Renewal in the suburbs…

by Rev Paul Clark, Dean of Formation

Let me tell you a story…

About 12 months ago I had the pleasure to visit Oxley Uniting Church. They asked if I could come and preach, and as is my wont, I asked if they would like me to bring some puppets to make the event attractive to families. They reported that they didn’t really have any children in their fellowship. “Let’s do it anyway,” I said, “and see what God does.”

So, we planned a service around the parable of the lost sheep.

The congregation got the word out, and on the day eight children were in attendance. Families with old connections to the community took the opportunity to return to worship and had a meaningful experience.

Twelve months later, Oxley contacted me again. They were planning their quarterly family worship service and asked if I would bring the puppets.

This time 15 children were in attendance. The band drew us into worship. The children led us in prayer, and Hairy puppet had a word for young and old alike.  There was laughter, joy and a real sense of God’s presence in the room.

Talking to congregation members about the growth I had seen, I asked them to tell me their story. They were now shaping one Sunday a month for families, seeking to make it family friendly, and going out of their way, once a quarter, to really draw families in with special features like puppets and other activities.

When I praised their efforts, they shared with me the difficulty: “Today was great, but next Sunday we’ll probably have no children.” I know those difficulties. With the complexity of our modern world – weekend sports, broken families, shift work – having ‘every Sunday’ families is a luxury. In my previous church, we had to learn to be grateful for whenever people could come, and move on from only counting those who came every week. When we did that, the families responded to the value they felt from us.

But I can really see the growth and change at Oxley – the renewal taking place – and I want to encourage them and others. Day to day the work seems hard – inconsistent results; two steps forward, one step back – but from a step back, you can see God at work.

The congregation have been reshaping who they are. Seeking to make room in their worship for the people who aren’t there: those who they want to be there. Putting in effort every month into being family friendly, and greater effort to invite and focus on such people every quarter.

They’ve also been making their venue more inviting through God's enabling and through grant moneys, insurance and Presbytery support.

From my own experience I can say – this is the real, gritty, faithful work of renewal. The spectacular gets the headlines and distracts us, but it is the mundane, consistently persistent work that brings renewal. The anguished prayer, the simple plans, the making space, the faithful application, the refusal to give up, and understanding the small wins as giant leaps – these are the marks of renewal.