Don Dowling's Blog

Don's Blog

Hi all

On Tuesday, Kay and I attended the funeral for the Rev Jock Drysdale. It was one of those funerals that could only be described as inspiration. As we listened to the many stories of how Jock influenced the lives of so many people, his family, young people, families and students of Wesley College, congregations, and many, many more, it became evident that he truly followed the way of Jesus in his ministry. So many stories illustrated his deep faith, which transformed those with whom he came in contact. The story that I remember, was illustrated by a picture of Jock and Mother Teresa on the Photo board at the front of the church. Jock decided to take a group of students from Wesley College on a two-week trip to India. After playing sport in the first week, he then arranged for them to spend the second week working with Mother Theresa in the slums of Calcutta. I heard about this trip when I became the Chaplain at Wesley College and in conversation with one of the students, who went with Jock, he told me it was a life changing experience. That student has gone to work in the life of the church.

As many of you know Jock was involved at Wesley Church, particularly through his work at the Charles Street Youth Centre in North Perth and there are many stories of his work in this area. Mention was made of Jocks suffering from Alzhimers, however he was still able to achieve wonderful things. Reference was made to the creation of the Numero card game which not only helped people understand maths, but the proceeds have helped and will continue to help the Alzheimer’s Association. There was of course the recollection of many amusing incidents as Jock was a fun-loving Minister always wanting the best for people. His family and friends remembered that he always quoted John Wesley saying, the best is yet to come. Jock’s funeral was a great celebration of his life and witness and it could be truly said of him, Well done thou good and faithful servant”. We here at Wesley Church, Perth thank God for his lifelong ministry and will remember the family, especially his wife Joan, and all the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, as they will miss him a great deal.

Children@Wesley continues to be a great place for the children of our congregation to enjoy their own special worship. Mal Mohan is assisting us create this atmosphere as the children learn more about the Christian faith. I am hopeful that we will see more of the children in our worship and look forward to seeing some of the things they create.

Can I emphasise again the work of “Open Doors”, or Friends of Wesley as it is also known. We need more volunteers. At the moment we have a great group of faithful people who come every week and are quiet witnesses, but we need more. Reg Lincoln our coordinator would love to hear from you if you were interested or need more information. The time spent can be from a couple of hours through to 4 hours, depending on your availability. If you need contact details, either see me or contact my PA Judy Muskett on 6103 4222 or judym@ucic.org.au.

Dave Male, our visiting Anglican Priest from the UK is still proving to have an influence. In particular I came across one of the quotes he shared with those who attended his conference last week. It comes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer who said, “We should give up the foolish task of trying to be saints and get on with the more important task of being human.”

I like it!!

I look forward to catching up with you on Sunday.

Thanks for reading.

From your minister, Don

Sunday 10^th July 2011

8.30am Discussion Group.

10.00am Morning Worship – A Reflection on “Listen! A sower went out to sow” I will also be conducting an Interview with Alpheus Meage who comes from West Papua.

The Wesley Flower Festival will take place from Thursday 29^th of September to Sunday 2^nd October. If you would like to assist with this venture please see Marg Murdoch.