On the way back to my USA home, I spent a few days in San Francisco, California. It so happened that my flight had me landing in San Francisco the day before a meeting of the Board of the Center for Swedenborgian Studies (CSS), located nearby in Berkeley, CA. The CSS is the theological school for the Swedenborgian Church of North America, and is affiliated with the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley. I had received a Certificate of Swedenborgian Studies from CSS in 2019 as the last step in my very long path to ordination as a Swedenborgian/New Church minister. But I had never set foot on the campus, as I had studied online with CSS.
The Board very graciously invited me to join them as a guest. I stayed with them at the Mercy Center Burlingame, a ministry of the Sisters of Mercy, where most of the meetings were held. The gardens and buildings were serene, and contributed to the mission of helping people to become “more attentive to the Divine.” During the business meetings for Board members only, I walked the hand-laid labyrinth and soaked in the tranquility.
The CSS is physically housed in the Pacific School of Religion, one of the member schools in the GTU. Dean Rebecca Esterson gave me a tour of the CSS during one of the board’s executive sessions, and I explored the campus as well. It felt so good to have finally visited the Center for Swedenborgian Studies!
A view of the San Francisco Bay just steps away from the CSS offices and classrooms.The Holbrook Building in which the CSS is housed
A brief stay in San Francisco would not be complete without walking across the Golden Gate Bridge! So I did exactly that, on the morning before the CSS Board members started arriving at the Mercy Center. It wasn’t very crowded, as I’ve heard it can be, and the weather was a bit foggy and windy. The walk across and back was a very comfortable 3 1/2 miles, with people walking, running and riding bikes at all different speeds. From the bridge (pictured, from the south side) we could see Alcatraz (to the left in the foggy photo), the San Francisco Bridge, the city of San Francisco (bottom, left photo) and the Marina District (in the large photo) at the north end of the bridge.
The path back to the Mercy Center included a tour by my friend Jennifer through some notable parts of the Bay area, including the longest, steepest and most curvy street in San Francisco – and it’s not the famous Lombard St. Quite a challenge for someone who is prone to motion sickness! The next day, I began my path home, with a stop in Denver to see family, and then on to my USA home in Bryn Athyn, PA.
While ministering to the Swedenborgian/New Church groups in Canberra and Perth, attending events at the Swedenborg Centre in Sydney, and spending time with family and church friends in Adelaide and Melbourne, I managed to fit in time for being a tourist as well.
The Big Merino, a statue in sheep country in Goulburn, NSW, on my way to Canberra “The Travellers” art on the Sandridge Bridge in MelbourneA friendly black swan said hello on the banks of the Yarra River in MelbourneFinally I got to the famous St. Kilda beach in Victoria……while visiting with my colleague …Rev. Martin Pennington, with Melbourne in the distance.
The next sight-seeing opportunity was in Adelaide and South Australia. Henley Beach (left) and Glenelg Beach (below) are near downtown Adelaide. Some schoolboys had a fishing class at the end of this jetty when I was there. My brother Stephen and I hiked in the Waite Conservation Reserve that has views overlooking the city. Then a few days in Tintinara with family who own a small farm. You might remember the view from my favourite cafe along the way, now with the floodwaters receded back to normal.
My cousin Simon in Tintinara had converted a 100-year old wool sorting table into a unique dining room table. The shearers would have thrown the newly shorn fleece onto the sorting table for it to be graded for sale. The slats were for dirt and debris on the fleece to fall through – the sheep live outside year round. I loved seeing how the farming heritage of the family has worked its way into elegant living indoors!
Next up was seeing some sights in Perth, which I had time to do because there was not such a need for pastoral visiting this time. Kings Park is a botanical garden and bushland preserve right on the waterfront in Perth’s CBD (central business district). My friend Ros also took me to Bayview Park, on the other side of the CBD. Another highlight was fish and chips on the waterfront in Fremantle, near Perth, with my host and church group leader, Mary. And of course, a beach day a bit north of Perth’s CBD, at Scarborough beach.
