sacrifice asked of our youth when they join the military and bear its cost.

And certainly no more costly than the way of Jesus himself.

Wes Campbell Via email

Let us oppose another world war IN October 2014 Pope Francis warned that a ‘piecemeal’ World War III may have already begun

with war crimes, massacres and destruction in the Middle East led by the US and its allies (BBC news, 13/10/14). The US and its allies comprised five Christian nations vis., Britain, France, Canada and Australia. So far, no nations engaged in the war on terror in the Middle East have taken notice of his warning.

Professor Robert Manne’s commentary in The Age (‘Iraq scandal a threat to democracy’ 16/6/2003) gives a background to the invasion of Iraq by the US and its allies that was based on lies and half-truths concocted by a lobby group known as the Project for the New American Century (PNAC). PNAC represented almost all powerful figures associated with the defence and foreign policy wings of American administration. The US dropped 500,000 tonnes of bombs on Iraq, killed more than 1.3 million people, and created 5 million refugees.

The Iraq war was only the beginning. In 2011, the US and its allies invaded Libya on the pretext of democratising the country and completely destroyed Libyan civil society. In 2011, the US commenced the destabilisation of Syria by arming and funding rebel groups and triggered a civil war which is raging to this day.

Over the last year, the war on Muslim nations in the Middle East and North Africa by the West has intensified. The Paris massacre on Friday 13th November, has further aggravated the war. Pope Francis’ warning is turning into reality on a daily basis. It is time for all Christians in Australia to raise their voices against these wars and demand that the Turnbull government withdraw our forces from the Middle East. We, as Christians, should do our utmost to prevent another world war.

Dr Bill Mathew Parkville, VIC

The UCA dares to be different I beg to differ on Ted Carrow’s criticism in the last issue of Crosslight of the Uniting Church for failing to fall into line with most other mainstream churches on the issue of marriage equality.

What excites me about the Uniting Church is its openness to explore and engage the social issues of the times, rather than to submit to those who feel they have a monopoly on understanding. On progressive social issues, history suggests that mainstream religions are rarely at the forefront of social reform and indeed have often opposed important social reform. For example, it was the ostracised Quakers who took the lead in campaigning for the abolition of slavery, the unionaligned Chartists showed the way on universal suffrage while , even on environmental issues, notably climate change, many mainstream churches have been at best ambivalent.

In a world coloured by dogmatism and self-interest, we need churches like ours that objectively focus on the big picture rather than lay down the law to those who feel misunderstood and marginalised.

Don Bartlett Manningham VIC

Communion confusion RECENTLY our church was offered the service of a trainee minister in order to give our lay preachers a break.

During the meeting we held to discuss the proposal, it was mentioned the trainee minister would be unable to give communion.

This puzzled me.

I would have thought an integral part of their training would have involved conducting communion.

Therefore, dispensation to conduct communion could have been given to the trainee by presbytery considering it is already given to lay preachers.

Am I right in my thinking?

Kevin P McIntosh Gladstone Park, VIC

A word in season MAY I reply to Valerie Yule’s letter (November Crosslight) with an experience of my own. Recently I paused for a coffee in Highett. I was joined by a mother and her two young adult children. After exchanging smiles and greetings, some questions were asked including inquiring how many children I had. I said that I was elderly, long retired, never married secondary school principal, that I lived by myself and I was sometimes lonely. Immediately all three responded with “But God loves you and is with you all the time.” The mother told me they were Muslims and that their religion teaches that God is the source of love and peace. Into my mind came a verse of one of our hymns: ‘For the love of God is broader/than the measure of our mind;/and the heart of the Eternal/is most wonderfully kind.’

What an unexpected blessing.

Dr Joan Addinsall Moorabbin, VIC

Removing SRI from schools furthers cultural amnesia THE Victorian Government’s recent decision to remove Special Religious Instruction (SRI) from state schools will make it increasingly difficult for future generations to read and make sense of their cultural foundations.

