Into Australia

Our Church

Eric was out of town for about a week and a half.  About three weeks before he left I decided I couldn't do it.  And I asked him not to go.  Elise was waking in the middle of the night, actually she was waking at 5:00 in the morning, but it felt like the middle of the night.  Caleb was tired of being at home with just me.  And quite frankly, I was tired of being at home with just him, and that was with Eric coming home each night.  The idea of ten days.  TEN DAYS alone, well no, worse, ten days with a two and five year old--alone can sound quite nice to a mother of preschoolers.  But ten days alone with a two and four year old sounded like level four of Dante's inferno to someone that was already in level two.

Fortunately, we are in a church.  A church that has offered real tangible help to our family.  When members found out that Eric would be out of town and I'd be alone I received four offers to eat dinner and bathe the kids at their house.  So during what are normally my "witching hours" when my eyes turn red and my skin turns green, my children were laughing with friends, and I was laughing too.  Eric came home to a happy one thanks to the help of our new friends.  They have helped us in other ways as well, and we are grateful.

A number of friends and family have asked about it for a number of reasons.  You can read about it here and here.  The church has a group of overseers but it has no paid pastors or leadership.  We are on a rotating list to setup, take down, mind the children, and lead different parts of the worship service.  Teaching is limited to leadership within the church.  Services include a time of blessing, a time of eating, a time of listening, learning, and a time of sending.  Next week I will be sent.  that means that I will tell the church what I am doing in my everyday life, and the church will tell me how I am reflecting Christ to the world.  Then I will be sent or commissioned to do the work that God has set before me.  So that is what I'm thinking about this week--where and how do I, or at least how should I, reflect Christ to the nations?

On the weekend the sanctuary is an art gallary

Questions about church

A few people have asked questions about the church we've been attending--not on my blog, but through e-mail and over the phone.  So I thought I'd take a moment and post what I know so far.

Two things really stand out about our first visit to Small boat.  First, they had been painting the meeting hall and so they had drop cloths all over the floor.  One of the really cool things about drop cloths is that you can kind of surf on them if they are on a slick wooden floor.  And it really was a fun ride until I ended up flat on my rear looking up at a room full of strangers. 

The other was a talk by Mike Frost.  He said that corporate worship existed to encourage the saints and edify the body.  It isn't something that exists for our own fulfillment.  Nor, does it exist for God's benefit since worship is, well, should be a 24/7 thing.  The take home message?  We should all spend time in prayer and reflection, determining what it is that we have to offer during the time of corporate worship for that week.  We might not come up with anything, but at least we went through the exercise. 

Someone asked me about my church's mission's opportunities.  We are still relatively new in the church, so I'm not sure I know them all.  But there are some ties to the Forge Mission Training Network. 

The church provides a playgroup for the community that meets three times a week.  There are snacks provided for the adults and the kids are allowed to play both outside and in.  The last half hour is morning tea, storytime and songs.

And there is this coming up in September. 

Our camp theme was on spiritual direction.  And the church asked Sister Ann Morrison of the Sisters of St Joseph to facilitate.  Catholics have a tradition of offering one-on-one spiritual direction.  My friend Paul illustrated the difference between counseling and spiritual direction by saying that if you told a spiritual director about a difficult trial you experienced as a youth, the director (most likely a catholic) would ask, "How did you pray during that time?"  Now I know, there are theological differences between the Catholic faith and my own, but at the camp the differences we encountered really were simply a matter of semantics.  The other thing I found interesting is that while she offers spiritual direction on an individual basis, she also trains lay people within the Catholic church to do so within the public school setting.  Evidently, different faiths are allowed to have a presence on campus and actually teach elective courses in the schools.  In the area of spiritual direction--which I might refer to as an intense form of discipleship--we might do well to learn from our Catholic brothers and sisters.  I think there is definitely a need for intense discipleship, the kind that can only exist between nonpeers, within Evangelical churches. 

Back from Camp

Friday we packed up the bags, the bed linens, the towels and toothbrushes, Elise's pacifiers, clothing for the hot, clothing for the cold, clothing for the rain, the sun block, and three road maps; stuffed all of it and the kids into the rental car; and after a come-to-Jesus drive through downtown Friday five o'clock traffic in Sydney we finally headed down the coast out to Stanwell park for camp.  Church camp. 

It was great!

This particular camp was organized by a group from the church and it focused on spiritual direction. The group brought in Sister Anne (I don't remember her last name) from the Paramatta Catholic Diocese to lead us in the sessions.  Let me just say that I've been looking forward to camp since I'd first heard about it.  They offered childcare during the sessions.  Frankly, they could have also told us that camp was also the time of the annual live chicken sacrifices, and as I chased down the unlucky hen with a sharpened ax, I'd have probably thought it a refreshing break from the kids.  So, suffice to say, I was a great candidate for spiritual direction training, but it is getting late and I'll have to save the spiritual directions stuff for another time.

But there is so much I could write about.  This small church has really opened its arms to Eric and I and our children and we are so grateful.  Caleb found playmates and it was fun to hear the unbridled laughter of children at play.  And when Caleb, following his new friends lead, shouted, "Yea! It's morning Tea!" I felt a little more a part of our surroundings.  Eric and I found a group of people that really seek after Christ and endeavor to put Him on display to the world at large.  And wow!  The means God has at his disposal in this church--Eric and I have wandered into a very talented group of people.  Nadia, for example, who leads a wonderful playgroup that meets three times a week at the church, has brought some of her work for display in the sanctuary.  And Eric and I were blown away by one of the members who had written, composed, and recored a beautiful song that she shared in the service.  These are just two examples among many.  More than their talent we have been impressed by their warmth.  A couple has offered to babysit our kids.  When I expressed a need for a more manageable stroller, one was offered.  They have taken us in and we are humbled and grateful.

On the way back from camp we stopped off at Bald Hill.  We had hoped to either see hang gliders or whales but all we saw was this.

Small Boat big sea

The church we are attending ends each service with a sort of comissioning ritual called Sentness.  Each service someone describes what they do during the week.  After the person shares, people from the group explain how that person, through his or her actions, displays the image of our creator.  Then the service ends in a prayer for that individual. 

For a more in-depth explanation of Sentness you can read my friend Paul's post here. 

Attended Church Last Night

We visited Small Boat Big Sea last night.  We enjoyed it immensely.  I can't write much now because Eric is headed to work but the service follows a liturgical order (that means the service follows a certain order, it doesn't necessarily mean chanting and singing one note songs.  Anyway, the service uses the acronym BELLS.

it opens with a Blessing, then there is Eating, followed by a time of teaching (Listening and Learning) and it is ended with a time of Sending. 

Okay, Eric is standing over my shoulder and clearing his throat.  I've got to give him his computer.  If he loses his job right now, well, lets just say it would be a long row back to the states.