Later on, when Evie had her autumn school holidays, we took a short trip to the Blue Mountains, which are west of Sydney, and stayed in an historic Victorian-era cottage. We met up with a friend of theirs who was doing an art residency in Katoomba, and of course hiked in the Blue Mountains National Park, sometimes with her and her daughter.
Artist Giulia took time off from painting to go to the Wentworth Falls with us and her daughterOne of many waterfalls in Wentworth that we walked under It claimed to be an “easy walk” but these stairs were a bit scaryLook carefully for the rarely-seen Lyre bird building a nestThe iconic Three Sisters rock formationWe replicated a photo of my kids, from 20 years ago Lunch with Giulia and Tessa, in a cafe with a spectacular mountain range view
A significant purpose for my annual trips to Australia is to “give back” to the New Church in Australia (NCIA). Most of my training as a minister was through the Australian New Church College, and my family on my mother’s side goes back many generations in the NCIA and the General Conference of the New Church in the UK. Two Australian congregations do not have a minister, so I’m a visiting minister for them while I’m there. And I like to be supportive in other ways to the congregations that do have a minister.
If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll probably recognise the location and the people. This is the group in Canberra, Australia’s capital city, which gathers for worship every other Sunday here in Philip and Eleanor Richards’ sunroom. I visit there monthly when I’m in Aus, giving a spiritual growth class on Saturday and leading worship on Sunday. Not pictured here are two couples who had taken a break, but have rejoined the group quite regularly.
Above is the group in Perth, on the western coast of Western Australia. Like the Canberra group, there are people affiliated with both the New Church in Australia and the more conservative General Church of the New Jerusalem. Sometimes they gather separately, but whenever a minister is visiting from either Swedenborgian/New Church branch, they come together for a long weekend of activities. We had a discussion class about “Spiritual Judgement vs. Assesment” in the home of David and Ros Walker (seated in the centre of the photo on the left) The next day I gave a more formal presentation about “Tools for Healing the Pain of Polarisation” in a conference room at a restaurant, where we stayed for lunch afterwards (the photo on the right.)
Sunday’s worship service, including Communion/Holy Supper, was a combined event as well, at the hall where the group usually worships. They had sold their church building several years ago. Afterwards we enjoyed the fellowship of a shared (potluck) lunch, and then a few of us continued our conversations over coffee at a nearby cafe. In addition, during my five-day visit, I was able to have some individual visits with three of the members of the group.
In addition to ministering to the groups in Canberra and Perth, I made my usual tour around the country visiting relatives, and my friends and colleagues in other Swedenborgian/New Church congregations. In the south side of Sydney, I played the piano twice for a church service in the Hurstville New Church, including Easter Sunday (pictured). After attending one session of their series of spiritual growth classes about Joseph in the Hebrew scriptures, I joined the group for a fun movie night, watching the Disney film “Joseph: King of Dreams,” and snacks afterwards (pictured.) On the “north shore” I attended the Roseville New Church once, and interesting discussion sessions at their Swedenborg Centre three times. During one session I received some very helpful feedback on the presentation about “Tools for Healing the Pain of Polarisation” which I ended up giving in both the Hurstville church and in Perth.
In my rather whirlwind travels outside of Sydney, I stopped briefly in Melbourne where the Swedenborg Community Victoria is based. As I was only there during the weekdays, I was unable to attend a worship service, but I was able to Zoom in to an online Connect discussion. Rev. David Moffat, the spiritual leader of the Melbourne-based group and also the President of the NCIA, and I took a whole day to visit my friends/his parishioners Suzanne Coutanceau in Trentham (pictured), and Barrie and Edith Rabone in Majorca. We covered a lot of territory, both physically and in discussions about the Swedenborg Social Media Network that he had initiated in September 2024. We also had a wonderful “clergy gathering” with Rev. John Teed who was a good friend of my parents, and a vibrant minister in the NCIA when I was growing up. While in Melbourne, I also connected with another colleague, Rev. Martin Pennington, over lunch at the famous St Kilda Beach where we indulged in our usual far-ranging theological discussion.
