Walking the Path with Ros

First look

It’s always an emotional moment for me when I first catch sight of my homeland from the airplane window. An ache for all the time spent away from my family and friends and culture, and a simultaneous catch of breath to be welcomed back again to my sunburnt country. This time it was a bit of the southern coast of Sydney, then Botany Bay and very quickly the airport, no sunburning, but still my country.

Botany Bay, the first place Captain Cook landed and considered as a place to set up the new British colony. They ended up in the beautiful Sydney Harbour 10 miles north.

 Off and running! After a brief nesting in Baringa (church office and social hall and guest house) and welcome from my Baringa house-mate Margaret Ward, it was off by train to see Donna Heldon, hubby Jason Martin and their 7 month old twins, Anna and Erik. On a hot day at the end of a hot summer – 39 Celcius, 102 F.

Donna, Anna, Erik, Ros, Jason. Never did get all 5 looking in the same direction at the same time. Kudos to Owen for keeping on trying!

And to complete the Heldon day, a Valentine’s Day dinner at Murray and Lori Heldon’s, complete with a heart-shaped red-topped Pavlova. After dinner, Todd and I met to plan out the Lay-Lead Service for Sunday, since he was going to Perth in Western Australia to minister to a General Church group there for an extended weekend. As I wrote earlier, he had originally wanted me to lead the service, but the General Church leadership objected to the choice of a female lay-leader. But they agreed to an outdoor service with a balanced worship leading team: a male lay leader doing the liturgics (opening the service, prayer, readings) and me giving a children’s talk and leading a discussion about “Correspondences in Nature.”

Dylan, Zachary, Rev Todd, Jenn, Jessica, Jeffrey, Lori, Lily, Kristen, Liam, Sam, Murray. Sorry for any misspellings. Not literally all Heldons since the Beiswengers and I were included.

My path the next day took me to my favourite running track when I’m in Hurstville: through Quarry Park and preserve. After that wonderful exercise in the bush, and a load of wash hung out to dry quickly in the sun, a friend from St George Girls’ High School picked me up for lunch at Doll’s Point on Botany Bay. Our plans for a formal afternoon tea with other St Georgians in our class had fallen through, so Diana and I went out anyway!

Our view from the cafe on Botany Bay

It was too hot to sit outside, but this would have been our view of the bay.

By the time we got back from lunch, the laundry was dry and I caught up on those housekeeping details that are sometimes hard to keep track of when on holiday. I’m learning to make time for myself as I go along so I won’t need a week to recover when I get back!

The rain continued for much of my last two days in Auckland, but no worries, Denis and I were able to drive through some farmland and mountains, past dormant and extinct volcanoes, down to the Bay of Plenty on the east coast of the north island. After I saw a chiropractor that was recommended to keep my back in shape for all this travel, we walked along the shoreline and had lunch near the waterfront.

Auckland city limits, with a typical sign showing English and Maori place names

Hunua range, a little south of Auckland, famous for its volcanic geography and waterfalls

Karangahake Gorge

Further along the Gorge, near Waikino, closer to the river all churned up by the rain.

I love the fern trees on the hills

The rain drenched photo in motion doesn’t do justice to the rapids in the river and the majesty of the Karangahake Gorge.

A closer shot of New Zealand’s #1 industry: dairy farming

Tauranga Harbour in the Bay of Plenty. The floating water park was inflated by the time we finished lunch.

The rain abated the rest of the day so I was able to do a little “bushwalking” along a path in the Kawaka Reserve, near Denis and Lis’s home.

Sub-tropical rainforest look.

Part of the track is owned by a school. This section was a boardwalk with markers identifying the plants and decorated with Maori symbols. This one shows two tiki, representing Tiki, the first man in Maori myth

Love those nikau tree ferns!

Scary looking roots reaching for the stream

I ended up with two views of Denis and Lis’s garden, which show only a fraction of their lovely property.

