Summer 2013-2014
Uniting Church in Australia
Chermside Kedron Community Church
I NSIDE THIS ISSUE :
C HRISTMAS
MEMORIES
4-5
W HEN THE
E LDERS MEET
THE YOUNG - ERS
7
A DVENT
D EVOTIONAL
G UIDE
8-9
Y OUNG PEOPLE ’ S
PAGES
10-11
C HURCH
R EGISTRY
12
A M ORNING
WITH RAGS
14
CKCC A DVENT
A CTIVITIES
16
Love came down at Christmas
P HIL SMITH
“Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas, Star and Angels gave the sign.”
Christina Rosetti’s hymn, Love came down at Christmas, was published by
Charles Lewis Hutchins in his 1916 collection of carols. In 1916, millions
had been dying on the world’s battlefields for two Christmases past. From
New Guinea to Belgium, love was in short supply.
The United States celebrated the 1916 Holidays in peace and prosperity:
Love all lovely: stars and angels for the land of the stars and stripes.
Christmas 2013 in Australia won’t be much different. Our longest ever
war will be finished, at least for Australia, and most of our troops will be
home. While we prowl around Westfield, frustrated by the lack of just-theright-gift for someone who is “hard to buy for”, a million Syrians, God
knows how many Afghans, Somalis, Iraqis and Sri Lankans will go to any
lengths in the search for Peace and Joy in a world where love is in short
supply.
Is there another way?
PATHWAYS
Welcome to Pathways
Summer 2013-2014
Welcome to Pathways at the end of another
year. This issue is focusing on Christmas, with
the theme of Love come down at Christmas
(from the hymn that is probably starting to
play in your head as you read these words). If
you are not familiar with this hymn, Glenda
Nolan tells us all about it on page 6.
We hope you enjoy the thought-provoking
article (pages 1-3) from our guest writer,
Phil Smith, who you may have heard on
ABC radio.
In preparation for Christmas, you may like to
work through the Advent study series (pages
8-9), contributed by Rachel Wood, or try
your brain with the puzzles on the Young
People’s Pages (pages 10-11).
No age limit for either!
Warm Christmas greetings from the Pathways
team to all our readers and your families.
Thanks Ian
This issue of Pathways is the last one with
Ian Head as convenor of the team. Thanks,
Ian, for your great work of leadership,
organisation and deadline-meeting over
the past few years. We will miss you.
Christmas Day 2004 had similar ingredients,
then Boxing Day brought the tsunami that
destroyed the homes, communities and lives
of hundreds of thousands of our neighbours. I
deployed not long after with Combined Joint
Task Force 629, first into Medan and then
forward to Aceh on the Indonesian island of
Sumatra.
I have never smelt, seen, heard—lived
amongst—such destruction. In just a few days
we went from tinsel and toys to things I shall
not describe. You had to be there.
It left a mark.
I do not remember the Christmas Day message
in the church where I worshiped with
Kayleen’s family that year.
However, I cannot forget the first Sunday
afternoon service in the ruined hospital in
Aceh. A baffled, disbelieving group of
followers gathered, hardly game to look each
other in the eyes, eyes that saw nothing lovely
or divine, desperate for a sign.
Then we broke the bread and passed the cup.
Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine;
Worship we our Jesus.
We realized Love always comes down amongst
the rubble and the body bags and the pain and
the faint hopes. Love is incarnate in Christ,
whose little baby hands will clasp Joseph’s
finger and the bitter cup. We worship our
Jesus, One who knows our lives and
understands everything we feel.
He knows the world of Bethlehem, Boston,
Baghdad, Bagram and Brisbane. He knows the
terror of the refugee at sea, the grief of the
bushfire widow and even our petty
frustrations in the Chermside shopping centre.
You had to be there, God, didn’t you? You
come to live amongst all this! It leaves a mark,
doesn’t it?
Love does come down at Christmas. God is
love and those who live in love know God.
