Involvment at the Political Fringe

J is a leader of the church we have been attending for the past 3 years, here in Melbourne. He is one of the 6 but I think he’s a de facto chairman of the board sort of a person. We haven’t had a pastor since April of last year so sometimes in a teasing mode, we call him Pastor J as well. He’s a good sport so it’s all taken in a light hearted manner. Yesterday, he made a raft of announcements, which is unusual. He tended to be short on administrative details at time, probably because he has so much to do. He holds down a full time job, has 2 teenage kids and his wife works full time as well. So he has as much time as the rest of us yet there he is, virtually “pastoring” a church as well. So while he tends to be short on details, we understand. I have in recent past, urged him to consider hiring a part time administrator, so address this. So I wonder if last Sunday’s pile of announcements was a response to my urging and possible of others who felt the same way.One of the things he announced was the church’s respond to recent announcements by the Brumby Government of Victoria, to decriminalise abortion. I’ve written a draft letter for the church to send to the relevant ministers as well as the local member for Glen Waverley, one Maxine Morand whose office is on Montclair Avenue – she is the neighbour of that law office I used to work in. The relevant ministers are I suppose, the Attorney General (Rob Hulls) and the minister for children and women’s affair, who as it turns out, is also Ms Morand the local member for Glen and Mount Waverley. The content of that letter is then repeated and sent by individual church members to their individual members of parliament. There was a member who has been actively involved in politics, often attending conservative organised prayer functions as well as public rallies. When it was first announced that I was preparing a draft letter, this member approached me and provided me with some material and references. It was obvious the political leaning was conservative so I felt duty bound to inform J. I kept a deliberate neutral tone in the letter, choosing only to appeal to God’s standards as a basis. That letter has now been distributed and I wonder if Australian politicians would take kindly to an act like this…