While community development may be well lead by one group; good community development can never be done by one group/organisation/Church alone. Diversity is a (never to be underestimated) necessity of healthy, thriving community and it therefore needs to be deliberately fostered in any development process. But how do you get …
As the first Adelaide heatwave of this summer broke last night into a steamy thunderstorm I look out over my yellowed lawn, the burnt leaves of my pumpkin plants and the still panting beaks of my small flock of chickens and though- this is going to be a long summer …
Peter and I had a great conversation this morning at Corromandel Valley Uniting Church with a number of Church leaders interested in how we can walk alongside people in our congregations and communities who are struggling with bumpy roads in their mental health. (Notes available here) Those who came did …
At risk of being accused of jumping on the bandwagon I couldn’t give up the opportunity to celebrate the beautiful example of community that was expressed in the “I’ll Ride With You” hashtag last night. My heart truly soared. Yesterday many of our neighbours would have had due reason to …
One of the most profound lessons I have learned in my time working with communities is this: Whoever comes are the right people. Sounds simple, but so often it goes against our natural instincts. It certainly goes against my natural personality type in every way. But it is true. When …
Last week I posted about the challenge I felt from Brad Chilcot’s call to appreciate the polarities in people by starting out from areas of mutuality rather than adversary. But this wasn’t all I learned from that conversation. My other big take away could be summed up in the words …
I sat down to write a summary of key learning taken from Friday’s Faith in Action workshop and yet before I do that (in my next post) I want to share with you the manner that workshop played into a deeper story of learning that was going of for me …
Can our pity for the stranger actually get in the way of us loving them? This is the thought that has been making a home in my mind this week. In the lead up to Christmas I witness a lot of people who feel especially sorry for those “less fortunate …
Over the last week my Facebook feed has featured a number of articles criticising the most recent “Band-Aid 30” version of “Do the know it’s Christmas?”. The criticisms have hit on a number of faults including inaccuracy of lyrics (ie. there will be plenty of water and snow in Africa …
Yesterday I had a lovely drive through the Adelaide Hills to visit the leaders of the Baptist Church at Gumeracha. So far this would have to be the prettiest Baptist Church I have visited particularly as I found it yesterday; surrounded by the bright green new growth of the mulberry …
On Friday I ran a small workshop at the Adelaide Surrender Conference and then on Saturday I ran it again with a larger group at the SA Baptist Churches annual 4D conference. ….. Looking at a fictional town we did independent maps/exegesis of the needs and asset of the community. …
The following is a story from The Recovery Community at Clovercrest Baptist Church shared with me by Suz Foley. Suz says… Celebrating recovery is not meant to be a course we do or a programme we run. It’s joy in finding freedom and ultimately new life in Jesus. There are …