Gordon Stirling (GR) moved on.

"GR"

I first met Gordon Stirling when I was about 12 or 13 years old. He came through NZ preaching at various Churches of Christ and encouraging particularly Christian men. My dad (a plumber) was in active leadership in our churches and so Gordon visited our house and I was taken to hear him speak. Even as a boy I was impressed with this guy. He spoke in down to earth language and seemed a genuine sort of guy, not just a show man. My parents knew him in their youth when he was a Youth Director in NZ Churches of Christ. I never knew then that he would feature a lot more in my life.

Gordon came originally from Western Australia I think, and for a time worked as a drover on Horse back. He trained for church ministry and in the process did a BA majoring in Psychology. He had a ministry as Youth Director in NZ, another ministry in Palmerston North in NZ, and then returned to Australia. He had a very significant ministry in the Church of Christ in Canberra. While there he was asked to go and see visiting USA president Lyndon Johnson who was in town and wanting to talk with a minister of his denomination. He had a signed photograph of the president for his trouble. He became Vice-Principle of "The Federal College of the Bible of Churches of Christ in Australia" where I did the bulk of my ministry training. This required him to do a lot of the administrative work. His initials were G R Stirling so we just called him "GR", and sometimes because of his busyness, "General Rabbit". He met my wife and I when we hit Melbourne and had secured a bed, a cot for the baby and took us shopping, helping us to settle into college life. In my last year we lived out near Boronia on the outskirts of Melbourne (well it sort of was then) and he lived about half a mile away. I was student minister at the Boronia Church which he attended when he was not preaching else where. (My brother is minister of that Church now) He and I would often share transport into College (16 miles away) and had some great conversations in the process.

He took us for "Homiletics" (how to preach, lead services etc) and "Practical Church Work" (Which covered subjects like counselling, pastoral care, administration, planning, etc. etc.) He was an excellent minister himself and passed on his knowledge well. He encouraged down to earth preaching that "informed the mind, stirred the emotions and empowered the will" or something like that. He encouraged the use of illustrations, enabling people to identify with each point in different ways and passion in preaching. Theologically he was ahead of his times in some ways, though he never went out to offend people. He would word things in such a way that a wide variety of people could identify with what he was saying. In conversation he was in fact quite liberal for his time. A few years ago they were instigating the G R Stirling Lecture associated with the South Australian Conference of our Churches. Because of his wife's health he was unable to deliver the first lecture so for unknown reasons I was asked. (My friend was president of the conference at the time) I visited Gordon in Melbourne on my way to the conference. Just a couple of years ago I attended the centenary of the Palmerston North Church of Christ and presided at the Church service. I had been minister there in the 70's for 6 years. Gordon had been minister many years before that and in his nineties he was guest preacher. He could still preach well.

Two incidents stand out. We were to read a couple of chapters in a book to be ready to discuss it in one of Gordon's classes. Gordon was always a very gentle lecturer, benign and caring toward his students. We tended when under pressure to take it easy in his classes because we knew other lecturers would be tougher on us. This day we fronted up and he opened up the topic for discussion. It became obvious that few had read the chapters in question. He guessed that and asked point blank who had done the reading. About one of us put up our hand. GR was silent for a long pause. Then he packed up his books and his notes and said, "I am leaving. When you are ready to learn, I'll be ready to teach you. Good day!" With out fuss he just left the classroom with us looking and feeling sheepish. The second incident has often come to mind. We had student ministries in churches on weekends. It was a very busy lifestyle. One time there was a group of us talking with GR about our ministry experiences. We were sounding off about elders and staid old folks who refused to change. (I still do that) We griped away to GR and with care and concern he listened. Then he quietly said, "I know it is frustrating, but... " and he paused while we waited eagerly for his words of wisdom, "but... remember... Jesus died for them too. God loves them and your job is to love them too." He brought, and still brings wise perspective when ministry gets tough.

He died in Melbourne, I think on Wednesday. Somewhere I have notes of a statement he gave on his 90th birthday. I may share it with you it is a very good statement. "GR" with love and gratitude I salute you. "Well done good and faithful servant." You have impacted my life far more than you ever knew.

