Category: Stories & Feature Articles

Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Love, care and non-judgemental acceptance

Edith Smirk is a Uniting Church chaplain at Bentley Health Service. She reflects on her role offering pastoral care to people living with mental illness.

People with mental [illness], like other people, have a need to relate to a god or a philosophical world view that allows them to place themselves and their lives within a larger context. However, for a person who has  been diagnosed with schizophrenia this can be problematical for a number of reasons. For one thing, the onset of the disease often occurs during the same period of life when religious and philosophical beliefs  are in great flux. For many during the early stages of their illness, they may believe they have been specially chosen by God. When auditory hallucination is experienced, these beliefs are usually reinforced. It is  important not to encourage such beliefs, just be present. E Fuller Torrey MD 2006

Jesus listened and told stories. This is something I can do. Just to be there and to listen non-judgmentally is the greatest gift we can give at times. Working in mental health can be very challenging and at the same  time very rewarding; I believe for me it has been a true calling. I believe God has in some way been preparing me for this role throughout my life.

Working with the patients brings me such joy. Hearing their stories sometimes touch on my own. Jesus knows our pain, he suffered and was tempted by the devil, he knows our weaknesses and by trusting in the  Lord we grow strong. When we reach out to Jesus, he touches our hand, and his hand touches God, which gives us life, love and hope. And it is this hope and love I try to bring to our patients.

Continue reading “Love, care and non-judgemental acceptance”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Parables from the edge

Port Hedland looks like a dot on the north-western edge of this large red country. I arrived there with no answers for Port Hedland and my questions were a jumble. In my backpack was the poster I had made to  remind me of why I had come: “Go, not to collect experiences, but to be transformed.”

I was sent to Port Hedland for a supervised rural placement from mid-July to early August, the best time in the year because that was when it was cool. Eight months of the year, temperatures soar, starting from 38 degrees. The harsh environment has been said to draw more than the average share of misfits, mercenaries, mavericks and missionaries – people who were running away from something or someone, debts, crime  and failed relationships.

It was as I expected: Martian landscape, remote, sparsely populated and industrial.

What caught me by surprise was its strange beauty, an immense, seemingly empty space, suffused with untamed, quiet power. At the beach at Cooke Point one morning, the moist sand bore the contours of the  waves. The sky sent an echo in scallops of white cloud. At my feet, shallow streams of water gargled softly. I could have just walked across the water to the next little patch of sand, but didn’t – rather, couldn’t. Almost shouldn’t.

Continue reading “Parables from the edge”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Dolls to love and cherish

Pinjarra Uniting Church’s Adult Fellowship (UCAF) recently made use of their annual craft get together to create dolls for children in South Africa, through the Uthando Project.

The Uthando Project sends handcrafted, donated dolls to children living in orphanages in KwaZulu Natal, a province of South Africa, who have been affected by HIV AIDS. This area is currently suffering a  pandemic of the virus.

This WA based project works in partnership with non-government organisations in South Africa to deliver dolls to where they are best needed. Children can then use ‘play’ to enjoy life, but also to express the  emotions and grief of losing one or both parents. Uthando, a Zulu word, translates in English to ‘love.’ Gill Muir, from Pinjarra Uniting Church, said their UCAF group wanted to provide the children with  something they could cherish.

Continue reading “Dolls to love and cherish”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Longing for change

Rev Frances Hadfield is a Uniting Church Chaplain at Bandyup Women’s Prison. Here she reflects on some of the challenges within WA’s justice system.

“I’m so happy to be here.”

This statement was from a young woman aged 19 who had arrived in Bandyup Women’s Prison. I looked at her in astonishment and asked her why. She told me her story.

Things had gone pear-shaped for her and she had been living on the streets for a year; in fear for her life, living by her wits, hungry and tired. She had deliberately offended by stealing from a home with the hope of being arrested. Now she was in Bandyup and she was safe; she had a bed and a roof over her head, she had food to eat and people to talk to. Never mind that her freedom had been taken from her, freedom out there had been too much. Now she could work or study or do a program which would assist her upon release.

In my chaplaincy work and wanderings around the prison, there are so many stories – women who have lost their homes and live on the streets, some with their children. Some might be lucky and have a car to  sleep in. But it then gets too much for their mental health and they offend, so they can have the weight taken off their shoulders for a while, and have their children taken over by the Department of Child Protection  (DCP).

Continue reading “Longing for change”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Walking together over the Rainbow

Over cups of tea, bickies and cake in a beautiful old Nedlands home, three dedicated women shared with me their passion for creating supportive, safe and open places for people living with mental illness, through  the Rainbow project.

Rainbow runs in five locations around Perth offering, fortnightly or monthly social gatherings, including lunch and a time of sharing.

Ruth Reid has been patron of Rainbow in WA since it began in 1998, and still offers her time each month, despite ageing into her 90s. Marian Hillam is the co-ordinator for the Claremont/Nedlands Rainbow   group, which has been running for around 11 years, and Sarah Robson is a new recruit, having recently started volunteering at Claremont/Nedlands.

Ruth and Marian are members of Nedlands Uniting Church, while Sarah found Rainbow through Volunteering WA. Sarah loves cooking, and was looking for a way to be able to share her gifts with people in the community – Rainbow provided that perfect space. Rainbow now comes under the umbrella of UnitingCare West, after its formation in 2006. Volunteers take on a range of roles and all receive mental health training.

