Don's Blog
Hi All,
This week
has been a gentle week of preparation for my visit to Adelaide for the
Assembly. Already I am hearing that some controversial issues will be
discussed, so think of me behind the camera and in editing. My hope is that I
can let you know of the interviews as they go up onto the Website. The Web page
for the assembly is; http://www.assembly2012.uca.org.au/
After Assembly, Kay and I
will have a few days rest at Dunsborough.
By the way,
a few people asked about our son Marcus. Marcus had an accident at his
workplace (Para Quad Industries) last week. He unfortunately cut off the top of
one of his fingers on his left hand. He is a little sore and does have to
undergo some physical therapy on his hand, but he is doing ok and looking
forward to getting back into activities with Crossroads and going back to work.
Thanks you
so much for all those who offered pray and support for Melanie and Sean last
week. It was one of those special moments where our Wesley congregation reached
out again with love to a family in need. One of the special memories of last Sunday
was seeing Petrina give Melanie a beautiful warm and loving hug during the
sharing of the Peace. The funeral for their daughter Mylee, who was just over a
year old when she died, will be held at Pinnaroo Cemetery on Wednesday 18th
July. Rev John Barendrecht will conduct it. Our thoughts and prayers will be
with all the family on that day.
Also on
Sunday we held our Inter-Faith service of Lament. Just over 100 hundred people
attended and I was slightly anxious at the beginning as up until 5 minutes
before the service the Imam had not arrived. But eventually they did, (they had
been held up by traffic) and it was a great service. I was a little taken aback
when at the end of the service Imam Mukahtar Ahmadi gave me a warm and friendly
hug. It was his way of letting me know how much they appreciated our welcome
and sharing with them. Thanks go to Geoff Blyth who read the Psalm, to Evadne
Scaddan, Janet Lamb, Lee Edwards and others who helped on the day. I especially
appreciated our pianist Jangoo Chapkhana and David
Bowyer (baritone) whose music was wonderful.
At one point in the service as we, Christians and
Muslims stood together, and lit our candles we listened to the music of,
“Bridge over Troubled Waters”. It was for me very moving.
As you can imagine we made the newspapers, namely,
“The West Australian”, see: http://l.yimg.com/ea/img/-/120709/080712genservice1_17vk3pr-17vk3ps.jpg
And, “The Australian; see; http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/faiths-unite-in-prayer-to-mourn-asylum-seekers-lost-at-sea/story-fn9hm1gu-1226420572594
I also did an interview for
SBS Radio and this week received news that our service was written about in an Ecumenical
newspaper in Switzerland. I really should have gone there to do it live!! Anyway,
I can truthfully say that our service was talked about “far and wide”. Quite a
few people recognized me from my picture in the paper, not the least being
Mohammad, (I now know his name) a Muslim, who runs the convenience store across
the road from the church. He was quite impressed by our endeavors.
Last Sunday in
Worship I announced that we appointed Angela Currie as our new Director of Music
and Organist. Angela originally hales from Scotland and comes with a wealth of
experience, working in the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian). She is married to
Jim who was also in church on Sunday. If you have been to Sunday morning worship
over the last month or so then you would have noticed her at the organ. Angela
brings with her a great deal of experience in working with Choirs and an
excitement about being involved at Wesley. We feel truly blessed by her
appointment with us. You will no doubt see things musical appearing on a very
regular basis, for which I am looking forward to.
The DVD that we commissioned
for the 2012 Stations of the Cross Art Exhibition is out. If you would like a
copy could you email me or let our office staff know and we will get one to you.
It is a 12-minute video and gives a good overview of what happened and will
help us explain our ‘Stations’ to people who want to know more.
Last Thursday we held our
monthly Elders meeting. At this meeting we very reluctantly received the resignations
of Donald and Christine Nicholas as Elders. Most of you would know that Donald and
Christine served us well in these positions and Donald in particular has contributed
enormously in Property and Finance matters. As I have indicated to them both,
our prayers and thoughts are with them and we look forward to them serving our
congregation in new ways.
At Elders we recognized that
we need more Elders. It is position of responsibility and if, as you are
reading this, feel God might be encouraging you in this direction, could you
please make contact with me. Over the next few weeks we will be calling for
nominations.
We also recognized that we
need more people to help in being a welcoming steward or at morning tea/coffee.
Please let Judy (phone 6103 4222 or email: judym@ucic.org.ua
know if you can help. We are noticing that the same people are rostered quite regularly and it would be great to spread the load a bit.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to catching up with you on my return from Monday 30th July.
Don Dowling
Minister
Sunday 15th July – Preacher Rev Geoff Blyth
Sunday 22nd July – Preacher Rev Lee Edwards
Sunday 29th July - Preacher Rev Viv Larkin