Photos;

* Nearly finished setting up for Christmas Day Community Dinner.

* Gordon is the older guy seated on the right. The 3 in the funny outfits were good mates at college. Ian (on the left ) has died, while Jeff (on the right) is visiting me for Christmas.

Christmas generosity.

I am busy preparing for our Christmas Day community Christmas dinner. We are the lucky recipients of people's generosity. Here are just a few things...

• A man rang up yesterday. He had a ham to give away, where and when could he bring it around?
• We have had donations of chocolates and sweets for the tables.
• The next door gym came through and gave a donation and some sweets.
• A lady walked into Space2B yesterday and dropped a bag of sweets on the table and a bag of coins. "Its my husband's collection of coins." she explained. "Does he know about it?" I asked. She giggled and said, "Yes, he said it was OK."
• Last but not least... a retired fire fighter now linked to this congregation said he had some days of leave up his sleeve from his bus driving job, so he would come in and spend two days working for the Christmas dinner. Yesterday afternoon he and I tackled the worst most tedious job of the dinner, sorting which volunteers driver would pick up which of the about 80 people needing transport. I have done this job other years and it is hard going. He and I completed the sorting out yesterday afternoon and had some fun doing it. His presence and friendship was such an encouragement to me! He is coming today to make himself available. We'll have fun this afternoon again.

Photos:

• Two donations of coin collections for Christmas dinner. Both added up to $155.
• 25 legs of mutton thawing. They will be cooked by Marlow St Pie factory on Christmas morning.

Community Christmas Day dinner Dunedin

Having a blue Christmas?
I am in my office answering phone calls from people wanting to come to our Christmas day Community dinner. This is how we describe it in our blurb to volunteers who enquire.

This will be our 22nd year that we have provided this meal. We offer a free meal and company on Christmas day. It is a hot Christmas meal and we seat people in tables of about eight to ten people with a host, so that there is the opportunity of conversation and care. People receive a small gift as part of the celebration and we sing a few carols just prior to dinner.

It is for any who would like company or need a free treat on Christmas day. We have sometimes had families who are in need, often had pensioners and others who find Christmas alone tough going. Transport is offered if that is needed on the day.

On another blurb we say;
This dinner started 22 years ago by a few friends having dinner at the church and inviting any lonely people to join. We want to maintain that feel. Enjoy meeting new people, laugh, talk, listen and enjoy yourself and you will be giving a precious Christmas gift to each other and others.

It struck me this morning that there may be people in Dunedin who are alone on Christmas day who, for some unknown reason, may read my blog. Feel free to come. You can phone to register (it is helpful to know how many we are catering for) on (03) 4774848. We even offer transport if that is needed.

You are welcome to join us!

Its a small world! Get used to it people!

I was sitting with a bunch of blokes having morning tea and watching the news in one of my chaplaincies the other day. There was a report about the boat people whose boat got smashed to pieces on Christmas Island. There were quite a number of deaths. Some Australian politician got away with saying something like, "Well that's a bunch of Asians who won't trouble us anyway!" There was a general murmur of approval, with one guy saying, "Australians get away with saying what the rest of us think... Bloody Asians should stay in their own country!" I muttered something like, "they are still people and its sad!", but being a coward kept my head down.

I got to stewing on this as I ran on Sunday. Someone had scrawled, "Open boarders!" on the walls of a wharf storage shed and I run so slow I am able to read it. We have contact through our Space2B with a whole lot of immigrants who are here essentially because they want a better life for their kids. (Which one of us doesn't want that? Isn't it a sign of a caring and loving parent who goes to great lengths to bring that about? ) I also read in the paper the other day about big numbers of children of professional couples, where the parents have two different nationalities, and they are living in a country of neither one's birth. It seems that these children often cannot have legal citizenship of any country. They simply do not qualify.