Life in Chermside Kedron isn’t to be compared
with anywhere else. It’s not better or worse.
Life’s joys and hurts are not measured on a
scale or scored by points. Love comes down to
our suburban lives at Christmas, too.
Christmas is when God says; “been there, done
GOOD FRIDAY
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that,” no matter what our life looks like.
When the decorations are packed away
again and the Boxing Day sales are done,
Jesus will still understand what it is to be
born in a country town, live as a refugee,
grow up middle class, go to school, argue
with the family, serve an apprenticeship,
run a small business, party, hang around at
the beach, mess about in boats.
Love comes down to be a part of friendship
and leadership, trust and betrayal, hope and
despair, death and new life.
love comes down and shows us another way of
living every day.
There’s solid, hard won joy in marriage or
parenthood that only grows when love comes
down.
There’s another way of worship that goes
beyond Sunday morning.
There’s another way of working, of serving of
seeing others.
There’s even a new way of shopping when we
experience Love come down.
Melbourne priest, Bob Maguire, says it’s as if
God comes around to the back door of our
lives. He comes knocking on the kitchen
door where real life takes place around the
table. Where boots are kicked off and the
kettle goes on.
Another, more contemporary songwriter, who
worked in Boston, wrote a very different
Christmas song about encountering Jesus.
James Taylor has a wonderfully tongue-incheek look at the season in “Home by another
way.”
He says Christmas is when God ignores the
baubles and trappings of religion, the
decorations we put on during special days
and seasons. Instead, He entrusts Himself to
our real-life experiences, asking if He can
put his feet under our table and share a
cuppa.
Taylor recounts the magi visiting with Jesus—
encountering love come down—and
contrasting that with Herod and all he
represents at this time of year.
That’s Love that comes to stay, love that
comes in a new way.
Love doesn’t come down from the top of the
wardrobe in the box with the nativity set.
We cannot pack Jesus away with the tinsel
and put Him back up each year.
Love comes down to stay and He leaves a
mark.
Year after year our hollow western
materialism leaves Christ out of Christmas
and misses out on real love. We party on in
a wealthy peaceful community, far removed
from the realities of most of the planet.
Yet everything can change when we are
transformed by Love who left behind the
perfection of heaven, to live here and show
us how fragile our shopping mall lives can
be.
When we have forgotten that the exact iPad
cover we wanted was not available or the
late delivery of our online order, Jesus will
be ready to come with us to where the joys
and challenges of real life are waiting in
2014.
The tinsel and toys will not matter when
Steer clear of royal welcomes
Avoid a big to-do
A king who would slaughter the innocents
Will not cut a deal for you
He really, really wants those presents
He'll comb your camel's fur
Until his boys announce
they've found trace amounts
Of your frankincense, gold and myrrh
Time to go home by another way
Home by another way
You have to figure that God’s saying
play the odds
And go home by another way
We can make it another way.
That “other way” is the way of love come down;
incarnate, divine, the risen Jesus whom we
worship.
THANKS TO GUEST WRITER,
P HIL S MITH, FOR THIS
ARTICLE. P HIL CAN BE HEARD
ON ABC R ADIO AND ALSO
SERVES ON THE PASTORAL
CARE TEAM AT A S UNSHINE
C OAST SCHOOL. H E HAS ALSO
SERVED WITH THE
A USTRALIAN D EFENCE F ORCE
ON HUMANITARIAN AND
PEACE KEEPING MISSIONS.
PAGE 3
PATHWAYS
Christmas memories
The Petersen Family
T UI P ETERSEN
Christmas in our Samoan culture is a day
that most families gather to celebrate and
share their stories. Some of the families
will have relatives visiting from overseas
and some families organise their family
reunion around this day. It’s a day for
forgiveness as well for some families.
First, our people will go to the morning
church service, then have lunch and may
play some volleyball in the afternoon.