Then on to Adelaide, where the congregation meets twice a month, but not on the weekend that I was there. But I managed to visit with the lay leader, June Johnson, and three other members of the small but devoted group, who had been quite disrupted recently with major repairs to the church building due to white ant damage. The Saturday evening Vespers service that I attended at my brother Stephen’s Russian Orthodox church was absolutely beautiful and serene. Stephen chants and sings in the choir, and I really enjoyed hearing him sing his solo and picking out his voice at other times.
My stated reason for traveling to China was to help Yuhong, my sister-in-law, clear out her mother’s apartment in Beijing. Su Ying is now a resident in an aged care facility, and wants to rent out her apartment. My other reason was to finally make it to the Asian continent, and to be a limited tourist in Beijing. Limited by my commitment to help Yuhong, and planning on staying only six days. Also limited by not speaking Chinese, which is why I told Yuhong I would staple myself to her side as soon as I saw her in the Beijing airport 😅 Fortunately both Shanghai and Bejing airports had plenty of English signage, so my fears about traveling through two Chinese airports without an interpreter were allayed.
I arrived the day after the New Year, and the celebration continues for 10 days. The shops, the restaurants, the streets, EVERYTHING was decked out in red and ready to have fun! After a bit of shopping, we headed to crowded, nearby Ditan Park to enjoy the celebration: dancing, singing, street food (I chose BBQ squid), all despite the chilly winter weather.
And we did settle in to the task of clearing out Su Ying’s apartment, where we were staying. We started with her many wardrobes of fabulous clothing. As a singer in the China National Symphony Orchestra Chorus, she had to maintain a professional look. We tried on two of her fur coats, and took one to her – we’re all about the same size! In the end we filled 49 huge rubbish/trash bags of clothing and linens (mostly for donation) and actual rubbish. But when I left at the end of the week, we looked around and sadly concluded that there was very little evidence that we had worked so hard. There is so much more to be done – another trip for me?
The view from Su Ying’s 4th floor apartment window
We took breaks on our clearing-out mission to visit the Temple of the Earth and other temples, the ancient Great Wall (on their busiest weekend of the year, right after the New Year!), a nearby well-known and upscale Peking Duck restaurant, and local restaurants. We also visited a Chinese medicine shop where the practitioner gave me a remedy that cured my common cold symptoms overnight (thankfully!)
Something I found a little unnerving was the almost constant presence of surveillance cameras and soldiers in public places, but Beijingers seem to take it in stride. I was shocked but not entirely surprised to find that my debit and credit cards, gmail, Google app, Facebook and Messenger apps were all shut down. The only means I had of communicating with my family was FaceTime, because they also use Apple products. Yuhong fortunately was able to cover my expenses while we traveled around and enjoyed ourselves.
From a ministry path perspective, I was surprised at the extent to which religious practice is permitted in China. There are active religious activities and practices in some of the temples we saw. We saw several Christian churches in Beijing, which are all government-sanctioned. Needless to say, I had no contact with the readers of new religious writings in China.
The different kinds of personal transportation were fascinating to me. We often walked to wherever we were going, but if not, the subway system was wonderful and taxis/ubers were plentiful and inexpensive. Many people rode e-scooters with blankets to protect them from the cold. There were also traditional and motorised rickshaws.
Finally, in the last few days of my stay, we went just outside of Beijing to visit Su Ying in her aged care facility. It was in an amazing and brand new centre for health care services, spread over many blocks like a small town. We stayed in a hotel for visitors in the complex. When we got on the elevator, R2-D2 joined us on his way to deliver something to another guest (maybe food?) Yuhong and I enjoyed our own tea ceremony, laid out for us in our elegant hotel room.
I was very grateful for the opportunity to visit with Su Ying again, as she and Yuhong’s late father had been to the USA several times to see Yuhong and her family. They had definitely become part of our extended Taylor family. On the way back, we had to show our passports and state where we were going when we crossed the border of the city of Beijing. Visibly and intimidatingly armed soldiers were posted at the border crossing. We got through without incident, and with appreciation for my Australian passport, and headed for the home of Mao Rung (not sure of the spelling!). She is Yuhong’s cousin, who is a lawyer who looks after Su Ying’s financial and legal affairs when Yuhong is not there. Several other family members were gathered there for a lovely afternoon tea.