Now I know that the economy is tight. I know that there are difficulties with new people in a country. But this world is getting VERY small. People are moving from country to country often. People are intermarrying. Cultures are mixing. Every country is getting more and more cosmopolitan. The attitudes that build walls, that exclude, that put down another race no longer belong in the world we live in today! They increase the tension, expand the problems and lead toward more destructive outcomes. There are issues involved in freeing up borders but they need to be tackled from the starting point of recognising that ultimately we are citizens of the one planet! The attitude displayed by the Australian politician and my friends watching the news with me are out of date, irrelevant and ought to be discarded!

A couple of Utube adverts remind us of this small world;

... we are under one sun.

and..
where do the children play

I read something the other day that reported one of the early astronauts commenting that from space looking at the earth, there were no obvious borders!

Did you know that my very best friends here and overseas are Australians!... even!

Sunday simmering..

Busy week

People know that I have overall responsibility for our Christmas Day dinner. Because of this I have had heaps of people saying "Busy week?" I just say "Yes- kind of." but under my breath I am saying, "Every week feels busy this year!" May be I am just getting old and can't hack the pace?

Generous people

I have felt grateful and humbled this week. I have been given over $1000 in personal donations toward our Christmas day dinner. These are from people who are not or are vaguely connected to the church. Some know me personally, others just know what we do. One man came into Space2B with an Edmonds Baking powder jar full of money. When we counted it, it came to $105. I think he is the same man who came into my office once, saying "This Church does good stuff" and dug into his tobacco pouch and dumped $100 worth of notes on my desk.

Is God interested in religion?

As I explored the subject of "Immanuel" (God with us) for today's service, quite suddenly the statement came to mind. "This means God is not so much interested in 'religion', but rather he is interested in real life." In my mind I recalled the prophet Isaiah who said something like, "Your sacrifices mean nothing to me. I am sick of your offerings... Who asked you to bring all this when you come to worship me? Stay out of my temple! ... no matter how much you pray I won't listen... See that justice is done. Defend the widows and orphans and help those in need." (Amos and Micah and others said similar things) What are the implications of God's prior commitment to people and life.

Institutions: We Christians get all wrapped up in church, and see it as the most important thing. I saw a booklet on "Christian Stewardship" the other day. It was all about giving to "the Church". I would think if God wrote the book he would be more interested in giving to the needy; or in the right use of the world's resources; or in the whole issue of sustainability.

Justice: Some Christian people in Poland have outlaid thousands of dollars to build a record breaking statue of Christ. It sounds all very holy and saintly. But put the stacks of money beside the news that a growing number of people are dying from the cold in Poland. What would God be interested in?

Ministry: When I first started chaplaincy at the fire stations a practicing Christian warned me that "You wont have any religious conversations around here. In all my years here I have never got anyone to talk religion!" He was wrong.. but I admit they are few and far between.. but I have talked about family issues, relationship issues, values, materialism, friendship, work ethics, skills, loyalty etc etc. I have loved and been loved in return. All these things are "of God".

I could go on...

I think God is interested in love, life and people. Religion has its place if it contributes to the movement of God in building love, life and people. Where it becomes wrapped up in itself it is just "Spiritual Masturbation!"

The inner city ministers have regular meetings. We usually meet in each others' churches. I thought that since one of my ministry places was the fire station I could host a meeting there. I made arrangements for a room and down we went. The Firefighters teased us a little and some of the ministers did not know how to take it. There were a lot fewer of the ministers in attendance, I suspect a fire station was out of their comfort zone. A couple said, "Why are we meeting here and not in a church?" In my devotions for the meeting I commented that for me and for God, the fire station was sacred ground just as much as the church building. There were people here who loved, received love and needed love. "God is here, this is sacred, just as a church is."

