Posts from August 2022

Posts from August 2022

Sankofa #10

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) This is a most unhelpful verse of all verses in the Bible, for me. I am sure by now you know that I am imperfect. And you know what?  I will never be perfect. Sorry to disappoint some of you. 😊 Truth be told I won’t even try. As far as I am concerned, it’s a futile goal. Over the years I have learned to accept myself for who…

An evening meal with friends

“Where are we going to camp? “came the question over the UHF radio. “Not sure” was my reply.  “Ask Ron” I suggested. We were following the old Ghan railway line heading north on the Oodnadatta Track south of William Creek. We travelled in 4 vehicles, four couples, including our friends Jim and Sandy Hynek from Cedar Rapids Iowa, who we worked with in Zambia. We were headed to Nhulunbuy, a mining town and aboriginal settlement at Yirrkala on the western…

MUC Vision & Mission

A perspective on Manningham Uniting Churches Vision and Values: The Vision of Manningham UC is: Inspired by Godand seeking to emulate the life of Jesuswe will identify and reflect God’s loveby creating, participating in and walking with communities locally, nationally and globally. And the core values are: Christ-centred, Relational, Risk Taking and Hospitable These are new to me, as they will be to others new to the life of our church. One of the ways I learn new things is…

Reflection on our vision and values

A perspective on Manningham Uniting Churches Vision and Values: The Vision of Manningham UC is: Inspired by Godand seeking to emulate the life of Jesuswe will identify and reflect God’s loveby creating, participating in and walking with communities locally, nationally and globally. And the core values are: Christ-centred, Relational, Risk Taking and Hospitable Years ago Alastair and I visited Skellig Michael on the most SW coast of Ireland, site of a monastic settlement dating back to the 6th Century. The…

Sankofa #9

Yes, I am on leave, but I have decided to continue musing with you. Many of you have expressed that you are enjoying my weekly musing. I am glad and honoured. Some of you are aware that I am an early riser –  most days before five unless I am very, very tired, or not well. Matter of fact I do enjoy waking up early. It gives me the opportunity to read, reflect, write, and pray. Traumas Recently I have…

The poly-centric christ: tracing a line between vision and values

A perspective on Manningham Uniting Churches Vision and Values: The Vision of Manningham UC is: Inspired by Godand seeking to emulate the life of Jesuswe will identify and reflect God’s loveby creating, participating in and walking with communities locally, nationally and globally. And the core values are: Christ-centred, Relational, Risk Taking and Hospitable MUC’s Vision commits us to, “identify and reflect God’s love … locally, nationally, and globally.” Implicit in this vision is the idea that God’s love and action…

Petrol pump & climbing equipment for the terrace playspace

The kids are loving using the new petrol pump to fill up their cars, as they play on the outdoor terrace during Playgroup. The pump was made by Peter (a member of MUC), to replace a very old plastic one. The kids are also enjoying playing on the climbing equipment that was rescued from the Woodhouse Grove church. With softfall on the terrace surface they are still safe if they fall off

Vignettes from the Redgum

The Redgum Cafe has been operating now for over 6 months. I thought it was worth offering a bit of an insight into some of what we’ve achieved in our last few months of operations. We currently have 6 young trainees we work with in the cafe. We’re working with them to develop job-ready skills in customer service, coffee-making, and food safety and preparation. Along the way we help them to build confidence, communication skills, and the ability to work…

Sankofa #8

I am aware that some of you were not at the MUC Annual General Meeting on Sunday, 15th August 2022. Bob, the Chair of the congregation invited me to say a few words. I spoke from my heart. Here is what I shared. Thank You First thing I want to say is THANK YOU.  Thank you for inviting me to minister amongst you. Thank you for accepting me. I know some of you have found my accent difficult. And at…

A Word for our Pilgrimage

At the final service at The Grove we sang: ‘Who would true valour see, let him come hither’. The source of that hymn is in the second part of a once widely read, classic literary work entitled ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’. Like many of the New Testament letters of St Paul, this book was written in prison. Its author was John Bunyan who was born in 1628.  He was a one-time soldier in Cromwell’s army during the civil war in England.…

Planter boxes for Playgroup

The Playgroup kids have been busy planting carrots, lettuce, snow peas and zinnias in the 3 planter boxes donated to us by Bunnings Doncaster. Bunnings also donated the soil and the seedlings. The planters are out on the terrace where we are watching them grow so we can then eat the vegetables when they are ready!  Not sure that we are going to be able to feed all 62 children and babies who come to Playgroup each week though! Libby…

A Visit to Rev Miak Siew of Free Community Church

During our recent trip to Singapore to see family, we paid a visit to Rev Miak Siew, pastor of Free Community Church, one of the very few publicly LGBT-affirming Christian Churches in Singapore. His contact details had been provided to us by Swee Ann, who knows Miak. ‘Free’ stands for ‘first, remember everyone’s equal’. It was a fascinating visit. The church, as do many in Singapore, leases a floor in a multi-storeyed building and has created a highly flexible worship…

What is the Balm of Giliad and what is its relevance to Jesus?

These questions were raised by Jenny and Geoff in the Emerging Church Service they conducted on Sunday, 24 July, following the theme for this year – Health: in body, mind, and spirit. In ancient times, the highly effective healing unguents we have today did not exist. But Giliad, a raised area of country beyond the Jordon and north-east of Jerusalem, produced plants of the genius Commiforia that provide a fragrant resin much sought after in biblical times as an unguent…

Ministers Message – A Bird in an Open Cage…

Recently I was driving and thinking about what to write for the August MUC magazine. Suddenly I had this vision. An image to be more precise. An image of a bird in an open cage. And there was another bird outside the cage with a key dangling from its beak. I asked myself is this a fair representation of where Manningham Uniting Church is at.  Are we the bird in the cage or the bird outside the cage? Or both?…

Together@10 – Refugees & Asylum Seekers

The Together@10 service on 31 July was led by the MUC Connections group with a focus on Refugees and Asylum Seekers. The service was inspired by Refugee Week  (19-25 June 2022) which had as its theme: We’re happy you’re safe. We’re happy you’re free. We’re happy you’re here. The guest speaker was Rev Rod Horsfield who spoke of the amazing project that sprang from one person at Pilgim Uniting Church in Launceston to commemorate the sinking of the SIEVX. This…

Sankofa #7

A few of you have told me that you like my last Wednesday musing on death. One of you said, “it was timely”. And I said that I would muse more on how our faith help us in living into death.  Over the years I have observed that people find it difficult to talk about death. Some live in denial of death. We refuse to talk about it. It’s uncomfortable, and so we avoid the subject, and that avoidance increases…