"Budget cuts mate!"

As a Rural Minister sometimes you have to be prepared for anything...........

Jorge Rebolledo found this during his job as Flying Patrol officer for Frontier Services (a position formerly known as the Flying Padre.)

During his early days in the job he had arrived at a station he was visiting for the first time. Standing at about five foot five, Jorge was greeted by the station owner,

                       " Gee, mate -you're a lot shorter than the last bloke! He was 6 foot tall!"

                       "Budget cuts mate!" replied Jorge with a wry smile.

Jorge is now working in Sydney but he found it a welcome return to old haunts out west when he was invited to preach in Hillston at the Ecumenical Sesqi-Centenary Service on September 22nd.

 A colleague of Julie's from his time out here, Jorge and his family stayed in her home during the visit and led a worship time in the local park,which was attended by about 150-200 locals and visitors.We sang and prayed from beautifully prepared Frontier Services worship material,which Jorge explained can be carried and used frequently as patrol officers fly from station to station, town to town, sometimes preaching, baptising or counselling but mainly, just being friends with people in isolated places in NSW.

On one such occasion he was using a specially prepared portable baptism bowl given to him as a gift to use in his ministry. Having filled it with water, he turned to speak with the parents and take the child but found on turning back, that there was now no water in the bowl! On closer inspection it was found to be full of holes as the knots in the wood from which it was made let the water flow freely through. Politely refusing an offer from one of the children present to use her chewing gum to plug the gaps, he as eventually able to get enough water in the bowl to complete the baptism before the bowl ran dry. Now repaired with wax, the bowl is still in use.

To the children he spoke about God's wonderful and orderly creation and the need to rest on the 7th day.This was a welcome message for the adults present too, as "busyness" is the modern catch phrase. We all feel burdened by busyness. If God rested - surely we need to as well.

To the whole group he spoke about the parable of the Lost Sheep and reminded us that the work we are called to by God is often not easy going.Like the work of looking after sheep,which Jorge had seen many times on stations, it can be very dirty work but working out in the field is where God would have us be.
                                            We need not worry Jesus will be there with us.

Rural Ministry in Various Forms

The BCA Dusty Boots program
 -Teenagers help out in rural Australia (google it!)

Last week in Lindsay Whybrow's article, mention was made of Bush Church Aid, an Anglican based organisation, which seeks to "share the gospel, build up the church and care for people all around Australia." BCA places field staff, co-workers and affiliates across the continent, working as pastors- like Lindsay- teachers, evangelists, chaplains or nurses. The children's program mentioned last week is a collaboration between Lindsay and larger city-based churches organised through the Bush Church Aid link. 

As you can probably already see, ministry occurs in this region in several different ways.
One way is through organisations like Bush Church Aid, another is through ordained ministry placements in rural churches, although these are rare. In the Uniting Church Riverina Presbytery for example, only 4 such positions, plus one Presbytery minister, exist.

Julie, with Josie & the pre- school children,
 at Weilmoringle.

Another is through the Rural Chaplains -Julie and Phill, and others like them, who serve the more isolated towns in the West. Chaplains are called in during crisis situations like fire, flood or suicide to support those affected but they also work continually getting to know people in rural communities and helping them to overcome isolation and reach their goals for their community.

Kaltara Lay Preachers Retreat 2013 at Galong

Lay people play a huge role in rural ministry. Often left wondering how they would cope without a minister when they could no longer afford one, they have found that God has given them the gifts, faith and strength to keep going and He had blessed their ministry. Now lay people lead worship, preach, serve in a pastoral role, care for those in their community and minister through performing weddings and funerals. This often is greatly appreciated by the communities as they are shown God's loving care through the lives of these lay ministers,who they see as people just like themselves.

RMU meeting to organise the Rural Ministry Conference.

Supporting this work is the RMU- the Rural Ministry Unit- a gathering of ordained and lay rural ministers who share ideas and support and promote rural ministry and the UME - the Uniting Mission and Education resourcing team which builds the knowledge and skills base of the church across NSW and ACT.


In addition, Resource workers and ministers support lay people by organising workshops, researching and making new resources available.

Frontier Services staff travel across remote areas of Australia
to attend the Centenary celebrations in Melbourne in 2012.

In the Uniting Church, Frontier services is another organisation which, since the days of Rev. John Flynn, has worked with outback communities to 'empower them as communities and individuals, to overcome the disadvantages of living in remote locations." It has up to 1000 staff who deliver a range of services to assist with health, family support, aged care, finances,crisis situations and pastoral support and ministry.


One such minister was Jorge Rebolledo who visited Hillston for its Sesquicentenary Celebration Ecumenical service but that's another story...

Church links

As the Father sent me, I am sending you." John 20:21

Hillston Anglican Church

We have mentioned in the blog before the idea of offering help to churches out West.This week we want to share an article written on the theme by Lindsay Whybrow, the lay pastor at Hillston Anglican for the Anglican news in 3D.

