Belgrave Heights

February 15, 2009

What a beautiful day we had at Belgrave Heights and what a beautiful place it is, snuggled into the Dandenong Ranges. But the bushfires were still very fresh in our minds, so images of great beauty were tinged with both sadness and concern that the houses built amongst trees were still vulnerable.

Later that afternoon a fire ignited in Belgrave, close to the famous Puffing Billy train, although it was quickly controled; but now, as I write this almost two weeks later, the parish has been seriously threatened by fires across the Dandenongs in the last couple of days. One house was lost in Belgrave Heights and the minister and his family (along with many others, I would imagine) evacuated for several hours, but by the grace of God the damage is minimal and it has not impacted on the school, church or congregation as far as I am aware.

But back to the Moderator's visit....

The congregation is vibrant and positive, with a fine mix of ages and backgrounds. Mark Tonkin has been the minister here since he planted the congregation more than 20 years ago, and he has seen many ups and downs, but he now has a regular congregation of (I would guess) about 80 people who are committed to Christ and to evangelism. Before public worship, a group of about a dozen members sat down and prayed very specifically for the unchurched with whom they had made an effort to share the gospel that week.

The service is held in one of the new buildings of the Belgrave Heights Christian School, and we should give thanks to God for the co-existence of these two ministries and their co-operation together. The school has greatly expended in recent years, building new buildings and opening up to many more students.

There is a church building, but it has been physically moved from its former location to make way for the school's development. It sits tentatively atop its irregular stumps in a corner of the property and is not fit to be used at the moment, but the congregation has plans for its renovation and expansion.

Worship was relaxed and informal, with a mixture of contemporary choruses and traditional hymns. I preached from the first chapter of Daniel, similar to what I had shared at Drouin a couple of weeks earlier, but not exactly the same. Focussing on the fact that the Babylonians changed Daniel and his friends' names, to dislocate them from their country, their heritage, their culture, their family and their God; I asked questions about whether or not our generation is doing the same to our young people.

After the service we had a magnificent lunch together, in the same hall, and this was followed by a slightly unusual celebration of the sacrament of communion 'in the round'. Mark offered the opportunity for others to say something by way of their own uderstanding of or introduction to communion, but nobody took him up on it. It is early days yet for this format of service, so perhaps as folk get used to it, they will join in. Mark led a very throughtful and inspiring meditation before we shared the elements around the group.

Alison and I then sat and chatted with Mark for quite some time, out on the picnic benches that adjoin the hall where worship is help. It really is an amazing venue!