For our family here, we have a get-together
with the cousins a week before Christmas
for a dinner, then we celebrate our
Christmas, just ourselves. Sometimes we
have our main family Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, or lunch on the day, depending what
shift I need to work. We also use Christmas as a special occasion to phone our families in Samoa,
New Zealand and USA.
Our boys like family gatherings because they catch up with other cousins from both sides. This
gives them that strong bond that we encourage.
Jan Shanks
We made big efforts to be together as a family at
Christmas time, and the Lord let us have lots of lovely
Christmas times together.
As a child, my family usually had Christmas lunch with
some of the extended family. I liked the little dishes of
nuts and lollies and glazed fruits being left out on the
table, so we could pick at them all afternoon. And after
lunch, I liked to lie in the shade of our big hoop pine
and read my new Jungle Doctor book.
My uncle turning up on Christmas Eve was always
special. I am sure he bought our gifts on the way. He
would open up the boot of his car, and there would be
our gifts, still in the shop wrapping. I still remember
many of these gifts—a steam engine, a train set, a doll,
a toy koala, a tennis racquet.
The big shops in the Valley and in town always had
specially decorated windows, to the absolute delight of
children like us. I remember one year, McWhirters in the
Valley having a very realistic plane ride to the
North Pole to see Santa Claus (in the shop)—my first
plane trip.
Later, when I was older, the adults would watch from the patio while the little children played
cricket across the front lawn. These children have now become adults too, and the next
generation is coming along. There is much that we are grateful to God for.
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The Greshams
C ATHERINE G RESHAM
Most of our family and extended family had
December birthdays so, for me as a child,
Christmas was the culmination of a month of
celebrations. Christmas Day itself was packed
with family—a long table lined with cousins,
grandparents, great-aunts, and often a couple
of visitors. Present-hunts, word quizzes,
Grandma’s marzipan fruit cake … we had
traditions to anticipate and enjoy.
I remember the Chermside church being so
full on Christmas morning that, if you
weren’t early, you would be squeezed in, up
on display, in the choir stalls.
My sister, Mum and I helped decorate a
Chermside Christmas tree in City Hall for
some years in the 1980s. Chermsiders
carolled through the grounds of Prince
Charles Hospital and the streets of Craigslea,
with appreciative residents calling out their
greetings. I still enjoy that community feeling
of greeting others joyfully at the Christmas
service.
Now we have children, Christmas feels
different. Their grandparents are helping the
boys create their own Christian traditions
and memories, amongst all the excitement of
presents.
But Matthew had an interesting take on
theology as a seven year old:
WILLIAM: “I can’t wait for Christmas!”
ME: “Why?”
WILLIAM: “To get my presents … but I don’t
know what they are!”
MATTHEW: “Well, tonight you can come outside with me and wish on a star and your wish
might come true.”
WILLIAM: “Why?”
MATTHEW: “Because the stars belong to Jesus, and Jesus owns Santa.”
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PATHWAYS
Love came down at Christmas:
from Hymnal to YouTube
G LENDA N OLAN
Love came down at Christmas is not usually listed among the most popular
Christmas songs, which may help explain why I originally had some difficulty
recalling it in detail. Probably something out of the old Methodist hymnal I
suspected, so I turned to YouTube for assistance and all became clear.
The words of the carol originated as a poem by the well regarded Victorian
poet Christina Rossetti. (That’s Victorian as in the era of the English queen, not
the AFL obsessed state also named after her.) Despite her Italian name,
Christina was born in London and was a devout adherent of what is now the
Anglican tradition. Her political refugee father, the poet Gabriele Rossetti, had
been the Professor of Italian at King’s College, London, before he became ill
and the whole family fell on hard times.
It turns out that there are a number of popular melodies for this carol, which
probably also contributed to my confusion. A favourite that can both be found
in hymnals and adapted to a modern feel uses the traditional Irish melody,
Garton. If your computer skills leave a bit to be desired, you can find YouTube
via Google or ask a visitor with a tablet device or smart phone to access it for
you. Towards the top of the Love came down at Christmas list you will find a
beautiful version by Hayley Westenra. Despite her youth, Westenra has been
favourably compared to Vera Lynn, but I would suggest her overall talents
extend beyond that (sorry Vera Lynn fans).