To be familiar with the 10 Commandments, the 23rd Psalm and the Lord’s Prayer does not require assent to the faith that holds them to be true. But knowing them will give insight into the basic ethical and spiritual grounding that has inspired millions.

One does not have to hold the biblical stories to be true. But knowing them means that so many of

the great treasures of western civilization can be adequately appreciated.

The figure of Jesus Christ, his life and teachings, has shaped 2000 years of western history. Western culture is the story of response and reaction to him.

Ignorance of him is ignorance of our own cultural story.

Failure to know the key Christian stories, beliefs and personalities means the true depth and meaning of so many of our cultural artefacts can only be passed over. We will become strangers in our own land.

Teaching children to be familiar with the particular foundations of our culture is not necessarily about faith or proselytism or indoctrination. But it is about equipping children to understand and appreciate the environment they inhabit. This does not change because the culture we inhabit is multicultural.

Indeed, it makes the task more important. It will help equip students to answer the questions: where have we come from? Why are we the way we are?

It is unfortunate that the state government has listened to the cries of loud lobbyists rather than have at heart the genuine concern of school children. The mean-spirited move to have SRI classes offered before and after school and at lunch times may effectively remove this program from our schools altogether and so robbing our children of the chance to read and understand our culture at all.

Joan Wood Strathbogie, VIC (With thanks to Rev. Fr. R.Knapp. The Otways.)

THE article in the October Crosslight contained a number of questionable statements, the most important being: 1. “130 Little Collins Street will be demolished in 2019 to make way for a new development, pending State Government approvals.” Who is bearing the cost?

2. The statement that “selling 130 Little Collins Street in an open market would not generate enough funds to cover the Wesley Upper Lonsdale lease obligations long term.” raises the question: What are these obligations?

3. “Their advice was that the joint venture had a lower level of risk than the other two disposal options.” Who gave this advice? What risks did they contemplate with each of the three disposal options?

4. What is the basis for the statement that “The Property Board is expecting an announcement relating to planning approval for Wesley Upper Lonsdale in the next few months.”

Robert W. Parry Yarrambat VIC (Ed’s note: An update of the Wesley Upper Lonsdale Street development is on page 3 of this month’s Crosslight.)

Obituary

A man of many talents: Rev Andrew Donnelly 13/09/1956 – 20/10/2015

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

THE Uniting Church congregations of Bairnsdale, Paynesville and Lindenow are saddened by the death of their former minister, Rev Andrew Donnelly, on October 20 at Bright Hospital following a six year battle with brain tumours.

Andrew was farewelled at a thanksgiving service at Bright Uniting Church on Tuesday October 27, the church overflowing with his family and friends he had made over his lifetime which included so many who travelled over the mountain from East Gippsland.

Andrew was born in Mt Waverley, the fourth of eight children. His family were devout Catholics at Holy Family Catholic Church. He spent his secondary schooling as a boarder at Assumption College in Kilmore. He was the only graduate to become a Uniting Church minister.

Andrew attended Lincoln Institute, studying prosthetics and orthotics. He worked at the Royal Children’s Hospital and spent three years in London and Carlisle working for Cumbria Orthopedics. While there he met and married Joanne.

The couple came back to Australia and were living in Richmond, where they attended the Richmond Uniting Church. Andrew always

loved learning and took evening classes at UFT at Ormond College, Melbourne University, studying church history and theology out of personal interest.

This led on to him candidating in 1989.

The year before he was ordained, he did an intern year in Fiji, working with the Indian Fijians in Suva Methodist Church. He and Joanne took their three little girls (aged six, four and two) and returned in December 1993 expecting twins.

Andrew was ordained in 1994 and was Minister of the Word at Benalla Uniting Church from 1995 – 2000. In January 2000 Andrew and his wife Joanne arrived in Bairnsdale with their family of five children.

