Ministry in Australia

The Centenary on 6 and 7 March 1982 was a wonderful celebration. A former minister, Ron Howe, led the service. There were about 200 people in attendance, 100 in the church and an overflow of 100 in the adjacent hall. A huge tent had been erected for some of the activities. Invitations had been sent out to all people who had some connection with the church. Even my former colleague of South Illawarra, Eric and Verna Knight, came for the occasion, as Eric's father had been a minister of the Queanbeyan circuit from 1945 to 1949. Eric had fond memories of this church as a child, coming there by horse and buggy from Queanbeyan. Through this centenary I learnt quite a lot of the local history, but even more so from Ron Winch's book.

When I came to Wattle Park, Neil and Elinor McDonald were looking after a youth group, which met Friday nights. Their main activity was table tennis. The young people were a good mix of youth from both congregations. They formed a fellowship together, meeting at the hall, and eventually we started an evening service at Wattle Park with that group, which was quite successful for a time.

Long and lasting friendships, and quite a few marriages, resulted from this group. Our James, for instance, went with two of the boys from the church on a cycling holiday around Tasmania, and with another for an extended tour around the world. Later on a bush band was formed with members from this group, which called itself STRINGY BARK, which was quite successful for a number of years.

The fellowship group eventually disbanded, but a couple of years later a new group started. When the National Christian Youth Convention was scheduled for Perth in 1989, this group raised enough money to send six of them to Perth, which was quite an achievement.

As dinner groups were very successful in Melba, we tried to do the same at Wattle Park, but it didn't work. We had to think of a different format, and eventually we decided to have 'dinner discussions'. Members of the congregation would meet as one group in each others' homes, sharing food, and having a discussion on a set topic afterwards. These discussions were stimulating and informative and we had a lot of fun together. It was not as intimate as the smaller groups at Melba, but it was less threatening for shy people, and provided an opportunity to invite outsiders or newcomers.

An adult daughter of an elder at Wattle Park had intellectual disabilities. Her name was Jill. She usually liked to come to church, but she found it hard to remain seated, especially during the sermon. She would sometimes walk to the front and tried to talk to me, or to someone else in the congregation. Her mother was uneasy about Jill, and really didn't like bringing her to church. We discussed Jill at an elders' meeting and we unanimously decided that she was part of our church. If anything, she was enriching the congregation with her presence. It made everybody feel better after we had discussed this openly. God had a place for everyone in

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