Succulent beds

Bird of Paradise plant beds

The next day, after visiting the retired Rev. Richard Keyworth, and Gillian Keyworth who was recovering from surgery, Hugh and Jenny Keal and Denis and I ended up having lunch together and tourist shopping at a local mall, rather than getting soaked trying to get to the Maori museum from the distant carpark. It’s been almost two decades since I was at the Maori exhibits, and they had made quite an impression, especially the war dancing. Next time!!

Gillian and Richard Keyworth and their very friendly little dog, who made me nostaglic for					my friendly little dog.

After afternoon tea at Hugh and Jenny’s, I spent the late afternoon finishing my preparations for the upcoming lay-lead Sunday service in Hurstville, a southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. My role is to lead a Discussion, at the point where the minister would normally deliver a sermon or message. More on that in a later post! After dinner, Hugh shared a photo with me that absolutely surprised me!

3+3, our church band from the Hurstville Church in the early 1970s, reunited for a performance at an Assembly in Bryn Athyn, PA in 1976. L-R: Hugh, me, Ian Keal, Wellesly Rose (Keal by then?) standing in for Anne O”Sullivan, Maret Taylor(-Genzlinger), Peter Taylor

Jenny, Hugh, and Sharon Keal

Early the next morning I left Auckland for the Australia portion of my traveling and ministry path.

Rain continues all day every day in Auckland, but it hasn’t really slowed me down or dampened my enthusiasm! On Sunday morning, I was able to help out the New Christian Church in New Zealand, a congregation with both NCIA and General Church members (and one who grew up in the Lord’s New Church) by leading a Shared Worship Service. The format is very similar to the Home Church in Bryn Athyn: everyone brings something to share during worship, and the theme was the “Water of Life.” During a visit here in 2012 I had lead a similar service based on the Home Church “worship circle” format.

The New Christian Church in New Zealand has two retired ministers who lead some worship services.

Auckland New Church, at the close of the service

The last stragglers to leave after a shared morning tea. Shared inspiration, shared goodies.

Later, the Keals had Family Dinner, which is a tradition I also have with my family in Philadelphia. It was heart-warming to feel like family with some extended family members of people who had been “brothers” to me growing up in Sydney.

A view from Denis and Lis’s front balcony

Another view from the front deck

Adorable, and of course smart, young Keal cousins

Equally adorable and smart Keal adults

This post starts with a photo of my lovely hosts in Spray, Oregon, Wes and Kris. They own the property that Chris and Robyn help manage, and where they are staying. I’m grateful to these generous folks for all they have done for my family, and for continuing to open their hearts in true “Western” style.

My flights to Auckland were uneventful, except that we were skirting a large cyclone that was developing in the Pacific. It’s a bit terrifying when the pilot tells you about the storm and probable turbulence (I wish I’d paid attention to that safety bit they did as we taxied out of Honolulu!) But no worries in the end. The airport in Honolulu has changed since I was last there back last century – much more open. I was able to grab a quick lunch while enjoying the view of one of the gardens in the terminal.

After more than a month of very hot and dry weather, Auckland is now having a week of constant rain, just in time for my visit 🙁 and just before the cyclone remnants will hit the islands. So there probably won’t be any good touristy photos of the lush green landscape, active volcanoes, fantastic beaches and other sights near Auckland. But here’s a photo of my Sydney childhood friends Denis and Hugh Keal, and their wives Lis and Jenny, who were New Zealand penfriends from childhood. This time I’m staying with Denis and Lis, and Hugh and Jenny live walking distance away. We all went out to dinner at the “Elevation Cafe and Restaurant” which is the highest elevation restaurant in Auckland.

All you can see out of the window is the clouds that were enshrouding the Waikatere ranges, but the view should have been more like this, according to their listing on Yelp:

I hope at some point in these next few days I can share some photos of my own that look more like that!

Today Robyn and I spent some time in Fossil, OR, where Chris works at “RJs Steaks, Spirits & Sports”. We went looking for…fossils! And found some fossilised plants and some sort of primitive sea creature.

