Wangaratta, Myrtleford and Yarrawonga

November 23, 2008 (click on pics for larger view)

Alison, Duncan and I drove the 2.5 hours to Wangaratta on Saturday evening and stayed in the Best Western motel on the main drag.

 The congregations held a combined service in the Wangaratta Church @ 11am and it was particularly special to be able to share in the service of admission of several new members by profession of faith.

I preached the same sermon I'd used the week before (not giving away any secrets here - I told them it was a repeat) on 2 Corinthians 12 and Psalm 46, His Strength in our Weakness. I suggested to Neil that if they only normally had one Bible reading in their service, to use the Corinthians passage and then pick a hymn that paraphrases Psalm 46. Well, he found no fewer than 3 hymns in Rejoice that all paraphrase Psalm 46!

The service was followed by a wonderful bbq lunch cooked with a little bit of help from Duncan. About 70 people turned up, which tested the capacity of the hall. It had been set up for 50, so a couple of extra tables had to be organised and the elder's chairs from around the communion table had to be pressed into service to accomodate the crowd.

This was Neil and Barbara Harvey's penultimate Sunday in the parish, having spent almost 10 years ministering there. They will be sorely missed. In speeches after lunch, one representative of each congregation paid tribute to Neil's pulpit ministry, which was characterised by faithfulness to the Scriptures and the centrality of Christ, and to Neil and Barbara's pastoral ministry. They diligently visited everyone and went out of their way to love, care for and nurture everybody. Neil's faithful ministry to 10 nursing homes in the area was also mentioned.

Once the dust settled after lunch, we spent several hours with Neil and Barbara back at the manse,  chewing the fat on a wide range of subjects. Yes, there have been problems in the parish and frustrations with central bureaucracy, and we spoke about retirement plans that have been deeply affected by the recent downturn in the global economy, but overall, they are just a wonderful couple to spend an afternoon with and they even provided an evening meal that we had originally said we wouldn't be staying for. We rejoiced in the many times throughout our lives that God has richly blessed us, in family, in ministry, in material ways and in encouragement when we needed it most.

Please pray for Neil and Barbara, who need to decide between several short-term possibilities that lie in wait for them, and then plan for the longer term as well.

Please pray for the congregation, who will need the underpinning strength of God to sustain them through a vacancy and to find the right man for the position