According to Ruth, the Rainbow journey all began with a phone call from Rev Joyce Wilkins, who was minister at Manning Uniting Church at the time. Joyce and Ruth, along with Audrey Frances, another Rainbow pioneer, got together to discuss how to offer friendship and support to people in congregations, and the wider community who were feeling isolated, as a result of mental health issues. Ruth said that it started as a  place of friendship, which hasn’t changed.

Continue reading “Walking together over the Rainbow”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Moving from tolerance to acceptance

Cultural barriers were demolished and stereotypes quashed when girls from the Australian Islamic College (AIC) spent a day at Methodist Ladies’ College in April, and MLC girls paid a return visit in August.

Eleven teenagers from the school in the northern Perth suburb of Dianella spent a day with their hosts discovering that they were more similar, than different.

MLC Principal, Rebecca Cody, also met with AIC’s Principal, Wahaj Tarin. She said the relationship between the two schools gives the students the opportunity to move beyond stereotypes.

“I think that all great schools learn from each other, so this is merely an example of a learning conversation between two schools. It’s also an opportunity for our girls, and Mr Tarin’s girls, to seek to understand  each other,” Rebecca said.

The relationship between the schools was borne out of discussions between MLC Chaplain, Rev Hollis Wilson, and AIC Islamic Study teacher, Fazida Razak, at a series of interfaith meetings over a few years.

Continue reading “Moving from tolerance to acceptance”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Towards a theology of welcome

The city of Birmingham in the UK is perhaps one of the most multicultural cities in the world. Some years ago, in response to the question “Is Birmingham a welcoming city?” the city developed a social inclusion process giving hope to locals.

Places of Welcome describes themselves as “a network of small community organisations, including faith communities, who offer an unconditional welcome to local people for at least a few hours a week.”

The program has a set of guiding principles, known as the 5 Ps:

Place: An accessible and hospitable building, open at the same time every week.

People: Open to everyone regardless of their circumstances or situation, and staffed by volunteers.

Presence: A place where people actively listen to one another.

Provision: Offering free refreshments (at least a cup of tea and a biscuit) and basic local information.

Participation: Recognising that every person coming to a Place of Welcome will bring talents, experiences and skills that they might be willing to share locally.

Continue reading “Towards a theology of welcome”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Manifesto for Renewal: The shaping of a new church, new edition, fully revised and expanded, by Andrew Dutney

Manifesto for RenewalThis book, first published in 1986, was based on Dutney’s thesis, The Development of the Understanding of Ministry in the Australian Church Union Negotiations 1957-1971.

He identifies strongly with the Joint Commission on Church Union (JCCU)’s reports and Proposed Basis of Union. He remains uncritical of the reports’ arguments and negative about the uniting churches.

Dutney’s picture of how the JCCU’s thought developed from 1957 to 1963 is a useful guide to that period of its work.

He writes informatively about discussion of the Proposed Basis in the uniting churches, but concentrates on individual contributions, does not consider each denomination’s detailed response, and plays down the significance of those official responses for the JCCU’s work from 1967 on.

Continue reading “Manifesto for Renewal: The shaping of a new church, new edition, fully revised and expanded, by Andrew Dutney”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Honoured for many years of service

In April, Anne Steed, from Kalamunda Uniting Church, was honoured with life membership of The Leprosy Mission Australia in recognition of her work supporting and serving people living with leprosy. The award was presented by The Leprosy Mission Australia CEO, Sheldon Rankin, who was the keynote speaker for an information afternoon tea.

Anne’s passion for helping leprosy sufferers began more than four decades ago when in 1968 she pursued a Methodist federal youth project placement to Papua New Guinea (PNG). Her placement was at Gemo Island, an isolation hospital for sufferers of leprosy and of tuberculosis. Anne’s initial placement was for one year, but she was so moved by her experience that she applied for a six-month extension.

“I had only just finished my training as a laboratory technologist and we’d had two lines on leprosy in our lecture notes. The little hospital really didn’t have a laboratory, so I had to set-up a simple laboratory when I got there,” Anne explained.

The first cure for leprosy was made available in the 1950’s, since which time millions of patients have been cured. However, in countries without suitable healthcare infrastructure many leprosy sufferers did not receive the medication that would have cured them and prevented further complications.

“We were actually doing a lot of surgery at that time too, and I assumed that this was just part and parcel of leprosy work. It had been continuing for a number of years until I discovered, quite some years later, that surgery hadn’t come into PNG until about 1965. So they were trying to catch up with the backlog of the many people who need surgery,” Anne said.

Continue reading “Honoured for many years of service”
Categories
Stories & Feature Articles

Meditate and create!

mandalaA mandala is a spiritual symbol, in the shape of a circle. Creating a mandala can be a meditative process; a journey towards a work of art. With six kids participating, both from the church and the wider community, the day was full of craft, tasty food and reflection.

This is the second time Margaret River Uniting Church has run a mandala workshop for kids, the first being in July 2015.

Cathie opened the workshop with an introduction to mandalas, explaining that pizza can be a mandala. So the group made pizzas before getting stuck into creating their own craft mandalas using a range of materials such as paint, textas and paper. While they created, the pizzas were baked and enjoyed for lunch.

Cathie said the participants all responded to their craft in unique ways.

“I encouraged them to use things they hadn’t used before and a lot of them did that,” she said. “They were quite adventurous really. Some of them were quite abstract. Others had symbols and words in there that meant things to them.”

Continue reading “Meditate and create!”