No 9 – November 2011

Crows Nest Uniting Church

Cnr Shirley Road & Nicholson Street, Crows Nest

crowsnestuniting.org.au

From Michael's desk—'My mind was spinning'

Michael with Rabbi Jacobson

As I write this little reflection, our Interfaith Month is drawing to a close. Someone said to me at church last Sunday, 'I'll be disappointed when it concludes.' I agree. It's been a rich experience. Looking back over it, I have a number of impressions. The first is of the great diversity of religious expression that characterises our local community. On the Friday evening of the week-end that the Interfaith Month began, I went to Rabbi Jacobson's home to share in a Shabbat dinner and the following Sunday we welcomed Sri Prahlad from the Hare Krishna Temple. In three days I had participated in the Jewish, Christian and Hare Krishna religions. My mind was spinning and I had to relocate myself. How to take in such different views, experiences and beliefs? Stephen Batchelor, author of 'Living with the Devil', the book I quoted from Sunday before last, has written, 'In an open society, saturated with information, the gaps between traditions serve as a refreshing but unsettling wilderness.' Sometimes it does feel a little wild. Our religion normally 'locates' us and gives us a sense of identity by covering over such gaps. Generally that is helpful. But occasionally it's helpful to be tossed into the wilderness. Diversity reminds us of this. It calls us out of our 'caverns' to see anew. (From the quote I used on Sunday recently, from the poetry of William Blake, 'For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.')

My second impression is of the great publicity we received through the local media, thanks to our hard-working Public Profile team. I received a number of very positive phone calls as a result of this, expressing appreciation for what our church is doing. People in local shops, banks and coffee shops (as well as my yoga class) also responded very favourably. We are slowly gaining a positive profile in the local community, which adds to that we achieved through the opening of our park. (I did receive a couple of negative responses suggesting we were straying from the 'one, true path.' While this is sobering, it is to be expected. Working for the kingdom can incite opposition. These comments were definitely a minority of the responses I received.)

My last impression is that the Interfaith Month is something that now characterises our church; that it's intrinsic to our faith community, a part of our signature. (This year marks the third time we have run an Interfaith Month.) I am grateful for this. What we do in building bridges of hospitality and understanding is important; it makes a difference. We should feel proud of this.

This morning I met with a Buddhist friend to continue conversation and religious explorations, and also to start planning for next year. He is excited about being part of our next Interfaith Month in 2012. Watch out for more details!

Family Outreach— 8.30am Kookaburra Service – Lin Gourlay

As we have no Family Worker at present, the church council members have been assisting Michael with the Kookaburra service once per month.  This has been a new experience for most of us.  I was present at the October service when there was a great roll-up of parents with kids.  We had around 18 children upstairs that morning.   Keeping them all busy was quite a challenge, bearing in mind the varied age group (around 2-12 years).  The parents have an opportunity for an informal homily with discussion as their kids are learning upstairs. 

An important outreach for our church!

Kids Alive—Deb Lee

We have a fairly large group now attending Kids Alive.  This is really great, but with this we continue to have issues about whether we have enough helpers upstairs. This is especially important when we have younger children in the group.  At our last Church Council meeting we decided to add "upstairs helper" to the monthly roster.  We would like families to add their name to this roster.  If everyone helps, the commitment will be minimal. There will be times when an extra helper will not be needed and I will let the person rostered know if this is the case.

Now to our news!  We have been busy looking at other religions in Kids Alive along with the differences and similarities between them. There have been some really interesting discussions between the children as they grow up and have their own opinions….on everything!  

Two of the common threads that we explored were, the use of light and the significance of various foods (some of which we cooked and tried while we were exploring the Jewish faith).  

After looking at Moses during this time, we moved on to the Ten Commandments.  It was very interesting to see how many of them do still apply today as written.  But, when we got onto the commandment about "one God", the kids agreed that for us there is only one God. They know that other people may have a different belief, so they thought that they would add to that commandment to say: we should still respect other people's beliefs even though they might be different.  I thought that this was a rather exciting insight from our young people and look forward to hearing many more, no doubt!

We are moving soon into the season of Advent and will be exploring more on the theme of light. (This is also traditionally a period in Kids Alive when large containers of glitter are allowed out of the store cupboard!)

The children will have the opportunity to join in with the telling of the Christmas Story on Christmas Eve at the 4pm service doing readings and dressing up. I look forward to as many of them as possible being involved in whatever way they can.

Thanks again to all the people who come up and help and run Kids Alive and especially to all the children who come and are open with their hearts, words and minds.