The family quickly settled into the Bairnsdale community and over the 13 plus years, until they left in April 2013, Andrew was involved in much more than just his very demanding role as Minister at the Mitchell River Uniting Parish.

He was a keen motorbike rider and loved riding his BMW 1000 with local friends and the BMW motorcycle club.

He was involved with the canteens at the Bairnsdale Secondary College senior and junior campuses and attended many school camps

while the children were in primary school.

Winter Saturdays saw him umpiring football with the East Gippsland Umpires’ Association.

A talented man, he enjoyed many forms of music and was a very proficient guitarist, accompanying singing during worship services.

His artistic ability also led him to taking art classes with Jan Long and he also enjoyed calligraphy.

Andrew was chairperson of UnitingCare Gippsland and for a time was a member of the local Rotary Club.

After Bairnsdale, the family spent 18 months in Melbourne. Andy worked half time at Kingsville Aged Care and also did supply ministry in Geelong. His health deteriorated and he took early retirement and moved to the family’s home in Harrietville near Bright. Unfortunately he was only there for 11 months before brain cancer took his life.

Joanne describes Andrew as “an amazing man, funny, smart, compassionate, adventurous, creative and loving – a one of a kind”.

He is greatly missed by many and survived by his wife, Joanne, and children, Laura (husband Nick) Beth, Kate, Alex and Phill, and grandsons Finnian and Joshua.

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Synod Snaps

High Street Road Uniting Church (Mt Waverley) members Val and Bruce Mitchell attended the launch of a new Frontier Services project at the Melbourne synod centre.

“Sometimes I arrive just when God’s ready to have someone click the shutter.”

- Ansel Adams

Crossroads, a Christian Fellowship for adults with disabilities in Tasmania, travelled to Devonport for their annual weekend getaway.

They have recently started a new group in Hobart North.

Rosemary Rigby from Launceston South Uniting Church, a Crafty Corner member with her prizewinning card.

Fish and Chips night at Yarraville Uniting Church. Members from the local community are invited by the church to enjoy a meal as they are entertained by the church band.

Four young women, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian and a Jew shared their faith at High Street Uniting Church in Frankston (left to right: Erica Rothschild, Swarup Dasi, Anam Javed and Kelly Skilton). Photo by Rev Jay Robinson.

Archie Roach performing on the new Boomerang Stage at NaranaFest 2015.

NaranaFest returned to Geelong on November 14 for an all-day music festival.

Each month Crosslight will showcase images from throughout the Church. Send your images to crosslight@victas.uca.org.au 20

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

Placements CURRENT AND PENDING PLACEMENT VACANCIES AS AT 13 NOVEMBER 2015 PRESBYTERY OF GIPPSLAND Koo Wee Rup-Lang Lang-Corinella Presbytery Minister – Mission and Education PRESBYTERY OF LODDON MALLEE Cohuna (0.5)** Dunolly (0.5) (P) Eastern Mallee Rural (Lake Boga, Manangatang, Meatian, Nyah West) (0.5)-Kerang (0.5) (P) Maryborough, Avoca, Bealiba, Moonambel** Nardoo Loddon (Boort, Charlton, Powlett Plains, Wedderburn) North Central Living Waters (Birchip, Donald, St Arnaud, Wycheproof) (P) Robinvale (0.5) (P) Strath-Haven Uniting AgeWell Chaplaincy (0.6) (P)** PRESBYTERY OF NORTH EAST VICTORIA Mansfield (0.3) Rutherglen (Rutherglen/Chiltern-Corowa-Howlong) (0.5) Wodonga (St Stephens) PRESBYTERY OF PORT PHILLIP EAST Armadale (0.7) Brighton (Trinity) Brighton Beach (St Leonards) Youth Ministry-Chaplaincy Cheltenham-Mentone Endeavour Hills (0.5) Frankston (High St Narre Warren North (0.5)** Noble Park (St Columbas) (0.5) Sandringham (0.6) PRESBYTERY OF PORT PHILLIP WEST Aitken College Congregation-Chaplaincy** Macedon Ranges Partnership – Pastoral Care (P) PRESBYTERY OF TASMANIA PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN VIC PRESBYTERY OF YARRA YARRA Bayswater-Ferntree Gully-Scoresby (p-t)** Box Hill Uniting AgeWell Chaplaincy (0.5) Diamond Valley (0.8) EACH Mental Health Ministries** Melbourne (St Michaels)** Presbytery Minister – Administration** Ringwood North (additional placement)** Tecoma (0.6)** ** These placements have not yet lodged a profile with the Placements Committee, therefore they are not yet in conversation with any minister. There is no guarantee that the placement will be listed within the next month.

