Dear Friends,

Two years ago I was asked to participate in the very intense and difficult journey of the Sydney community.  Much water has passed under the bridge and the Community has still some way to go with fully digesting the impact of losing it building and investments.  My major task of facilitating that journey, together with Cheryl Nekvapil and then Lisa Devine, has in many ways reached a point where I will not be needed to be so intensively present in Sydney each month.

In looking back over the last years and trying to see the ‘balance of things’ it is very obvious that one of the costs of having to engage with this work has been our Community life here.  I know people experience my absence and express it as: ‘you’re never here Martin!’  Beyond that, it is even more tangible that the balance and basis of community and religious life, and rhythm, has been deeply affected.  At first we tried to keep the two weeks here the same each month, but with life, travelling to Europe and the needs around the country for visiting other communities it has become very tenuous to feel any sense of continuity or knowing when things are on or not.  Even having a programme in one’s hand doesn’t fill that gap.

Recently the four colleagues who work in Australia, Cheryl, Lisa, Veronika and I agreed that we should also meet between synods.  This time is to be spent building a clear picture of how we will work to regroup and navigate our way through the recovery period of what can be seen as a major impact on the life of The Christian Community in Australia.  We have agreed that by the end of 2011 we will be making decisions about what we will be doing to generate a style of work and new roles that can carry us into the future.

One of the things we have done out of synod discussions with the Australian Council is to work with this idea of ‘one cloth’: an idea that we really are one community around the country of four permanent altars and four priests with the communities  sharing resources to make the sacraments available to this continent.  Our Community will host a Delegates Conference for people from around the country to help workshop how we can find new gestures in this work.  The details of the weekend in November are in the programme.

In this time of Michaelmas we are called to follow a journey of divining a higher understanding of how the light and wisdom continue to work in the world through our participation and understanding.  This time in our Community gives us plenty of raw materials for such contemplation.

Yours
Martin Samson