On the eve of NTE (National Training Event – http:/www.afes.org.au/nte) I thought it would be a good idea to write about some of the cool things that happened on mission and some of my reflection on these, before I forget them completely.
Saturday was very much the standard touristy stuff, mostly same old. Two point of note – our epic 40min walk to circular quay – we just took the scenic route! Free ice-cream from Ben & Jerrys at Manly (they had just opened so were trying to get business) it was well worth the 10 minute wait in line.
One of those typical touristy photos, I've got heaps of them, but I'm always sure I can get a better shot this time!
So after Saturday the real mission stuff started. I should mention that the mission was at St Andrew’s Cathedral (http://cathedral.sydney.anglican.asn.au/), so it was very different from the suburban church I did mission at last year. This was a very different experience; how do you evangelise right in the heart of a busy city? We learnt how St Andrew’s does it, and I reckon most of there ideas are very good! [I should also mention 2 things at this point. 1) This is going to be an extremely long post – I apologise, only read it if you are interested. 2) St Andrew’s cathedral is evangelical and gospel-centric, they preach the gospel well and accurately and don’t support any of the more liberal views that some Anglican churches are supporting]
I’ll go through what we did in chronological order (I’ll try and limit myself to interesting events and not mention every minor detail!) and add my reflections where I feel it is appropriate. Actually on Saturday we met the couple we were staying with from the church, Josh, Suse and their cute 4 month old, Zarly. What we didn’t realise until later on Sunday was that this Josh was also the Josh who was the pastor of fixchurch and the Josh who was co-ordinating our mission!
On Sunday morning we had the option of going to a Book of Common Prayer (BCP) service at 8.30, but we were all too tired, so we all agreed to be there for the 10:30 service. Thankfully, we were able to get a lift in with Josh, so we didn’t have to tackle the public transport system. The 10:30 service was an interesting experience; it wasn’t a high anglican service, but there was the traditional choir and they sang anthems at various points, which while unusual, was interesting. The sermon was also excellent.
Sunday afternoon, we did some walk up evangelism. I’ve done some walk-up at Uni, but never in a spot remotely similar to the centre of a city like Sydney. I partnered with Josh (not the one I was billeted with, but 2 1st year MTS worker at the Cathedral) we walked through Hyde Park and spoke to various people. We got a lot o knock backs, but the last guy we tried before we left was very interested. He was from Cambodia and he was over in Australia to learn english. He was very interested to hear about Jesus, and he came along to church with us after we had finished chatting to him. Josh is going to continue to follow up with him, so hopefully that will go well. fixchurch (a church mainly for high school students, uni students and young working families) was good, and very similar to church at home even to the point of many of the songs being the same. It was a great opportunity to have a go at doing some walk up in the city, it’s a very different environment to uni – but still a great opportunity to tell people about Jesus, and the Cathedral is the ideal base.
On Monday morning we initially talked to Caitlin, a uni student and SACS (St Andrew’s Cathedral School) graduate who has been running christian groups at the school, about the involvement we could have in junior chapel and these groups. I think this was one of the greatest things about Cathedral mission, to have some, albeit limited contact with contact with SACS and it’s students.
We later chatted to Ken who is in charge of MTS (Ministry Training Strategy) at the Cathedral. It was an awesome helpful and insightful discussion, Ken has an amazing knowledge and was able to provide some very helpful observations and ideas about training. I certainly got some ideas for running the multimedia team at church.
In the afternoon we talked to Andrew, who runs the Asian ministry at the Cathedral and Mandy & Mike who run the City ministry. This was very interesting from the point of view of hearing about the different ministry opportunities that there are, why it is helpful to separate them and how they operate in the context of the Cathedral – that is centrally in a big City.
Tuesday morning, Dave & I had the opportunity to sit in on a Year 10 ethics class at SACS. This was an extremely interesting experience. The kids generally didn’t seem to take the class very seriously, but it was hard to tell if this was their normal attitude, or the fact that it was the last week of the year that was having a large impact on them. It was also interesting when the teacher asked them to call out their 10 and then  ideals or qualities they would want in a society. There was love, hope, trust that sort of thing, but we were surprised at the number of ambition related and to some extend individualistic qualities they listed – a more detailed discussion/reflection on this would be interesting – I find it an interesting reflection on our society, but I digress.
In the afternoon we had Junior Chapel, although we had it all running very smoothly we ran out of time quite badly. While the kids seemed to enjoy what we did it was a shame we didn’t have the time we would have liked.
So, Wednesday, out last day: We had both Year 10 & 11 chapel. at the Year 10 service I gave my testimony (interview style) and given how ‘feral’ year 10s can be, I think it was quite well received. I didn’t notice any sniggering, rude remarks, boredom etc, so I can only hope and pray that what I said might have some effect on them. Wednesday evening we also went to the healing ministry. Before you start to worry, let me reassure you – this is not a penty faith healing think, they don’t shove people over or anything like that. It’s simply a simple message (the gospel, but not too forceful), a few hymns and an opportunity to have somebody pray with you. Our group was quite blown away by it – I think somebody was commenting on how important it is to show that side of the church to the community – we really do care.
So this is a detailed, yet at the same time a brief account of mission, I would love to about it more if you’re interested. In brief conclusion, Cathedral mission is different from other mission, but nevertheless I think it’s invaluable and I would strongly recommend it if you have the chance. Ok, so this wasn’t quite finished on the eve of NTE but I did start it then – better late than never. I expect a post on NTE will follow at some point.