A couple of weeks ago I was sick. I was recovering at home whilst Ruth and the volunteers were busily buzzing around Olive Way in my place. I missed not being there that week, and whilst Ruth and the volunteers performed admirably without me there was some challenges around the place. On the Wednesday [...]
There is some research beginning to emerge about church attendance and families post pandemic. A research report from the UK, looked at the differences between parents perceptions and church leaders perceptions about what was needed to nurture a child’s faith and found that sometimes what the church thought and what parents thought were quite [...]
After worship on 16th July the the congregations of the Brunswick Baptist Church, Brunswick and Moreland Catholic Mission, Brunswick Uniting Church, Christ Church Anglican Parish and Salvation Army Brunswick Corps gathered to mark 10 years of Australia’s offshore processing policy. While no refugees now remain on Nauru and there are signs of hope for [...]
Thanks for listening! I get this quite a bit. This week I heard it again from a 50-something year old man, big and tough, not the sort you’d want to cross, but kind and helpful. I asked him about how he’s been going in finding work, something he’d shared with me in the past, [...]
Recently I attended a workshop on Intergenerational Worship with two facilitators from GenOn in the US who have been working in this area for over twenty years. They gave me some valuable insights into why intergenerational ministry has something to offer us at Brunswick Uniting Church. So, what is Intergenerational Worship? It’s a relational [...]
It is interesting how many conservative, right-wing view points are shared amongst Olive Way guests. Often this can come out in old-fashioned (read ‘misogynistic’) views on women, racism, or even an affection for far right politics or an affinity towards dictators like Vladimir Putin. It can be a real challenge to hold some of [...]
There’s a guy who’s been coming to Olive Way for a few a years. He’s semi-regular and a friendly chap who has a cadre of friends that he catches up with each time he’s in. I’ll call him Adrian. I’ve noticed that lately he’s been a bit on the outer with his usual friends, [...]
Sometimes in the life of Olive Way it’s not the big, noticeable, or obvious events that are causes for celebration. Sometimes the small ‘noticings’ are equally powerful. The act of noticing, the awareness of those small graces, can often be the thing that helps enable me to keep going in my ministry here at [...]
On Sunday 26th March 2023 Ian concluded his reflection addressing ‘our trans siblings, those present here, those in our families and those beyond this church community’ offering an affirmation and a prayer ‘I pray that you may know yourself safe and at home here among those who love you as you are, just as [...]