I ended up getting an extra day in Beijing, because my seat had been canceled on my non-refundable, full flight to Sydney! Very thankfully Yuhong was with me to talk at length with the kind customer service people, and to pay for another flight to Sydney, since my bankcards were still inoperable. That flight left at 1am, so we went back to our clearing-out mission and celebrated with one final dinner out. Late that evening, I bravely took a taxi to the airport on my own, after Yuhong had instructed the driver where to take me 😊, and found my way to check in, send bags, and get on the plane for my next adventure – Australia 🇦🇺
Thank you for joining me again on my ministry and travel path! My path in 2025 started near the end of January with some exploring, and venturing into new experiences. First up, visiting in New Zealand, but adventures further afield in the north island than in the past. Previously I’ve mostly stayed in the Auckland vicinity, focusing on the NCIA/General Church Swedenborgian congregation. But they have now sold their building, as have many small congregations around the world, and are meeting virtually with an occasional in-person event. I missed the in-person church gatherings in Auckland, and going to the familiar physical building. Before I began visiting there as an adult, my father used to visit the New Church in Auckland on a regular basis when I was growing up in Australia. This was in a way a personal loss for me. It is even more of an emotionally painful and challenging process to wind-up a church organisation legally and financially for the people who have worshiped together for decades, and worked hard to keep it going. And equally challenging to sustain relationships and maintain a sense of community. But they are doing just that, though, through social media and group video meetings.
The former home of the New Christian Church in New Zealand, built and maintained by members.
Denis and Lis Keal are very active in the group, and were my wonderful hosts. I’ve known Denis since I was 6 years old. First up, a trip to the active geothermal area around Rotorua, in the central region of the north island. The area has many hot springs as well as the Lady Knox Geyser, in the photo. We soaked in some hot mineral pools, and toured the Waiotapu Scenic Reserve, where we saw and smelled many hot mud and sulphur pools. We also walked through the mainly Redwood Whakarewarewa Forest, which is also home to native species like Golden Fern Tress
Our final stop in Rotorua was the Mitai Maori Village, for a celebration of the Maori culture. The original Maoris were a Polynesian people who traveled to New Zealand centuries ago. We saw warriors paddling a war canoe, enjoyed musical entertainment and traditional haka dances, had an authentic Hangi dinner, and walked through the old village site and the forest, lit up by glow worms.
My final few days in Auckland were spent touring Hobbiton, the movie set for the Hobbit movies, and visiting with church friends. In the photo gallery above, the tiki pole was actually at the Mitai Maori Village, as we descended down to the river where the warriors demonstrated traditional war canoe chanting. The rainy-day Hobbiton photos show part of the village in the hill, the “party tree” and tent, a fully built Hobbit home that we toured inside including my demonstration that I’m almost Hobbit-sized : ) and the bridge to the Green Dragon Inn.
Once we were back in Auckland, Denis and Lis hosted an extended family gathering, and a smaller gathering of church people. Rev. John Sutton is pictured here with his wife Jenny and their fur-baby. As I mentioned earlier, lovely as it is to catch up with some of the church members, I still felt the heaviness of grieving the loss of what-had-been. Though I do support the notion that old structures might need to fade away so that a vibrant new spirituality can emerge.
We also visited Hugh and Jenny Keal in their Retirement Village on two occasions. Hugh has continued his passion for garden railways by using his 3D printer to create an entertaining steam-powered miniature railway system – pictured above.
After almost a week of venturing further afield in summer-time New Zealand, with less of my usual emphasis on the church group, I was ready to fly 13 hours back into the wintery northern hemisphere, for my first visit to a country in the Asian continent.
Welcome back to my travel and ministry blog! I appreciate your company as I walk the path in Australia in 2024. On my return to Woonona NSW where Jon, Angela and Evie live, I was happy to see that they have made a welcoming home in the townhouse/unit into which I had helped them move last year. This time I felt “at home” in Woonona – like this is my home in Australia when I’m here, not just a place to visit. It’s on the east coast, just north of Wollongong, about an hour’s travel south of Sydney, and is a beach town.