If that Garton version does not appeal, you might like
one by the pop-rock band Jars of Clay. I have my doubts
about the pink unicorn/giraffe in the animated official
video but hey – over 406,000 YouTube views can’t be
wrong, can they? If you prefer it, as I do, you can watch
the band playing the song live.
There are many good choral arrangements of the carol
available. A number of well-known composers such as
Harold Darke and John Rutter have set the poem to
music. If Christmas is not Christmas for you without
hearing the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, there is
a wonderful 2012 rendition of the carol with music by
R.O. Morris.
From Jars of Clay, Love came down at Christmas,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIr5th0d44Y
If your musical tastes run a little high-brow, or even if
they usually don’t, an arrangement of Dan Goeller’s
composition for soprano and tenor is indeed “all lovely” and not to be missed.
This carol seems capable of being moulded to every taste. I didn’t find a hiphop version but that is not totally out of the question.
Love came down at Christmas has moved right up near the top of my personal
favourite Christmas carol list. Silent Night now seems very “same old, same
old” by comparison. This is not just because Rossetti’s poem is suited to a
wide variety of beautiful musical arrangements; the theme of Love came down
at Christmas is central to Christ’s message to the world in John 13:34:
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
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When the Elders meet the young-ers
C OLIN RAY
It was someone’s idea—Fa or the Youth Council or the Sunday School—don’t
know whose. It was someone’s idea and it was a good idea—that Elders should
visit the Sunday School. There was enthusiasm in the meeting of Elders when
we heard about the idea. So we were each allocated a date.
I found I was down to visit Grade 3s and Under. At first notice they seemed a
long way away from me—an old Elder! But wow, when I visited them, what an
experience!
Firstly, I did not know how many there were in this age group in our Church…
bright, eager, excited children. And there they were-some parents as well. And
secondly, they sang in preparation for Christmas… with enthusiasm , gusto,
and sparkle. We shall certainly look forward to the Children’s presentation at
Christmas. Visiting their classes afterwards added to the treat, and as Elders
we felt that we were the ones really blessed.
JAN HUNTER
I was rostered to visit the Junior Sunday School
department on 8 September 2013.
A sea of welcoming, friendly faces greeted me. I was
introduced as “an Elder” with the explanation that one
of my jobs was to serve the communion bread and wine.
So I extended this idea myself and showed the children
a photo of the communion banner being raised into
position.
When Catherine Gresham took the older children aside
for the activity she had so conscientiously and carefully
prepared, I and Piggy-Wiggy, my curious, friendly
puppet, endeavoured to learn the names of the
remaining littlies. I am
glad there were a
couple of parents also
eager to help.
I would love the
children to recognise,
on the first Sunday
each month, the
banner as a sign of
communion Sunday.
Perhaps they will also
learn to recognise on the banner the outline
of the communion cup, the wheat from
which bread is made, and the grapes from
which wine is made.
Interested children sometimes help me put
up or take down the banner. What fun!
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PATHWAYS
Church Registry
Baptisms THE LORD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU
Jocelyn Helena Bowring, daughter of Tim and Danyane Bowring, on 29 September 2013
Christian James Arneil, son of Shona Arneil, on 29 September 2013.
Zaire Muchira James Rawkins was baptised at CKCC on Sunday 3 November 2013
Deaths
JESUS SAID, “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE.”
Annie Gees of St Martins Nursing Home,Taigum, passed away on 15 August 2013, aged 92 years
Ross Harel Nicol of Chermside West passed away on 30 September 2013, aged 93 years.
Looking Through our Church Library
Two Christmas movies in our church library—which would you prefer?
