Towards the middle of last week, we received a message from Edwina, a member of a support group that we joined not too long ago. The support group was to do some background/logistics kind of support for university work a couple of ministry folks were doing with the AFES. Amy and Lauren work at Monash and Swinburne campuses respectively and Tress and I have been supporters of Lauren’s work for a little while, so when we were asked if we’d like to join the support group. it didn’t take long for us to say yes. I’d been praying for opportunities to serve so I saw that as an answer to my prayers.
The message reminded us of a meeting that had been scheduled for Saturday morning and we were tasked with teeing up the details of that meeting. We’re very grateful for that message as we had forgotten about it…
So on Saturday morning, after walking the little fellow, we went to that meeting at Edwina and Doug’s home in Box Hill. Several others were there (other than Amy and Lauren) so it was good to just catch up, and we talked about how Amy and Lauren had been doing and what were coming up. Ravi (the “chair”) suggested we prayed for them which was really good.
After a couple of hours, we went back, pottered around the house, then headed out to Knox for lunch at the Gateway place. Tress loves the “Kueh Kak” and I really enjoyed the assam laksa the last time we were there (more than a month or so ago) so I had that again. After lunch, we did some grocery shopping and then went home and I quickly did the mowing (and the edging) of our lawns, swept and tidied up around the house, and Tress took the fellow to the oval and I marinated the pork we picked up, for the cook the next day. Then we got cleaned up and got ready to head out to St Alf’s.
We went for a couple of seconds – our second lovely dinner of the weekend, and our second meeting up with St Alf’s folks on that same day. Peter MacPherson, the senior vicar, was to leave after Sunday and Saturday night was a farewell dinner to him and Ginney his wife. The function was at St Alf’s, where a bunch of folks had put in a ton of work to doll up the place and put on a grand sending off dinner party for Peter and Ginney.
Peter had been at St Alf’s since 1992, and had been the senior vicar for 24 years. At the dinner, a reel of his years of service was shown. That was repeated the next say at the morning service and I found myself dabbing a trace of tears in my eye. I think what started that flow of emotions was Michael Petering’s speech. Doug his father, and the Peterings are the grand old pillars in St Alf’s (maybe a touch like how my grandfather and his clan had been at the church in Klang). Helen, Michael’s sister, is a music minister and she goes to the same home group as Tress and I.
Tress and I left our old church in Glen Waverley because I thought the teaching was always an issue that played in my mind. So when we decided to leave (after nearly 9 years) good teaching was a core criterion. Kiddo mentioned St Alf’s to us and we then visited it back in early 2013. It didn’t take long for the good teaching box to be ticked and we’ve remained with St Alf’s since.
I have always found Peter to be the solid, calm and assured teacher. He taught faithfully and without fear – in the sense that he didn’t avoid the hard bits of Christianity or the difficult books in the Bible. He always approached it from a solid understanding of what God’s plans for creation – humanity – had been from the beginning, the fulfilment of those plans in Jesus and the continuing work of the Spirit in the present church. That assured stance, the confidence, meant he didn’t react or try to reign in the varying reins of thoughts and opinions that were everywhere. St Alf’s is a fertile ground for numerous and varying opinions. It is made up of many learned minds with rich experience in ministry. That is a great blessing but the obvious reverse side of that coin brings with it challenges that needed a confident senior vicar to bat away the constant and endless quick and googly. Peter played that role like a champion batsman and what an innings he’s had. That calm assured persona did not just show in the teaching. It also showed in his leadership. He allowed a “thousand flowers to bloom”. He empowered his staff and members in a way that only a confident servant could.
Peter will be missed.
In his last sermon on Sunday, he provided a clue for the source of the assurance that he has always exuded. He pointed to Jesus as the Son of God who came to serve. He preached on Luke 4 (titled “A New Order”), the same sermon he preached on the first service of the S@6 congregation at St Alf’s that he started over 20 years ago. He has been a wonderful servant because he knew his master well. The chorus that says Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, came into the fore. Hebrews 13 was also cited at the end by Ben Clements, the new(ish) minister of the 10am congregation. It was another example of what good teaching can do. Grounding his parting sermon on the unchanging nature of Jesus, was to assure folks that after his tenure, Jesus will remain Lord and Master and so providence of good teaching and good leadership will continue.
Tress and i have been blessed to be part of St Alf’s. Last night as we prepare for bed, we talked about getting some folks from St Alf’s over to our home for dinner. I hope that works out. It’d be good to have fellowship and community to soak in the good teaching together.
Ante 