Dec27

Update on ministry in Tasmania

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Update on ministry in Tasmania

For those who are further away (and maybe interested people closer to home too) here is an article I wrote recently for the Bush Church Aid Society – our partner mission organisation (who are very generously funding a significant portion of my position here in Tasmania). It gives a brief overview of what’s been happening and what we’re up too in Tasmania since we arrived here in 2010.

We moved to Launceston in April 2010, just two years after arriving in Australia, and  following nine years church planting and student ministry in the UK and Germany.  Our growing family (Liz was six months pregnant when we moved!) was made to feel very welcome by the small congregation at St Barnabas’ Anglican Church, Newnham and by Bishops John and Ross and other members of the Diocesan team.

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Dec22

Waiting…

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Waiting…

I hate waiting.  I am impatient.  I think I always have been.  Just in the last week, I’ve got frustrated waiting on hold to change an address on my credit card, tried to avoid a traffic jam by going a different way (which invariably takes longer!), and felt myself losing all sanity waiting for my kids to finish their tea…..  I hate waiting.

Which is interesting – when we’re in the season of advent – which is all about waiting, and expecting, remembering the waiting and expectation of those who were waiting for Jesus’ birth.  And not only that, but remembering that we too, as followers of Jesus, are waiting and looking forward with great hope and expectation to the day when Jesus comes again.

Waiting for Jesus’ birth

At Barney’s this Sunday, we thought about two people who Luke writes about (Luke 2:25-40), who had been waiting for Jesus birth for a long, long time – Simeon and Anna.  Simeon was a righteous and devout man, who was waiting for the consolation of Israel.  And Anna, an 84 year old widow, who had been worshiping in the temple day and night for almost all of her life.  When Mary and Jesus bought Jesus to the temple when he was eight days old, both these old, faithful, patient worshippers rejoiced and gave thanks to God.  Their waiting had an end, the hope they had been longing for had come to pass, their expectations were fulfilled.

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Dec15

Telling Stories

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Telling Stories

I thought I’d given up on blogging.  Well, there’s Facebook now isn’t there?  And anyway, who would want to know what I think, what I’m doing, what I’m reading, what I’m having for breakfast etc.. (there is twitter for the breakfast updates by the way!).

And yet, I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that there is indeed a space on the information superhighway for a few thoughts, resources, stories and general bits and pieces which I find encouraging and inspiring, and which other people might find encouraging and inspiring too.

I’ve also been unsure of whether the internet per se is the best place for dumping my thoughts and feelings – not least because it is so public, and because you can pretty much find anything that’s ever been on the internet, on the internet, even if it’s once been deleted.  But rest assured, I will still keep a private journal for all that brain-dumping activity – I’ll write in there first, and if it’s worth sharing it’ll appear up here, once I’ve thought about it a bit!

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