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The Anglican Church in Tasmania Search |
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a healthy church...transformingLIFE |
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August 2005 |
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A story worth tellingOn Saturday 21 May approximately 900 people answered Bishop John's call to gather at the Silverdome in Launceston. The theme for The Gathering 2005 was 'Gathering Momentum'. Paul Cavanough tells the story. In early 2004 in his vision statement, a healthy church-transforming life, Bishop John asked all parishes, our schools and organisations to report their new mission initiatives to the Synod of 2005. This simple request became a challenge for the Diocesan staff team. How were we going to organise this reporting process? The last thing we wanted to happen was that reporting could become very competitive. Out of many long conversations grew the idea of having a gathering in Synod. We all needed a positive and creative way to tell our stories and the concept of the 'Story Tower' emerged. The idea was to use four simple cardboard cartons, taped together and illustrated with the stories of God's work in a parish, school or organisation. This was well and truly accepted and the forest of towers at the Silverdome became for me the heart and soul of the Gathering. I praise God for the planning, thoughtfulness and generosity in effort that went into construction of the towers; for the uniqueness of each tower and the diversity of our ministry; for the snapshot of our health and activity in mission; that the towers became a focus of fellowship and sharing. There was also the profound question, 'what didn't we see on the towers?' - this caused many to reflect on our struggle to become a missional church. Drawing a large group of people together is always a juggling act for the organisers. What better place for a brilliant performing artist like the wobblywire specialist, Peter Gray? His performance followed the life journey of a now very old circus performer, sharing the pain of today and the glories of his youth. Judging from the feedback, God has worked through something as unexpected as a clowning act. The 50-minute performance, 'Train of Thought' was for some a great belly laugh and for others a meaningful reflection of Christ at work in the church. A life journey revealed in pantomime challenged us all to draw on the strength of the past. Many participants also felt the challenge from guest speakers, Tim Scheuer and Michael Frost. In the style of television's Michael Parkinson or perhaps Andrew Denton, our own David Rietveld from BayWest Parish interviewed our guests, exploring extensive changes in our society and challenges for the church. Their examples of new ministries and new ways of being church made it absolutely clear that we must become missionaries. Just as we have sent many to other cultures in other lands, we must now be prepared to be missionaries here. There was so much more on the day; I'm sure that God worked in ways that we will never recognise. I was greatly encouraged that God is at work amongst us, the Anglican Church in Tasmania. Feedback forms will help with fine tuning for next time. However, I believe that the Bishop is right when he says, 'It's always good for God's people to be together.' We face many challenges as a church. We can only be strengthened to face those challenges by events like the Gathering; I look forward to the next one.
Paul Cavanough is the Diocesan Mission Enabler Photos Kees Wegman |
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