(P) These placements are listed as also being suitable for a Pastor under Regulations 2.3.3 (a)(ii).

A non-ordained minister may offer to serve the church in an approved placement through a written application to the Synod.

Further information on these vacancies may be obtained from the Secretary of the Placements Committee: Ms Isabel Thomas Dobson.

Email: placements.secretary@victas.uca.org.au.

Formal expressions of interest should be put in writing to Isabel.

MINISTRY MOVES CALLS AND APPOINTMENTS FINALISED Berlin Guerrero (Exit Student) called to Wodonga West, North Albury, Kergunyah (0.8) commenced 1 December 2015. Berlin was ordained on 19 November 2015.

Beth Donnelly (Exit Student) called to The Scots School, Albury Chaplaincy to commence in January 2016 Frank Tuppin called to Corangamite-Otways Region – Middle (Camperdown, Derrinallum, Apollo Bay) to commence 1 January 2016 (Revised date) Kate Fraser called to Presbytery of Loddon Mallee Presbytery Minister – Mission and Education to commence on 1 February 2016 Peter Cannon called to Macedon Ranges Partnership: Regeneration Resource Minister to commence on 1 February 2016 Robert Elkhuizen called as Mission Officer, Synod Property Services to commence on 1 April 2016 CONCLUSION OF PLACEMENT Peter Beale to conclude at Stonnington Community UCA on 31 January 2016 INTER SYNOD TRANSFER Peter Cannon called to Macedon Ranges Partnership: Regeneration Resource Minister to commence on 1 February 2016 Janice McWhinney to transfer to the Synod of South Australia effective 16 January 2016.

Norman Tong transferred from the Synod of Queensland. Permanent Retirement.

RECOGNITION WITHDRAWN Garry Deverell Recognition withdrawn at minister’s request Reg 2.10.3(a) 31 December 2015

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

Notices and Advertisements COMBINED CHARITIES CHRISTMAS CARD SHOP THURSDAY 5 NOVEMBER – FRIDAY 18 DECEMBER Opening Times: Thursday and Friday – 9:30am-4pm Saturday – 9:30am-12:30pm.

Closing Day will be Friday 18 December at 12:45pm.

The Lentara UnitingCare Christmas Card Shop, North Essendon Uniting Church, 132 Keilor Road, North Essendon ANNUAL FOLLOW THE STAR PROGRAM 2015 SATURDAY 5 DECEMBER TO SATURDAY 12 DECEMBER Burwood Uniting Church (Corner of Warrigal Road and Hyslop Street, Glen Iris).

Opening times: Saturdays 10am-2pm, Monday to Wednesday 1pm-4pm, Thursday and Friday 1pm- 5pm.

The theme this year is ‘Searching for a Sign’. The display will feature the Christmas narrative and will include a Christmas Tree Forest with trees decorated by local kindergartens, schools and organisations, and a Gift Tree for collecting tinned fruit for distribution in Christmas hampers to needy families through Camcare.

The Opening Celebration on Saturday 5 December will include the Hawthorn Band and stalls to raise money for the Christmas Bowl Appeal.

CHRISTMAS MORNING TEA AT THE HUB THURSDAY 10TH DECEMBER, 10AM - 12NOON. Glen Waverley Uniting Church, corner Bogong Ave and Kingsway.

