Dear Friends We had a plan. Well, in fact, for SMAD Camp we had several plans. We had a plan for the day. We had a plan for smoke haze. We had a plan for wet weather. What we didn’t plan for was hail. We can’t plan for everything Read more
Dear Friends You know how from time to time a passage of scripture gets stuck in your brain and stubbornly refuses to budge! For me, over the past few months, that passage has been Luke 17: 5-10, our lectionary reading from the beginning of October, particularly verses 7-9: “Who amongst Read more
Dear Friends Like you, I distinctly heard John and Kristine say they would not be returning to Canberra Baptist. In Kristine’s words, “Pilgrims never go back!” There’s been a few attempts to explain why they have come back (and gone back on their word!) but I have been thinking lately Read more
Dear Friends Last Sunday – specifically Sunday night – was twelfth night. The Christmas trees are packed away. Christmas is officially over. But as we continue to think long and hard about the magnitude of the fires our country is currently experiencing, I wondered if there was a way to Read more
Dear Friends ‘Happy New Year’ doesn’t sound like the right thing to say just now when so much of our country is burning, when so many human lives and other life has been lost and homes and livelihoods destroyed. But the prophet Jeremiah (not known as a Pollyanna in the Read more
Dear Friends As we struggled to take in the news this week that Australians and others on holiday in New Zealand had lost their lives in an unexpected volcanic eruption, our Prime Minister Scott Morrison made reference to, “a time of great innocence and joy [being] interrupted by the horror Read more
Dear Friends I was reading a reflection this week by English actress Emily Watson which reminded me a little of my sermon last Sunday and the litany of fears that we hold for our world at the current time; climate change and conflict, and the ensuing human dislocation and Read more
Dear Friends What are you longing for this Advent? I must confess that the time of Advent, the weeks leading up until Christmas, are often more about ticking off lists for me, doing what has to be done (or what feels like it has to be done) rather than thinking Read more
Dear Friends Lately I am keep being reminded of ‘heart prayers’; prayers that move us “from head to heart”; from a limited and partial dimension of our lives (what we are consciously able to think about at any given time) to the centre of our whole being; prayers that are Read more
Dear Friends I remember my mentor Rev Athol Gill saying to me: ‘Always have a sunset clause’. Those sage words I carried for many years and they helped shape a kind of strategy for church and for the many community development projects I have been involved in; meaning, that we Read more