The second half of February was devoted to my ministry and family visiting travels to Perth and Adelaide. First off, after flying across the country, was a day with my clergy colleague Rev. Sarah Walker. Sarah’s ministry is helping lead the global spiritual practice of Logopraxis. We spent some time at Sorrento Beach, where some high school students were having their Swimming Carnival, this time at the beach, and had dinner together.
My ministry activities in Perth started with an informal discussion class at the home of Ros and David Walker, the leader of the NCIA group there, with whom I stayed for a few days. There are two groups of Swedenborgian/New Church folks in Perth, one affiliated with the NCIA and the other with the General Church, and they come together quite frequently. The photo of me about to start the class about “What Is Heaven Like?”, and the top of the right panel, are from that class, followed by afternoon tea. The next day was a more formal presentation about “When Swedenborg Is Antiquated: How Readers Interpret Difficult Texts” followed by lunch at the restaurant – second photo on the right panel. By Sunday I had moved over to stay with Mary Smuts, the leader of the General Church group. We all worshiped and celebrated Communion/Holy Supper together, in the rented space where the group usually meets, and then enjoyed morning tea. The final photo in the right panel is from that occasion. I was able to do a bit of a pastoral visit with one of the congregants over lunch and a walk in Kings Park, a beautiful preserve right along the Swan River. Below are photos from a few walks and touristy outings in Perth.
Every trip along my travel and ministry path, I like to explore somewhere that I’ve never been before. This year it was the Margaret River region of Western Australia, locally known as “Margs.” It’s the premier tourist and wine production region in Western Australia, located south-west of Perth. Mary Smuts, Ros Thwaites and I were the three “church ladies” that took a little holiday to explore and enjoy. The first touristy stop was the longest timber jetty in the Southern Hemisphere, also second longest in the world, the Busselton Jetty in Geographe Bay. I took the train out to the end of the jetty, and walked the 1.8 kms/1.14 miles back.
When not out touristing, the church ladies were staying in a cottage at a Holiday Park in Marybrook, WA. The beach was a short walk from our cottage. I saw several stingrays in the water, which convinced me that it was a good place for boating or walking along the edge of the water (my favourite activity) but definitely not swimming!
Left to right: A view of Yallingup, near our cottage; the church ladies out for dinner; we had to look out for kangaroos and slower animals crossing the road, especially in the evenings; being at the end of the summer, the grass everywhere was brown and dry.
My travel and ministry path in February ended with a short visit in Adelaide, South Australia. As usual, I spent some time with my brother and sister-in-law, and cousin in Adelaide, but this time did not travel further in SA to visit other extended family members. Again this year, I managed to be in Adelaide on a weekend that the Adelaide Christian New Church was not holding a worship service, as they now meet every other Sunday 🙁 But June Johnson, the lay leader, assured me that they would be happy to have me lead worship (I don’t like using “preach” to describe all that a minister does during a worship service) if I can co-ordinate my travel better next year! She and I went with my brother Stephen to pay a pastoral visit to a congregation member and dear friend, Michael Delbridge, who has been a core member of the Adelaide church and is now living in a long-term care facility.