Enjoy Christmas cake and shortbread with family and friends at The HUB. Donations welcome for needy families in the community. This will be the last day of The HUB for 2015.

The HUB will resume on Tuesday 2 February in 2016. Info and bookings for Christmas Morning Tea – P: 9560 3580.

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF CHURCH COMMUNITY AT ST AIDAN’S, DUGGAN ST, NORTH BALWYN SUNDAY 13 DECEMBER AT 10AM North Balwyn Uniting Church, 17-21 Duggan St, Balwyn North VIC 3104 Past clergy, members and associates are warmly invited to attend the service. Recall memories, renew friendships and view the historical display over morning tea.

To RSVP please call the office WednesdayFriday P: 9857 8412 HEART OF CHRISTMAS SUNDAY 13 DECEMBER 9:30AM High Street Road Uniting Church Mt Waverley Christmas event will commence at 9.30am with a family Advent Service and play ‘Would it still be Christmas?”. At 11.30am, there will be an exhibition of Christmas art and craft including displays of Christmas ornaments and Nativity scene collections. There will be a craft corner for children, a sausage sizzle and Christmas fare for everyone and our annual Gift Tree where toys can be left to distribution to local families in need.

150TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION SUNDAY 17 JANUARY 2016 10:30 AM Penguin Uniting Church, Main Street, NorthWest Tasmania.

Moderator Dan Wootton will be the guest preacher at the thanksgiving service. Other commemorative events include a historical display, luncheon and concert. All former members and associates of the Penguin Methodist, and now Uniting Church, are warmly invited to attend this day.

To register your interest, Lynn Templar – P: 6435 4633 or W: http://penguin.unitingchurch.org.au 30TH ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 FEBRUARY TO SUNDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2016 The Southern Mallee Co-operative Parish, a shared ministry of Baptist and Uniting churches in Hopetoun and Rainbow, NW Victoria, will proudly celebrate 30 years of cooperation over the February weekend.

A dinner will be held in Hopetoun on Saturday evening at 6:30pm and a celebratory worship service in Rainbow on Sunday morning 10:30am, followed by lunch.

Past members and clergy are warmly invited to join us for the weekend.

Contact Elaine Nitschke – P: 03 5395 4265 E: waynenit@activ8.net.au RENEWING LINKS WITH THE UNITED CHURCH PNG SATURDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2016 3PM The Friends of the United Church of PNG and the Solomon Islands will host a short commissioning service at St Andrews UC, Gardiner, for Rev Dr Paul and Gillian Tonson. Paul has been invited to return to Rarongo Theological College near Rabaul to supervise senior students in their new Master of Theology program. He will be leaving

mid-March for six months. Rev Seforosa Carroll, Uniting World Manager of Church Partnerships, Pacific will be the key speaker.

Refreshments will follow. All welcome.

Contact Margaret White – P: 9889 7345 ADVANCE NOTICE OF ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS SATURDAY 5 MARCH - SUNDAY 6 MARCH 2016 Forest Hill Uniting Church (formerly known as Mt Pleasant Uniting Church) 333a Canterbury Road, Forest Hill.

Saturday 5 March – 4pm social event and dinner Sunday 6 March – 10am Thanksgiving Service Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the first worship service on this site and 100th anniversary of the dedication of the current church building.

Contact: Marion Goldsmith: P: (03) 9878 3847 or Glenys Coates P: (03) 9801 4653 FREE 30 small Australian Hymn books (Catholic supplement). Collect from Mount Waverley area. Val, P: 9887 7507 or Frances, P: 9802 7412 FREE UNITING IN WORKSHOP BOOKS A quantity of AHB and Uniting in Worship Books are available free.

Contact Robyn Shaw P: 03 53457282 for details.

