Don's Blog

Hi all.

Vanuatu was wonderful. The people, the place, the conference setting, all combined to offer a great experience. We did hear disturbing aspects. 55% of Vanuatu is foreign owned, they have a serious HIV/Aids problem, underdeveloped roads and their political system (28 parties) is still not working effectively. This is without mentioning the tourist boats, (3 a week) who inundate the island. In amongst this, the people were incredibly welcoming and extended amazing hospitality. My visit to Vanuatu was to attend the Presidents Conference, held every 3 years, giving Uniting Church ministers from all over Australian the opportunity to meet together. In this case the conference was held so that we could be exposed to the work of the church beyond Australia. We met at the Vanuatu Presbyterian Church, Mele, the largest village in Vanuatu, about 15 minutes from Port Vila.

Each day began with worship followed by a session dealing with 'change and transition in ministry'. Then local people led sessions giving us insights into the culture and the issues facing the church in Vanuatu. The afternoons were free, which we managed to fill with snorkeling, shopping and sight seeing. In the evenings the Principal of the Theological College led a Bible study. Between the sessions the meals, cooked by the locals were brilliant. No I did not lose any weight!!

The church folk constantly shared their gratefulness for the missionaries sharing the gospel with them as their previous life contained a considerable amount of violence. Now they are peace loving and welcoming. They are still working through how they may integrate various aspects of their culture with their Christian values. On reflection I realized that we at Wesley don't hear much about the Uniting Church's work beyond Australia and I am hoping to provide more opportunity for this later in the year.

Oh by the way...... I became a grandfather for the 16th time on Monday. Sally Robyn Pegrum Dowling was born at King Edward to Marcia and Philip, their third child. Needless to say Kay and I are over the moon and we both have had a wonderful cuddle of the newborn. Only two away from an AFL football team!!

Before I left for Vanuatu the Elders and I did a bit more work on our Strategic Plan and on the 12th June at our congregational meeting I will be presenting a plan for us to discuss. Our Goal in this exercise is: To create a vibrant and missional atmosphere at Wesley Church that happens beyond our Sunday morning worship, creating a connection with the people who visit, work and live in the City.

I look forward to catching up with some of you this Sunday.

Thanks for reading.

From your minister, Don

Sunday 22^nd May 2011

8.30am Discussion Group.

10.00am Morning Worship Reflecting on the “Let not your hearts be troubled” John 14: 1 - 14

Sunday 22^nd May. 5.00pm Evensong at St George’s Cathedral, celebrating the conversion of John Wesley. The Priests and congregation of St George’s have invited us to celebrate this event with them. The preacher for the occasion will be Rev Professor Bill Loader.

Sunday 12^th June Congregational Meeting. Following Worship we will gather to discuss a follow-up presentation regarding the Wesley Congregational Strategic Plan.

Don's Blog Thursday 1

Hi all.

Last night Kay and I attended a prize giving ceremony at the University of WA. It was a great occasion with the students from the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences receiving prizes and scholarships. Included in the recipients were our Wesley Scholars, hence my reason for being there.

The tradition at this event is to invite a guest, usually a graduate of many years, to speak. On this occasion, they invited Professor Peter Van Onselen who is to become the inaugural Professor in Journalism at UWA. Professor Van Onselen currently works as a journalist with Sky News and The Australian newspaper. He gave a wonderful address flowing between his views on our current political system and his own personal journey of education within the Faculty. Following his address an immediate past student Amy Collins, who finished her honours degree at UWA last year, and is now teaching in Victoria, was invited to speak. Her address was also inspiring. She was full of energy and life and obviously gained so much from her time as a student. Both addresses were a powerful witness to the value of education. Both speakers highlighted the fact that the gaining of a broad arts education allowed them to gain a perspective that helps them think about their place in the world and how they might contribute to it. Needless to say this was impressive as both speakers were reasonably young and are wanting to offer so much because they felt they had been given much.

It was an honour for me to present the prizes to our music scholars on behalf of the Wesley Congregation. We are so grateful for their willingness to offer their time and energy as they assist us in worship. I could not help but think that this is a two way street in that they feel very grateful for the opportunity to share their musical abilities with us. The whole event did confirm to me that our Wesley Scholars program is a great initiative and I wish to thank John Beaverstock for his significant part in it.

Next week Chris Crause and I are attending the President of the Uniting Church (Rev Alastair McCrae) conference in Vanuatu. This is a hard gig but someone had to do it!! I must admit it is difficult to have a conference on a Pacific Island surrounded by surf, sun and ….etc, etc. However, let me reassure you, whilst the conference is being held in a wonderful setting we will have the opportunity to be exposed to the church at work in a developing country and see how they are connecting the gospel to their community. I am hoping to understand and bring back helpful ideas for us. The conference is also a valuable time to have conversations with Ministers from around Australia with the opportunity to share ideas and thoughts about our own ministry. At past conferences I have always found it very helpful and am looking forward to coming back refreshed.

On Sunday, 15^th May, Rev Tom Wilson will be the preacher. Many of you know Tom and I am sure you are going to enjoy his reflection particularly as he spent a significant amount of time with us during the Stations of the Cross and over Easter.

I look forward to catching up with some of you this Sunday.

Thanks for reading.

From your minister, Don

Sunday 8th May 2011

8.30am Discussion Group.

10.00am Morning Worship Reflecting on the Road to Emmaus story.

Sunday 15th May 2011

10.00am Morning Worship Guest preacher, Rev Tom Wilson

Sunday 22^nd May. 5.00pm Evensong at St George’s Cathedral, celebrating the conversion of John Wesley. The Priests and congregation of St George’s have invited us to celebrate this event with them. The preacher for the occasion will be Rev Professor Bill Loader.

Don's Blog

Hi all.

“Stations” is over for another year and whilst I feel very tired, it is a ‘good’ tired. We achieved so much. It was a strong exhibition with very good artworks. I have yet to confirm the attendance figures however; I felt we saw more people this year than last. I do know that we had more significant conversations, some of which I will share on Sunday.

My deepest thanks go to all those who took part, especially those who were volunteers in one form or another. Without you, it could not be done and I am so appreciative of the time and energy you gave to the event.

I am also very thankful for the work my PA Judy Muskett and Sia Nasios our Property Officer who put in an enormous amount of work to make the Stations happen. For both of them it was a baptism of fire, as they had not done it before. They came through with flying colours.

Soon we hope to have a gathering of all those who took part so we can compare notes and stories.

My week has been a short week as I took a couple of days as ‘time off in lieu’, however this morning I had a breakfast meeting with other ministers and pastors who come from the other city denominations. It was a great time to catch up with the various things we did over Easter. Each of us noticed that our congregations had a greater attendance than previous years. Interesting!

On Sunday, we listen again to the story of ‘doubting Thomas’. I find it fascinating that this story always comes after our resurrection story. Maybe our human questions come when confronted with such a transformative story as the resurrection. More about this on Sunday.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Thanks for reading.

From your minister, Don

Sunday 1^st May 2011

8.30am Discussion Group. Continuing the series “Embracing an Adult faith” by Marcus Borg.

10.00am Morning Worship Reflecting on the “Doubting Thomas” story.

Sunday 22^nd May. 5.00pm Evensong at St George’s Cathedral, celebrating the conversion of John Wesley. The Priests and congregation of St George’s have invited us to celebrate this event with them. The preacher for the occasion will be Rev Professor Bill Loader.