Weekly reflections

Dear Friends This week is NAIDOC Week, a week to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life. The theme for NAIDOC Week 2019 is Voice. Treaty. Truth. and points to the longing for First Nations people to have their voice heard in Australian society, for a treaty to acknowledge their place in the history and future of our Read more…

Dear Friends The three synoptic Gospels record that, prior to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he was led (or as Mark writes, driven) into the wilderness where the emphasis focuses around Jesus’ temptation.  But we are not sure what this really means. Is it about formation? Is it about identity and recasting and repeating the tribulations that Israel endured but Jesus rendering the example of perfect obedience?  The symbolic numbering gives us clues, but we are still just stabbing in Read more…

 Dear Friends, Refugee Week has come to an end, but the challenge of refugees, and the challenges faced by refugees, continue around the world. The UNHCR’s 2018 Global Trends report released this week shows that the number of refugees and people seeking asylum increased by 1 million during 2018 to 29.4 million; 25.9 million of who have fled to neighbouring countries and 3.5 million who are seeking asylum in industrialised countries. And the numbers of refugees and asylum seekers are Read more…

Fifty-six years after the first airing of the 7 Up documentary, 12 of the 14 men and women first seen as seven-year old children in 1964 in the UK have returned to share the story of their lives. They have been interviewed every seven years and this recent screening on Monday night – as shown on SBS in the first of three parts – we see them at age 63.  As you can imagine a lot has changed for the Read more…

Dear friends, Last Thursday, the Pray-as-you-go app (the one Bev Galloway introduced to us during the Soul Feast series) was based on Acts 1:1-11 as last Thursday was the Feast of the Ascension. This time, between the Ascension and Easter, was, as the writer of Acts says, a time when Jesus “presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.” And in the reflection the question was Read more…

Dear Friends It is National Reconciliation Week (27 May – 3 June) which blends beautifully with what Belinda wrote about last week in reference to the BBC program ‘The Repair Shop’ particularly in regard to connections made with the past and the idea to ‘live by mending’. Last Monday was the ACT’s second Reconciliation Day public holiday but what real ‘connections’ or ‘mending’ were we conscious of to make it a day promoting Reconciliation with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Read more…

Dear Friends There is no place like home! It is wonderful to be home with your children, to pat your dogs, to be able to go into your kitchen and put on your own kettle! It is also wonderful to be back at church, worshipping again with so many dear friends! We had a great time away, but I was very excited (thank you so much to Kelli Hughes for mentioning this last Sunday) to hear that one of the Read more…

So, we have all carried out our duty and voted!  And possibly as you read this Pastor’s Note the decision of how Australia voted will have been made known.  But, what is interesting for me, is how Christians form an opinion about who to vote for: were they guided, for example, by party political interests; were the issues canvassed by the parties the critical and decisive factors that influenced them and, if so, which ones; were the leaders the key Read more…