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CONGREGATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS Inside … THE FELLOWSHIP OF CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES August 2019 P 1,2 From the Gen. Sec. Edited by General Secretary, Tim Foskett P 3 Junior Camp P 4 - 5 Pastoral Ponderings P 6, 7 Reach Australia P 8 Mission Moment P 9 Jannali P 10-12 Annual Assembly 2019 P 13 N SW Council of Churches P 14 Employment P 15 Community P 16 Coming Up P 17-19 Please Pray Fellowship of Congregational Churches ‘To be a dynamic fellowship of evangelical churches, with each Church effectively PO Box 47s, Bexley South, NSW 2207. reaching its local community with the Phone: (02) 9588 5128 Gospel and, collectively, impacting our nation and the world for Christ. Email: [email protected] Website: www.fcc-cong.org Our Vision Congregational Communications, August 2019 FROM THE GEN SEC Saturday, the 20th of July, marked the fiftieth anniversary of the moon landing. What is perhaps a lesser known event is that which soon followed: the first communion service held in space by Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon. Aldrin, a committed Christian, wanted a symbol that united his faith with what he perceived as a monumental ‘step forward’ for the human race. He later said of the event: ‘We wanted to express our feeling that what humankind was doing in this mission transcended electronics and computers and rockets.’ Aldrin’s pastor, Dean Woodruff, of Webster Presbyterian Church in Houston, said that it had been something with which Aldrin had been wrestling for some time before his sojourn into space. Communion seemed to them both to be the perfect symbol. ‘One of the principals of the symbol,’ Woodruff said, ‘is that God reveals himself in the common elements of everyday life.’ It is interesting that he describes a journey into space as ‘common elements of everyday life.’ This has not been my experience, so far ... still, his example makes a helpful point. One of the common tendencies of the church throughout its history has been what some have called ‘dualism.’ All this means is that Christians have sometimes struggled to bring together the ordinary, mundane and boring elements of life - family, work, bills, space travel - and the more transcendental or ‘spiritual’ aspects of faith. We have often thus separated life into two: that which is sacred and that which is not. Now, even though this may seem lofty and abstract, it is very practical. For example, the practice of some to be cultural or ‘Sunday Christians’ owes some of its legacy to this. Think also monks and nuns living in secluded monasteries in the wilderness or even the idea of the ‘clergy’ as a separate and elevated class of Christian. This is dualism in practice. It is as if life is a cake: God gets a small slice; I get the rest. I wonder if Jesus or Paul would agree. After his death and resurrection, Jesus declared that ‘all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’ (Matt. 28:18). This is an astounding claim, if we pause and think about it. I’m also reminded of the first chapter of Colossians. Paul has just given us a dizzying vision of the reality of Jesus’ person and some of its implications. He then goes on to say: ‘For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.’ (vv.19,20) I’m especially challenged by Paul’s insistence that ‘all things’ are reconciled through Jesus’ life and death, ‘whether things on earth or things in heaven.’ All things. Why, then, would I assume that my work is somehow separate to this? Or my relationships? Or my time? Or the way I speak to and treat others? Or my finances? Can I really encompass ‘all things’ with a couple of token hours per week at church? 1 Congregational Communications, August 2019 Dutch theologian and statesman Abraham Kuyper once put it like this: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign overall, does not cry, Mine!” Fifty years ago, Buzz Aldrin applied this to the very extremities of humanity’s reach: space. But what of the extremities of our hearts? What about those things to which we cling, the secret deep things of which no one knows apart from God, over which we will not let go? Are we truly ready to say that all of our lives - our hopes and dreams, fears and doubts, work, leisure, family, everything – are truly His? Tim ‘So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.’ 1 Corinthians 10:31 2 Congregational Communications, August 2019 JUNIOR CAMP 2019 I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days at the FCC’s annual Junior Camp at Camp Fletcher, Hazelbrook. I made sure I packed my woolens because the weather was jolly cold. Still, I could see that everyone was having a blast learning from the Bible about heroes of the faith, eating great food, hanging out with other campers and leaders and acting like super-heroes. The focus of the talks and sessions was ‘Heroes of Faith.’ Pastor Heath Smith from Miranda Congregational Church spoke from Hebrews 11, focusing on the theme of Faith, Abraham and Sarah, Moses, David and Gideon. On top of the talks, the kids sang, recited memory verses and watched video clips, all helping them understand the gospel message. The highlight of the teaching was probably the Thursday evening Campfire session, where Heath pointed to the ultimate hero of faith, Jesus. The rest of the time was filled with different activities to keep the superheroes active. On Tuesday, campers engaged in ‘Messy Games,’ a time where campers could test their super- hero prowess in baked bean slides and the like. Other activities were bushwalks, laser-tag, baked bean slides, hamster balls (pictured: basically, big plastic cocoons which enable you to run really quickly into stuff) and a dinner dress up. There was a total of sixty plus campers and around twenty leaders from different churches in our fellowship. Even more exciting: as a result of the ministry of the camp, several kids made commitments to follow Jesus. 3 Congregational Communications, August 2019 PASTORAL PONDERINGS I made the trek out to the beautiful climes of Hazelbrook, in the Blue Mountains, to chat to Heath Smith, pastor of Miranda Congregational Church. Heath was speaking at Jr. Camp and made time during the week to talk to us. Hey Heath, thanks for chatting. Just so we can get to know you a little more, what kinds of work/study had you done before you began pastoral work? Before ministry, I studied to be an optometrist and I also did two years as an intern for the University of Western Sydney in Penrith, the MTS program. I first thought about ministry when I was seventeen, I was on a teenage Christian camp and met people who were themselves heading into ministry. I found it exciting that you could do stuff for God as work. That was really the first time, but then I decided that I should go to university and perhaps get some more years of experience under my belt before I pursued that. So, I enrolled in optometry at UNSW. Would you say that there was a ‘calling’ or was it more pragmatic? There wasn’t one specific incident where I felt ‘called’ but basically, there were numerous occasions where someone I was speaking to asked if I should think about doing ministry. I think it was more of a confirmation of a call, from other Christian brothers and sisters, rather than saying I have heard it directly from God. It was along the way, as I was already thinking about it. What excites you most about pastoral ministry? I’m always excited to see people understand the gospel, whether that means they grow as a Christian or even to grow as a Christian. That is always exciting. In terms of the day to day, I’ve always found speaking easier and exciting. I’m always nervous about preaching, but I never dread giving a sermon. I always enjoy it. In the time I have known and worked with you, you have always had a massive heart for local mission. Would you say that, generally speaking, the church needs to be more missional? Perhaps the statistics have changed a little since the numbers came out, but in the early 2000s, 90% of ministers or paid ministry workers said that mission was the main focus of the church, and yet, the same number of members of the church said that the church was the main focus of the minister or ministry. So, that is always an ongoing battle. I remember a friend of mine, who focusses a lot on mission, said that you need to speak about mission twice as much as anything else to get it up to the level of the other focuses of the church, so I personally have a lot of non-Christian contacts and friendships that are mission focussed. That does not mean I always get to share the gospel, but the friendships that develop and the opportunities that come up are pretty amazing. 4 Congregational Communications, August 2019 I assume that it’s about being intentional and deliberate. Would you say you’re a natural evangelist? Up until a point, yes, but like all of us, I find it hard to have the ‘tough word’ – if I just told people ‘your life is going so well, just add God to the mix,’ that is not exactly the gospel.

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