At St Paul's, we consider three great questions to summarise the mission of those who participate in the Christian life and ethos of the parish

How does my spiritual practice and daily life serve the earth?

How does my spiritual practice and daily life affect the poorest third of humanity?

How does my spiritual practice and daily life affect the generations to come in the future?

Some observations [signs] that speak of who we are...

From the Rector

We are seen as alive, developing/unfolding and a breath of fresh air in relation to more traditional Anglican (Church) communities.
We have a progressive orientation and encounter with our spirituality
Our Church precinct makes visible something that draws others to us, and we ‘give’ much to the community by maintaining the functionality of the community hall.

We are still very much followers of tradition and many of us, like most Anglicans still have a “Sunday only” appreciation of church.
We voice a desire to ‘seek’ and ‘journey’ toward the fullness of our faith/life.

Some considerations for realising [making real] A New Creation

We acknowledge our responsibility for “Maintaining ourselves as Church in community”. And we commit to giving from our abundance so that our church community is a reflection of (and an icon of) abundance.

If we all take responsibility for ‘maintaining’ the expenses for our ‘being here’, then we open the potential of the reality of our ‘faith’ and the opportunity to grow in Christ.

We believe that “It is in Giving that we Receive” and that it is our ‘giving’ that will take us beyond where we are. As we ‘give’ so too we create an opportunity for others to share, and that is a counter-cultural message that can bring about “A New Creation”.

Our commitment to community is given a ‘real’ expression in practical terms through continuing to maintain a precinct that welcomes all, especially those service groups that could not otherwise operate.

Our services, our corporate expression of faith/worship, can be further developed (integrated) to make real our journey and our understanding that has grown beyond some of the traditions of the past.

For us to “grow” we need to give more time to sharing the story of our faith, developing our understanding of God, opening ourselves to ‘other’ faith traditions/understandings; and we need to give more time to each other and the ministry of the Church

We (all of us) have a responsibility for the children of the world, and a responsibility to share/teach them the insights we have that make real life’s fullness.

The value and potential of the “Elders” in our community again asks us to consider a counter- cultural valuing and realising and sharing of their gifts.

We should acknowledge and further develop the gifts and contribution of our “lay ministry’ into a ‘New Creation’ of team ministry.

 

Vision from Joan

I have to admit I have no clear idea of what my vision is beyond paid work; however, I do have a strong sense of seeking something new. I have faith that this will evolve over time. It also took a lot of courage to exit the paid work force and trust that we will be financially viable into the future. To reach this decision, I asked myself 3 questions:

  1. Does my work give me life?

  2. Does my work give life to others?

  3. Am I financially dependent upon my income?

My response to the first two questions was that my job no longer gave me life and as such it was unlikely to be life giving to others. I was seeking something more meaningful.
To the third question, my response was a timid, “I don’t think so” (time will tell).
Having answered these three questions in this way, it was clear to me my next step was to take the plunge and move on.

It strikes me that I/we can also ask similar questions to my/our involvement with St Paul’s. That is:

  1. Does my belonging to St Paul’s give me life?

  2. Does my involvement at St Paul’s give life to others?

  3. Does St Paul’s depend upon my financial giving?

My response to these questions relating to St Paul’s is a resounding “yes”; well in relation to the second question, I certainly hope so.
Having gone through this exercise, it is becoming clearer to me that my vision and hope of a new creation both in myself and at St Paul’s are closely aligned. My hope is that you too will answer with a resounding “yes” to these questions relating to your involvement and commitment to St Paul’s. Whilst the Vision may initially only be held by a few or it may not as yet be fully developed, for it is to grow into reality, it needs the commitment of the whole.

It requires the sharing of our time our talents and our resources.

I welcome the opportunity to explore ideas with others as we seek “a new creation” for ourselves and St Paul’s.

Joan Jessup [Warden February 2013 – June 2013]