Don Dowling's Blog

Don's Blog

Hi All,

Today, (Thursday 24th May) as I write, I am mindful that on this day we remember the conversion of John Wesley, when he uttered the famous words, “my heart was strangely warmed”. From time to time I remember his experience and realise that the church we worship and meet in would not be here had it not been for that experience of John Wesley and the people who follow his vision. We give thanks to God.

Tonight at Wesley we celebrate the work of John Wesley through special prayers, re-enacting some of his life and by singing some of his brothers special hymns.  People from various to denominations are coming to Wesley to help us celebrate. It begins at 7.00 pm so I hope you might take the opportunity to come and see.

This event of course has been part of ‘Converge 2012’ and it has been wonderful to see the various activities and events happening in and outside of the church. If you would like to see a photograph of me with some of the knitters please go to our website; http://www.perthunitingchurch.com.au/viewStory/Wesley.

Convergent began yesterday and at lunchtime we had a special speaker Mr Graham Power at our Perth Prayer lunchtime gathering. Graham is a South African businessman who began a movement, which has now spread to many countries. He became aware of the need to gather together Christians from many denominations to pray for his nation. Over a period of years this has now developed into many people from many nations praying for their particular countries. His message was inspiring.

This morning I attended our monthly ‘Ministers from the City’ breakfast and our special agenda item was to discuss together some of the things we wanted to discuss with our Mayor, Lisa Scafidi, who will be attending our next months meeting. It will be good to have a conversation with her about our churches and our relationship with the City of Perth.

After this meeting I attended a group gathering, held in our UCIC Centre, of Minister groups from the wider metropolitan area. It was good to hear the stories of what others are doing and how they are working together ecumenically. Following this meeting, I and three Anglican priests, spent an hour singing the psalms in plainsong. It was a fascinating experience and I loved it, especially singing with others and singing the Psalms. Again this was part of the ‘Converge 2012’ event.

Last Sunday evening 25 Armenian people gathered together to hold their first worship service in our church. A guest minister came from the Armenian Uniting church in Sydney and our own Rev Emmanuel Audishio, who speaks fluent Armenian, joined him. It was a good occasion and the beginnings of we hope will be many services for them.

I have already shared with you that Joyce Roberts died this week and I was very glad that the Rev Geoff Blyth was able to be there with her and the family in their time of need. At the time of writing I am still waiting to hear about her funeral.

I have also been in contact with Uniting Church Homes and between us we are organising the funeral of Michael Daly. Once I have this confirmation I will also share that with you to.

I look forward to seeing you either at the special John Wesley Celebration tonight or our Crossroaders Service this Sunday.

Thanks for reading.

From your minister,

Don