As soon as I had dumped my bags in the room I’m sharing with Evie, the whole family took off for an afternoon at Woonona beach, a mere block and a half from the house. After dinner we played a very adapted game of croquet on a field close to the beach. For the first several days, Jon, Angela and Evie wanted to show me some of the places they’ve enjoyed near Woonona. There was a reptile show at Evie’s preschool. Evie gingerly held a crocodile, as well as other reptiles, and I triumphantly overcame my fear and held a constrictor python. We also toured her completely outdoor, nature immersion preschool. There are several of them throughout Australia. Our next trip was to the Cascade Falls in the Macquarie Pass. A fun and sometimes challenging hike took us up to the waterfall, where I stood under a cascade of water for the first time in my life, and swam with an eel!
Hiking in the Macquarie PassPicnic at the Berry playground, not far from the beach and rockpoolThe most extensive playground I’ve ever seen, in Berry, NSWCarwash station at the Berry playgroundLunch with Jon, Ange, Evie and friends in Berry, NSWFun with Evie’s tie dyeing Christmas presentA venomous wolf spider paid a visit, but met its demise
While in the process of helping Jon, Angela and Evie settle in physically and emotionally to their home in Australia, I made sure to have fun and to treasure the joy of being with them in NSW. Every day that I was not off doing some aspect of my ministry, I spent part of the day having an adventure with Evie, while Jon and Angela attended to the business of setting up a new life. Beach adventures, rock pool explorations, playground fun, swimming, playing with dolls, dancing.
While Jon and Angela were busy lodging his complicated application for a permanent resident visa, buying a car when decent used cars were hard to find, and finding a more permanent place to rent in a competitive market, we found plenty of ways to enjoy ourselves. Angela has several school friends who live nearby on the South Coast.
Someone caught a salmon during our evening walkPlenty of beach time!Shark on an evening walk!Imaginative playBBQ with friends……followed by trampoline gamesPicnic with rellies and friendsEvie loves “family……charades” after dinner
Walking on the beach, especially at that liminal space at the edge of the water as the waves meet the sand, is probably my favourite way to access joy and at the same time appreciate my grounded place in this amazing universe. As Rumi advises, “Listen to the Ocean.” I walked many miles/kilometres along the stretches of beaches north and south of Bulli, any time of day (and swam in the surf as well.)
And of course there were various fun celebrations in December! My birthday, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve with fireworks on Sydney Harbour (another bucket list item!)
Evie helped make my birthday cakeBirthday Pavlova, a favourite Aussie dessertChristmas morning “gag” giftChristmas with Angela’s familyOn the beach on Christmas DayNew Year’s Eve fireworksPoor quality attempt at capturing the amazing fireworks on the Harbour!
As soon as the Coronavirus pandemic had settled down enough to allow international travel, I booked my tickets. On with my ministry and travel paths in Australia! Whereas in the past my focus was re-connecting with my church, family and school communities, this time a significant focus for me has been supporting my son Jon, his wife Angela and their daughter Evie as they move permanently to Australia.
Evie waving goodbye as the family leaves USAAngela was very happy to re-unite with her twin sisterBeach life!Jon and Angela rented an airbnb in Bulli NSW (south of Sydney) for the first two months after they arrived
Usually when in Sydney I’ve stayed in Baringa (pictured left) , the guest house/social centre/office of the Swedenborgian/New Church in Hurstville, NSW, and travelled an hour by train to help out in the other NCIA (New Church in Australia) congregation in Roseville, NSW. This time being in Bulli, I was an hour from Hurstville and two hours from Roseville.
The Hurstville church, on the “south shore”The Roseville church, on the “north shore”
What with wanting to help Jon and Angela and Evie make their geographic and emotional transition to living in Australia, the distance and time to travel to the church centres, and contracting Covid within a few days of arriving, I spent much less time than in previous ministry trips actually helping out in the churches in Sydney. I was able to contribute to an Open Discussion at the Swedenborg Centre, an outreach of the Roseville church, as well as participate in a Bible study (below.) For the Hurstville church, whose piano player has now retired after many years of service, I returned to my former music ministry to record 18 hymns and songs on piano for them to use during Christmas and regular worship services.