Our fossil digging was followed by digging into lunch at RJ’s and visiting with Chris, who was bartending and waiting on tables.

Our errands in Fossil took us past the Fossil Museum. It was affirming to see fossils on display that looked exactly like the ones we had found!

But we had to be back in Spray by 5pm for my scheduled Skype conversation with Rev. David Moffat, president of the New Church in Australia (NCIA) and chair of the Council of Ministers (COM). He wanted updates on my planned ministry visits in Auckland, Sydney and Adelaide, and had some wisdom to share about my plans. He was surprised to hear that, despite an invitation from the minister in Hurstville to lead a lay service while he is away, the General Church policy is so conservative that women are not allowed to be lay leaders. I guess I’m used to it!

The plan in Hurstville now is for a male lay leader to open the service, for me to lead a discussion about correspondences in nature, and the male leader to close the service with prayer. After that the congregation is going for a picnic and swimming at a local riverside park, hence the focus on nature. I’m happy that the service is effectively going to be co-lead by a man and a woman, even though I still marvel at the persistence of traditional thinking about exclusively male leadership in congregations.

Tomorrow I fly out of here, headed for Auckland, NZ via a brief stop in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Welcome to “Walking the Path with Ros” and thanks for checking in!

My path, as you may well know, has involved almost two and a half decades of visioning, training, ministering, re-visioning, more training, and now ministry in various forms in Australasia and USA. You have all walked with me along my path at some point or points, reaching out a hand at different times, lending an ear, offering a hug, always supportive and very much appreciated.

Flying over the Rockies in Colorado

View of Mt Hood, Oregon from my window seat

 The first steps on my ministry path to Australia and New Zealand in 2018 took me to Oregon to see my son Chris and his girlfriend Robyn. Besides the fun tour of some highlights of northern Oregon, I’ve been spending some time preparing for the various services and church activities scheduled in the next few weeks.

The Auckland church has retired ministers, and the Adelaide church has a female lay leader. Both congregations were happy to have a visiting minister help out for a while. I’d hoped to be able to do that for 5 months as an ordained minister, but lack of reliable housing shortened my total time to one month. Lack of a decision on the part of the clergy of the New Church in Australia about ordaining women, triggered by my application for ordination, has left me helping out as an almost-candidate for ordination.

So I’ll be leading worship in Auckland and Adelaide, and Bible study and an outreach programme in Adelaide. In Sydney, there’s a possibility that I’ll be leading a discussion on Sunday morning in the Hurstville church, since the minister will be out of town. Yet to see whether the GC Bishop approves of that.

In the meantime, I’m enjoying the rural setting where Chris and Robyn live in Spray, and our adventures for the last few days!

We started out going to the Painted Hills, Bend where we watched most of the Superbowl, and Sisters where we enjoyed an outdoor hot tub.

Chris and Robyn at Painted Hills, OR

Road trip in Oregon

Drake Park, Bend, OR

Bend, OR the night the Eagles won the Superbowl – we were a lot safer than we would have been in Philadelphia

The next day we hiked through the Mt Hood National Forest on a beautiful day to the Bagby Hot Springs – very relaxing! On the way back we got stuck on a snowy mountain side that even Chris and Robyn’s jeep had difficulty with. Chris masterfully backed down the slope with Robyn directing and me praying, and we got back on track! We ended the day with a campfire lulling us in our gratitude.

Mossy field in the Mt Hood National Forest

Three intrepid hikers

One of many stunning scenes along the streams and waterfalls

You could almost live within some of the huge old trees

Mineral-rich hot springs

The snow became much deeper and the incline much steeper before we gave up climbing the mountain road.

Home, safe, grateful, entranced.

Today my adventure was exploring the rural environment that Chris and Robyn now live in, since October. And exploring the technology of blogging!

John Day River

The campground where Chris and Robyn stayed at first, and which they help run

Chooks and ducks that provide us with eggs every day