LEAD TENANT ACCOMMODATION AVAILABLE Ashburton Uniting Church supports a house in Glen Iris for three people with mild intellectual disability with a voluntary lead tenant. The lead tenant’s accommodation is rent-free, and may be suitable for a student or interested person with appropriate background checks seeking positive connections in the community. Contact Rev David Fotheringham P: 9809 1795 E: ashburtonuniting@gmail.com.

CLASSIFIEDS CAPE WOOLAMAI Summerhays Cottage. Sleeps 3. Tranquil garden. Stroll to beach. Discount for UCA members. Ring Doug or Ina 0403 133 710. www.summerhayscottage.com.au SENIORS’ SPECIAL: Enjoy a break in luxury surroundings. Three days and three nights, dinner, bed and breakfast for $450 per couple (including GST).

Jindivick Gardens. (03) 5628 5319.

CALOUNDRA, Sunshine Coast, Queensland: Beachside units, from $300/ week, for details, M: 0427 990 161 or E: rayandjean@hotmail.com LORNE: Spacious apartment, breathtaking ocean view, open fire, peaceful, secluded, affordable. P: (03) 5289 2698.

GOLDFIELDS HOLIDAY RENTAL: Fully equipped modern architecturally designed house. Situated in the Forest Resort Creswick, double storey house, four bedrooms, sleeps up to 11 people.

Contact Adam on 0414 725 887.

PSYCHOLOGIST Sue Tansey, BA (Hons), MPsych (Counselling) MAPS Individual and relationship counselling. Bulk billing for clients who have a referral from their GP and have a low income.

St Kilda. P: 0418 537 342.

E: suetansey@yahoo.com GRAMPIANS WORSHIP When visiting The Grampians, join the Pomonal Community Uniting Church congregation for worship each Sunday at 10.00 am LILYDALE: PEWS FOR SALE The Lilydale Uniting Church property has been sold to Melba Support Services.

Thankfully, worship continues at 10.00 am each Sunday. However, we have a number of pews for sale (some with cushions).

Information, P: 9735 1990.

WANTED: TOGETHER IN SONG Any unwanted Together in Song booklets would be greatly appreciated by the Dookie Uniting Church congregation. Please contact Beth Stewart on P: 5828 5211 or 0408 546 276 if your congregation has any spare copies available.

WANTED TO BUY Antiques, second hand/retro furniture, bric a brac and collectables. Single items or whole house lots. Genuine buyer – contact Kevin, 0408 969 920.

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Moderator’s column Time and tide AS Christmas approaches again, it can sometimes seem as if nothing (no-thing) is newly created anymore – particularly with the endless display of, so-called, ‘new-things’ appearing on-line and in retail stores. In the book of Ecclesiastes we read, “Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’?”

Some 25 years ago, Michael Leunig produced a now well-known poem that, in ‘insurance speak’, could perhaps be referred to as, new for old. As I recall, it was published in the Sunday Age around Christmas time. Three of its six lines were, “Love is born,” the last being, “Love is always born”.

Nothing interrupts the normal flow of ordinary life so much as love.

When I make an effort to talk about love, it invariably detracts from the objective.

Nothing takes me more into silence than the contemplation of love. I find that it’s actually easier to love when I’m silent than when I speak (or write for that matter).

Take for instance, the love of a newborn baby. All crying aside, more silence than sound comes out when a baby attempts to use words. And the ‘word’ or sound that is uttered seems to fall back again into the silence. Similarly, silence, has always heralded the mystery of the arrival of the Christ child.

As we approach Christmastide, I think we would do well to focus on the suffix ‘tide’, which can be taken as meaning ‘a point or portion of time’. Later, it came to be associated with the rise and fall of the sea.

Tides were the intervals between lines on sundials. They were around three hours in duration. People would know which ‘tide’ it was through the ringing of a church bell.

The part on the sundial that cast a shadow was known as the gnomon, which came from the Greek, meaning ‘one that knows or examines’.

After all, it is in silence that our first ‘meeting’ with God takes place. The silence of God is different to any silence that we can concoct. God’s nature is silence.