  Every so often the idea of Link churches, or churches linking up for prayer and mutual support, gets an airing. 

As a small church and community at Hillston, we feel well positioned to make some comments on the whole idea of Link churches, as it affects us.

As a Bush Church Aid linked church, we are privileged to have a number of churches keen to link with us and do mission with us.For links to work, they must be voluntary. There is no place for the unwilling, or the hesitant; but sometimes we just need to give it a go and see where it leads us.

 Linking with us are some large churches (from Canberra and Sydney), some of which come to us to do mission. Others regard themselves as Companion churches in a variety of ways, and others as prayer linked churches.
 Who benefits from these links? We, as a small rural community certainly do. But so too do the larger city based churches. There are things to learn and things to share all around. Moreover, there are permanent relationships to be forged

The churches that come to us as a mission team are one form of support. They usually target one area of ministry, such as children's work, or High school ministry, or remote community ministry.

Kid's Club in action at the Anglican Centre.

It is a very valuable form of outreach to a community for those churches who avail themselves of it. This is especially so since we are not able to do these things with our own resources.

            However, this is not the only form of partnering. There are other low key visits as well as the high powered ones.

For instance, a visit from a couple who come from the city church to share the weekend with us. No real pressure; no prepared agenda; only the fellowship that is gained.

            Another easy way to link is to send through (e-mail) the weekly news sheet, to keep us smaller churches in touch with how other churches do things; what programmes do they run? What message do they bring to broaden our horizons? and so on.

            Naturally it needs to be said that we should reciprocate by making the effort to attend our partner churches when we are visiting the city. This is always well received, especially by people who cannot make visits but who are keen to put a face to the names they pray for and support.

            Is there a way of measuring the value of link churches? To summarize and conclude, let us consider this range of benefits and blessings.

            * Small and large churches are able to share. They are different, and they both gain through sharing.

            * Supporting visitors bring a variety of gifts to be shared; gifts we lack.

            * The community at large is stirred by the interest being shown in their town.

            * Visitors give an opportunity for the church to refocus, and not be so self- preoccupied.

            * The visits give the opportunity of a listening ear to country church people.

            * Having keen young people as part of the team is uplifting to all, as we see their enthusiasm for Christ. And this encourages the (few) youth in our own churches, even providing them with role models.
            * There can be healing of rifts between city and country people, breaking down the divide of strongly held views.

            * Having an influx of visitors at our worship services can be so refreshing to churches who are used to so small numbers.

            * Being encouraged in our faith as we are reminded that there are a lot of people who love and share belief in the gospel of Christ. We are not alone.

Lindsay with his wife, Lyn.

 It is good to have a programme of mission, especially on a regular basis. But obviously not all churches (even large ones), are geared up to run missions for us.

Nevertheless, stepping out of their comfort zone and making a contribution to the unity of Christ, can result in many benefits and God's blessing on the fellowship that is gained.

  Lindsay Whybrow

 Christ the King Anglican Church, Hillston

Ever had one of those conversations.....? - A Learning about ESL class in Hillston

"Ever had one of those conversations when you speak English and the other person does not? You find yourself speaking louder and louder but it’s still not helping them understand and you aren’t really catching on to their German, Mandarin or Korean either. School French helps a bit but….."

This was the question we asked ourselves in Hillston when thinking about how to communicate better with the 400 backpackers who come here each year in October for the cherry picking,the backpackers who stay on a visit our churches and work here and the people of other cultures who live here.

At the 2012 backpacker BBQ held last season.

A few months ago I mentioned in the blog about the interest in town regarding a workshop on better communication between cultures. A TAFE teacher was interested in coming over to Hillston and it was arranged for September the 13th. 

In all 14 people participated and found it a very informative day as we were capably taught by Alanna Townsend from Griffith TAFE,an experienced ESL teacher (teacher of people from other cultures). Alanna prepared a great workshop and useful resources for home tutoring,conversation groups,work situations or in daily contact with people.

Several participants are keen to start a conversation group to help ESL speakers learn English and make them feel welcome in town. A few are keen to home tutor some Hillston residents wanting to learn English through distance education.

A good result and we look forward to seeing what develops from this. I'll keep you posted!

Meanwhile here are  few tips on speaking with  a non-native speaker-

• Speak clearly and pronounce words correctly
•   Speak slowly
•   Turning up the volume does NOT create instant understanding
•    Don’t cover your mouth
•    Avoid running words together(How-r-ya-goin) and avoid idioms
•    Choose simple words
•   When repeating, repeat it as you said it the first time
•    Be explicit
•   Listen and try not to form your response while the other person is talking
•    Draw pictures/mime       
•    Be patient and smile –a smile conveys a lot in any language.

Phill recounts his experiences at RMU Conference, August 2013

Arriving in Mulgoa, the first thing we did was to talk about going into city for a Service of Lament led by Moderator. This was a chance to stand as one - Rural and City against the way our country’s leaders had lost sight of human need.

