Locum's message:

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July 20

Dear Friends,

As I return from the pilgrimage and long service leave I am very aware of all of the contributions that have been made in the ongoing life of our community at St. Oswald’s. It is with sincere gratitude that I acknowledge this as I commence my ministry again as your vicar. Special thanks to The Reverend Dr. John Scott for his ministry in my absence as acting vicar; I know that John is very much appreciated by our community and also that John enjoys being here as the opportunity occurs.

It is very good to be back; we have had, as I know that you already have heard, a wonderful experience in our visit to some of the Holy Sites in Israel and Palestine. We had the final group gathering last Sunday afternoon; we met together in the chapel at St. Oswald’s to give thanks for our shared experience and then we spent some time together in the vicarage exchanging photographs and reminiscing about our time together. The experience of seeing places and hearing stories about them is both rich and rewarding but even more important is the experience of growing spiritually and as a group. Our group was very richly blessed in how it grew together and explored more of the truth of the gospel.

At the conclusion of the pilgrimage most of the group came back to Australia and some of us stayed longer either in the Middle East or in Europe. As you might expect I went on to Italy and had a very relaxing three weeks in Tuscany. As I left Italy I felt very refreshed and renewed, anxious to see our new grand daughter and ready get going in ministry. Our new grand daughter Chiara Isobel is lovely and is settling into the challenges of having two very active brothers! Either on the way home or as soon as I arrived I picked up a virus that has ended up as a chest infection; therefore my start has been a spluttering one rather than the way I had envisioned it as I left Italy!

Most of our Bishops are either in England or on their way for the Lambeth Conference, let us keep them in our prayers as they strive to lead the church into the future God has for it. While I was on leave I happened a several occasion to see copies of British newspapers. In an edition of the Guardian there was an article written by a female progressive rabbi from London. In her article she was encouraging the Anglican Church to embrace the future and to live more lightly with internal differences during this time of unprecedented change. As I reflected on this article I admired her courage not only to be a rabbi but also in speaking out as she did given the many differences that exist in the practice of the Jewish religion.

It is very encouraging to see all the young people so involved and enjoying the various celebrations in Sydney for the World Youth Day observance. Let us give thanks for them in our prayers and pray for all young people in their journey of faith.

With love and prayers,

Ken

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