My local church has been without a pastor for 4 years. It has been managed by a team of leaders who have struggled in one form or another. They are not trained to identify and manage members’ spiritual needs. Yet they plough on. I understand their experience with the last pastor (who left for reasons which remain a mystery to almost everyone) wasn’t a good one in that he left them in a lurch. This bad experience has made them ultra cautious in finding a replacement, hence the pastor-less situation for the last 4 years.

I joined the Board in 2008. This will be my third year on that Board. In my first meeting back in 2008, I asked whether we were doing anything to engage a pastor. The answer was the cautious approach lest we are saddled with the complicated outcome of a wrong appointment. The message however, that it wasn’t necessary to have a pastor and the phrase commonly thrown around was that the elders were all pastors – we had 3.  With due respect, they weren’t. We had none.

Over 2 years hence, the wound is much less raw and the strain of running a church has become a little too much to bear. The leaders are now ready to look for suitable candidate. We have decided we didn’t have a pastor and that we needed one, badly. We have decided the best thing we can do to help members is to find them someone who is trained, skilled, experienced and dedicated to the job.

The route chosen is that of a merger with a different church, as the pastor we shortlisted has an existing church. This is the more difficult of other options we considered but we think this is the best suited one. It presents the best future for the church. I believe this will work. If God thinks we ought to go down a different path, He will show us.

My local church is doing something which I sincerely believe should be replicated across Melbourne. The church scene here is too fragmented. There are far too many small churches scattered across Melbourne, particularly in the eastern suburb – the bible belt of Melbourne. Every week, resources are doubled up because of this. Imagine these churches coming together and pooling resources. We should put aside individual preferences. Unless it is a fundamental doctrinal or theological issue, no one should start a church simply because he or she has preferences.

After a humid week, Melbourne had a nice cool Friday with lots of rain. I spent the whole of yesterday cleaning up around the house.

Today’s the first day of the year of the tigger. Weather’s  still hottish (26 deg today and sitting on me deck with a tallish Glenfiddich and the dog , I feel like dozing off at this moment. Havent had that type of Sunday arvo for a long time now.

Greece threatens, together with the rest of the PIGS (with Ireland, not Italy), to give world economy no rest. Figures of the western economies’ debts attempt to pry the pennies of the ang mohs’ eyes. All those years of great schools, great healthcare, smooth silky infrastructure, cushy pension and all such dreamy promises are coming home to roost.

Australia remains beholden to Kevin Rudd’s lies and spins. Abbott is proving a bit of a pain, not least to Kevin. Good on you, Tony. For all his unpolished and unmedia-savvy yesteryear cliches, Tony Abbott remains an honest western gun slinger who takes good aim at Kevin the Sheriff who promises much but will likely roll over when the bandits do show up.

In Malaysia, the members of the judiciary should all be wearing sunnies and holding walking stick by now, such are their self gratifying nonsense. Ditto the whole of the Malaysian civil administration and executive at large. The Prime Minister should have been investigated and charged for murder instead of being allowed to continue dragging the country through a sickening circus.

Me, I am stuck in a rut. With work mounting and motivation not, I am finding it harder not to be sickened by a never ending work pressure dryness. You know – you walk around fatigued and enjoying little of the daily proceedings, doing stuff only because it is my job and it needs to be done.

Year of the tigger? a bit of a pooh pooh for now…

There I was in a fish-bowl like meeting room on a late Monday morning. 5 blokes and a lady. 4 Caucasians, 1 central Asian and 2 Asians. Air-conditioning whirring away as we look at a document handed out at the start of the meeting.

The discussion picked up and the subject matter (reinsurance) soon proved too inappropriate for a Monday morning. The convenor was on to it and tried hard to hurry things up.

Every now and then a quiet moment creeps in while everyone ponders over a point, and the whirring of the air-conditioner takes over.

It is during one of those moments I allow myself to reflect a little. My sentiments seesaw between gratitude and restlessness. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to be involved (regardless of the significance of such involvement) in corporate business proceedings in Melbourne. My gratitude however, is constantly peppered with thoughts of wanting to do something with a more direct impact on lives.

The creeping desire to do something different is making me just a touch restless. The whirring of the air conditioning unit however, has reminded me that I am indeed at a seesawing state, because Mondayitis notwithstanding, I actually still do enjoy the work I do.