During Christmastide, the silence of God’s love is once again, born.

The only means I have to convey this is the use of words. There is a great deal about

As we enter the season of Advent, more often than not, we will find that we are surrounded by noise, both within and without. A counter to this can be stillness, in the manner of a gnomon, which is acted upon by the sun. Perseverance in stillness and silence is a dynamic of prayer.

love that is communicable. But the core of it is something we must apprehend for ourselves. Mercifully, silence trumps words, for silence carries the weight of God’s love.

The ancient monks often asked, “What rules us?” The past? Memories? Ambition?

Remorse? Desires? Things? What should of

course rule over us is love … for the person who abides in love abides in God. The gifts we are given in the silent tide of Christmas are hope, peace, joy and love. These are gifts that the world can’t give – they don’t depend on favourable circumstances. They depend on an awareness of being … an awareness of the opening of our hearts, onto another awareness altogether.

As individuals, as a society and yes, as church, we have not yet learned to ignore the things that are unimportant. Being indifferent to unimportant things can be a way of focussing attention on that which is most worthy of love.

“Behold” – look, examine, know, says Isaiah, “I am creating a new heaven and a new earth”. New for old. Former things will be forgotten; they will no longer live in the crevices of the heart.

Both Isaiah and Leunig have alerted us to the something in us that desires birth. The hope is, that together, like a rising tide, we are slowly waking as one people, of all cultures and all faiths and none.

Dan Wootton Moderator

Giving is living A big year for NextGen THE synod’s NextGen youth have celebrated a year of milestones and achievements in 2015. This year marked 30 years since the Uniting Church declared itself a multicultural Church. To celebrate this anniversary, NextGen embarked on a range of new initiatives, culminating in an historic cultural immersion trip to China.

Fundraising for the trip began in March when the Intercultural unit organised a Harmony Day open-mic event at St Alban’s Uniting Church.

The theme of the event was “everyone belongs”. The open mic was a chance for the culturally diverse NextGen to express their personal identity through poetry, speech and music. It also presented an opportunity for young people to share stories of discrimination and prejudices they experienced as members of CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) communities.

In July, approximately 80 NextGen youth travelled to Merricks Lodge on the Mornington Peninsula for the annual youth camp. This year’s camp mixed interactive team-bonding exercises with

22

devotions and guest speakers. These activities were designed to empower young people to find their voice and encourage their growth into socially-conscious leaders. The participants came away from the camp with a renewed desire to serve God beyond the doors of their church.

July also saw NextGen youth demonstrate their musical talents at the International Gospel Music Night at Ormond Uniting Church. This was followed by an International Dance Night at Koornang Uniting Church in August.

Thanks to the fundraising efforts of NextGen and the support of generous donors, the synod was able to send 19 young people from 14 ethnic backgrounds to China in September. It was an eyeopening experience for many of the participants, who witnessed worship in a country where Christianity is growing at a rapid rate (see centre page feature).

On their return home, the youth visited Uniting Church congregations to share their observations from the trip. Many expressed a desire to apply what they learnt from the Chinese church to their local congregations.

As the next generation of Uniting Church leaders, these young men and women will play an essential role shaping the future of the Church.

CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

Crosslight survey 2015 THE team at Crosslight aim to ensure we reflects the news, stories and ideas you care about. Please take a moment to complete our survey; your feedback will help us to better serve our valued readers. Post replies to: Crosslight, 130 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000. You can also complete the survey online at: http://crosslight.org.au/ 1. Gender

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CROSSLIGHT - DECEMBER 15

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Santa Snaps

Wesley Uniting Church Geelong

“Then let us all with one accord Sing praises to our heavenly Lord.”

- The First Noel

Voices of Frankston

Box Hill Indonesian congregation

North Balwyn Uniting Church

Trinity Uniting Church Dandenong

The Avenue Uniting Church Blackburn

Western Heights Uniting Church

Western Port Uniting Church

St John’s Uniting Church

Ringwood carols