Julie:
Just occasionally I have the privilege of preaching at small rural churches and recently I got to do so at Goolgowi and Gunbar. Both congregations are part of the Hillston parish but Goolgowi is 60km to the south and Gunbar is nearly 100km to the south west, so I don't get there very often.
I started at Goolgowi and because there was on only one young person there all the dozen or so adults got down onto the floor to help with the children's story.
Then on to Gunbar, a beautiful building sitting in the middle of nowhere but with an enthusiastic congregation who meet together monthly. One of their nicest traditions is a fabulous lunch together after each service. It was a quite a "bush" affair with people contributing home grown milk, fruit, eggs and of course great cooking.
Both services reminded me that even though the drought has been quite devastating, population is declining and congregations are getting smaller and older, there are still special times when people of faith gather together to praise and worship their God. On this Sunday this was especailly so for 7 yr old Archie who was had just lost his cousin in a tragic accident as was very keen that the congregation pray for him and his family.
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