Archive for October, 2010

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Social justice snapshots

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Women’s residences use worship to share culture of care

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Using this quote from Martin Luther King Jr as inspiration, 7.28 speaker Monique Long challenges members of the congregation to pin to the noticeboard the names of causes, classmates and communities for whom they will speak. The prayer request that evening: the courage to follow through on the commitment. Credit: Ann Stafford.

“We are the ones who make a brighter day.” Residents of the women’s residences on Avondale College’s Lake Macquarie campus use Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie’s “We Are the World” as backing for a creative expression addressing the issue of social injustice. Credit: Ann Stafford.

Shona Clarke with the son of a 21-year-old mother of four. The family calls Southlakes Women’s Refuge home. A representative of the refuge joined the family in attending the worship service at Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church on Saturday. Thirty per cent of the offering given during the service will go to the refuge. Credit: Ann Stafford.

Students string 150 sets of underwear to a clothes line as part of a presentation to Southlakes Women’s Refuge during the worship service on Saturday. Those in the women’s residences bought the underwear because most of the donated underwear the refuge receives is for middle-aged or elderly women, even though most of the residents are young. Credit: Ann Stafford.

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Farewell old friend

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Boiler goes but environment and bottom line to benefit

Kirsten Bolinger
Public relations assistant
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

Avondale College’s decision to decommission its long-serving boiler and replace it with a more efficient gas heating system will have environmental and financial benefits.

Plumber John Vosper, who served at Avondale for 39 years, symbolically turns off the boiler, which ceased operating on September 30. A new gas heating system now provides hot water for the cafeteria and each of the residences on the Lake Macquarie campus. Credit: Ann Stafford.

Campus supervisor and projects officer Bruce Cantrill says the boiler had to be replaced because the pipes carrying water from it to the cafeteria and the residences on the Lake Macquarie campus were deteriorating.

It did not work efficiently, either. According to vice-president (finance) Francois Keet, the boiler used 450,000 litres of gas a year. The new gas heating system will use only 150,000 litres a year. It will also save on electricity—the boiler operated 24 hours a day to distribute hot water through the pipes—and labour, adds Francois.

John Vosper, the former plumber at Avondale, checked the boiler twice a day, every day. “There was no alarm system to tell us if something went wrong,” he says.

The gas heating system includes two gas hot water systems in the cafeteria and in each of the residences, eight in total.

Avondale plans to sell the boiler for scrap metal.

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There comes a moment

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Dr Bruce Manners
Senior minister
Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church

For the Christian, there are moments when you’re reminded of the significance of your faith. When you realise again the greatness of God and the depth of His love seen in the sacrifice of Jesus.

I had one of those moments at Big Camp—the annual camp meeting of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in northern New South Wales, held at Stuarts Point on the mid-north coast—this past week.

Big Camp was wet. It was so wet, it called for “it’s so wet . . .” jokes. Jokes like, “It’s so wet, I’m growing webbing between my toes”; “It’s so wet, I’m searching the Yellow Pages for Noah and Sons shipbuilders”; and “It’s so wet, I’ve forgotten what dry feels like.”

It was so wet, I can’t remember a completely dry day. And that’s not a joke. Camp veterans called it the wettest camp ever. We ministers came home before the tents came down because showers on Sunday made the canvas too wet to store, and rain predicted for several days yet.

This was not a scene for deep spiritual insight. It was quite depressing waking up to dampness in the air, in your tent and in your clothes. The skies were continually overcast. And you tended to rush from cover to cover.

While there were good moments at camp, the situation meant little stirred my soul deeply. So much so that I’d settled into the thought that I’d simply get the task done and then get back into the daily routine again.

Friday evening was different. We had a communion service, which is always a good time for reflection. This was the moment.

This was the moment of realisation again of what God has done for me, for us. The implications of Jesus’ sacrifice; the hope it offers; and the future it promises are so important. And the implications are personal.

Every now and again there comes a moment when you, Christian or not, have to consider them. And respond.

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