Avoidance

Years ago we had a new chief at the fire station. After a while I heard rumours that he was going to sack the chaplain. After avoiding the issue for some time, I kept hearing the rumours, so I decided I had to find out for sure. I went up to him and simply said, "I hear rumours that you are going to sack me. What's the story?" He replied that yes he had thought of it, but had faced such a strong reaction that he quickly had backed off the idea. Then he told me that in the town he had come from when the chaplain went visiting the fire fighters would all vacate the lounge and head to bedrooms. One station would ring the next and warn them that the chaplain was on his way and they would hop in the truck and decide to go somewhere else. They avoided the chaplain. I walked past a guy who was once in one of my chaplaincies, I had helped him through a couple of issues, but as he past me it was obvious that he didn't want to greet me, averting his eyes elsewhere and avoiding eye contact. Yesterday as I wandered around a chaplaincy a guy just about had conniptions trying to avoid eye contact or any connection with me, hiding behind his computer screen, because I am a chaplain. I wonder what has gone on or is going on in his life? I didn't think I was intimidating? Sometimes when I log on to Skype within a few seconds I see one or two of my friends log off... I get the hint they are avoiding me. I avoid people too. I have to admit that I will leave the most awkward or inhospitable parts of a chaplaincy to the last minute so that when I run out of time I can say, "Well I could not come there because I ran out of time." There is an angry disturbed religious man around town, the only person I have kicked out of my drop-in centre. When I see him coming down the street I cross the road. But we avoid other things also. I took a funeral for a woman who died of cancer the other day. Talking to family members they thought she avoided going to the doctor for too long. I have been known to do that, and others I know are doing that. I avoid conflict in the church by not challenging issues I see. By so doing I am not being the leader I ought to be. My supervisor gets frustrated with me because I avoid dealing with weaknesses I have, yet they keep emerging. We often avoid problems in relationships until they are too late. So often I find myself confronted with couples and I think, "They should have been looking into this years ago! It is too late now!" We often avoid thinking about the deep things of life. I got in the middle of an argument the other day. One man ended up almost yelling, "Religious people are brainwashed. There is no heaven or hell. No God. It's all shit and it causes wars" I wasn't really the one he was arguing with, I was sitting between them. I think he was taking the opportunity to let me know where he stood. (I already knew that anyway) I just said, "I agree that distorted religion is implicated in wars but for me following Jesus is not about getting to heaven when I die. It is more about not wasting your life now." Almost in a higher pitched voice he just repeated his former argument. I think I touched a nerve and he wanted to avoid thinking about it, so I changed the subject with humour. As a minister I am called in from time to time by families who have no religious thoughts but who have a member dying, and they think a minister can make things better, more comfortable by saying something "spiritual" a prayer or something. They have avoided the deeper things of life all their life, and struggle when life forces the issue.

The other thing I avoid is Christmas shopping. I have been known to go down the road at 8:45p.m. on Christmas Eve and buy my wife's present. We humans are so skilled at avoiding. I guess in biblical mythology it started in the Garden of Eden.

What constitutes "Church"?

We have Space2B at our church. It is hard to describe it, but essentially it is the back of our church set up for easy conversation with hot drinks and open to people. We have some "sustainability" things happening there and in conjunction with the Multi-ethnic council and DCC we do a lot of stuff with new settlers. Because the people who usually look after it are away, I spent more time there today than usual. I can say I really enjoyed it. Lots of loving conversation and human connection. Now most of these people do not come to church worship on Sunday, so the church people and even some of those in church leadership have no idea what goes on in this place. But I see these people as a kind of congregation in their own right. One lady told me today about how important the friends she had at "Church" were to her.

The other thing that has struck me is that we have all these meaningful connections with these people, and they in turn are owning the "Church" in various ways. We are planning our usual Christmas Day dinner and lots of these "new" friends are coming to help, or in some cases making donations. I am really looking forward to Christmas day because so many of the people working with us will be 'members' of the Space2B community, and we get on so well. There is an openness, freedom and relaxedness not often found in a bunch of long standing church-going "Christians". (Though I need to say I have a lot of love for my usual congregation.)

I am beginning to love being a part of this emerging congregation and I believe that it could be an emerging different style and shape of Church. When I was thinking of a new and different job we began to ask would we continue to attend this Church on Sunday? We were tending to say, well no, maybe not. We would identify with this mid week congregation more and maybe adding some worship element in there would suffice. Well that didn't happen but it raised the question, "When does 'Church' happen?"

Anyway, looking forward to celebrating Christmas with these loving friends.