H OWARD T HOMAS
Christmas Child is the dramatization of a Max
Lucado story... a modern struggling American
marriage; a journalist husband who claims he has to
work far south in Texas on Christmas Eve; the
mystery of what is he really doing down there in
Clearwater—why does he have a photograph of a
church, now a backdrop to a nativity shed with
wooden figures carved by a mysterious, now dead,
pastor?
Another family points him towards the love that
produced an adopted child, as well as the ongoing
love demonstrated each year as Jesus is “re-born”
for all, including for the struggling husband.
The Nativity Story is a realistic re-creation of the
just-BC years Nazareth village... the oppressive
occupation regime that won’t let the villagers live in
peace; a kind, handsome older man and a young
ever-learning girl brought together, against the
ominous
backdrop of an edgy King Herod, never sure that
the real “king of the Jews” won’t show up, and
far-distant astronomers, committed to their
discoveries and insights, who begin their yearlong pilgrimage.
The three strands interweave their way through
developing love and commitment, an onerous
journey to the city of David, and a secluded and
lonely birth that miraculously became the local
drawcard that night.
Take your pick. You might find the American
mystery/family story reminds you of God’s love
that was demonstrated from the manger of
Bethlehem , and that is still here for all to accept.
Or you might find that the grittiness of the real
world into which Jesus was born reminds you of
the bigger plan for mankind, God reaching out in
love. Either movie could have a place in your life
this Christmas.
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In celebration of Christmas: DVD review
PAT DARBY
The cavalry of people moves on far and wide! Do you hear their footsteps scrunching and the
beat of the drum? Do you hear the voices uplifted in Love, Hope and Joy, singing with voices
like angels. Everyday people like you and me are free to sing of the beauty of the birth of Jesus
and the opportunity for hope which this brings to every person imaginable.
The mood is set and your hand reaches for the DVD shelf, selecting the Songs of Praise “In Fine
Voice” DVD. This covers a special selection of episodes featuring inspiring hymn singing from
around the UK.
The last episode on the DVD is a Christmas service from the Holy Trinity Church, StratfordUpon-Avon, which serves to refresh and reaffirm our faith in Christ. There comes the living to
the fullest, the thoughts, feelings and actions which emerge from the singing of candlelit carols,
the participation in Bible readings and this wonderfully uplifting music. We are taken beyond
ourselves as we become involved in the story of the first Christmas as seen through the eyes of
people who live here or who are maybe visiting with family and friends for Christmas.
The Church itself is stone built and set among the trees and green of English surrounds with a
stream running nearby. It is the stained glass windows which draw our vision and encourage us
to take time to stop and gaze at such beauty. Such beauty can only be realized by the touch of
hands filled with love, patience and tenacity along with God’s creative gifting.
We move inside the Church and enjoy the effect created by the varying light and shadow. The
eye also picks up the curve of the stone arches, seeming to join together the separate seating
areas as one. It is as if God is calling to the people to recognize, at this special time, that we are
one in Christ. We realise that the predominant colour in the Church is red, in keeping with the
festive season of Christmas. This colour comes from the red cassocks of the choristers and the
clothing of the congregation, which is obviously both intergenerational and ecumenical.
The presentation of the hymns and songs varies between choral and solo, with the congregation
being included for most of the singing. Again there is an intergenerational flavour with the
choristers and the main soloist is backed by a small
group. The music ebbs and flows as the story of the first
Christmas unfolds. We hear the singing: Once in Royal
David’s City, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, When a
Child is Born, Silent Night, We Wish You a Merry
Christmas, O Come All Ye Faithful, The Little Drummer
Boy and Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
The actual presentation of the nativity story through
Biblical focus and drama is shared. For example, the
younger children’s group presented a short play (with
limited words) about the birth of Jesus as if they were
sitting in their storytelling group. The Stratford
Preparatory School Choir was involved. One reader
brought her message while overseeing a group of
children making fruit mince pies, while the Click and
Chatter Group (the knitters) shared their reading as they
knitted nativity scene characters ready for sale. Families
participated in the decorating of the Christmas Tree. One
key feature of this DVD is that Church and community at
large seem to intertwine and flow together.
