Church
My sister Anne drew this
picture based on a church building in Ipswich, Queensland. People gathered inside
on a regular basis for at least 176 years. I have a lot of memories and
personal knowledge associated with this building. Here’s a list of what
currently comes to mind:
1. As a child, I
used to sit in the 3rd or 4th pew on the left, between
Grandma and Grandpa. Mum, Dad, Nanny, Anne, Paul were in front of us. I felt
safe in my family unit.
2. Inside, there is
a memorial window that includes my Uncle Kevin, Dad’s brother, who died in WW2.
3. When I was a baby,
my family and I were up in the balcony. Allegedly, my sister dropped her yellow
plastic elephant from the balcony during a service and it landed with a squeak.
(Note the elephant in the above picture).
4. There was a
Sunday School meeting in there, when I was 7, that I found emotionally damaging.
It was a bit experimental, where young people were having a go at leading. I
don’t blame them. When I was young, I said some stuff that I now don’t agree
with too! It wasn’t my regular Sunday School teachers who conducted the meeting.
Aged 55, I’m almost fully recovered.
5. When I was 12, Mum adapted and taught a course that became known as Junior Bethel.
This was an overview of the whole Bible, based on the original Bethel, which
was for adults. A group of about 20 young people, mostly teenagers, met in the church transept during Sunday School time. While typically, I was off on another planet (you know, these
creative types!), I remember a guy called Robert coming up with a very funny opening
devotion (I think he made it up on the spot) about trucks bobbing along, which
was analogous to something. This course had brilliant visuals and great reading
resources. Mum, of course, had an amazingly safe, calm presence about her. Go
Mum!
And there’s more! But that’s for another day…
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