The “Mountain Top” part of this post refers to a hike that the Caldwell clan, which includes me, took up the Broker’s Nose track to one of the best lookout spots in the Wollongong NSW region. You can see Wollongong Harbour and city behind Evie in the upper right corner of the middle photo. Jon is likely pointing to their place, which is about a quarter of the way in on the left of the larger photo, down about halfway, and wonderfully close to the beach!
The ministry part of this post includes the Council of Ministers’ meeting, and my final trip to visit the group in Canberra. I was invited as a guest to attend the arrival evening (pictured) and the first full day of the meeting. Being a visiting Swedenborgian Church of North America minister, and the only female minister present, could have been a bit intimidating, but these men are all friends of mine and I felt fully welcome while I was there. We were staying and meeting in a grand old house with fabulous views of mountains and beaches.
There was a retired minister (Ian Arnold) and a woman ordained to Logopraxis ministry (Sarah Walker) on Zoom for the meeting as well. There was quite lively discussion during my (by now well-worn) “Why Worry?: We Were Told This Would Happen” abridged presentation, especially because most of the Australian ministers have felt the reality of shrinking congregations, and the benefits of online ministry of some kind, mostly on YouTube. Visioning the future of the New Church in Australia is vital work right now, as several of the congregations are quite fragile.
During my final trip to Canberra we finished up the “Climbing Out of the Basement” spiritual growth programme, held our hybrid worship service, and went out for a celebratory farewell lunch after church. I really treasure the relationships that I’ve been blessed to have developed with this devoted group of Swedenborgian/New Church people, some of whom I’ve known since childhood and some I have just met for the first time this year. I also visited my friends Roger and Christine Gifford, on whose semi-rural property I feasted my eyes on the many kangaroos that feed there and gracefully hop around, even right in front of my car as I headed down the long driveway! On the way back to Sydney I noticed that the floodwaters in Lake George, that had been transformed into an actual lake last year instead of the grassy plain I had remembered, had now receded enough for cattle to be grazing again on the grassy edges.
And speaking of flooding, the “flooding rains” also came to Woonona in April, bringing flotsam and jetsam and other debris onto the beaches in the area. It was heartwarming to see the townsfolk cleaning up the devastation to the sea-level community garden and the beaches: true community at its best! We spent a few hours ourselves, picking up lots of plastic items and toys and household goods that had washed up or been swept onto the beach. The photos are from a few days later.
