The rainbow never sets

and leadership.

There was, for instance, Sunday school. We had a roster for two full teams, six weeks on and six weeks off, and because of that, it was so much easier to get more teachers.

The congregation of North Belconnen met in Melba Primary school hall on Sundays at 9.30 am. They had started meeting together with the Anglicans, but since about two years before we came they had formed two separate congregations. Sunday School, however, was still done together. Each fifth Sunday was also a combined service. Brian Carter, the Anglican Minister, was most co-operative, and we organised quite a few combined activities. People knew each other well, and there existed a friendly spirit all round.

I also enjoyed a good ministers' fraternal in North Belconnen, which was very supportive: Brian Carter from the Anglican Church, Ken Shakespeare from the Baptists and a minister from the Church and Missionary Alliance. We met once a week and could share with one another any problems we would encounter.

Near the Parish Centre was Baringa Gardens, a Housing Commission project with 410 government flat units for the underprivileged. A number of our members worked on a voluntary basis with people from there. We also had an op-shop with second hand clothing, a wonderful opportunity for people just to drop in, in a non-threatening environment. We often found that we were able to help them.

As we had such a variety of talents at Melba, I encouraged a lot of lay people to preach or take the whole service. I made myself available to help with the preparations, and over the time a good number of them took the opportunity to preach. John Braakman became a candidate for the ministry from Melba, and others took some courses at the ELM Centre (Education for Lay Ministry) to eventually become fully qualified lay preachers.

We had a couple of visits from the Indonesian Congregation in Sydney, which I helped to establish, led by their ministers Musa and Mary Sinulingga. They were billeted with our members, and both hosts and visitors enjoyed the cultural exchange.

One of the hardest part of my ministry was to watch some of our best members die at an early age. There was Doug Morgan, an elder and chairman of the Council of Elders, from whom I had so much support when settling in and who had been like a brother to me. He died of cancer in 1982. Then another elder, Bob Johnston, died suddenly of a heart attack. Another elder in Wattle Park, June Southwell, also died of the same cancer Doug Morgan had. A cot death was another such tragic event, where I felt completely helpless and was reminded that my only strength came from above.

A young man, still in his teens, died of brain haemorrhage. He had been in church only a couple of days before. His parents were given the option

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