It was a great service and I, like many, felt a pride standing on the steps of Pitt Street Uniting at the end of the service holding a candle as the Moderator addressed the press. Many ministers donned their white collars and black shirts. Many of us wore our name tags, yellow ear tags with our name and UCA Rural Ministry on them, indicting we were from the country areas.

 Workshops: To catch up the time away at the service, we gave up our free time so all the things planned could still happen. We had a number of visitors speak from UME and Uniting Care plus Simon Hansford, Bronwyn Murphy and Karen Burchell- Thomas.

 I liked the fact that most of the time they had us split into table groups to work on building stronger relationships.  One of the sessions was to help us ask” intentional questions”, others were to look at “What now for RMU?”

We had interesting insights from the Peter Worland, Interim Executive Director, opening up some questions of how we use what we have to take the church forward.

Three of the Community Development workers from around the state shared stories from their area.-Chris is based in Parramatta-Nepean Presbytery, Corrina from Dubbo and Neil from Riverina. Their projects were very well received by all present and very encouraging to hear.

Sunday: The RMU AGM.

 Simon as outgoing Chair gave a very passionate report on changes and where the RMU fits in the life of the Synod. The Committee was reshaped as it usually is at the AGM when official positions are voted on.  The conference closed with a Communion service led by Darren Wright.

What did I get out of this time?

 This was my first RMU Conference so was I not sure what it would be like but I found it a worthwhile experience. The theme “Mission Possible” was a challenge to us all that “we can do it.”  The skill based talks honed “what we have” into “what we need.”  I found the groups looked at the core of ‘Community of God building, ’asking and listening to, questions of passion; sharing “yours” without drowning  “theirs.”

The UME and UnitingCare people added to the combined rural wisdom in the room.  I built some good relationships with many new people and added to those already started with others I know, but do not see very often.

Thank you for assisting me in attending this conference.

I found as Rural Chaplain it was helpful in connecting with folk from around the state in a good way and the conversations opened up many opportunities and relationship. The speakers gave us a positive view of the Church but also challenged us to look at new exciting ways to be the 21^st Century church.

I found the RMU Conference an uplifting and informative time and a time of team building with fellow NENW people, as well as those from other presbyteries across the Synod 


                                               Rev Phill Matthews, Rural Chaplain

RU OK ? - A question which can change a life.

One simple question which we all can ask is – RU OK?

Depression and suicide are a sad fact of life in our society. Often we may not realise just how down someone is feeling. They may be putting on a brave face, hiding their sadness and loneliness, not thinking anyone will care.

This question- RU OK?- is a simple way of checking with people about how they feel. It gives us “something to say” to start the conversation. Often just knowing where to start is the hard part.

We must however be ready to listen.

These simple steps are a guide to help us with these caring conversations. To say something can make a difference to someone. It can brighten their day to know someone cares about how they are feeling. These words might even save someone’s life.

Today - Thursday 12^th September is RU OK? Day so take the opportunity to ask the question soon if you know someone who may not be OK.

More information is available on ruokday.com    It even gives examples of questions you can ask.

Andrew and Mary - Hillston* Music team

"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:2

For many years Mary has been playing the church organ-rain,hail or shine. Each week she gets the hymns and practises in the days before Sunday. She is really the only regular musician in Hillston church.

This year for several weeks a young man sat in the back pews on the left hand side of the church. He was visiting from Korea and working at the cotton gin. We got to know him as Andrew.One Sunday one of the younger church members was back from Uni on holidays visiting her Mum and Dad.After church she decided to try out the new piano/organ with Mary and Julie. Andrew seeing that someone else was allowed to play too, quietly made his way to the front.The rest of us were in the hall having a cuppa.

Suddenly there was great excitement! Andrew not only played, but sang, beautifully,with a trained voice. He was - and is - a Bachelor of Music who has performed in and led choirs in Korea and in other countries.He had been missing his music while overseas. He was quickly enlisted to play the following week. 

                                                       Now the church had a music team. 

He and Mary practised together each week after that.Andrew gave Mary a welcome break from being out the front as he took over the playing for several months, having free access to the piano whenever he liked by being given access to the church key. 

                                                         And the moral of the story?

1) You never know who you have in your midst. As you welcome the stranger you may be entertaining an angel.  

2) Mary could have allowed no one else access to "her" piano but she didn't, she freely shared and stood aside to allow someone else to shine and use their gifts.

3) And Andrew?-He gave of his time after 12  hours overnight in the cotton gin each Saturday to play for a delighted congregation and to give Mary someone to share the load and a well earned rest.

4) OK - so your team is only two but if you both show up -it's a team.

Sadly for us, Andrew had to leave Hillston last week.His time in Australia is over and he is to continue his travels elsewhere, starting with the Philippines. He graced us with one final song and time on the piano. Just beautiful!

We now wait to see what other gifts of music God will provide for us as well as our lovely Mary.

PS - * That's Hillston not Hillsong.