Profile: Andrew Robjohns, Chairperson of the Crows Nest UC Congregation

Andrew has come to be a part of the Crows Nest community via a circuitous route which started in Adelaide 45 years ago. It included formative years spent in Wagga, studies in Communications at Griffith University (Brisbane), a bohemian early adult-hood in Sydney's inner-west, fatherhood and a family life in Nowra on NSW South Coast.

Andrew's life focus has always been politics. He was in the Parliamentary gallery the week of the dismissal in 1975 and founded a Young Liberals branch at the age of sixteen. Claiming that he didn't leave the Liberal Party; the Party left him, he is now the most prominent Green in North Sydney having been elected to the local Council and for a year was Deputy Mayor.

Similarly, Andrew has taken a circuitous spiritual path having been christened and raised in the Methodist tradition but at a young age, felt that the Church had little to offer and professed agnosticism from age 9 to his early thirties. Having a strong interest in the writings of many philosophers, particularly the 20^th century notables Jean Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, Andrew believes that the best answer to many of the existential questions asked in the 20^th century is faith in a greater unknown force for good which many call "God" and practising the lessons learned from iconic leaders of the past, particularly Jesus Christ. Andrew joined the Crows Nest Uniting Church Community in 2009. His involvement with North Sydney Council and his partner Christine's employment with Sonic Health Care in North Ryde mean that Andrew has a long-term commitment to the Church and the local community.

Fund-raising afternoon tea – Lorna Bassett

A very successful fund- raising afternoon tea was held in the Church Hall on Sunday, 16 October.

The function was held in aid of Breast Cancer and the proceeds were sent to the Breast Cancer Network Australia.  This network supports those women, their families and friends who have and are suffering from breast cancer.  It is also important to remember that men are not excluded from this affliction.

The afternoon tea coincided with the Crows Nest Street Fair, so the opportunity was taken to sell some of the wonderful home cooking to the passing parade heading home after attending the Fair.  From all reports, those selling the cakes had a lot of fun and their sales skills could not be resisted.

Receipted donations                 = $1,905.00

Sale of books, jams and cakes   = $   635.90

Sale of BCNA merchandise       = $   235.00

A representative from BCNA has email to say congratulations and well done.

Many thanks to all the wonderful people who helped to make the afternoon such a great success.

Book review – Janet Crosbie

 Chloe Hooper won a Walkley Award for an article published in The Monthly about the death in 2004 of Cameron Doomadgee who died in police custody. Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley was eventually charged with assault and manslaughter. He was acquitted. Chloe Hooper followed the case for two and half years and then wrote The Tall Man which won several awards including the Indie for non-fiction.

Many have found this an incredibly moving account. The tragedy of another death in custody of a young (34 years) man and the sadness of his family and community come across strongly. Did he fall, was he pushed, was he jumped on?  Chloe Hooper also manages to portray Snr Sgt Chris Hurley with some understanding. Ambitious, he worked hard to be accepted by the local community and had earned some respect.

Chloe Hooper seems to have great rapport with the Aboriginal women; they accept her and at times comfort her. Hooper recounts her own distress during the court case and having to leave the court. Aboriginal relatives of Doomadgee follow her out of the court to embrace and comfort her. She also writes of the strong Christian faith many of the women had and their love of singing. It was their singing of Amazing Grace that left Chloe Hooper "undone". I too wept reading her account – just a bit embarrassing whilst I was sipping my coffee at the local.

Did you know that: * Palm Island has the largest indigenous community, * it sits 65 kms off Townsville coast, *it was used for many years as a settlement for Aboriginals considered to be "disruptive" "being pregnant to a white man" or "being born with mixed blood".

 Church Roster

Andrew Robjohns has taken on the role of "Roster Nazi"!!  Our trial of filling the roster via the internet has not worked very effectively.  Vacancies are constantly a problem.  So, Andrew will be tapping you on the shoulder to fill vacancies.

Meanwhile, the Church Roster can still be viewed on our website at http://crowsnestuniting.org.au (look under "Community").

It would be useful if you could check the roster regularly to see if you can help with any role.  Then, advise Joyce at the church office by clicking on the link provided. 

Please note that you can still volunteer by signing up on the roster on the noticeboard in the morning tea area.

Useful information

Minister:  Rev Michael Barnes — ph: 9439 5851

email:  mbarnes1@primusonline.com.au

Church office:   Administrator: Joyce Lum — ph: 9439 6033

email:  crnestuc@bigpond.net.au, Office hours: Tues & Fri, 9.30– 2.00