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I was asked to write about my hopes and dreams for the merged Parish. Of course such a task is a dangerous thing because what we see in dreams is often far from reality. But still, let's dream a little and see whether our dreams can be realised as we move forward together. |
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The first thing I need to say is that the Parish motto that came out of our combined vestry meeting back in August sums up my desire for our new Parish quite well: Speak the Gospel; Teach the Bible; and Build Community that demonstrates God's love. In English this is an acrostic using the first letters of St Thomas' Burwood to help us remember it. So the first part of my vision for the Parish is that we will be a people who proclaim the gospel to those who don't yet know Jesus Christ as their own Saviour and Lord. |
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I see this happening at a number of levels: through our formal meetings together where we demonstrate the power of the gospel by our fellowship across the barriers of language and culture; by our efforts to welcome students from overseas who are studying at Deakin and elsewhere; by our occasional outreach events where we go into the community to be seen as God's people or invite others to join us in our social activities. |
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Will this happen automatically and without effort? No! We will all have to work at seeing this vision come true. The reality is that proclaiming the gospel can be hard work. But what excites me is that we are a congregation of people who love God, who want to serve Jesus to the best of our ability and who therefore can do it if we put our minds to it. I'm particularly aware of our great youth group at Wattle Park and the Rainbow Fellowship at Bennettswood. I find it very exciting to be with these young and enthusiastic Christians and see their growing commitment to Christ. |
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The second part of my vision is to see us as a Church where God's word is taken very seriously and where people want to know it and understand it better. Again, this will involve our formal meetings where I hope we will have sermons that deal carefully with God's word as well as our more informal meetings for Bible study and fellowship where again God's word can be the foundation for our relating to one another. I would love to see a group of young people who are wanting to get to the point where they can have the confidence to begin to teach others. |
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The third and perhaps most difficult part of my vision is to see us building a community that truly reflects God's love for us. The reason this may be the hardest part is that it will involve us deliberately moving outside our comfort zone in order to reach across the cultural and language barriers to care for our Christian brothers and sisters. |
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This will mean, for example, Chinese members taking the risk of speaking in less than fluent English and trusting that there will be no sense of judgement on the part of their English speaking brothers and sisters. It will mean English speakers speaking more clearly in order to be understood by those whose English is still improving. It will mean all of us being aware that some behaviour, some words or expressions, that are common in one language or culture may be uncommon or even offensive in another. On the positive side, we might each be able to learn from the other some of the better elements of their cultural heritage. For example the humility and politeness that's inherent in Chinese culture; the informality and relaxed way of relating in the Australian culture; the desire to please that's part of the Chinese culture, the friendly humour and accepting quality of the Australian culture. It might also mean the young appreciating the greater life experience of the old, and the old bearing with the enthusiasm and inexperience of the young (not to mention their noisiness); the young tempering their enthusiasm in the presence of the old and the old being re-enthused by the excitement of the young. Our differences can be overcome if we understand where they come from and are willing to learn from each other. |
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Most of all, my desire is to see us all come to a place where we find our identity in God's kingdom, God's family, not in our country of origin or in our family group. This may be difficult, but it is essential, if we want to speak the gospel with integrity. The gospel is the message that Jesus Christ came to bring all people together under his headship, irrespective of race, language, nationality, gender, or social status. One of the reasons for choosing the name Thomas for our new Parish was because Thomas was the first to take the gospel to the far east, reminding us that the gospel is intrinsically multicultural in focus. We don't do this just to be obedient. We do it because it is integral to our identity as God's sons and daughters. |
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So there is my dream for our new Parish: a place where we will be bringing new converts into a setting where the multicultural nature of the gospel is experienced by all, where young and old, native English speakers and those of other nationalities love each other as brothers and sisters, where the young can learn from the old and the old can be encouraged and inspired by the young. |
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And having put it into words I'm even more excited about it than I was before! |
