Last Thursday night, a group of people from Emmanuel joined
with representatives from three other Uniting Church congregations, the Uniting
Church Hospitals and some individuals who all have connections, like us, with
the Solomon Islands. The night was
simply about sharing our respective journeys and being encouraged along the
way. I want to share some of my
reflections from that night.
There is a growing sense of optimism amongst the United
Church in the Solomon Islands. The
Moderator is a man of energy with great leadership ability. He has been in office for two years now and
is making a difference. He is forming a
staff team in the Assembly office who are competent and committed. Through the Moderator’s efforts attention is
being given to strengthening and tidying up many aspects of church life that
have allowed to lapse in previous years.
There are only a very few partnerships between the United Church and
Uniting Church, however, these few connections give the Moderator and his whole
church a sense of encouragement. When
they reflect on the partnerships they know that they do not stand alone.
Overseas partnerships remind us that the church of Jesus
Christ is universal. The movement of
faith that we are part of is much bigger than just our congregation. Through this partnership we connect with
others who worship in a different language and in different ways, but still
worship the same God. Our partnership
ties us to the history of the church.
Since 1902 missionaries from Australia have travelled to the Solomon
Islands to present the good news of Jesus Christ. Whilst our ministry is very different to
theirs, we stand on their shoulders and continue in their line of faithful
discipleship. The universality of our
partnership continues when we realise that more than just members of our
congregation are involved. Our recent
fundraiser highlighted this. Some
members of our congregation invited their Brians (pre-Christian friends that
they are intentionally sharing faith with) to join them in walking or
riding. Many other people asked for
sponsorship from their circle of friends and in doing so telling them the story
of our church’s partnership. Our local
politicians and some businesses were approached, and again the story of our
church’s activity in the pacific was shared.
In reply to a thank you note I sent to Teresa Gambaro, a member of her
staff replied “Teresa is very pleased to assist all community groups whenever
she can and certainly in this case, the funds are going to a very worthy cause.”
The people gathered on Thursday night agreed that amongst
the greatest joys of our partnership is the vibrancy of Solomon Island worship
and the hospitality offered to their guests.
I believe that both of these stem from a deep love for God that flows
over into a deep love for other people.
As I often say, every time I return from Noro my faith is stirred
because of their Christian witness.
Thank you for your ongoing involvement in our Noro
partnership. This partnership has
endured for many years and is growing stronger and involving more people from
our congregation. As we give ourselves
to the people of Noro we continue to grow in our discipleship as we participate
in the ministry of Christ.
Grace and peace
