CHURCH TOGETHER
By Dave Roberts
Sometimes even if it's a good
idea, you can't say it started here in the south
west. Turns out that the locals have really got
it happening though.
A few years back some of the ministers
of the local churches wound up at something called
Church Together in Perth. Too good to be true, they
thought to themselves, all of the petty divisions
that stop the church being effective gone for a
night. Can we do it in the south west?
The first one went OK. To be honest
it was kind of church together Bunbury, but "from
little things, big things grow" and the quest
was on to make what's often called Big Church into
something which was a blessing to everyone who it
contacted.
Now we all know that people like to
think that they're right, and that often includes
thinking that everyone else is wrong. These ministers
saw the challenge that they had in front of them
being to get the whole range of Christians, from
the very ordered conservatives to the younger types
with peircings in their faces and an attitude they
like to call "full on" to ignore what
makes them different and focus on the one thing
that makes them the same. Local ministers will tell
you that it's easy to say "we are all children
of God, we all love Jesus" but there is that
human tendency to judge others who are different.
Could they get a bunch of different people to leave
their own stuff at the door? Turns out that it was
easier than they thought, though when you talk to
some of them they'll tell you it wasn't easy at
all, just that if you pray enough, the tough stuff
looks a lot easier.
The good news is that by 2002, the
thing went off. Christians from as far as hundreds
of kilometres away gathered at the Graham Bricknell
Music Shell and while there's not an accurate count
(other important things to do) there is a guess
that there were three thousand people there, all
with the aim of praising Jesus. There is a joke
that they chose to do it outside to stop the pentecostals
swinging from the lights, but it seems that the
aim of this is to share it with as many passers
by as they could manage. A venue to take that many
could be hard to find anyway, but more importantly
it is hard to imagine the local pedestrians stopping
for a few minutes to check it out if it was inside
a building.
Big Church for this year is happening
again, at the Graham Bricknell music Shell in Bunbury.
It is on Sunday evening, February 23, starting at
6:30pm, and this year they're expecting to get even
louder on the Saturday night Feb 22, 6:30pm, with
a youth version at the Vineyard church in the old
Silo Markets. The youth version on Saturday night
will cost you $10 but that includes hotdogs and
drinks. The Sunday night one is free for everyone.
Expect a combination of a good show, with a choir,
guest artists and a speaker who will encourage you,
and a chance to worship with the biggest crowd you're
likely to share with this year.
One of the ministers was heard to
say that the aim of the night isn't to convert anyone,
but that he guesses that anyone who isn't a Christian
will enjoy themselves and want to ask questions,
so if you expected a crusade, this time you'll miss
out.
There were plenty of people turned
up last year with picnic baskets and enjoyed the
sunset. By the end of the night some were saying
they really needed a jumper, so bring one if you
plan to stay on for a while.
February 2003
