Cafe setting Worship 'Voice' + Pentecost

    Would you believe, we held our Pentecost worship on Sunday around the Tables in the church building, used for Bill's Place Cafe and our Op Shop ($8 coffee an cake + cheap clothes and bric a brac) and I was too focused on leading and scene setting to take a single photo? Oh well!

   We had two themes" Exploring 'The Voice' to Parliament and 'Pentecost' through stories of our experiences... and a few reflections will stay with me:

- There's so much more to hearing God than preaching and stories are powerful, which I've always known

- Most stories I heard relayed reflected a supernatural element of exploring God's Spirit (I'll have to chase more conversation in search of the ordinary everyday stories which may have been shared

- Any number of people don't remember being told Pentecost meant 50th (day since Easter)

- Cafe style proved not to be a choice of style over substance and the conversations at Tables were vibrant and energetic in both building community and in exploring the themes

- As well as reinforcing that day, the 'good news' was heard in people's own language (a theme I'll expand on this coming week, instead of justifying a doctrine of trinity on a selected Sunday) but I also agree with Nadia Bolz Weber's brilliant reflection, it was heard in languages people didn't understand, so we are reminded we don't control the message and God breaks out in undisciplined, wild, spontaneous ways. I'm still not talking about pentecostal spirit language, just that God acts and speaks in ways that surprise those who would rather control the message or media! So we will celebrate the colour red at least one more week and dwell further on both themes

- Where two 'versions' of the shared breath or wind of the Spirit were shared, this is a clear invitation to reflect on our own experiences today.

- Grounded questions remain an important way to foster learning for life long discipleship e.g. Asking when people have seen us engage, explore and experience indigenous culture and story and asking about a time they've experienced God's Spirit in action are better questions than hypothetical ones about what this would be like

- Lucky I took some photos of the set up in our traditional front space to set the scene

*I almost forgot, the laughable idea a national call to a period of prayer, resourced by the UCA, sends an email with a video at 8.15am on Sunday, for use that day. I'm sure people are working hard but that takes last minute prep to a new high! But hey, what would I know...

Affirmations, Learnings and Rubbish

    Time to re-enliven my blog! Maybe an unreliable frequency of reflections on the world, sport and life! I'm thinking this week about a range of annoying things: like my reflection on Sunday 'we live in an economy not a community' which reflects the reality neo liberal 'trickle down economics' bullish*t comes from a place  of everything being dollar valued, and money, global economy and trade, deciding what is valuable... Then there is the insidious and poisonous impact of Murdoch's News Ltd legitimising 'cookers', conspiracy theorists and "right wing nut jobs" in heavily subsidised media, plus newspapers with divisive headlines, rubbish writing and a legitimising of fringe views, racism and argument as the norm!

   I'm constantly grateful for heartfelt affirmation about things I'm doing 'almost without thinking,' which is perhaps the best way to subdue yourself and focus on the 'main thing.' It's still time to  shut up more often and listen! I've been thinking again about some writing. It won't happen, I don't have the patience, though I'd like to write about mission from the standpoint of having lived through the decades we examine to describe our context. Nobody wants to read a book I would write!

   I'm learning about strategic focus, organising my workload differently and prioritising some meetings with individuals in the community. Hopefully there will be some space to plan this over a few months to meet 'the right people' to advance things we are working on. I'm learning about working with my gym sessions, dodgy back and healthier approach... as well as new ways to take space, like a stop off at the beach car park to take in the view and spend minutes not hours just recharging.

   Having written about some rubbish, the biggest is the opposition to 'The Voice!' in this country. I'll break all the 'how to talk to people' rules and suggest I have not heard a single valid reason to not vote 'YES.' I've heard plenty of talk, distractions, falsehoods, just no good reason!