Perhaps that can serve as inspiration for us to find a
cultural and community expression of Christmas in our
own Australian context.
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PATHWAYS
A Morning with RAGS
I AN H EAD
It’s a little after 6.30am on a Friday morning as I arrive at CKCC for
RAGS*. I recognise two cars belonging to Kathy and Eric, already in
the car park. Eric is always early as he works with Kathy, helping to
prepare Chatters Coffee Shop for another busy day.
If this is a mid-winter Friday, it is still a bit dark and perhaps cold. In
summer, I will need to consider sunscreen and a water bottle.
I also see Mel, our regular lady RAGS member, sorting her gear and
plants from her car boot, getting ready for a busy morning planting,
weeding and mulching.
As Keith, Kendall, Neville, Ron and Roy arrive, we share greetings
and brief updates of family activities, while deciding which tasks are
to be done for the day. These days with our increasing age and
known medical problems, the greetings hope for a positive answer to
the serious question, “How are you this morning?”
There is little delay in starting the tasks of mowing, planting,
watering, weeding, pruning, mulching, hedge and edge trimming,
blowing, etc. As summer advances, the mowing becomes the major constant task, so our limited membership
does not allow all the other jobs to be done as well as we would like.
Recently Penny, Keith’s daughter, came along and was a great help with painting the parking bay lines,
watering and weeding. We have also warmly welcomed Cyril, who is great with a mower!
If there is no special task for the day, such as setting-up the Easter cross or the Christmas manger, I begin my
usual first task of rubbish pick up. This can be an interesting activity, as sometimes it is clear our car park,
particularly off Henry Street, can be a party site.
Usually my next task is using the blower to clear the car parking areas and pathways. Our blower is much
easier to use as it is mounted on a modified lawn mower base, thanks to the ingenuity of Neville. Perhaps we
should patent the idea as I get many interested looks from car drivers on Rode Road, as perhaps I seem to be
mowing the concrete. I try to finish blowing the area beside the Thrift Shop before 7.30am so John, Alise and
Margaret are free to park there, in their usual spots, when they arrive to open up.
During the morning Michael, who lives nearby and is a regular visitor to the Thrift Shop, usually comes to
each one of us while we work, showing us the current petrol prices. Although he watches us work, he is happy
to be invited to our morning tea.
By about 9am, with our tasks almost complete, the thought of sitting down together at morning tea is very
attractive. The news is accepted readily and one or two of us set up the required Coffee Shop tables, knowing
Kathy will generously provide the eats for us. These are
usually freshly made, and birthdays are especially
treated. Thank you Coffee Shop!
This is our relaxing, friendly fellowship time covering
wide conversation topics. We welcome, on most
Fridays, Rev Glenn and Rev Fa who strengthen our
church family bonds by joining our after-work circle.
Why do I spend part of most Friday mornings working
in the church grounds? I do not have one answer. There
are many, including the fellowship of friends, the
satisfaction of helping to keep the grounds tidy, being a
member of the church family, the exercise (although
there are limits here), being part of a team, and the
morning tea group.
But I worry about the future of our RAGS* group. We
need help. Although we do select tasks suitable to each
of us, and we work very well together, for some of us
the decline in our physical ability is beginning to show.
(*RAGS stands for Retired and Geriatric Society.)
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Pathways Photo
Competition 2014
START TAKING YOUR PHOTOS FOR NEXT
YEAR’S PHOTO COMPETITION.
THEME:
NOW THANK WE ALL OUR GOD
CLOSING DATE:
SUNDAY, 18 MAY 2014
JOIN IN—SHARE YOUR TALENTS AND
YOUR THANKFULNESS.
FIRST KINGDOM CHORUS PERFORMANCE, 15 SEPTEMBER 2013
WELL DONE TO LAURA AND ALL THE MEMBERS—YOU SOUND GREAT!
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