Connecting with friends from my faith and school communities in the Sydney area is always a blessing! The people and places from my early years have deep meaning, still providing healing for the “third culture kid” part of me (google it!) Walked the Como bridge with Murray and Lori Heldon, went to Sydney Harbour with Cliff Adamou, had lunch with school friends (no photo 🙁 ), saw a play with Lori and Jenn Beiswenger
Arriving as I did in mid November, it was Christmas time in summer in Australia! Seemed normal to me growing up in Sydney, but it took some re-adjusting for me after decades of winter Christmases. We entirely missed Thanksgiving, which isn’t celebrated in Australia anyway, except as a religious Harvest Thanksgiving at the end of summer. Jon had bought some turkey for the occasion, but he and I had Covid that week, and somehow in a summer setting I didn’t really miss it. On Christmas day I was able to check off a bucket list item: go to the beach on Christmas! We saw many families in their “Christmas tents” on the beach, complete with lights and decorations.
Woolongong, near Jon and Angela’sHurstville churchSydney somewhereMartin Place in Sydney, with Jenn and LoriEvie making a gingerbread houseChristmas morning Beach on Christmas!Traditional Christmas mimosasChristmas tent on the beach
It’s always an emotional moment for me when the Australian coastline comes into view. The emotion of homecoming, the excitement of starting a new chapter in my journey, the inevitable questions and anxieties about what lies ahead.
“First look” at Australian coastline, just south of Sydney, NSW
Fuzzy, rainy morning view of Sydney Harbour, with the iconic Bridge and Opera House
Literally within an hour of getting settled for my overnight stay in Sydney at Baringa, the Hurstville New Church’s office and guest house, these two lovely friends whisked me away. Thanks Jenn and Lori for a lovely lunch at the Rising Sun Cafe and shopping and touring in Sydney for the afternoon!
After resting my foot which had survived the long flights and Sydney excursion remarkably well, and enjoying the company and environment of the church property where I had grown up many moons ago, I was off the next afternoon (Saturday) to Adelaide, 1375 km/850 miles west on the southern coast of Australia. Stepping out to start my month of ministry in the Adelaide Christian New Church. My grandfather Rev. C. Douglas Brock had pastored the church for decades, and my parents were married in it before it moved out to the suburbs into its current building, designed by my architect cousin Jeffrey Brock. Last year the congregation had created a small flat within the church, where I have been staying again this time.
By now it’s a small congregation that meets fortnightly, but somehow the memo hadn’t quite made it to everyone that there was no worship service on the day after I had arrived. After a leisurely morning I was just getting out of the shower when two members arrived early for church! Definitely a first for me, possible a first for all clergy for all time! But within 20 minutes we were in the sanctuary starting an impromptu worship service, based on a Home Church in Bryn Athyn service that was saved on my computer and a worship programme from a previous service in the church. We even managed morning tea after the service! Since then we’ve had two more worship services in which I’m both worship leader and organist, ongoing jewelry making classes as a community outreach, my class on Pastoral Care in response to members’ experiences supporting a congregant who had recently passed, and several morning teas and shared lunches. At an open Committee (Board) meeting, the congregation affirmed their interest in my coming back next year for three months, so I will be submitting a formal proposal.
A major focus of the congregation at the moment is preparing for the 175th anniversary of the founding of the church by a group of the earliest settlers in South Australia, lead by Rev. Jacob Pitman, whose brother Sir Isaac famously invented shorthand. The anniversary celebration coincides with “South Australia’s History Festival,” which runs for a whole month starting 27 April. Museums, libraries, churches and other organisations hold open houses, displays, tours and other special events. The photos show a work in progress! Of historical note, the Adelaide congregation was the first in Australia to have a female lay leader, since 2015.
Booklet written by my grandpa Rev Brock during WWII, and relevant today.
Some historical material
Autographed photo of Helen Keller, who visited during my grandfather’s ministry
Part of the reference library that contains some Swedenborgian treasures
Swedenborg, Pitman, Arcana Coelestia
Display materials
Three prominent pioneer surveyors in SA, who were founding members of the congregation 175 years ago.
